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GAVLORO  RG 


THE 


MEMORIAL    HISTORY 


HARTFORD  COUNTY 


CONNECTICUT 


St^ee-^ 


THE 

MEMORIAL    HISTORY 

OF 

HARTFORD    COUNTY 

CONNECTICUT 
1633-1884 


EDITED 

By  J.    HAMMOND    TRUMBULL    LL.D. 

President  of  the  Connecticut  Historical  Society 


IN    TWO     VOLUMES 

Vol.  I. 
HARTFORD 

COUNTY     TOWN     AND    CITY 

PROJECTED   BY  CLARENCE  P.  JEWETT 


BOSTON 

EDWARD    L.    OSGOOD    PUBLISHER 

1886 


v.  \ 


Copyright,  1886, 
By  George    Draper. 


All  rights  reserved. 


y 


SRntbcrsttg  IDuss : 
John  Wilson  and  Son,  Cambridge. 


EDITOR'S    PREFACE. 


"  rTlHE  initial  point  of  the  history  of  the  Colony  and  State, 
-*-  and  especially  of  the  '  Towns  upon  the  River,'  whose 
planters  framed  the  first  constitution  of  Connecticut  and  laid 
the  foundations  of  her  civil  and  political  institutions,"  is,  as 
was  said  in  the  first  announcement  of  these  volumes,  the  issue 
of  the  Earl  of  Warwick's  grant,  known  as  the  "  Old  Patent " 
of  Connecticut,  March  19,  1631  (March  29,  1632,  new  style); 
and  the  two  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary  of  that  date 
seemed  a  fitting  occasion  for  the  publication  of  a  "Memorial 
History  "  of  a  county  whose  earlier  history  is  inseparable  from 
that  of  the  Colony  and  State.  Difficulties  of  obtaining  such  co- 
operation as  was  required  to  insure  the  permanent  value  and 
interest  of  the  work,  unavoidable  failures  and  delays  in  securing 
promised  contributions,  as  well  as  other  causes  which  need  not 
be  mentioned  here,  have  postponed  the  completion  of  the 
History  until  now,  —  a  few  weeks  after  the  two  hundred  and 
fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  first  organization  of  civil  government 
in  Connecticut,  by  the  first  meeting  of  the  Court  of  Commis- 
sioners for  the  River  Towns  "  holden  att  Newton"  (now 
Hartford),  April   26  (new  style,  May  6),  1636. 

The  delay,  however  much  to  be  regretted  by  the  publishers 
and  the  editor,  has  not  been  to  the  disadvantage  of  the  completed 
work.  It  has  enabled  the  writers  to  avail  themselves  of  the 
results  of  the  census  of  1880,  and  thereby,  in  many  particulars, 


VI  PEEFACE. 

to  advance  nearly  a  decade  on  information  attainable  in  1881 ; 
it  lias  secured  important  contributions  which  could  not  earlier 
have  been  had  ;  and,  so  far  as  the  wants  of  general  readers 
are  concerned,  it  has  added  to  the  immediate  interest  of  the 
history  without  detracting  from  its  permanent  value. 

In  undertaking  this  work  the  publishers,  at  the  suggestion  of 
the  editor,  stipulated  that,  "  in  typographical  execution  and  in 
the  fulness  and  excellence  of  the  illustrations,  it  should  be  equal 
to  its  model,"  the  "Memorial  History  of  Boston."  That  this 
engagement  has  been  carried  out  to  the  letter  we  think  will 
not  be  questioned. 


Hartford,  June,  1886. 


PUBLISHERS    NOTE. 


rpHE  publishers  of  the  Memorial  History  of  Hartford 
-*~-  County  take  pleasure  in  presenting  to  its  subscribers  — 
after  numerous  inevitable  delays  —  a  work  of  two  handsome 
volumes,  several  hundred  pages  larger  than  the  prospectus  called 
for,  which  they  believe  will  in  other  respects  also  equally  exceed 
the  public  expectation.  Dr.  J.  Hammond  Trumbull,  the  accom- 
plished scholar  and  historian,  who  has  been  its  editor  from  the 
beginning,  has  carefully  superintended  its  execution.  He  has 
read,  annotated,  and  corrected  every  page  of  the  great  work 
except  the  chapter  in  Vol.  I.  by  Miss  Mary  K.  Talcott  on  the 
"Original  Proprietors,"  which  is  made  up  largely  from  his  own 
notes  and  memoranda.  And  it  should  be  added  here  that  Dr. 
Trumbull's  many  and  very  valuable  notes  upon  the  early  his- 
tory of  Hartford  have  been  put  by  him  at  the  disposal  of  the 
various  contributors  engaged  upon  their  special  topics. 

Dr.  Trumbull's  peculiar  fitness  for  this  task  is  recognized 
by  all  who  know  him.  It  was  the  unanimous  wish  of  the  many 
gentlemen  interested  in  the  work  when  it  was  projected,  that  he 
should  take  such  charge  of  it ;  and  in  his  editorship  the  book 
has  received  the  corrections  and  approval  of  unquestionably  the 
leading  historical  authority  in  Connecticut. 

It  will  be  found  to  be  fully  and  handsomely  illustrated  ;  and 
in  addition  to  the  portraits  included  in  the  text,  there  will  be 
found  about  seventy  fine  steel  portraits,  especially  engraved  for 
this  work,  of  citizens   of  the  county,  living  or  dead,  including 


viii  PUBLISHER'S    NOTE. 

such  representative  men  as  Dr.  Bushnell,  Dr.  Gallaudet,  the 
Wolcotts,  Gideon  Welles,  John  M.  Niles,  Marshall  Jewell,  Colonel 
Colt,  Noah  Porter,  Dr.  Barnard,  Noah  Webster,  Elihu  Burritt, 
Chief  Justice  Williams,  Dr.  Trumbull,  Junius  S.  Morgan,  James 
Goodwin,  and  many  others.  The  only  essential  change  in  the 
work  since  it  was  projected  has  been  its  embellishment  by  these 
portraits  and  many  views,  which  were  not  originally  contem- 
plated, and  which  the  subscribers  receive  without  additional 
expense.  The  entire  artistic  superintendence  of  the  work,  from 
the  beginning,  has  been  with  Mr.  A.  V.  S.  Anthony,  so  long  at  the 
head  of  the  art  department  of  the  well-known  firm  of  James  R. 
Osgood  &  Company  ;  and  this  is  a  sufficient  guaranty  of  the 
high  quality  of  the  work. 

The  publishers  take  this  opportunity  to  express  their  grati- 
tude to  Dr.  J.  Hammond  Trumbull,  and  to  his  assistant  Mr. 
Charles  Hopkins  Clark,  for  their  labors  upon  the  work,  and 
also  to  the  numerous  contributors  who  have  lent  their  valuable 
services  to  making  up  a  suitable  memorial  history. 

The  publication  of  this  work  was  undertaken  by  James  R. 
Osgood  &  Company,  and  upon  the  dissolution  of  that  firm  all 
their  interest  therein  was  transferred  to  Mr.  George  Draper. 

The  undersigned,  one  of  the  partners  in  the  late  firm  of 
James  R.  Osgood  &  Company,  is  acting  as  the  representative 
of  Mr.  Draper  in  the  publication  of  this  History. 

EDWARD  L.   OSGOOD. 


CONTENTS  AND  ILLUSTEATIONS. 


fart  I.  —  £hc  County 

CHAPTER   I. 

Page 
General  Description  op  Hartford  County.     By  Charles  L.  Burdett  .     .       1 

Illustrations  :  Map  of  Hartford  County  ;  Trap  Dyke  at  "  Stone  pits,"  2. 

CHAPTER  II  — Early  History. 

Section      I.  —  Indians   of  the  Connecticut  Valley.     By  J.  Hammond 

Trumbull,  LL.D ' 11 

II.  —  The  Dutch  Traders  on  the  River  ;  and  the  House  of 

Hope.     By  the  Bev.  Increase  JV.  Tarbox,  D.D 15 

III. — How  the  River  Towns  came  to   be   Planted.      By  the 

Rev.  Increase  N.  Tarbox,  D.D 19 

CHAPTER  III.  — The  River  Towns,  1635-1666. 

BY   THE   REV.    INCREASE    N.    TARBOX,    D.D. 

Section      I.  —  Organization  of  Civil  Government 37 

II.  —  Character  and  Social  Position  of  the  Settlers  ...  45 

III.  —  The  Pequot  War.  —  The  Code  of  1650,  etc 49 

IV. — The  Charter  of  1662.  —  Union  of  the  Colonies,  etc.  .  59 

CHAPTER  IV.  — The  Colonial  Period. 

Section     I.  —  The    Andros    Government.  —  The    Charter    and    the 

Charter  Oak.     By  Sherman  W.  Adams 63 

Illustrations:  The  Andros  Seal,  G4;  Governor  Andros,  66;  Site  of  the 
Charter  Oak,  69;  The  Charter  Oak,  71. 

Section  II.  —  General  History   of   the  County.      By  Miss  Mary  K. 

Talcott 73 


X  CONTENTS  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

CHAPTER  V. 

Page 
The  War  of  the  Rebellion.     By  John  C.  Kinney 89 


CHAPTER  VI. 

The  Bench  and  the  Bab.     By  Sherman  W.  Adams 105 

Illustrations:  The  County  Court-House,  111;   The  Hon.  Richard  D. 
Hubhard,  118. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

The  Medical  Histoby  of  Habtfobd  County. 

-    I.     By  Dr.W.A.M.Wninwright 135 

II.     By  Dr.  E.  B.  Hooker 149 

Illustbation  :  Dr.  Horace  Wells,  14G. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Habtfobd  in  Litebatube.     By  Professor  Henry  A.  Beers 155 

Illustrations:  S.  G.Goodrich,  102;  Mrs.  Emma  Willard,  163;  Henry  H. 
Brownell,  167 ;  Mrs.  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe,  169 ;  Charles  Dudley  Warner, 
170;  Samuel  L.  Clemens  (Mark  Twain),  171. 

CHAPTER  IX.  —  The  Militia  and  Independent  Companies. 

The  Militia.     By  Sherman  W.  Adams 175 

Illustrations  :  The  State  Arsenal,  177 ;  Colonel  Thomas  H.  Seymour,  186. 

Habtfobd's  Independent  Militaby  Companies.     By  various  Contributors     189 

CHAPTER  X. 

Feeemasonby,  etc.     By  J.  K.  Wheeler,  Stephen  Terry,  and  others   .     .     .     195 

CHAPTER   XI. 

Emigration.     By  the  Rev.  Increase  N.  Tarbox,  D^D .     .     201 

CHAPTER  XII. 

The  Geowth  of  the  County.     By  Charles  Ilojrtins  Clark 207 

Hartfobd  County  Tobacco.     By  Fred.  S.  Brown 215 

Illustbations  :    Shoestring  Tobacco,  216;  Connecticut  Seed-leaf,  216. 


CONTENTS  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS.  XI 

Hart  II.—  Jtartford,  £omt  and  <E% 

CHAPTER  I.  — The  Town. 

Page 
Section  I.  —  Settlement  op  the  Town.     By  Sherman  W.  Adams      .     .     221 
Illustration  :  Seal  of  Hertford,  England,  221. 

Section  II. — The  Original  Proprietors.     By  Miss  Mary  K.  Talcott  .     227 
Illustrations  :  Map  of  Hartford  in  1640,  228  ;  The  Chester  Anns,  234; 
The  Haynes  Arms,  243 ;   The  Lord  Arms,  248;    Thomas  Seymour's 
Seal,  258;    The  Talcott  Arms,  263;    The  Whiting  Arms,  269;    The 
Wyllys  Arms,  271. 

Section  III.  —  The  First  and  Second  Churches. 

The  First  Church.     By  the  Rev.  George  L.  Walker,  D.D 277 

The  Second  Church.     By  the  Rev.  E.  P.  Parker,  D.D 288 

Illustrations  :  The  Centre  Church,  285 ;  The  Rev.  Nathan  Strong,  286 ; 
The  Second  Church,  21)1. 

Section  IV.  —  General  History  to  the  Revolution.      By  Miss  Mary 

K.  Talcott 293 

Illustration  :  The  Ledyard  Elm,  296. 

Section  V.  —  Commerce  and  Banking.     By  Rowland  Swift      ....     308 
Illustrations  :  Bartholomew's  "  Commerce,"  308  ;    First  Bills  of  Credit 
of  Connecticut,  324,  325;    Hartford  Bank  Bill,  332;   The  Old  Phoenix 
Bank,  336. 

Section  VI.  —  Domestic  and   Social  Life   in  Colonial  Times.      By 

Charles  Dudley  Warner 349 


CHAPTER  II.  — Town  and  City. 

Section  I. — The  Town  since  1784.     By  Miss  Mary  K.  Talcott     .     .     .     3G1 
Illustrations  :  The  Present  Stone  Bridge,  369 ;  Hartford  in  1841,  370. 

Section  II. — The  City  of  Hartford.     By  James  P.  Andrews     .     .     .     377 
Illustrations  :   The  First  City  Seal,  380 ;   The  Present  City  Seal,  381 ; 
Main  Street,  looking  south,  383. 

Section  III. — The  Churches  of  Hartford. 

The  North  Congregational  Church.  By  the  Rev.  N.  J.  Burton,  D.D.  389 
The  Fourth  Congregational  Church.  By  the  Rev.  Graham  Taylor  391 
Other  Congregational  Churches.     By  the  Rev.  F.  S.  Hatch  .     .     .     394 

The  Baptist  Church.     By  the  Rev.  A.  J.  Sage,  D.D 400 

The  Episcopal  Church.     By  the  Rev.  W.  F.  Nichols 405 

The  Roman  Catholic  Church.     By  Thomas  McManus 410 

Other  Denominations.     By  the  Rev.  F.  S.  Hatch 420 

Illustrations  :  Asylum  Hill  Congregational  Church,  397 ;  South  Baptist 
Church,  403 ;  Church  of  the  Good  Shepherd,  408 ;  St.  Joseph's  Ca- 
thedral, 415. 

Section  IV.  —  Institutions  of  Learning. 

The  American  Asylum.     By  Edward  M.  Gallaudet,  LL.D.     .     .     .     425 
The  Hartford  Theological  Seminary.     By  the  Rev.  William  Thomp- 
son, D.D 431 


Xll  CONTENTS  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Page 

Trinity  College.     By  Professor  Samuel  Hart,  D.D 435 

Illustrations  :  Trinity  College  in  1829,  435 ;  Dining-Hall  Mantel- 
piece, 436 ;  Trinity  College  iu  1869,  437 ;  Statue  of  Bishop 
Brownell,  438 ;  View  of  proposed  Buildings  of  Trinity  College,  439 ; 
Bishop  Seabury's  Mitre,  440 ;  Trinity  College,  441 ;  College  Seal,  444. 

Section  V.  —  Parks  and  Public  Works.     By  William  A.  Ayres  .     .     .     447 
Illustrations  :  Capitol  and  Bushnell  Park,  445 ;  The  Memorial  Arch,  448 ; 
View  of  Capitol,  449 ;  State  House  Square,  451 ;  A  Fire  in  the  Mitchell 
Building,  453. 

Section  VI.  —  Architecture  in  Hartford.  By  William  C.  Brocklesby  .  463 
Illustrations:  A  Colouial  Doorway,  464;  Other  Doorways,  464,  465; 
Talcott  Staircase,  466;  Barnabas  Deane  House  (Hollister  Resi- 
dence), 467;  Iron  Balconies,  472;  Residences  of  L.  L.  Felt,  473; 
Gurdon  Trumbull,  474  ;  Mrs.  Samuel  Colt,  475  ;  S.  L.  Clemens,  476  ; 
Mrs.  James  Goodwin,  477 ;  Franklin  Chamberlain,  479 ;  60  Garden 
Street,  479;  A.  H.  Olmsted,  480;  and  J.  G.  Batterson.  481 ;  Group 
of  Goodwin  Cottages,  483;  The  State  Capitol,  484;  Views  about  the 
Capitol,  485,  486;  Connecticut  Mutual  Life  Insurance  Building,  487; 
Government  Building,  489 ;  Cheney  Block,  490  ;  Connecticut  Fire  In- 
surance Building,  491 ;  The  Goodwin  Building,  493;  High  School,  495. 

Section  VII.  —  Insurance. 

Fire  Insurance.     By  Charles  HojMns  Clark 499 

Life  and  Accident  Insurance.     By  Forrest  Morgan 511 

Illustrations:  Hartford  Fire  Insurance  Building,  497;  Early  "Hart- 
ford" policy,  501  ;  iEtiia  Insurance  Building,  503;  Phoenix  Insurance 
Building,  507  ;  Charter  Oak  Life  Insurance  Building,  517  ;  Travelers 
Building,  523. 

Section  VIII. — The  Eetreat  for  the  Insane.    By  Dr.  Henry  P.  Steams     525 
Other  Beneficent  Institutions.     By  William  I.  Fletcher  .     .     .     .     530 
Illustrations:  View  of  the  Retreat,  526;  Hartford  Hospital,  531 ;  The 
Old  People's  Home,  535. 

Section  IX.  —  Libraries.     By  William  I.  Fletcher 541 

Illustrations:  Wadsworth  Atheneum,  542;  David  Watkinson,  547; 
Daniel  Wadsworth,  550. 

Section  X.  —  Travel  and  Transportation.     By  William  A.  Ayres    .     .     551 
Illustrations:    Stage-coach  handbill,  555;    "Victory"  handbill,  556; 
"Ellsworth"  handbill,  557. 

Section  XL  —  Manufactures  and  Inventions.     By  William  A.  Ayres  .     563 

Illustration  :  Colt's  Armory,  567. 
Section  XII.  —  Social  Life  after  the  Revolution.     By  Henry  Baldwin     574 

Illustrations  :  Theatre  handbill,  584  ;  Card  to  Election -ball,  593;  State 
House  Square  (1825),  599;  Dr.  Mason  F.  Cogswell,  600. 

Section  XIII. — The  Press.     By  Charles  Hopkins  Clark 605 

Illustrations  :  "  Courant "  Building,  607  ;  Hon.  Joseph  R.  Hawley,  610  ; 
Hon.  A.  E.  Burr,  618 ;  The  Case,  Lockwood,  &  Brainard  Company's 
Printing  House,  625. 

Section  XIV.  —  Schools  and  Education.        By  the  Hon.    Henry  Bar- 
nard, LL.D 628 

Section     XV. — Prominent  Business  Men.     By  Miss  Mary  K.  Talcott      653 
Illustrations:  Thomas  Y.  Seymour,  654;    Jeremiah  Wadsworth  and 
Son,  656. 

Index  to  Vols.  I.  and  II 673 


LIST   OF   STEEL   PORTRAITS. 

VOLUME  I. 


THE  HON.  J.   HAMMOND  TRUMBULL,  LL.  D Frontispiece 

THE  HON.   HENRY  BARNARD,  LL.  D To  face  page    628 

JAMES  G.  BATTERSON 520 

ELIPHALET  A.   BULKELEY 514 

HORACE  BUSHNELL,  D.D 390 

AMOS  M.   COLLINS 660 

ERASTUS  COLLINS 666 

CHARLES  CHAPMAN 116 

COLONEL   SAMUEL   COLT 562 

THOMAS  DAY 126 

CALVIN  DAY 670 

THE  HON.  WILLIAM  E.  DODGE 658 

AUSTIN  DUNHAM 572 

WILLIAM  ELY 664 

THOMAS  H.   GALLAUDET,  D.D 426 

DR.  R.   J.   GATLING      .' 186 

JAMES  GOODWIN 512 

WILLIAM  HUNGEREORD 130 

EDMUND  G.  HOWE 342 

THE  HON.  MARSHALL  JEWELL 570 

JUNIUS  S.  MORGAN 668 

BISHOP  McMAHON 410 

THE  HON.  JOHN  M.  NILES 616 


XIV  LIST   OF   STEEL   PORTRAITS. 

HENRY  A.  PERKINS To  face  page  332 

DR.   GUY  R.  PHELPS 510 

ANSON   G.   PHELPS 656 

GEORGE  ROBERTS 564 

ELIPHALET  TERRY 500 

RODERICK  TERRY 662 

LOREN  P.  WALDO 132 

NOAH  WEBSTER,  LL.  D 172 

THE  HON.  GIDEON  WELLES 618 

CHIEE  JUSTICE  THOMAS  S.  WILLIAMS 114 


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MAP  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY,  1886. 


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MEMORIAL    HISTORY 


OF    THE 


COUNTY    OF    HARTFORD,    CONN 


$art  I.  —  €I)e  <&ounty. 


CHAPTER  I. 

GENERAL  DESCRIPTION   OF  HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

BY    CHAKLES    L.    BUEDETT,    C.E. 
Extent  and  Boundary.  —  Natural  Features.  —  Geology,  Mineralogy,  etc. 

THE  larger  part  of  the  territory  included  within  the  limits  of 
Hartford  County  lies  in  about  the  centre,  north  and  south,  of  a 
valley  or  depression  the  origin  of  which  is  placed  Iry  geologists  in 
the  Paleozoic,  or  Ancient  era.  The  geological  features  of  this  valley  have 
been  for  years  the  subject  of  investigation  and  study,  and  the  writings 
of  Dana,  Hitchcock,  Pcrcival,  and  others  have  contributed  to  a  large 
fund  of  information.  The  valley  was  formed  by  the  bending  of  the 
crust  of  the  earth  which,  according  to  Professor  Dana,  "  took  place  as  a 
sequel  to  or  in  connection  with  the  crystallization  of  the  rocks  of  which 
the  bottom  of  the  valley  is  made."  This  bend  was  made  in  the  Archaean 
rock  before  the  deposit  of  the  covering  layer  of  sandstone.  It  was  dur- 
ing the  succeeding  era,  the  Reptilian,  that  this  layer  of  sandstone  was 
formed  by  deposits  laid  down  while  the  valley  was  occupied  by  an  estu- 
ary of  an  average  width  of  twenty  miles  extending  from  what  is  now 
the  southern  part  of  Vermont  to  New  Haven,  about  a  hundred  and  ten 
miles. 

In  the  several  periods  following  the  Paleozoic  era,  the  whole  valley 
\vas  subject  to  various  changes  in  elevation  and  conditions  as  to  climate. 
The  depression  became  rilled  with  water  as  an  estuary,  so  protected  that 
the  ocean  forces,  except  the  tidal,  exerted  but  little  influence  within  it, 
mid  so  remote  as  a  whole  that  no  sea  life  entered  it ;  at  least,  no  organic 
remains  have  been  found  to  warrant  the  conclusion  that  it  did.  Large 
beds  of  sandstone  were  deposited  over  the  whole  bottom  of  this  arm  of 
the  sea,  the  bed  in  Hartford  County  having  an  estimated  thickness  of 
not  less  than  three  thousand  feet.  Through  breaks  and  fissures  in  this 
bed  masses  of  melted  trap-rock  at  some  time  during  the  Reptilian  era 

VOL.    I.  —  1. 


2  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

burst  out,  and  now  appear  in  ridges  that  are  marked  and  prominent 
features  of  the  present  surface.  Traces  of  the  igneous  origin  of  this 
trap  formation  are  distinctly  seen  in  the  color  and  condition  of  the 
sandstone  adjacent  to  the  trap-rock  at  these  ridges.  At  this  time  the 
whole  region  was  lifted  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  and  there  is  no  rec- 
ord of  any  subsidence  of  any  part  of  it  until  after  the  glacial  period. 

It  was  during  the  formation  of  the  stratified  beds  of  red  sandstone, 
prior  to  this  lifting  of  the  surface,  that  the  story  of  the  climate  and  of 


TRAP-ROCK    DYKE    AT    "  ROCKY    HILL    STONE-PITS,"    HARTFORD, 
LOOKING  TOWARDS   TRINITY   COLLEGE. 

the  vegetable  and  animal  life  of  that  remote  past  was  written  on  leaves 
of  stone  that  have  yielded  from  their  study  by  scientists  a  history  of  the 
utmost  interest,  and  one  that  has  made  the  red  sandstone  of  the  Con- 
necticut valley  world-famous.  The  gradual  hardening  into  a  mass  of 
stone  of  the  sand  and  gravel  washed  into  the  estuary  from  the  neigh- 
boring hills  of  gneissic  and  schistose  rock  preserved  in  the  beds  the 
remains  of  giant  ferns  and  conifers  that  show  the  tropical  character  of 
the  climate,  and  held  safely  locked  within  them  the  records  of  animal 
life.  The  fossil  specimens  and  footprints  are  most  numerous  outside 
the  limits  of  Hartford  County,  and  particularly  at  the  north,  in  what  was 
the  head  of  the  estuary  ;  but  in  the  sandstone  beds  of  Wethersfield  cove 
there  have  been  found  the  tracks  of  a  multitude  of  birds  and  reptiles, 
bipedal  and  quadrupedal.  These  tracks  were  made  in  the  soft  mud 
along  the  shore  of  the  estuary  or  in  the  plastic  sand  or  clay  of  flats  that 
were  exposed  when  the  tide  was  out.  The  returning  tide  filled  these 
footprints,  that  had  been  hardened  by  exposure  to  the  rays  of  the  sun, 
with  fine  sand  or  clay,  and  made  them  permanent  beneath  the  layer  of 
detritus  next  deposited.     Successive  layers  of  sand  and  clay  were  thus 


GENERAL   DESCRIPTION.  3 

formed,  imprinted,  and  covered  oyer  until  the  layers  aggregated  thou- 
sands of  feet  in  thickness,  and  by  pressure  and  chemical  changes  were 
hardened  into  stone.  Naturalists,  from  a- study  of  these  remains,  have 
built  up  species,  many  of  them  now  extinct,  of  swimming,  crawling,  and 
flying  reptiles,  reptilian  birds,  and  huge  mammals. 

Then  came  an  uplifting  of  these  sandstone  beds  that  raised  them 
high  above  the  level  of  the  sea  and  tipped  and  tilted  them  so  that  they 
slope  from  10°  to  50°  with  the  dip  to  the  east  and  south  of  east.  The 
finest  footprints  —  that  is,  those  of  most  even  depth  and  fulness  of  out- 
line—  are  found  in  beds  now  sloped  at  angles  of  from  10°  to  40°  out  of 
level;  and  as  such  prints  could  not  possibly  have  been  made  in  inclined 
beds,  it  shows  that  they  were  first  level  and  then  were  tilted.  The  erup- 
tion of  the  riielted  trap-rock  probably  accompanied  this  change  in  the 
overlying  sandstone.  While  parts  of  the  bed  of  sandstone  were  hard, 
and,  like  the  trap-rock,  offered  great  resistance  to  erosion,  or  wearing 
away  by  weather,  and  the  action  of  flowing  water,  other  parts  were  more 
easily  moved  by  fluvial  currents  and  other  denuding  forces.  These 
trap  eruptions  and  disturbances  were  a  large  factor  in  determining  the 
courses  of  rivers  in  this  valley ;  for  when  the  land  that  was  submerged 
in  the  basin  was  lifted  at  some  time  near  the  date  of  the  eruption,  the 
Connecticut  River  was  narrowed,  and,  turning  aside  from  the  trap-dikes 
of  Wethersfield,  Berlin,  and  Meriden,  cut  through  the  hills  at  the  Nar- 
rows in  a  course  towards  the  southeast, — an  abrupt  bend  from  its  course 
above.  The  Farmington  River,  which  flowed  from  the  north  and  west  as 
a  tributary  to  the  estuary,  was  deflected  sharply  north  along  the  western 
foot  of  the  Talcott  Mountain  range,  running  for  sixteen  miles  before  it 
cut  through  the  range  into  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut  River,  which 
it  joins.  After  the  uplifting  there  followed  a  period  when,  according  to 
Dana,  from  glacial  action  the  present  valley  was  dug  out  by  erosion  and 
the  physical  features  in  all  essential  points  were  outlined  and  marked ; 
"  and  this  was  when  the  land  stood  at  a  higher  level  than  now."  Fol- 
lowing the  Glacial  epoch,  which  was  one  of  intense  cold,  and  when  large 
masses  of  ice  spread  over  the  region,  was  a  warmer  period,  the  Cham- 
plain,  in  which  the  land  was  sunk  below  its  present  level  and  was  sub- 
merged beneath  the  sea  along  the  coast.  The  great  glacier  was  melted, 
and  the  rivers  and  lakes  extended  in  area  ;  the  valley  of  the  Connecti- 
cut being  occupied  by  a  succession  of  basins  or  expansions  of  the  stream, 
joined  by  narrower  water-ways  in  gorges  cut  through  the  separating 
ridges.  The  lakes  have  disappeared,  and  the  stream  is  now  confined 
for  the  greater  part  of  its  extent  in  this  county  to  a  tortuous  bed  bor- 
dered by  alluvial  meadows  ;  but  evidence  of  their  having  existed  is  left 
in  the  terraces  and  in  the  well-defined  ancient  basins.  The  largest  and 
widest  basin  extends  from  Middletown  to  Mount  Holyoke,  a  distance  of 
fifty-three  miles.  Many  years  ago  several  teeth  of  the  mastodon  were 
found  in  Cheshire,  and  a  vertebra  was  dug  up  in  the  town  of  Berlin 
amongst  a  heap  of  bleached  fresh-water  shells  in  a  bed  of  a  "  tufaceous 
lacustrine  formation,"  showing  the  existence  of  this  animal  in  the 
Champlain  era. 

In  the  Glacial  period  a  vast  sheet  of  ice  spread  over  the  continent, 
and  of  this  the  Connecticut  valley  glacier  formed  a  part,  so  distinct, 
however,  as  to  have  a  motion  of  its  own.  With  a  frontal  width  of  from 
one  hundred  to  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles,  and  a  thickness  to  the 


4  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF  HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

north  of  more  than  four  thousand  feet,  it  moved  down  the  sloping  valley 
with  resistless  force,  guided  by  the  trap  hills  in  direction  southerly  or  a 
little  west  of  south.  The  sheet  of  ice  lay  with  enormous  pressure  upon 
the  plains  and  low  hills  beneath  it,  and  was  plastic  to  a  degree  that 
enabled  it  to  conform  to  the  surface  that  was  cut  and  shaped  by  it. 
The  softer  sandstone  was  easily  ground  up,  and  ploughed  out  to  a 
depth  of  hundreds  of  feet,  while  the  hard  granite  rocks  were  scratched 
and  furrowed  to  the  depth  of  from  six  inches  to  a  foot,  and  suffered  an 
unknown  amount  of  surface  planing.  The  ridges  of  the  Talcott  Moun- 
tain and  others  in  the  western  and  southern  part  of  the  county  show 
traces  of  its  action;  while  blocks  from  the  dikes  of  the  western  Primary 
rocks  are  found  scattered  over  the  sandstone  in  a  line  from  West  Hart- 
ford through  Berlin  and  Meriden.  The  melting  of  the  ice  left  large 
deposits  of  fragments  of  rock,  gravel,  and  cobble-stone,  and  the  streams 
that  were  in  action  during  the  progress  and  decline  of  the  glacier  helped 
it  in  the  rough  shaping  of  plains,  valleys,  and  mountains,  and  worked 
over  the  diluvium.  Peculiar  accumulations  of  small  rolled  fragments 
(gravel  and  cobble-stones)  that  have  been  found  in  basins  or  val- 
leys, apparently  deposited  by  currents  of  local  operation,  are  heaped  in 
rounded  hillocks  in  Ncwington  and  Berlin  in  a  cove  surrounded  by  one 
of  the  trap  ranges.  A  subsidence  of  the  land  marked  the  close  of  the 
Glacial  era  and  the  beginning  of  the  next,  resulting  in  a  warmer  climate, 
the  melting  of  the  glacier,  and  the  work  of  the  Diluvial  period  above 
described.  A  following  elevation  of  the  land  that  may  have  taken  place 
in  successive  steps  made  it  habitable  by  man  and  marks  the  transition 
to  the  Recent  era.  The  amount  of  the  sinking  of  the  land  and  subse- 
quent rising  may  be  estimated  by  noting  that  Professor  Hitchcock  found 
beaches  in  New  England  at  heights  varying  from  eight  hundred  to  two 
thousand  six  hundred  feet  above  the  present  sea-level. 

The  changes  in  the  elevation  of  the  land  were  accompanied  by 
changes  both  in  location  and  width  of  the  Connecticut  River.  The 
traces  of  fluvial  action  caused  Hitchcock  to  locate  an  ancient  river-bed 
on  the  west  side  of  the  present  river  in  Wethersfield,  west  of  the  village, 
and  also  in  a  line  through  the  west  part  of  Hartford,  uniting  with  the 
river  a  little  above  the  city.  The  river  terraces  are  distinctly  marked 
along  the  river  border,  and  are  usually  two  in  number, — the  lower  hav- 
ing an  average  height  of  sixteen  feet  above  low  water,  and  the  higher  a 
height  of  thirty-six  feet,  while  the  height  of  the  river  border  formations 
above  modern  flood-levels  is  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  at  Middletown 
and  one  hundred  and  eighty  feet  at  Springfield. 

The  low-water  height  of  the  Connecticut  River  at  Hartford  is  the 
same  as  the  mean  level  of  the  Sound  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  at  Say- 
brook,  some  forty-nine  miles  south,  the  tide  at  the  former  place  being 
about  one  foot  and  at  the  latter  four  feet.  The  tide  in  the  river  is 
noticeable  above  Hartford  at  the  foot  of  Enfield  Falls  in  Windsor. 
The  highest  modern  flood  was  that  of  May,  1854,  when  the  river  readied 
a  height  of  twenty-nine  feet  ten  inches  above  low  water.  The  mean 
discharge  of  the  river  at  low  water  is  five  thousand  cubic  feet  per 
second,  and  it  drains,  with  its  tributaries,  the  Farmington,  Podunk, 
Hockanum,  and  Little  rivers,  —  the  larger  part  of  the  county,  in  which 
the  annual  rain-fall  is  not  far  from  forty-four  inches,  that  being  the 
average  of  a  series  of  observations  at  Hartford  for  a  term  of  ten  years. 


GENERAL   DESCRIPTION.  5 

The  changes  in  the  river-bed  resulting  from  the  cutting  away  of  the 
bank  on  the  upper  side  of  a  bend  and  the  filling  on  the  lower  side  have 
moved  the  river  its  whole  width  to  the  eastward  in  about  twelve  years 
in  a  section  six  miles  south  of  Hartford ;  while  at  Wethersfield  the 
river-bed  since  1690  has  made  a  remarkable  change;  so  gradually,  how- 
ever, as  to  have  attracted  but  little  attention  from  year  to  year.  The 
course  of  the  river  below  Hartford  and  within  the  limits  of  the  county 
is  extremely  crooked ;  and  at  the  elate  stated  the  river,  after  flowing 
southeast  to  Wethersfield,  turned  sharply  to  the  northeast  and  then  to 
the  southeast,  again  dividing  at  Naubuc  on  both  sides  of  Wright's 
Island  that  was  over  a  mile  in  length.  By  the  shifting  of  the  clay  and 
sand  forming  its  banks  from  one  part  of  a  bend  to  another  the  river 
now  flows  diagonally  across  its  old  bed,  leaving  a  cove  on  each  side  that 
lies  nearly  parallel  to  its  present  course ;  and  the  island  has  completely 
disappeared,  leaving  the  stream,  however,  at  its  average  width  of  about 
four  hundred  yards. 

Minerals.  —  The  ores  and  mineral  substances  in  the  county  of 
industrial  importance  and  at  present  mined  are  mainly  feldspar  at 
Glastonbury,  sandstone  at  Farniington,  and  trap-rock  at  Hartford. 
The  feldspar  is  obtained  from  a  granite  vein  in  South  Glastonbury,  and 
in  the  form  known  as  orthoclase.  It  is  of  value  because  of  its  use  in 
the  manufacture  of  the  best  porcelain  ware,  and  the  value  of  the  annual 
output  is  not  far  from  thirty  thousand  dollars.  The  quarries  at  Glas- 
tonbury and  Middletown  furnish  the  largest  part  of  the  total  supply 
used  in  the  United  States. 

The  minerals,  ores,  etc.,  that  are  of  value,  but  are  not  at  present 
mined,  are  copper  ores  (bornite  and  chalcocite)  at  Granby,  Bristol,  and 
Simsbury  ;  hydraulic  limestone,  near  Berlin,  in  Simsbury ;  and  mala- 
chite in  Bristol. 

Soil  and  Products.  —  The  soil  of  the  larger  part  of  the  county  is 
formed  by  the  decomposition  of  the  rock  of  the  secondary  formation,  or 
of  the  river  alluvia,  the  latter  having  the  first  place  in  point  of  value. 
The  statistics  from  which  a  knowledge  of  the  comparative  value  of  the 
land  in  the  county  may  be  gained  are  very  meagre;  but  the  comparative 
value  put  upon  the  land  in  the  several  counties  in  colonial  times  is 
shown  by  the  fact  that  the  Statutes  of  1750  directed  the  listers  to  assess 
all  the  meadow  lands  in  the  County  of  Hartford,  both  ploughing  and 
mowing,  at  fifteen  shillings  per  acre,  and  all  meadow  land  within  the 
other  counties  seven  shillings  and  sixpence  per  acre. 

In  1061,  and  for  many  years  following,  wheat,  pease,  and  flax  were 
staple  products  of  the  county  ;  and  in  1762  beef,  pork,  and  flour  were 
prominent  factors  in  contributing  to  its  wealth.  In  1845  Hartford 
County  stood  first  in  the  value  of  the  products,  tobacco  (of  which  it 
furnished  ninety  per  cent),  Indian  corn,  rye,  fruits,  and  swine,  and  sec- 
ond in  the  value  of  hay,  buckwheat,  and  horses. 

In  the  value  of  its  tobacco  crop  the  county  still  leads  the  State ;  and 
Wethersficld  holds  its  old-time  reputation  for  onions,  and  has  gained  in 
its  specialty  of  garden  seeds. 

Fish  and  Game.  —  The  streams  and  rivers  at  one  time  abounded 
in  salmon  and  trout.  A  few  of  the  former  are  still  seen  in  the  Con- 
necticut. They  were  quite  abundant  about  1878  as  a  result  of  artificial 
propagation;  but  they  brought  so  high  a  price  in  the  market  (a  dollar 


6  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF    HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

to  a  dollar  and  a  half  a  pound)  that  the  temptation  was  irresistible  to 
sell  all  that  were  caught  in  the  shad-nets  ;  and  so  the  supply  was  prac- 
tically exhausted,  and  the  effort  to  replenish  the  river  with  its  most 
valuable  fish  was  a  failure.  But  it  should  be  added  that  dams  in  the 
Connecticut  at  Holyoke,  Mass.,  and  in  the  Farmington  River  prevent 
many  of  the  fish  from  reaching  their  breeding  places,  and  so  are  an  im- 
portant cause  of  the  failure  of  any  attempts  to  restore  the  salmon. 
Small  salmon  are  caught  occasionally  with  trout  in  the  upper  waters  of 
the  Farmington,  and  probably  there  will  always  be  a  few  of  these  fish 
in  the  river.  Trout  have  grown  more  abundant  since  the  State  under- 
took to  supply  five  thousand  of  the  young  to  each  applicant  who  wished 
to  stock  streams  in  the  State  with  them.  There  has  been  considerable 
legislation  to  preserve  them.  The  season  is  from  April  1  to  July  1. 
Owners  can  forbid  fishing  by  putting  up  prohibitory  notices  ;  and  there 
is  a  heavy  penalty  not  only  for  fishing,  but  for  trespassing  upon  land 
with  intent  to  fish,  in  such  waters.  The  most  famous  Connecticut 
River  fish  is  the  shad,  which  is  believed  by  many  to  be  superior  to  the 
shad  of  any  other  river.  The  State  by  planting  the  young  in  the  Far- 
mington and  Connecticut  rivers  has  maintained  the  supply  fairly  well. 
The  forerunners  of  the  shad  are  the  alewives,  which,  without  artificial 
propagation,  swarm  up  the  river  and  the  small  streams  in  great  quantities 
each  spring. 

Sturgeon  are  frequently  seen  in  the  Connecticut,  and  the  striped 
bass,  which  are  quite  numerous,  sometimes  reach  immense  size.  Black 
bass  are  also  found  in  the  Connecticut,  having  run  there  from  ponds 
where  they  were  planted.  These  fish  were  introduced  into  the  ponded 
waters  of  the  State  about  1860,  and  have  become  very  numerous.  As 
they  have  increased  pickerel  have  become  scarce.  The  Fish  Commis- 
sion has  introduced  land-locked  salmon  in  numerous  ponds,  but  they 
have  never  become  plentiful.  As  a  peculiarity  among  fish  in  the  county, 
it  may  be  mentioned  that  when  the  Shuttle  Meadow  Reservoir  in  New 
Britain  was  thrown  open  to  fishermen,  yellow  perch  of  as  much  as 
two  or  three  pounds'  weight  each  were  caught  in  large  numbers.  In 
most  of  the  waters  of  the  county  they  do  not  exceed  one  half  or  three 
quarters  of  a  pound. 

No  large  game  remains  in  the  county.  At  times  wildcats  are  re- 
ported in  the  thinly-inhabited  regions.  Foxes  and  raccoons  are  abun- 
dant ;  and  partridges,  quails,  and  woodcock  are  not  yet  so  scarce  that 
the  skilful  hunter  cannot  find  them. 

Flora.  —  The  flora  of  the  county  differs  little,  if  at  all,  from  that  of 
the  state  at  large,  and  the  labors  of  the  late  Charles  Wright  of  Wethers- 
field,  Nathan  Coleman  of  Berlin,  and  James  N.  Bishop  of  Plainville, 
have  left  little  to  be  discovered  in  this  particular  field.  The  last-named 
botanist's  catalogue  of  phamogamous  plants  growing  without  cultivation 
in  Connecticut  (published  in  1885)  includes  the  following  species  . — 


RANUNCULACE.E. 
Clematis  —  Virgin's  Bower. 
C.  verticillaris,  Avon. 

Ranunculus  —  Buttercup. 
R.  multifidus,  Plainville. 
R.  sceleratus,  Berlin. 

Cimicifuga  —  Bugbane. 
C.  racemosa,  Bristol. 


BERBERIDACE.E. 
Podophyllum  —  Mandrake. 
P.  peltatum,  Southington. 

NYMPH^EACE^E. 
Nuphar —  Yellow  Pond-lily. 
N.  luteum.  var.  pumilum,  Farmington. 
FUMARIACE/E. 
Dicentra  —  Dutchman's  Breeches. 
D.  Canadensis,  Plainville. 


GENERAL   DESCRIPTION. 


CRUCIFERyE. 
Brassica. 

B.  Sinapistrum,  Plainville. 

VIOLACE.E. 
Viola — Violet. 
V.pedata,  Farmington,  Glastonbury,  etc. 
HYPERICACE.E. 
Hypericum—  St.  John's-wort. 
E.  pyramidatum,  Berlin,  Farmington. 
GERANIACE.E. 
Geranium  —  Cranesbill. 
G.  pusillum,  Windsor. 

ROSACEA. 
Poterium  —  Burnet. 
P.  Canadense,  Berlin. 

Geum  —  Avens. 
G.  strictum,  Berlin,  Plainville. 
Dalibarda. 
D.  repens,  Farmington. 

LYTHRACE^. 
Lythrum  —  Loosestrife. 
L.  Salicaria,  Bristol. 

Ludwigia  —  False  Loosestrife. 
L.polycarpa,  Hartford. 

Nes.ea —  Swamp  Loosestrife. 
iV.  vertici/lata,  var.  flore plena,  Plainville, 
only  known  American  habitat. 
CACTACE^. 
OrrxxiA—  Prickly  Pear. 
0.  Bafinesquii,  Unionville. 

UMBELLIFERJ2. 
Thaspium  —  Meadow  Parsnip. 
T.  Irifoliatum,  Farmington. 

CAPRIFOLIACE.E. 

Viburnum  —  Laurestinus. 

V.  nudum,  Berlin,  Farmington,  Plainville. 

COMPOSITE. 

Aster  —  Aster. 

A.  concolor,  Berlin. 

Erigeron  —  Fleabane. 
E.  strigosum,  Berlin. 

Helianthus —  Sunflower. 
H.  doronkoides,  Plainville. 

Cirsium  —  Thistle. 
C.  horridulum,  Berlin. 

VACCINIACE.E. 
Gaylussacia  —  Huckleberry. 
G.  dumosa,  Berlin. 

Vaccinium  —  Cranberry,  Blueberry. 
V.  slamineum,  Berlin,  North  Granby. 
GENTIANE^E. 
Gentiana  —  Gentian. 
G.  quinquejlora,  Berlin,  Bristol. 
BORRAGINEiE. 
Echium  —Viper's  Bugloss. 
E.  arvensis,  Windsor. 

SOLANACE^E. 
Physalis  —  Ground  Cherry. 
P.  Pennsylvanica,  Berlin. 

SCROPHULARIACE^E. 
Linaria  —  Toad-flax. 
L.  Elatine.  Wethersfield. 

Antirrhinum—  Snapdragon. 
A.  Canadensis,  Plainville. 


LENTIBULACE.E. 
Utricularia  —  Bladderwort. 
U.  striata,  Poquonnock. 

LABIATE. 
Mentha  —  Mint. 
M.  sativa,  Plainville. 

Monarda  —  Horse-mint. 
M.fistulosa,  Berlin. 

Lophanthus  —  Giant  Hyssop. 
L.  nepetoides,  Berlin,  Bristol. 

Stachys  —  Hedge-nettle. 
S.palustris,  Berlin. 
S.palustris,  var.  asper,  Wethersfield. 
S .  jwlustris,  var.  cordata,  Farmington. 

PLANTAGINE.E. 
Plantago  —  Plantain. 
P.  Virginica,  Berlin. 

POLYGONACE.E. 
Polygonum  —  Knotweed. 
P.  incarnatum,  Berlin. 
P.  ramosissimum,  Berlin. 
P.  arifolium,  Berlin,  Bloomfield,  Plainville. 
EUPHORBIACE.E. 
Euphorbia  —  Spurge. 
E.  Ipecacuanha},  East  Windsor,  Enfield. 
ORCHIDACE.E. 
Orchis. 
0.  spectabilis,  Farmington,  Granby. 

Habenaria  —  Rein-orchis. 
//.  Orbiculata,  Granby,  Windsor. 
H.  ciliaris,  Berlin,  Bristol. 

Goodyera  —  Rattlesnake-plantain. 
G.  repens,  Granby,  Hartford,  Hartland. 
Spiranthes — Ladies'  Tresses. 
S.  latifolia,  East  Hartford,  South  Windsor. 

Arethusa. 
A.  bulbosa,  Granby. 

Pogonia. 
P.  pendula,  Suffield. 
P.  verticillata,  South  Windsor. 

Microstylis  —  Adder' s-mouth. 
M.  ophioglossoides,  Berlin. 

Liparis  —  Twayblade. 
L.  Lceselii,  Bristol,  Suffield. 

Aplectrum  —  Putty-root. 
A.  hyemale,  Hartford,  Suffield. 

Cypripedium  —Lady's  Slipper. 
C.  arietinum,  New  Britain. 
C.  spectabile,  Bristol,  Southington. 

JUNCACE.E. 
Juncus —  Bog-rush. 
J.  bufonius,  Berlin. 
J.  sclrpoides,  Berlin. 

TYPHACE^. 
Sparganium  —Bur-reed. 
S.  simplex,  var.  androcladum,  Berlin. 
S.  simplex,  var.  angusti/olium,  Berlin. 
ARACE^E. 
Call  a  —  Water-arum. 
C.palustris,  Berlin,  New  Britain. 

Orontium  —  Golden-club. 
0  aquaticum,  Berlin. 

NAIDACE.E. 
Potamogeton  —  Pond-weed. 
P.  hybridus,  Berlin,  Hartford. 
P.  lonchites,  Bristol,  Hartford,  Plainville. 
P.  lucens,  var.  minor,  Plainville. 
P.  pectinatus,  Hartford. 


8 


MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 


CYPER  ACE.E.  Cakex  —  Sedge. 

Cyperus  —  Galingale.  C.  Buxbaumii,  Plainville. 

C.  erythrorhizcs,  Hartford.  C.  monile,  Plainville. 

Eleochaeis  —  Spike-rush.  GRAMINE^. 

E.  Enqelmanii,  Hartford.  n,„„„   T.       ■»»■ 

E.  diandra,  Hartford.  „         _    Giaceria -Manna-grass. 

Scirpus  -  Bulrush.  G'  ^uhjiora,  Hartford. 
S.  sylvaticus,  Berlin. 

Among  native  grasses  are  the  red-top,  June,  and  blue.  Of  plants 
not  native  to  the  soil  it  is  worth  noting  that  a  Christmas  rose  or  black 
hellebore,  domesticated  many  years  ago  at  Poquonnock,  blooms  annually 
in  December. 

Among  ferns  may  be  mentioned  the  walking-leaf  (Camptosorus 
rhizophyllus),  West  Hartford,  etc.,  and  the  creeping-fern  (Lygodium 
palmatum),  named  Windsor  fern  years  ago,  from  a  popular  impres- 
sion that  it  was  confined  to  East  Windsor ;  whereas  it  occurs  in  East 
Hartford  and  Berlin,  and  probably  is  not  rare  on  the  mountains  west 
of  the  river. 

The  following  partial  list  of  trees,  made  by  Mr.  Charles  Wright 
shortly  before  his  death,  is  sufficiently  full  for  the  purposes  of  this 
work  :  — 

American  aspen ;  white,  mountain,  and  black  ash ;  basswood ;  American 
beech ;  white,  black,  yellow,  and  canoe  (rare)  birch  ;  butternut ;  red  cedar  ; 
wild  cherry ;  chestnut ;  dogwood  (Comus  circinata),  Berlin ;  white,  red,  and 
slippery  elm ;  hemlock  :  shell-bark  hickory ;  pignut ;  black  walnut,  —  a  good 
specimen  in  East  Hartford  ;  hornbeam  or  iron-wood  ;  hop-hornbeam  or  lever- 
wood  ;  hackberry  (Celtis  occidentalis) ,  Berlin  ;  hackmatack  or  tamarack  ;  American 
holly  (Ilex  opaca),  Burlington;  red-flowering,  sugar  maple,  and  white  (Acer  dasy- 
carpum),  East  Windsor,  Wethersfield,  maple;  red  mulberry;  white,  swamp  white, 
scarlet,  chestnut  (Talcott  Mt.),  red,  pin,  and  black  oak ;  pepperidge ;  pitch  and 
white  pine.  Among  plums :  The  wild  yellow  (Primus  Americana),  Berlin ; 
dwarf  cherry  (P.  pumila),  Bristol,  Farmington ;  river  and  wild  poplar ;  white 
spruce  (1) ;  sassafras  ;  sycamore  or  buttonball ;  tulip-tree  or  whitewood.  Wil- 
lows in  large  variety,  including  Salix  tristis,  Berlin ;  S.  humilis,  Farmington, 
Plainville;  S.  livida,  var.  occidentalis,  Farmington;  S.  nigra,  Berlin. 

Among  cultivated  trees  mentioned  by  Mi-.  Wright  are  the  yellow- 
wood,  Kentucky  coffee-tree,  liquid  amber  or  sweet  gum  tree  (specimens 
of  which  may  be  seen  in  the  park  in  Hartford),  catalpa,  magnolia,  Aus- 
trian pine,  European  ash,  honey  locust,  European  linden,  and  purple  or 
copper  beech.  Among  trees  noticeable  for  size,  etc.,  are  an  elm  in 
Broad  Street,  Wethersfield,  twenty-six  feet  in  circumference,  and  the 
Beckley  elm  in  the  same  town  ;  an  elm  in  South  Windsor  scarcely  in- 
ferior in  size,  and  a  very  fine  one  in  Berlin  ;  a  shad-bush  in  Glastonbury 
nine  feet  in  circumference,  with  spread  of  ninety  feet ;  the  basswoods  on 
Wethersfield  Street ;  a  very  large  white  maple  near  the. Church  of  the 
Good  Shepherd,  Hartford ;  a  robust  and  symmetrical  wild  cherry  in 
Cedar  Hill  Cemetery ;  a  sycamore  on  the  river-bank,  Hartford,  between 
State  and  Ferry  streets  ;  a  hackberry  on  Burnside  Avenue,  East  Hart- 
ford, twelve  feet  in  circumference.  A  black  willow  in  Bristol,  planted 
in  1814,  near  a  pond,  had,  when  measured  in  1878,  a  circumference 
near  the  ground  of  twenty  feet  six  inches ;  at  six  feet  from  the  ground 
a  circumference  of  twenty-one  feet ;  and  the  spread  of  the  branches  was 
eighty-one  feet.     A  white  oak  in  the  same  town  was  eleven  feet  three 


GENERAL   DESCRIPTION. 


9 


inches  in  circumference,  and  had  a  spread  of  sixty  feet.  The  Lom- 
bardy  poplar  was  introduced  by  Joel  Barlow,  who  in  1801  brought 
some  of  the  trees  as  a  present  to  Elisha  Babcock,  publisher  of  the 
"  American  Mercury."  There  was  a  row  of  poplars  on  the  south  side 
of  the  Hartford  State  House  early  in  the  century,  and  some  poplars  are 
still  growing  along  the  New  Haven  Turnpike. 

The  present  area  of  the  county  is  about  seven  hundred  and  fifty  square 
miles.  When  the  county  was  established  in  May,  166G,  it  included  not 
only  a  great  part  of  what  it  now  has,  but  also  all  of  what  is  now 
Tolland  County,  and  more  or  less  of  what  is  in  Windham,  Middlesex, 
New  London,  and  Litchfield  counties. 

In  1726  Windham  County  was  formed,  and  Windham,  Mansfield, 
Plainfield,  and  Canterbury  were  set  off  to  it  from  Hartford  County. 

In  1751  Litchfield  County  was  formed,  and  Litchfield,  Barkhamsted, 
Canaan,  Colebrook,  Cornwall,  Goshen,  Hartland,  Harwinton,  Kent, 
New  Hartford,  Norfolk,  Torrington,  and  Winchester  were  taken  from 
Hartford. 

In  1785  there  was  still  further  dismemberment.  Middlesex  County 
was  set  up,  and  took  from  Hartford,  Middletown,  Haddam,  Chatham, 
and  East  Haddam ;  and  Tolland  County  was  also  set  up,  and  took 
Tolland,  Bolton,  Ellington,  Stafford,  and  Willington. 

In  1786  Hartford  County  consisted  of  the  towns  of  Hartford,  Wind- 
sor, Wethersfield,  Farmington,  Glastonbury,  Simsbury,  Enfield,  Suf- 
field,  East  Windsor,  East  Hartford,  Berlin,  Bristol,  Southington,  and 
Granby. 

The  following  table  shows  all  the  towns  that  have  been  included  in 
Hartford  County,  and  also  indicates  when  and  to  what  county  those 
were  set  off  which  are  not  now  included  in  its  limits.  The  figures  in 
parentheses  indicate  the  date  of  the  creation  of  the  town :  — 


Hartford. 
Windsor. 
Wethersfield. 


1666.  —  Establishment  of  Hartford  County. 


Farmington  (1645). 
Middletown  (1651),  set  off  to  Middlesex 
County  1785. 


Haddam  (1668) 

1785. 
Simsbury  (1670). 
Waterbury  (1686),  set  off  to  New  Haven 

County  1728. 


Toivns  organized  between  1666  and  1700. 
t  off  to  Middlesex 


Glastonbury  (1693). 
Windham  (1694),  set  off  to  Windham 
County  1726. 


Toivns  organized  between  1700  and  1725. 


Colchester  (named  1699,  and  set  off  to 
New  London  County),  transferred  to 
Hartford  County  1708,  and  retrans- 
ferred  to  New  London  County  1783. 

Plainfield  (1700),  set  off  to  Windham 
County  1726. 


Coventry  (1712),  set  off  to  Windham 

County  1726. 
Pomfret    (1713),   set   off    to  Windham 

County  1726. 
Chatham  (1714),  set  off  to  Middlesex 

County  1785. 


10 


MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF  HARTFORD   COUNTY. 


Mansfield  (1702),  set  off  to  Windham 
County  1726. 

Canterbury  (1703),  set  off  to  Windham 
County  1726.  ' 

Hebron  (1708),  set  off  to  Tolland  Coun- 
ty 1785.   " 

Yoluntown  (1708),  set  off  to  Windham 
County  1726. 

Killingly  (1708),  set  off  to  Windham 
County  1726. 


Ashford    (1714),  set    off  to  Windham 

County  1726. 
Stafford     (1719),    set    off    to    Tolland 

County  1785. 
Bolton  (1720),  set  off  to  Tolland  County 

1785. 
Litchfield   (1720),  set  off  to  Litchfield 

County  1751. 


Totvns  organized  between  17.25  and  1750. 


Willington  (1727),  set  off  to  Tolland 
County  1727. 

East  Haddam  (1 734),  set  off  to  Middle- 
sex County  1785. 

Harwinton  (1737),  set  off  to  Litchfield 
County  1751. 

New  Hartford  (1738),  set  off  to  Litch- 
field County  1751. 

Goshen  (1749),  set  off  to  Litchfield 
County  1751. 

Canaan  (1738),  set  off  to  Litchfield 
County  1751. 


Cornwall  (1740),  set  off  to  Litchfield 
County  1751. 

Kent  (1740),  set  off  to  Litchfield  Coun- 
ty 1751. 

Norfolk  (1758),  territory  set  off  to 
Litchfield  County  1751. 

Torrington  (1740),  set  off  to  Litchfield 
County  1751. 

Tolland  (1748),  set  off  to  Tolland 
County  1785. 

Enfield  (1749). 

Suffield  (1749). 


Colebrook   (1761),  territory  set   off  to 

Litchfield  County  1751. 
Hartland    (1761),    territory  set   off    to 

Litchfield  County  1751  ;  transferred 

to  Hartford  County  1796. 
East  Windsor  (1768). 
Winchester  (1771),  territory  set  off  to 

Litchfield  County  1751. 


Totvns  organized  between  1750  and  1800. 

Barkhamsted  (1779),  set  off  to  Litch- 
field County. 
South ington  (1779). 
East  Hartford  (1783). 
Berlin  (1785). 
Bristol  (1785). 
Granby  (1786). 


Towns  organized  between  1800  and  1871. 

Marlborough  (1803).  South  Windsor  (1845). 

Burlington  (1806).  New  Britain  (1850). 

Canton  (1806).     '  West  Hartford  (1854). 

Manchester  (1823).  Windsor  Locks  (1854). 

Avon  (1830).  East  Granby  (1858). 

Bloomfield  (1835).  Plainville  (1869). 

Eocky  Hill  (1843).  Newington  (1871). 


CHAPTER  II. 

EARLY     HISTORY. 


SECTION    I 

THE  INDIANS  OF  THE  CONNECTICUT   VALLEY. 

BY   J.    HAMMOND    TRUMBULL,   LL.D. 

THE  Indians  of  Connecticut,  Massachusetts,  and  Rhode  Island  all 
belonged  to  one  stock,  and  spoke  dialects  of  the  same  language. 
These  dialects  were  not  so  diverse  that  the  natives  "  throughout 
the  whole  country "  known  to  the  English,  in  the  time  of  Roger 
Williams  and  Eliot,  could  not  "  well  understand  and  converse  one 
with  another."  They  lived,  chiefly,  by  hunting,  fowling,  and  fishing ; 
the  forests  abounded  in  game,  and  every  stream  supplied  fish :  but 
they  had  advanced  beyond  the  lowest  grade  of  savage  life  ;  they  had 
learned  to  cultivate  the  soil,  and  to  prepare  it  for  cultivation  by  clear- 
ing it  of  wood  and  underbrush ;  and  they  raised  good  crops  of  Indian 
corn,  and  probably  beans  and  squashes,  for  winter  supplies. 

Of  the  tribes  that  occupied  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut  before  the 
coming  of  the  English,  our  knowledge  is  chiefly  derived  from  the  report 
of  discoveries  made  by  the  Dutch  captain,  Adriaen  Block,  in  the  yacht 
"  Onrust "  (Restless)  in  1614.  Following  the  coast,  from  the  east, 
Block  entered  Connecticut  River,  which  he  called  de  Vcrsche  Riviere 
(that  is,  "the  Fresh").  He  found  few  inhabitants  near  the  mouth, 
"  but  at  the  distance  of  forty-five  miles  above  they  became  numerous  ; " 
"  their  nation  was  called  Sequins."  On  his  map,  the  villages,  or  lodges, 
of  the  Sequins  are  marked,  on  both  sides  of  the  river,  at  and  above  its 
principal  bend,  near  Middletown.  Some  forty -five  miles  above,  the  explor- 
ers came  to  the  country  of  the  Nawaas,  where  "  the  natives  plant  maize, 
and  in  the  year  1614  they  had  a  village  resembling  a  fort  for  protection 
against  their  enemies.  .  .  .  This  place  is  situated  in  latitude  41°  48'." 
This  fortified  town  was,  in  my  opinion,  on  the  east  side  of  the  river, 
in  what  is  now  South  Windsor,  between  Podunk  and  Scantic  rivers,  on 
the  ground  called  Nowashe  (which  seems  to  be  the  equivalent  of  the 
Dutch  "  Nowaas  ")  by  the  Indians  who  sold  it  to  Windsor  plantation  in 
1636  ;*  and  was  paled,  or  palisadoed,  to  defend  it  against  the  Pequots. 
The  Pequots  were  a  branch  of  the  great  Muhhekanew  (or  Mohican) 
nation  whose  principal  seat  had  been  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Hudson 
River,  nearly  opposite  Fort  Orange  (Albany).  Driven  from  their 
country  by  the  Mohawks,  they  had  invaded  Connecticut,  and,  dispossess- 

1  See  the  record  in  Stiles's  "  History  of  Windsor,"  p.  110.  In  the  general  history  of 
Windsor,  in  vol.  ii.,  p.  497,  the  Rev.  R.  H.  Tuttle  is  inclined  to  locate  this  fortified  town 
"near  what  is  now  called  Wilson  Station,  about  midway  between  Windsor  and  Hartford." 
that  is,  on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  where  the  Windsor  sachem  lived  after  his  return  in  1633. 


12  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

ing  or  exacting  tribute  from  the  tribes  which  opposed  their  progress, 
settled  themselves  near  the  sea-coast,  on  territory  formerly  occupied 
by  the  Niantics,  on  both  sides  of  Mystic  River.  The  name  by  which  they 
were  known  to  the  English  and  by  neighboring  tribes  does  not  seem  to 
have  been  of  their  own  adoption.  Pequttoog  (as  Roger  Williams  wrote 
it)  means  "  destroyers  "  or  "  ravagers."  Not  content  with  the  conquest 
of  the  sea-shore  tribes,  they  made  war  on  the  Sequins  of  the  Connecti- 
cut valley.  According  to  the  Dutch  account,  the  Sequins  were  beaten 
in  three  encounters,  and  so  became  tributary  to  the  Pequots.  This 
was  some  years  after  the  first  visit  of  the  Dutch  ;  probably  not  earlier 
than  1630.  One  band  of  the  intruding  Mohicans  had,  it  appears, 
settled  west  of  Thames  River  before  the  coming  of  Block  in  1614. 
They  retained  their  national  name,  and,  after  the  settlement  of  the 
English,  were  known  as  the  Mohegan  tribe.  Uncas,  their  sagamore, 
was  nearly  akin  to  the  Pequot  sachems,  but  not  being  of  full  blood  was 
excluded  by  Indian  laws  of  descent  from  the  succession.  "  Growing 
proud  and  treacherous  to  the  Pequot  sachem,  the  Pequot  sachem  was 
very  angry,  and  sent  up  some  soldiers,  and  drove  Uncas  out  of  his 
country.  ...  At  last  he  humbled  himself  to  the  Pequot  sachem,  and 
received  permission  to  live  in  his  own  country  again."  Again  and 
again  he  revolted,  was  again  expelled,  and  again  restored  on  promise 
of  submission.  It  was,  probably,  during  one  of  these  seasons  of  ban- 
ishment from  his  own  country  that  he,  or  some  of  his  company,  became 
connected  with  the  Nawaas  on  the  east  side  of  Connecticut  river. 
"  Pozen  of  Mohegan,"  —  afterwards  wTell  known  to  the  English  as 
Foxen,  the  crafty  "councillor"  of  Uncas,  —  was  one  of  the  grantors 
in  the  deed  of  Nowashe  to  the  Windsor  planters,  in  1636,  and  other 
"  Mohegeneake  "  (or  Mohegans)  joined  in  that  conveyance. 

Between  1614  and  1631  we  have  no  account  of  the  river  tribes.  In 
April,  1631,  "a  sagamore,  upon  the  river  Quonehtacut,"  whose  name 
(as  Governor  Winthrop  wrote  it)  was  Wahginnacut,  came  to  Boston 
to  urge  the  English  to  "  come  to  plant  in  his  country."  The  Governor 
declined  the  invitation,  and  (as  he  wrote)  "  discovered  after,  that  the 
said  sagamore  is  a  very  treacherous  man,  and  at  war  with  the  Pekoath x 
(a  far  greater  sagamore)."  Somewhat  earlier,  "a  company  of  ban- 
ishte  Indians  "  from  Connecticut,  "  that  were  drivene  out  from  thence 
by  the  potencie  of  the  Pequents  which  usurped  upon  them,  and  drive 
them  from  thence,"  visited  Plymouth  Colony,  and  "  often  sollisited 
them  to  goe  thither,  promising  them  much  trade."  Massachusetts 
declined  to  join  with  Plymouth  in  the  enterprise.  Some  time  in  1632, 
"  the  year  before  the  Dutch  began  in  the  River,"  Governor  Winslow, 
of  Plymouth,  and  his  associates  "  had  a  place  given  (and  the  place 
[Plymouth]  afterwards  possessed)  "  in  what  is  now  Windsor ;  and  in 
October,  1633,  Captain  Holmes,  in  a  vessel  sent  by  the  Plymouth 
trading  company,  "  brought  home  and  restored  ye  right  Sachem  of  ye 
place,  called  Natawanute."  2 

Four  months  before  this  sachem's  restoration,  the  Dutch  (June  8, 
1633)    had    bought  —  as    they   alleged  —  from    the    Pequot   sachem, 

1  That  is,  the  Pequot,  sachem.  Here,  as  was  common  at  that  period,  the  name  of  the 
tribe  was  confounded  with  the  name  of  the  sachem. 

2  Bradford's  "  History  of  Plymouth  Colony,"  pp.  311,  313.  "I  brought  in  Attawanyut  & 
there  left  him  where  he  lived  &  died  upon  the  ground,  whom  Tatobam,  the  Tyrant,  had  before 
expelled  by  war."  —  E.  Winslow  s  Letter  to  Winthrop,  1644. 


THE   INDIANS   OF   THE   CONNECTICUT   VALLEY.  13 

"  Wapyquart,  or  Tattoepan,  chief  of  Sickenames  [Mystic]  river,"  the 
"flat  land,"  named  Sickajoock  (otherwise  written,  by 'the  English, 
"  Sicaogg,"  "  Suckiage,"  "  Suckiaug,"  etc.),  —  "a  very  extensive  and 
beautiful  flat,  extending  along  the  River,  and  so  inland  in  a  westerly 
direction,  situate  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Fresh  River," — comprising 
what  was  subsequently  known  as  "  Dutch  Point  "  and  the  South  Meadow 
of  Hartford.1  According  to  the  Dutch  accounts  of  this  purchase,  it  was 
agreed  between  the  contracting  parties,  "  at  the  request  and  to  the 
great  joy  of  the  Sequcen,  Altarbaenhoet,2  and  all  interested  tribes," 
that  "  Sequeen  should  dwell  with  the  Dutch."  It  is  also  stated  (in  a 
Dutch  report  on  the  boundaries,  drawn  about  1649)  3  that  "for  greater 
security  the  Sequeen  and  his  tribe  went  to  dwell  close  by  Fort  Hope." 

In  the  Dutch  records,  the  name  "Sequeen,"  or  "Sequin,"  is  indif- 
ferently applied  to  a  tribe,  and  to  its  chief  sachem.  These  were  the 
Indians  of  Mattabeset  and  Pyquaug,  subsequently  called  "  Wongunks" 
from  their  principal  seat  on  and  near  the  great  bend  ("  wongunk ") 
of  Connecticut  River,  between  Middletown  and  Portland.  Their  terri- 
tory appears  to  have  extended,  on  both  sides  of  the  river,  from  the 
north  part  of  Haddam,  northerly  to,  and  probably  to  some  distance 
above,  Matianuck  (or  Mattanag)  in  Windsor.  "  The  Chief  Sequeen " 
—  of  whom  the  Dutch  bought  land  in  1633,  "which  Chief  or  Sakima 
was,  in  his  time,  lord  and  right  owner  of  the  entire  river  and  the  lands 
thereabouts  "  —  was  probably  he  who  was  known  to  the  English  as 
"  Sowheag  "  and  "  Sequin,"  sometimes  designated  as  the  "  Sachem  of 
Mattabeseck,"  sometimes  as  the  "  Sachem  of  Pyquaug."  4  The  strength 
of  the  Sequins  had  been  broken  in  their  war  with  the  Pequots,  and  the 
number  of  the  tribe  was  probably  much  reduced  before  the  coming  of 
the  English  ;  yet  Sowheag  still  remained  a  "  great  Sachem."  He  sold 
"  Pyquaug "  to  the  planters  of  Wethersfield  ;  and,  later,  granted  a 
"  great  part  of  the  township  of  Middletown  "  (Mattabeseck)  to  Gover- 
nor Haynes,  —  a  grant  confirmed  by  the  remainder  of  his  tribe  in  1673. 
The  date  of  his  death  is  not  known.  It  was  before  1650 ;  for  in  a 
report  made  by  Governor  Stuyvesant  to  the  States-General,  in  1649,  he 
is  mentioned  as  "  the  late  Sequeen."  5  In  1664  there  was  mention  of 
"  a  parcel  of  land  at  Wonggum  "  (the  Bend)  which  had  been  reserved 
for  his  posterity.6  His  successor  was  "  Turramuggus  "  (or  "  Catara- 
muggus"),  who  died  before  1705,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son 
"Peetoosoh,"  who  was  living  at  Won  gum  (now  in  Chatham)7  in  1706. 

The  Sicaog,  or  Suckiaug  Indians,  so  called  from  the  "  black 
earth  "  (sucki-auke)  of  the  Hartford  meadows,  were,  probably  a  sub- 
tribe  of  the  Sequins.  Their  sachem,  at  the  coming  of  the  English  in 
1633,  wras  "  Sunckquasson  "  (otherwise  written  Sequassen,  Sonquas- 
sen,  etc.),  alias  "  Sasawin,"  a  son  of  Sowheag,8  "the  chief  Sequeen" 
of  the  Dutch  ;  but  his  name  does  not  appear  in  the  Dutch  record  of 
the  purchase  of  the  Hartford  meadow,  and  in  1640  he  testified 

1  New  York  Colonial  Manuscripts,  Holland  Documents,  i.  543  ;  ii.  139,  140. 

2  Natawanute.  3  Holland  Documents,  i.  543;  546,  note. 
4  See  Judge  Adams's  "History  of  Wethersfield,"  in  vol.  ii.,  p.  431. 

6  Holland  Documents,  i.  543,  546,  note.  6  Connecticut  Colonial  Records,  i.  434. 

7  For  further  notice  of  the  "  Wongunks,"  see  Judge  Adams's  "  History  of  Wethersfield," 
in  vol.  ii.,  p.  432. 

8  "  Souwonckquawsir,  old  Sequin's  son."  —  Roger  Williams,  1637,  in  4  Mass.  Hist. 
Collections,  vi.  207.  "Sonquassen  the  son  of  the  late  Sequeen,"  named,  1649,  in  Holland 
Documents,  i.  543. 


14  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

"  that  he  never  sold  any  ground  to  the  Dutch,  neither  was  at  any  time  conquered 
by  the  Pequoyts,  nor  paid  any  tribute  to  them.  And  when  he  sometimes  lived 
at  Mattanag  [in  Windsor]  and  hard  by  his  friends  that  lived  here,  that  he  and 
his  men  came  and  fought  with  them." 

From  him,  in  1635  or  1636,  the  proprietors  of  Hartford  bought 
their  lands,  and  his  grant  was  subsequently  extended  westward  "  so 
far  as  his  country  went."  In  1670,  this  grant  was  confirmed  by  "  the 
only  inhabitants  that  were  surviving,"  nine  in  number,  including  Wa- 
warme,  his  sister  and  "  only  heir."  He  appears  to  have  been,  from 
the  first,  friendly  to  the  English.  Just  how  far  north  his  bounds  ex- 
tended is  not  ascertained,  but  his  name  is  joined  with  Natawanute, 
as  "  one  of  the  rightful  owners  "  of  the  land  at  Matianuck,  in  the  sale 
to  the  Plymouth  company,  in  1633.  We  lose  all  trace  of  him,  after 
his  quarrel  with  the  Indians  of  Podunk,  1656-1657.  A  remnant  of  the 
tribe  remained  —  on  their  reservation  in  the  South  meadow  in  Hart- 
ford ;  and  a  roll  of  the  Indians  who  went  to  Springfield  with  "  Captain 
Nessehegan,"  in  October,  1675,  to  fight  for  the  English  in  the  Narra- 
gansett  war,  includes  the  names  of  eight  Indians  of  Hartford.  The 
"  Sicaog  tribe  "  was  already  extinct. 

The  Indians  of  Tunxis  (Farmington)  were  a  branch  of  the  tribe 
of  which  Sequasson  was  chief  sachem,  and  their  lands  were  included 
in  his  second  grant  to  the  proprietors  of  Hartford.  They  had  ample 
reservations  of  land  in  Farmington,  and  "  the  main  body  of  the  tribe 
was  joined  in  1730  by  the  Indians  of  Hartford ;  and  it  received  also,  at 
various  times,  re-enforcements  from  Windsor,  Middletown,  and  other 
parts  of  the  Connecticut  valley."  The  small  band  at  Massaco  (Sims- 
bury)  probably  belonged  to  the  sub-tribe  of  Tunxis  ;  though  in  the  deed 
to  Simsbury  in  1680,  the  Windsor  sagamores,  Nessahegan  (of  Poquan- 
nock)  and  Seaket  (or  Seacut)  join  as  proprietors  and  "  rightful  owners." 

Natawanute  (or  Attawanyut),  the  sachem  who  had  been  driven  out 
by  the  Pequots  and  was  "  brought  home  and  restored  "  by  the  Plymouth 
company,  and  almost  all  his  band  were  swept  away  by  the  small-pox,  in 
the  spring  of  1634.  The  few  survivors  at  Matianuck  never  again  came 
to  be  regarded  as  a  distinct  tribe.  Arramamet  "  of  Matianuck  "  in  1636, 
seems  to  have  been  the  immediate  successor  of  Natawanute,  but  his 
name  first  appears  as  one  of  the  grantors  of  land  east  of  the  river.  He 
claimed  (and  the  Colony  recognized  his  title  to)  the  greater  part  of  the 
Podunk  lands  (in  South  Windsor  and  East  Hartford),  and  these  he 
gave  by  will,  in  1672.  to  his  daughter  Sougonosk,  the  wife  of  Joshua 
(alias  Attawanhood),  son  of  Uncas. 

The  history  of  the  other  bands  that  occupied  old  Windsor  (west  and 
east  of  the  river),  —  particularly  those  of  Poquannock  and  Podunk,  —  is 
too  obscure,  and  their  tribal  relations  were  too  complicated  for  adequate 
discussion  within  the  narrow  limits  to  which  this  section  is  restricted. 
All  that  is  known  of  them  has  been  diligently  gathered  by  De  Forest 
in  his  "  History  of  the  Indians  of  Connecticut,"  and  by  Dr.  H.  R.  Stiles 
in  the  "  History  of  Ancient  Windsor,"  and  to  these  authorities  and  to 
the  historical  sketches  of  the  several  towns,  in  the  second  volume,  our 
readers  must  necessarily  be  referred. 


^pi?f?&^<ft~t^ 


DUTCH   TRADERS   ON   THE   RIVER.  15 


SECTION    II. 

THE  DUTCH   TRADERS  ON  THE  RIVER;   AND   THE 
HOUSE  OF  HOPE. 

BY   THE    REV.    INCREASE    N.    TARBOX,    D.D. 

When  the  United  Netherlands,  after  nearly  half  a  century  of  strug- 
gle and  warfare  against  the  despotism  of  Spain,  had,  in  the  year  1609, 
triumphantly  established  her  liberties,  her  position  and  natural  alliance 
with  the  sea  made  her  one  of  the  most  active  of  the  seafaring  nations. 
She  opened  a  prosperous  trade  with  the  old  nations  of  the  East,  and 
sent  out  her  ships  for  exploration  and  discovery  in  the  new  regions 
of  the  West.  Henry  Hudson,  an  Englishman,  and  a  bold  navigator, 
friend  of  Captain  John  Smith,  having  been  unfortunate  in  one  or  two 
sea-ventures,  went  over  to  Holland  in  1609,  and  after  some  delays  and 
discouragements  was  at  last  put  in  charge  of  a  yacht  called  the  "  Half- 
Moon,"  manned  by  twenty  sailors,  part  English  and  part  Dutch,  when 
he  set  off,  like  the  rest  of  the  adventurers  of  his  day,  to  find  the  north- 
west passage  to  China.  Without  dwelling  at  all  upon  the  details  of  the 
voyage,  it  is  sufficient  for  our  purpose  to  say  that,  after  being  variously 
tossed  about  from  April  4,  1609,. until  the  early  days  of  September  fol- 
lowing, he  found  himself  in  that  network  of  waters  around  the  spot 
where  now  stands  the  great  city  of  New  York.  Gradually  working  his 
way  northward,  on  the  19th  of  September  he  found  himself  near  the  site 
of  what  is  now  Albany.  Ten  or  twelve  years  before,  Cabot  had  sailed 
along  the  New  England  coast,  keeping  himself  to  the  ocean  pathway ; 
but  Hudson  was  the  first  European  who  had  entered  and  traced  this 
noble  river  from  its  mouth  upward ;  and  so  it  was  fit  and  natural  that 
it  should  forever  bear  his  name. 

It  was  in  the  service  of  the  Dutch  East  India  Company  that  this 
service  was  performed  ;  but  when  the  "  Half-Moon "  returned,  before 
reaching  Holland  she  came  to  anchor  in  Dartmouth  harbor,  England. 
The  English  were  so  vexed  and  jealous  that  this  important  discovery 
should  have  been  made  by  one  of  their  own  countrymen  in  the  service 
of  the  Dutch,  that  they  detained  the  vessel  several  months  before  they 
would  allow  her  to  return  to  her  own  nation. 

It  was  soon  found  that  Manhattan  Island,  with  its  extended  water 
arrangements  near  at  hand  and  far  inland,  was  a  most  important  natu- 
ral centre  of  trade  then,  when  the  whole  land  was  wild  and  savage,  as 
it  is  now,  since  the  country  has  reached  its  highly  civilized  state. 
The  enterprise  of  the  Dutch  was  at  once  awakened  to  take  advantage  of 
this  discovery,  and  to  extend  their  researches  in  this  direction  still 
farther.  The  Dutch  gave  the  name  of  New  Netherland  to  their  newly 
discovered  territory. 

One  of  the  adventurers  from  Holland  at  that  time  was  Adriaen 
Block,  who  gave  his  name  to  Block  Island.     In  1613,  with  a  small 


16  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

craft  named  the  "  Tiger,"  he  crossed  the  ocean  in  this  department  of 
service.  His  vessel  was  accidentally  burned  in  Manhattan  Bay  as  he 
was  about  to  sail  homeward.  Not  discouraged,  he  set  to  work  and  built 
another,  probably  the  first  of  the  kind  ever  constructed  on  the  Ameri- 
can shores.  With  this  little  craft,  in  1614,  he  set  out  carefully  to  ex- 
plore the  coast  to  the  eastward.  The  following  passage  is  taken  from 
J.  R.  Brodhead  (History  of  the  State  of  New  York,  second  edition, 
vol.  i.  p.  56)  :  — 

"  Sailing  boldly  through  the  then  dangerous  Strait  of  '  the  Hell-gate '  into  '  the 
Great  Bay,'  or  Long  Island  Sound,  he  carefully  'explored  all  the  places  there- 
about,' as  far  as  Cape  Cod.  Coasting  along  the  northern  shore,  inhabited  by  the 
Siwanoos,  Block  gave  the  name  of  '  Archipelagos '  to  the  group  of  Islands  oppo- 
site Norwalk.  At  the  present  town  of  Stratford  he  visited  the  'Biver  of  Booden- 
berg,  or  Bed  Hills,'  now  known  as  the  '  Housatonic,'  which  lie  described  as 
about  '  a  bow-shot  wide,'  and  in  the  neighborhood  of  which  dwelt  the  indolent 
tribe  of  Quiripey  Indians.  Bassing  eastward  along  the  bay  at  the  head  of  which 
New  Haven  now  stands,  and  which,  on  account  of  the  red  sandstone  hills  in  its 
neighborhood,  the  Dutch  also  soon  called  the  '  Boodenberg,'  Block  came  to  the 
mouth  of  a  large  river  running  up  [reaching  up]  northerly  into  the  land.  At  its  en- 
trance into  the  Sound  it  was  '  very  shallow,'  and  Block,  observing  that  there  were 
but  few  inhabitants  near  its  mouth,  ascended  the  river  to  the  rapids  at  the  head 
of  navigation  [Enfield  Falls,  at  Warehouse  Point].  Near  Wethersfield  he 
found  the  numerous  Indian  tribe  of  Sequins.  At  the  latitude  of  41°  48',  be- 
tween Hartford  and  Windsor,  he  came  to  a  fortified  village  of  the  Nawaas  tribe. 
.  .  .  From  the  circumstance  that  a  strong  downward  current  was  perceived  at  a 
short  distance  above  its  mouth,  Block  immediately  named  this  beautiful  stream 
the  '  Versch,'  or  '  Fresh  Water  Biver.'  By  the  native  savages  it  was  called  the 
Connittecock,' or  '  Quonehtacut,'  and  the  aboriginal  appellation  survives  to  the 
present  day  in  the  name  of  the  river  and  the  State  of  Connecticut." 

Rivers  are  generally  supposed  to  be  fres7i,  but  the  meaning  of  the 
word  in  this  connection  is  that  the  tide  in  the  Connecticut  did  not  set 
back  so  far  from  its  mouth  as  in  rivers  usually. 

This  was  in  1614,  and  no  English  craft  of  any  size  ever  passed  up 
the  river  till  eighteen  or  nineteen  years  later.  Meanwhile  the  Dutch 
went  forward  to  establish  a  system  of  trade  with  the  natives  along  the 
river,  as  they  had  done  on  the  Hudson  River,  and  wherever  they  had 
gained  friendly  access  to  the  Indians.  Vessels  were  coming  and  going 
between  Holland  and  Manhattan  Island,  and  a  considerable  trade  had 
sprung  up  to  the  advantage  of  both  parties. 

With  this  incoming  tide  of  prosperity  the  Dutch  merchants  and 
traders  went  before  the  States  General  of  Holland,  and  spreading  out  a 
carefully  prepared  map  of  their  discoveries,  asked  a  charter  under  which 
they  might  go  forward  in  a  work  likely  to  be  advantageous  to  the  whole 
country.  The  States  General  were  in  a  complying  mood,  and  by  right 
of  first  discovery  they  gave  a  broad  charter^covering  the  territory  from 
the  Virginia  plantations  on  the  south,  to  Canada  on  the  north.  The 
first  grant  made  by  the  States  General  was  in  the  way  of  authority 
given  to  the  discoverers  to  make  four  voyages,  within  the  space  of  three 
years  from  Jan.  1,  1615,  to  those  new  lands  for  their  own  benefit,  and 
as  a  special  reward  for  their  services.     This  is  set  forth  as  follows  :  — 

"  We,  therefore,  in  our  Assembly  having  heard  the  pertinent  Beport  of  the 
petitioners,  relative  to  the  discoveries  and  finding  of  the  said  new  countries 


DUTCH   TRADERS   ON   THE   RIVER.  17 

between  the  above-named  limits  and  degrees,  and  also  of  their  adventures,  have 
consented  and  granted,  and  by  these  presents  do  consent  and  grant,  to  the  said 
Petitioners  now  united  into  one  Company  that  they  shall  be  privileged  exclu- 
sively to  frequent,  or  cause  to  be  visited,  the  above  newly  discovered  lands, 
situate  in  America  between  New  France  and  Virginia,  whereof  the  Sea  coasts  lie 
between  the  fortieth  and  forty-fifth  degrees  of  latitude,  now  named  New  Nether- 
land,"  etc. 

The  power  that  thus  granted  the  use  of  these  waters  and  lands  for 
three  years  was  the  power  which  at  the  expiration  of  this  period 
would  claim  the  right  to  govern  and  control  these  wide-reaching  terri- 
tories for  the  benefit  of  the  United  Netherlands.  If  we  inquire  upon 
what  basis  this  power  rested,  we  shall  find  that  it  was  simply  the 
common  claim  arising  from  first  discovery.  That  had  been  regarded 
by  other  nations  as  valid  authority,  and  the  Dutch  would  hold  by  the 
same  rule. 

The  whole  subject  of  European  charters  covering  wild  lands  was  at 
that  time  in  a  very  loose  and  conflicting  condition.  In  the  charter 
given  to  Virginia  by  James  I.,  only  a  few  years  before,  the  whole  ter- 
ritory was  conveyed  from  34°  to  45°  north  latitude.  Of  course  this 
grant  swept  over  all  the  places  actually  discovered  by  the  Dutch.  But 
they  were  in  as  good  condition  as  others.  There  was  no  clear  consist- 
ency among  these  European  charters.  As  all  the  northern  portion  of 
the  Virginia  grant  was  as  yet  unoccupied  by  whites,  it  seemed  natural 
that  the  Dutch,  as  the  first  comors,  should  take  possession. 

It  was  eighteen  years  after  the  Dutch  discovery  of  the  Connecticut 
River,  and  after  they  had  purchased  land  of  the  Indians  and  built  a 
trading-house,  the  "  House  of  Hope,"  at  what  is  now  Hartford,  before 
any  English  settler  had  appeared  on  its  banks.  It  will  have  to  be  ad- 
mitted that  the  Dutch  were  very  rudely  treated  by  our  English  fathers. 
The  English  people  seemed  to  act  as  if  they  were  in  the  right  and  the 
Dutch  were  mere  intruders.  But  it  would  have  been  very  hard  for 
them  to  show  that  they  really  had  any  rights,  by  European  charters, 
superior  to  their  predecessors ;  and  if  they  had  no  superior  rights,  then 
they  were  decidedly  inferior,  for  manifestly  the  Dutch  were  the  first 
discoverers,  and  first  on  the  ground.  Their  trading-house  at  Hartford 
is  "said  to  have  been  projected  and  begun"  in  1623,1  fully  ten  years 
before  the  first  Englishman  made  his  appearance  in  those  parts. 
The  Dutch  statement  on  this  point  is  as  follows :  — 

"  In  the  beginning,  before  the  English  were  ever  spoken  of,  our  people,  as  we 
find  it  written,  first  carefully  explored  and  discovered  the  northern  parts  of  New 
Netherland  and  some  distance  on  the  other  side  of  Cape  Cod,  and  even  planted 
an  ensign  on,  and  took  possession  of,  Cape  Cod.  Anno  1614,  our  traders  not 
only  trafficked  at  the  Fresh  river,  but  had  also  ascended  it  before  any  English 
people  had  ever  dreamed  of  coming  there  ;  the  latter  arrived  there  for  the  first 
time  in  the  year  1636  [this  is  a  mistake,  it  should  be  1633]  after  our  Fort 
Good  Hope  had  been  a  long  time  in  existence,  and  almost  all  the  land  on  both 
sides  of  the  river  had  been  bought  by  our  people  from  the  Indians ;  which  pur- 
chase took  place  principally  in  the  year  1632."  2 

1  Brodhead's  History  of  the  State  of  New  York,  vol.  i.  p.  153;  though  "it  was  not 
finished  until  1633,  ten  years  afterward." 

2  Ibid.,  i.  287. 
VOL.    I.  —  2. 


18  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

This  conduct  on  the  part  of  the  English  was  alike  unjust  and  un- 
grateful. The  Dutch  in  the  United  Netherlands  had  established  an 
asylum  for  the  oppressed,  and  there,  through  the  years  of  English 
persecution,  our  Pilgrim  and  Puritan  forefathers  had  found  a  secure 
refuge.  Not  a  few  of  the  leading  men  among  the  Puritan  population 
of  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  had  been  personally  befriended  and 
protected  among  the  Dutch  in  Holland. 

When  the  English  settlements  were  planted  on  the  river  at  Wethers- 
field,  Hartford,  and  Windsor,  they  did  not  at  once  drive  away  the  Dutch 
by  violence,  but  they  began  to  worry  them  away  by  meddlesome  and 
unfair  legislation,  like  the  following,  passed  by  the  General  Court  of 
Connecticut  in  June,  1640  :  — 

"Whereas  the  Dutch  Catle  are  impounded  for  trespassing  the  Englishmen's 
corne,  It  is  the  judgment  of  the  Courte  that  the  Dutchmen  shall  he  made  ac- 
quainted wth  the  trespasse,  and  satisfaction  demaunded,  the  wch  if  they  refuse  to 
pay,  the  Cattell  are  to  be  kepte  in  the  pownd  three  dayes,  and  then  to  be  prysed 
and  sold,  and  the  trespasse  to  be  satisfied,  together  \vth  the  chardge  of  impound- 
ing, keepeing  and  tending  the  said  Catle  during  their  custody." 1 

The  Dutch  might  very  naturally  have  answered,  as  in  the  story  of 
the  "  Unjust  Judge,"  in  the  spelling-book,  that  it  was  the  Englishman's 
cattle  that  trespassed  on  the  Dutchman's  corn-lands. 

The  following,  also  taken  from  the  Connecticut  Colonial  Records 
for  September,  1649,  is  decidedly  cool,  considering,  as  we  have  said, 
that  the  Dutch  built  their  trading-house  and  bought  the  Indian  lands 
before  any  Englishman  put  in  an  appearance  in  all  that  region.  Under 
a  charge  that  the  Dutch  sold  guns  to  the  Indians,  the  General  Court 
passed  the  following :  — 

"  It  is  hereby  ordered,  that  after  due  publication  hereof,  it  shall  not  be  law- 
full  for  any  Frenchman,  Dutchman,  or  person  of  any  other  Forraigne  nation,  or 
any  English  lining  amongste  them  or  under  the  gouernment  of  them  or  any  of 
them,  to  trade  with  any  Indian  or  Indians  within  the  limmitts  of  this  Jurissdic- 
tion,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  by  themselues  or  others,  vnder  penalty  of  con- 
fisscation  of  all  such  goods  and  vessells  as  shall  be  found  so  trading,  or  the  due 
value  thereof,  vppon  just  proofe  of  any  goods  or  any  vessells  so  trading  or 
traded." 2 

About  this  time  (1648-1653)  the  English  and  Dutch  at  home  were 
involved  in  a  war ;  and  this  happened  fortunately  for  the  English  on 
these  shores.  They  did  not  always  cherish  a  great  love  for  Old  Eng- 
land, or  exert  themselves  much  to  do  her  service ;  but  now  they  felt 
that  they  ought  also  to  be  at  war  with  the  Dutch,  to  help  out  their  own 
politics.  Accordingly  the  "  House  of  Hope,"  as  the  Dutch  called  their 
fort  at  Hartford,  was  sequestered  or  confiscated ;  and  then  came  along 
Captain  John  Underhill  with  his  military  nien,  he  being  then  in  the 
service  of  Rhode  Island,  who  seized  this  fort,  with  its  contents,  and  it 
was  sold  to  compensate  Underhill  for  his  warlike  services  generally. 
In  all  this  story  we  have  to  confess  that  we  cannot  praise  our  fathers, 
or  take  their  part  in  their  treatment  of  their  Dutch  neighbors. 

1  Colonial  Records  of  Connecticut,  vol.  i.  p.  51. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  197.  [It  should  be  noted  here,  that  this  order  was  drawn  by  the  Com- 
missioners of  the  United  Colonies  of  New  England,  at  their  July  session,  1649,  and  was 
adopted  by  Connecticut  and  other  colonies  on  their  recommendation. —  Ed.] 


THE  RIVER  TOWNS   PLANTED.  19 


SECTION  III. 

HOW   THE  RIVER   TOWNS   CAME  TO  BE  PLANTER 

BY    THE    REV.    INCREASE    N".    TARBOX,    D.D. 

I. —  MOTIVES   TO  EMIGRATION   FROM   MASSACHUSETTS. 

Hartford  County  naturally  holds  a  different  relation  to  the  State 
of  Connecticut  from  that  of  any  other  county  in  the  State.  It  is  in 
some  sense  the  mother  rather  than  the  child.  But  the  three  towns  first 
planted  on  the  river — Wethersficld,  Hartford,  and  Windsor  —  were, 
strictly  speaking,  the  original  cradle  of  empire,  and  both  the  county 
and  the  State  owe  their  existence  to  the  towns.  Before  the  planting 
of  these  towns  there  was  an  antecedent  history  leading  up  to  this  event, 
which  might,  under  other  conditions,  be  expanded  into  a  volume. 

Alexander  Johnston,  A.M.,  of  the  Johns  Hopkins  University,  read 
a  paper  before  the  Historical  and  Political  Science  Association  in  1883, 
entitled  "  The  Genesis  of  a  New  England  State,"  which  has  since  been 
published  in  a  pamphlet.  He  sets  forth  very  distinctly  the  chaotic  con- 
dition of  land  titles  and  political  authorities  out  of  which  the  State  of 
Connecticut  rose  into  being.     Mr.  Johnston  says  (p.  10)  :  — 

"In  1634,  then,  the  territory  now  occupied  by  the  State  of  Connecticut  was 
a  veritable  No-Man's-Land.  It  had  been  granted,  indeed,  to  the  Plymouth  Coun- 
cil, but  the  grant  stood  much  on  a  par  with  a  presentation  of  a  bear-skin  whose 
natural  owner  was  yet  at  large  in  the  forest.  On  the  north,  the  Massachusetts 
boundary  line  had  been  defined  by  charter,  though  its  exact  location  in  its  whole 
length  was  still  in  the  air ;  on  the  east,  the  Plymouth  purchase  boundary  was  in 
the  same  condition.  The  debatable  ground  between  these  unsettled  boundaries 
offered  one  of  the  few  opportunities  which  the  town  system  had  to  show  how  it 
can  build  up  the  body  as  well  as  provide  the  spirit  for  a  State." 

Dr.  J.  Hammond  Trumbull,  by  his  discoveries  of  valuable  historical 
papers  and  his  various  writings,  has  shed  much  light  upon  this  antece- 
dent, as  well  as  upon  the  early  history  of  Connecticut.  Many  other 
writers  have  contributed  to  clear  up  the  questions  belonging  to  this  de- 
batable ground.  But  we  cannot  here  undertake  to  traverse  this  large 
and  interesting  field.1 

Turning,  then,  to  the  colony  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay,  from  which 
the  founders  and  fathers  of  Connecticut  came,  let  us  inquire  into  the 
causes  impelling  them  to  this  emigration,  and  the  facts  connected  with 
their  removals.  The  Massachusetts  Company  received  its  charter  in 
1628,  and  John  Endicott,  Governor,  with  a  few  families,  came  over  that 
year  and  settled  in  Salem.     In  1629  a  larger  company  arrived,  and 

1  See,  for  example,  "  The  Massachusetts  Colonial  Records,"  vol.  i.  ;  "Connecticut  Co- 
lonial Records,"  vol.  i.  (with  notes  and  appendices  by  Dr.  J.  Hammond  Trumbull)  ;  Winthrop's 
"  History  of  New  England  ;  "  Palfrey's  "  History  .of  New  England  ;"  Trumbull's  "  History  of 
Connecticut ;  "  Mather's  "Magnalia  ;  "  Walker's  "  History  of  the  First  Church  of  Hartford  ;" 
Stiles's  "  History  of  Ancient  Windsor." 


20  MEMORIAL  HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

Salem,  which  had  been  a  little  settlement,  became  a  town,  and  the  Salem 
Church  was  organized  under  the  pastoral  care  of  Messrs.  Higginson  and 
Skelton.  In  1630  a  far  larger  company  came  over,  bringing  the  charter 
and  John  Winthrop  the  Governor ;  and  Charlestown,  Dorchester,  and 
Watertown  came  into  being,  each  with  a  newly  organized  church.  This 
process  went  rapidly  on  until,  in  1635,  there  were  in  existence  in  the 
Bay  twelve  churches,  or  what  is  the  same,  as  to  numbers,  twelve  towns. 
As  early  as  1633,  but  more  distinctly  in  1634,  we  discover  signs  of  dis- 
content in  these  Massachusetts  towns,  and  men  were  talking  together 
about  changing  their  places  of  residence.  The  earliest  sign  of  this  dis- 
content, which  we  discover  through  the  published  Massachusetts  Rec- 
ords, was  in  Cambridge,  where  Mr.  Thomas  Hooker  the  year  before 
(1633)  had  come  over  and  joined  a  church  and  congregation,  which 
were  eagerly  waiting  his  arrival. 

"Att   a    Gcnrall    Courtc,   holden   att    Boston,  May  14th,  1634"    the 
following  vote  was  passed  :  — 

"  There  is  leaue  graunted  to  the  inhabitants  of  Xewe  Towne  [Cambridge]  to 
seeke  out  some  convenient  place  for  them,  with  pmise  that  it  shalbe  confirmed 
vnto  them,  to  which  they  may  remove  their  habitations,  or  haue  as  an  addicon  to 
that  wch  already  they  haue,  pvided  they  doe  not  take  it  in  any  place  to  piudice 
a  plantacon  already  setled."  1 

From  the  wording  of  this  vote  it  is  obvious  that  the  Court  did  not 
then  contemplate  any  removal  of  the  Cambridge  people  except  to  some 
place  within  or  just  outside  the  existing  settlements  in  the  Bay.  This 
was  in  May,  1634.  In  the  September  following  (September  25)  the 
subject  came  up  again.  Grants  of  meadow  land,  heretofore  belonging 
to  Watertown,  and  some  grounds  about  Muddy  River,  which  had  be- 
longed to  Boston,  were  given  to  Newtowne,  — 

"  Provided  .  .  .  that  if  Mr.  Hooker  and  the  congrecon  nowe  setled  here  shall 
remove  hence,  then  the  aforesaid  meadowe  ground  shall  returne  to  Waterton, 
and  the  ground  at  Muddy  Ryver  to   Boston."2 

As  already  said,  the  first  of  these  extracts  makes  it  plain  that  the 
members  of  the  Court  at  that  time  could  not  have  been  thinking  of  any 
distant  removal.  It  would  have  been  quite  unnecessary  to  hint  that  a 
settlement  there  could  be  "  to  piudice  a  plantacon  already  setled." 

This  uneasy  spirit,  however,  continued  to  spread.  At  the  General 
Court  held  May  6,  1635, 

"There  [was]  liberty  graunted  to  the  inhabitants  of  Waterton  to  remove 
themselves  to  any  place  they  shall  think  meete  to  make  choise  of,  pvided  they 
continue  still  vndr  this  goum*  "  8 

At  the  same  court, 

"  The  inhabitants  of  Rocksbury  hath  liberty  graunted  them  to  remove  them- 
selves to  any  place  they  shall  thinke  meete,  not  Xo  piudice  another  plantacon, 
pvided  they  continue  still  vnder  this  goum'." 

And  at  the  adjourned  Court,  June  3, 

"  There  [was]  like  leave  graunted  to  the  inhabitants  of  Dorchestr,  for  their 
removal!,  as  Waterton  hath  graunted  to  them."  * 

1  Massachusetts  Records,  vol.  i.  p.  119..  2  Ibid.,  pp.  129,  130. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  146.  4  Ibid.,  p.  118. 


THE   RIVER  TOWNS   PLANTED.  21 

Such  wide-spread  restlessness  in  four  of  the  chief  settlements  of  the 
Massachusetts  Bay,  within  four  years  after  these  towns  were  planted,  is, 
of  itself,  a  curious  fact  for  the  historical  student.  It  was  not  that  these 
people  had  repented  of  coining  to  America.  In  all  this  zeal  for  removal 
there  seems  to  have  been  no  desire  to  return  to  their  old  homes  in  Eng- 
land. And  if  they  were  to  remain  on  these  shores,  there  was  no  place 
where  they  could  have  such  security  against  the  dangers  by  which  they 
were  surrounded  as  in  the  Massachusetts  Bay.  Here  society  was  already 
organized  with  a  large  measure  of  strength,  and  the  blessings  of  neighbor- 
hood, so  desirable  in  a  new  land,  could  be  found  there  as  nowhere  else. 
Yet  in  spite  of  all  considerations  of  this  kind,  here  were  four  of  the  chief 
settlements  in  the  Massachusetts  colony  filled  with  a  spirit  of  unrest 
and  dissatisfaction  with  their  surroundings.  Of  the  four  towns  which 
had  obtained  the  right  to  remove,  Roxbury  does  not  particularly  concern 
us,  since  the  company  led  out  from  that  place  by  William  Pynchon 
founded  Springfield,  Mass.,  then  called  by  its  Indian  name  Agawam. 
There  was  a  tendency  at  first  to  link  Agawam,  as  to  government,  with 
the  towns  below ;  but  after  a  little  it  was  determined  that  it  was  in 
Massachusetts,  and  it  was  governed  accordingly. 

As  we  have  seen,  the  right  to  remove  had  been  granted  by  the  depu- 
ties of  the  General  Court,  but  there  are  evidences  that  the  magistrates 
were  strongly  opposed  to  the  scheme  and  did  all  that  they  reasonably 
could  do  to  frustrate  it.  It  was  certainly  natural  that  they  should  feel 
so.  Here  was  a  great  enterprise  intrusted  to  their  keeping,  which  at 
the  best  was  beset  with  many  difficulties,  and  which  was  now,  in  its  very 
infancy,  threatened  with  the  loss  of  a  large  portion  of  its  intelligence 
and  strength.  It  was  exceedingly  depressing  that  the  high  hopes  at- 
tendant upon  the  beginning  of  the  planting  in  the  Bay  should  be  so  soon 
overshadowed  with  doubt.  At  the  first,  as  we  have  already  said,  when 
these  suggestions  of  removal  began  to  be  whispered  abroad,  it  was  sup- 
posed that  the  new  settlements  would  be  near  at  hand,  and  that  the  real 
strength  of  the  Massachusetts  plantations  would  not  be  materially  weak- 
ened. But  at  length  it  began  to  appear  that  the  distant  valley  of  the 
Connecticut  was  the  territory  to  be  occupied.  In  various  ways,  since 
1630,  this  rich  and  fertile  valley  had  been  brought  to  the  notice  of  the 
Massachusetts  settlers.  An  Indian  sachem  came  to  Boston  in  1631, 
hoping  to  secure  an  English  colony  to  be  settled  on  the  river.  Through 
this,  and  the  various  movements  of  the  Dutch  and  the  Plymouth  people, 
as  also  the  giving  of  land  grants  on  the  territory,  there  was  considerable 
knowledge  of  the  Connecticut  River  and  the  rich  lands  along  its  borders 
at  the  time  when  these  questions  of  removal  were  up  for  consideration. 
To  all  these  discontented  people  the  privilege  of  removal  had  been 
granted,  "  pvided  they  continue  still  vnd1'  this  goumV  The  charter 
of  Massachusetts  had  been  defined  in  general  terms,  but  no  surveyor 
had  yet  been  sent  through  the  wilderness  to  fix  the  boundary  lines 
in  accordance  with  the  language  of  the  charter.  No  man  in  Boston 
could  then  tell  certainly  where  the  southern  boundary  of  Massachusetts 
would  cross  the  Connecticut  River.  Long  afterward  it  was  settled  that 
this  line  was  coincident  with  the  southern  boundary  of  the  present  town 
of  Longmeadow.  But  in  1635  the  men  of  Boston,  looking  off  upon  the 
western  wilderness,  could  only  have  a  bewildered  idea  of  lines  and  limi- 
tations.    Though  it  cannot  very  well  be  doubted  that  the  chief  desire 


22     '  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

for  change  on  the  part  of  those  removing  was  that  they  might  no  longer 
be  under  the  Massachusetts  government,  yet,  for  the  time  being,  it  was 
convenient  not  to  discuss  those  points  too  critically. 

At  the  session  of  the  General  Court  in  September,  1634,  this  whole 
business  of  the  removal  came  up  for  long  and  warm  discussion.  We 
find  no  report  of  this  discussion  in  the  "  Massachusetts  Records,"  but 
Governor  Winthrop  has  preserved  a  detailed  account  of  it  in  his  Jour- 
nal. Everything  in  his  description  goes  to  show  that  this  was  regarded 
as  a  most  important  debate  :  — 

September  4.  "  The  general  court  began  at  Newtown,  and  continued  a  week, 
and  then  was  adjourned  fourteen  days.  Mauy  things  were  there  agitated  and 
concluded.  .  .  .  Bat  the  main  business,  which  spent  the  most  time,  and  caused 
the  adjourniug  of  the  court,  was  about  the  removal  of  Newtown.  They  had  leave, 
the  last  general  court,  to  look  out  some  place  for  enlargement  or  removal,  with 
promise  to  have  it  confirmed  to  them  if  it  were  not  prejudicial  to  any  other  plan- 
tation :  and  now  they  moved  that  they  might  have  leave  to  remove  to  Connecti- 
cut. The  matter  was  debated  divers  days,  and  many  reasons  alleged  pro  and 
con." 

Here  follow  the  heads  of  the  principal  reasons  and  arguments,  on 
both  sides ;  and 

"  Upon  these  and  other  arguments,  the  court  being  divided,  it  was  put  to 
vote ;  and  of  the  deputies,  fifteen  were  for  their  departure  and  ten  against  it. 
The  Governour  and  two  assistants  were  for  it,  and  the  Deputy  and  all  the  rest  of 
the  assistants  were  against  it  (except  the  Secretary,  who  gave  no  vote) ;  where- 
upon no  record  was  entered,  because  there  were  not  six  assistants  in  the  vote,  as 
the  patent  requires.  Upon  this  grew  a  great  difference  between  the  governour  and 
assistants,  and  the  deputies."  1 

The  governor  that  year  was  Thomas  Dudley ;  the  deputy-governor, 
Roger  Ludlowe ;  and  the  assistants  were  John  Winthrop,  Sr.,-  John 
Humfry,  John  Haynes,  John  Endicott,  William  Pynchon,  Increase 
Nowell,  William  Coddington,  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  and  Simon  Brad- 
street.     But  all  of  these  assistants  were  not  present  at  the  meeting. 

In  the  spring  of  1635  John  Haynes  was  chosen  governor  in  the 
place  of  Thomas  Dudley,  and  one  of  the  first  acts  of  the  General  Court 
of  Election  (May  6)  was  to  grant  "  liberty  to  the  inhabitants  of  Water- 
ton  to  remove  themselves  to  any  place  they  shall  thinke  meete  to  make 
choise  of,  pvided  they  continue  still  vnder  this  goumV  At  an  ad- 
journed session  of  this  Court,  June  3,  after  a  vote  of  "  like  leave 
granted  to  the  inhabitants  of  Dorchester,  for  their  removeall,  as  Water- 
ton  hath  graunted  to  them,"  — 

"  Also,  there  are  three  peeces  [cannon]  granted  to  the  plantacons  that  shall 
remove  to  Conecticott,  to  ffortifie  themselues  withall."2 

This  is  the  first  formal  recognition  of  the  plantations  "  at  Connecti- 
cut" which  appears  in  the  records  of  the  General  Court.  Three  months 
later,  at  the  September  Court,  several  orders  were  made  for  the  protec- 
tion and  good  government  of  these  distant  plantations  :  — 

"  Wiftm  Westwood  is  sworne  constable  of  the  plantacons  att  Conecticott  till 
some  other  be  chosen." 

1  Winthrop,  vol.  i.  pp.  140,  141. 

2  Massachusetts  Eeconls,  vol.  i.  p.  148. 


THE   RIVER  TOWNS   PLANTED.  23 

"  There  is  power  graunted  to  any  magistrate  to  sweare  a  constable  att  any 
plantacon  att  Conecticott,  when  the  inhabitants  shall  desire  the  same."  * 

"  It  was  ordered,  that  there  shalbe  two  drakes  [small  cannon]  lent  to  the 
plantacons  att  Conecticott,  to  ffortifie  themselues  withall,  as  also  sixe  barrells  of 
powder  (2  out  of  Waterton,  2  out  of  Dorchester,  &  2  out  of  Eocksbury),  also  200 
shott,  with  other  implem'8  belonging  to  the  peeces,  that  may  conveniently  be 
spared,  all  wch  are  to  be  returned  againe  vpon  demaund.  Captaine  Vnderhill  & 
Mr.  Beecher  are  to  deliuer  theis  things."  2 

"  It  was  ordered,  that  euy  towne  vpon  Conecticott  shall  haue  liberty  to 
chuse  theire  owne  constable,  whoe  shalbe  sworne  by  some  magistrate  of  this 
Court."3 

It  is  to  be  noticed  that  these  orders  of  the  General  Court  were  made 
some  time  before  the  companies  of  emigrants  had  left  their  Massachu- 
setts homes.  Individuals  had  gone  to  prospect  and  prepare  the  way, 
but  the  great  body  of  the  colonists  did  not  leave  until  the  spring  of 
1636.  Some  of  "those  of  Dorchester"  "  removed  their  cattle  to  Con- 
necticut before  winter,"  1635,  and  "  were  put  to  great  straits  for  want 
of  provisions,"  and  "  a  great  part  of  the  old  [church  of  Dorchester]  " 
had  gone  before  the  first  of  March,  1636.4  They  knew  not  certainly, 
any  more  than  the  magistrates  in  the  Bay,  whether  or  not  they  were 
going  outside  of  the  Massachusetts  jurisdiction,  nor  did  they  then  care 
to  discuss  that  point.  They  departed  as  "  freemen  and  members  "  of 
the  Massachusetts  Bay  Company,  and  bound  for  the  present  to  obey 
its  laws.  They  accepted,  apparently  without  objection,  the  appoint- 
ment of  eight  men  from  among  the  colonists,  to  whom  the  business  of 
government  should  be  intrusted  for  one  year,  and  who  should  hold 
themselves  responsible  to  the  power  that  appointed  them.  So,  in  the 
year  1636,  the  three  bodies  of  emigrants  coming  from  Watertown,  Cam- 
bridge, and  Dorchester,  were  gathered  here  in  the  Connecticut  valley, 
bringing  the  names  of  their  old  homes  along  with  them.  What  were 
soon  the  towns  of  Wethersfield,  Hartford,  and  Windsor  were  at  the  first 
Watertowne,  Newtowne  (the  early  name  of  Cambridge),  and  Dorchester 
plantations. 

If  we  inquire  into  the  causes  producing  this  wide-spread  dissatis- 
faction and  desire  for  change  among  the  people  of  the  Massachusetts 
Bay,  it  may  be  difficult  to  state  the  case  fully  and  exactly.  Some  of 
the  reasons  urged  for  removal  certainly  were  not  very  weighty.  The 
settlers  in  the  Bay  complained  that  they  had  not  room  enough  for  ex- 
pansion, had  not  sufficient  pasturage  for  their  cattle.  But  surely  the 
unoccupied  world  around  them  was  very  large.  The  territory  then 
taken  up  by  them  was  only  an  infinitesimal  fraction  of  the  broad  domain 
covered  by  the  Massachusetts  charter.  If  it  was  land  only  that  they 
wanted,  they  might  have  helped  themselves  to  the  spreading  acres  reach- 
ing off  on  every  side,  and  still  kept  themselves  within  the  shelter  and 
protection  of  established  society. 

The  reports  which  had  from  time  to  time  been  brought  to  them  of 
the  Connecticut  valley  had  doubtless  stirred  their  imaginations.  The 
word  "  Connecticut "  meant  to  them  then  only  the  valley.  Of  the  hill 
country  east  and  west  of  the  river,  which  now  makes  so  large  a  portion 

1  Massachusetts  Records,  vol.  i.  p.  159.  2  Ibid.,  p.  160. 

8  Ibid.,  p.  160.  4  Winthrop,  vol.  i.  pp.  183,  184. 


24  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

of  the  State,  they  knew  little  or  nothing.  But  the  story  of  the  valley,  its 
richness,  beauty,  and  extent,  had  reached  their  ears  and  charmed  their 
thoughts.  It  was  lying  there,  in  the  far  west,  like  some  fair  promised 
land  waiting  for  its  chosen  people.  But  they  could  not  be  unaware  of 
the  great  hardships  and  dangers  which  must  attend  the  attempt  to 
remove  thither,  and  if  there  had  not  been  some  causes  of  irritation  and 
disturbance  greater  than  those  already  mentioned,  we  may  be  quite 
sure  that  they  would  have  remained,  for  the  time  being,  quietly  in  the 
Massachusetts  Bay. 

The  great  controversies  about  Mrs.  Anne  Hutchinson  and  her  doc- 
trines, which  so  convulsed  Boston  and  the  neighboring  towns,  had  not 
begun  at  the  time  when  this  uneasiness  first  manifested  itself  in  the 
Massachusetts  settlements.  Mrs.  Hutchinson  did  not  come  over  until 
1034.  When  the  New  Haven  colony  came  into  the  Boston  Bay  in  1637, 
with  the  general  intention  of  settling  in  that  vicinity,  this  strife  about 
faith  and  works  was  in  full  activity  and  was  rending  society  with  its 
fierce  antagonisms.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  fact  had  much  to 
do  in  turning  the  New  Haven  people  away  to  seek  another  home.  But 
this  cannot  be  urged  as  the  source  of  that  discontent  of  which  we  are 
now  trying  to  find  the  causes.  It  is  true,  before  the  Connecticut  emi- 
grants left  the  bay,  the  seeds  of  this  religious  strife  had  been  sown  and 
the  wordy  war  was  beginning,  and  this  may  have  made  those  preparing 
to  depart  only  the  more  ready  to  hasten  their  steps. 

There  used  to  be  a  rude  and  summary  way  of  settling  the  question 
now  before  us.  It  was  said  that  Mr.  Thomas  Hooker  and  Mr.  John 
Cotton  were  jealous  of  each  other,  —  that  they  were  both  too  great  to 
live  peaceably  under  the  same  jurisdiction,  and  so  Mr.  Hooker  with- 
drew, and  the  Connecticut  Colony  was  born  out  of  this  contest  for 
supremacy.  How  crude  this  is  as  a  piece  of  political  philosophy  will 
appear  from  a  few  brief  considerations.  Mr.  Cotton  and  Mr.  Hooker 
came  over  in  the  same  vessel,  the  ship  "  Griffin,"  in  1633.  Mr.  Hooker's 
old  friends,  to  whom  he  had  ministered  in  England,  with  some  others, 
had  already  gathered  themselves  together  at  Cambridge  (then  New- 
towne)  and  were  eagerly  looking  for  his  arrival.  This  he  understood  ; 
and  when  he  landed  here  in  September,  1633,  he  had  no  other  thought 
or  wish  except  to  join  immediately  his  waiting  people.  Nothing  but 
the  sternest  sense  of  duty  could  have  prevailed  upon  him  to  take  any 
other  course.  It  was  not  determined  beforehand  where  Mr.  Cotton 
should  go;  and  when  he  found  his  natural  place  in  the  Boston  church, 
as  colleague  with  Mr.  John  Wilson,  it  was  not  so  certainly  true  that  he 
had  found  the  place  he  wanted,  as  it  was  that  Mr.  Hooker  had  found 
the  place  he  wanted.  Again,  if  Mr.  Hooker  was  the  chief  mover  of 
discontent,  how  should  it  happen  that  there  was  almost  as  early  and 
as  strong  a  desire  for  removal  in  the  Dorchester  plantation  as  in  the 
Ncwtowne  ?  The  ministers  at  Dorchester,  -Mr.  John  Maverick  and  Mr. 
John  Warham,  did  not  wish  to  undertake  the  planting  of  a  new  colony. 
They  much  preferred  to  remain  where  they  were,  and  threw  their  influ- 
ence in  that  direction.  But  their  people,  in  spite  of  the  opinions  of  the 
ministers,  were  bent  on  removing.  Mr.  Maverick  died  before  the  jour- 
ney was  made,  but  Mr.  Warham  was  carried  to  Windsor  by  the  prevail- 
ing opinion  of  his  church  and  people,  and  not  of  his  own  motion. 

In  Watertown  the  case  was  different.     The  movement  from  that 


THE   RIVER   TOWNS   PLANTED.  25 

place  was  by  individuals,  and  not  by  the  church  as  a  body.  It  is  claimed 
that  some  of  the  Watertown  people,  removing  to  what  is  now  Wethers- 
field,  were  earlier  on  the  Connecticut  soil  than  any  of  the  settlers  in  the 
other  plantations.  It  would  appear  that  some  of  them  were  here  in  the 
year  1634.  But  this  movement  from  Watertown,  continued  more  at 
length  and  in  little  companies,  did  not  carry  the  church  organization 
with  it.1 

The  ministers  and  magistrates  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  as  a  rule 
did  not  favor  this  emigration,  but  opposed  it.  They  belonged  to  the 
privileged  and  governing  class,  and  were  content  with  their  lot.  The 
only  real  exception  appears  to  have  been  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Hooker. 
Mr.  Stone,  his  associate,  would  doubtless  remain  with  him  on  these 
shores,  whether  he  went  to  Hartford  or  stayed  at  Newtowne.  In  the 
circumstances  of  the  case  he  was  almost  a  part  of  Mr.  Hooker  himself. 
But  Mr.  Hooker's  sympathies  clearly  ran  with  the  discontented  people 
in  the  Massachusetts  settlements.  Governor  John  Haynes,  who  came 
over  with  Mr.  Hooker  in  the  ship  "  Griffin,"  was  of  the  same  mind. 

When  we  speak  ot  organized  churches  removing  in  bodies,  a  word 
of  caution  may  be  needful  to  prevent  misunderstanding.  It  is  not  meant 
that  the  whole  membership  of  the  Hooker  church  at  Newtowne  went 
to  Hartford,  or  the  whole  membership  of  the  church  of  Dorchester  to 
Windsor.  The  question  of  going  or  staying  was  doubtless  in  both 
cases  decided  by  the  major  vote  of  the  voting  members.  None  of  full 
age  were  compelled  to  go  who  preferred  to  remain.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  emigrants  were  not  limited  to  church-members.  The  Dorchester 
company  had  been  at  their  American  home  five  years  before  this  new 
enterprise  was  undertaken.  There  had  grown  up  in  that  plantation  a 
considerable  population  additional  to  that  which  came  over  in  the  "  Mary 
&  John  "  in  1(330.  The  increase  had  been  partly  by  birth,  but  chiefly  by 
new-comers  who  were  dropping  in  every  year.  When  the  question  of 
removal  came  up,  the  major  part  of  the  church  decided  to  go.  But  not 
a  few  church-members  stayed  behind ;  and  within  three  months  after 
the  John  Warham  church  left  for  Windsor,  another  church  was  organ- 
ized on  that  soil  under  the  pastoral  care  of  Mr.  Richard  Mather.  So  at 
Newtowne,  when  the  Hooker  company  had  taken  their  departure,  a 
church  under  Mr.  Thomas  Shepard  (afterward  son-in-law  of  Mr.  Hooker) 
was  immediately  formed  in  that  settlement,  to  meet  the  wants  of  those 
who  remained  behind  and  of  others  coming  in. 

But  still  the  question  returns  upon  us,  what  were  the  causes  incit- 
ing to  this  wide-spread  desire  in  men  to  remove  out  of  the  bounds  of 
the  Massachusetts  Bay.  The  shape  and  order  of  the  government  of 
the  Massachusetts  Bay  Company  were  fixed  in  England  before  the 
charter  came  over  in  1630.     It  was  a  system  in  which  the  real  powers 

1  The  church  of  Watertown,  organized  in  the  closing  days  of  July,  1630,  and  placed 
under  the  pastoral  care  of  Mr.  George  Phillips,  is  still  on  the  Watertown  soil,  and  celebrated 
there  its  two  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary  in  July,  1880.  On  the  other  hand,  the  church 
organized  in  Plymouth,  England,  on  the  30th  of  March,  1630,  which  came  directly  over  in  a 
body  and  settled  in  Dorchester, — that  church  celebrated  its  two  hundred  and  fiftieth  anni- 
versary, March  30,  1880,  in  the  town  of  Windsor, -Conn.,  because,  as  an  organized  church, 
it  left  Dorchester,  Mass.,  in  the  year  1636,  and  ever  after  made  its  home  in  Windsor.  In  like 
manner  the  church  which  was  organized  in  Cambridge,  Mass.,  in  October,  1632  or  1633,  cele- 
brated its  two  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary  in  Hartford,  Conn.,  in  October,  1883.  The 
anniversary  dated  from  the  installation  of  Mr.  Hooker  and  Mr.  Stone  at  Newtown,  but  the 
church  may  have  been  organized  the  previous  yearv 


26  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF  HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

and  prerogatives  of  government  were  lodged  in  the  hands  of  a  few  men, 
and  the  great  body  of  the  common  people  had  little  or  nothing  to  do 
with  it.  The  leaders  of  the  colony  were  men  who  had  felt  themselves 
oppressed  in  Old  England,  and  they  had  betaken  themselves  to  New 
England  that  they  might  breathe  the  air  of  liberty.  But  it  is  hard  for 
men  anywhere  to  clear  themselves  at  once  from  the  ideas  and  entangle- 
ments of  the  past.  Even  when  they  think  they  are  taking  great  strides 
toward  freedom  and  justice,  they  will  yet  be  held  fast  in  the  chains  of 
old  routine  and  habit.  Governor  John  Winthrop  and  the  chief  men 
associated  with  him  were  noble  and  just  men,  and  meant  to  do  that 
which  was  good  and  right.  But  they  had  been  trained  under  a  kingly 
and  aristocratic  system,  where  full-grown  men,  belonging  to  the  com- 
mon orders,  were  thought  to  have  no  more  to  do  with  government  in 
matters  of  Church  or  State  than  little  children  in  their  nurses'  arms. 
That  idea,  embodied  virtually  in  the  constitution  of  the  Massachusetts 
company,  was  taken  over  in  1630  from  Old  England  to  New  England. 
Some  seeds  of  liberty  were  there  which  would  work  themselves  out  into 
fruit  in  the  course  of  time  ;  but  in  the  years  1630-1636  the  government 
of  the  Massachusetts  Bay,  in  the  final  resort,  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
governor  of  the  colony  and  a  few  men  closely  associated  with  him.  The 
people  might  be  amused  with  the  idea  that  they  were  making  and  execut- 
ing the  laws.  The^v  might  be  permitted  to  play  with  the  outward  forms. 
But  the  governor,  magistrates,  and  ministers  settled  all  questions  at  the 
last. 

In  this  connection,  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  in  the  Massachusetts 
Bay  system  none  but  church-members  were  even  called  freemen.  None 
but  church-members  were  permitted  even  the  pleasure  of  playing  with 
the  machinery  of  government.  It  was  not  so  down  in  the  Plymouth 
Colony,  where  the  Pilgrims  had  had  their  government  in  working  order 
for  several  years  before  the  Puritans  came  to  the  Massachusetts  Bay. 
In  Plymouth  all  men,  whether  church-members  or  not,  except  such  as 
were  scandalous  and  corrupt  in  their  lives,  were  made  voters,  and  shared 
in  the  privileges  of  the  free  government.  We  say  were  made  voters,  for 
then  nowhere  would  a  man  be  considered  a  voter  simply  by  reaching 
a  certain  age  and  paying  a  poll-tax.  He  would  be  received  on  his  mer- 
its. But  at  Plymouth  there  was  no  system  in  operation  which  would 
exclude  a  man  of  fair  character  from  membership  in  the  body  politic. 
Miles  Standish  was  not  a  church-member,  and  was  sometimes  a  little 
rough  and  stormy  in  his  ways  ;  but  he  could  be  a  voter  and  a  magistrate 
under  the  Plymouth  system. 

In  a  government  like  that  in  the  Massachusetts  Bay  common  men 
felt  themselves  oppressed.  They  were  interfered  with  in  a  thousand 
little  matters  which  were  of  a  private  nature,  and  which  might  best 
have  been  left  to  themselves.  Mr.  Hooker,  when  he  came  to  Boston 
and  Cambridge  in  1633,  found  the  common  people  throughout  these 
new  plantations  suffering  under  this  sense  of  oppression.  There  was  a 
meddlesome  interference  with  them  as  individuals  which  warred  with 
their  self-respect  and  disturbed  their  peace.  They  felt  this  the  more 
keenly  in  New  England  than  they  would  have  felt  it  in  Old  England. 
They  had  come  out  here  as  from  a  land  of  bondage  to  a  place  of  liberty  ; 
and  to  encounter  in  this  their  new  home  all  the  annoyances  which  they 
before  had,  was  a  special  aggravation. 


THE  RIVER  TOWNS   PLANTED.  27 

Sir  Richard  Saltonstall,  the  first  of  the  eighteen  assistants  named  in 
the  Massachusetts  Bay  charter,  came  over  with  Governor  Winthrop 
in  1630,  and  cast  in  his  lot  with  the  Watertown  people.  In  1631  he 
returned  to  England,  leaving  his  affairs  here  in  the  hands  of  his  two 
sons.  From  England  he  wrote  a  letter  to  the  ministers  of  Boston  from 
which  we  make  one  or  two  brief  extracts.     He  says  :  — 

"  It  doth  not  a  little  grieve  my  spirit  to  hear  what  sadd  things  are  reported 
daily  of  your  tyranny  and  persecutions  in  New  England,  as  that  you  fyne,  whip, 
and  imprison  men  for  their  consciences.  .  .  .  These  rigid  ways  have  laid  you 
very  low  in  the  hearts  of  the  saynts.  We  pray  for  you  and  wish  you  prosperitie 
euery  way  and  not  to  practice  these  courses  in  the  wilderness  which  you  went  so 
far  to  preuent.  ...  I  hope  you  do  not  assume  to  yourselves  infallibilitie  of  judg- 
ment, when  the  most  learned  of  the  apostles  confessed  he  knew  but  in  part  and 
saw  but  darkly  as  through  a  glass.  Oh  that  all  those  who  are  brethren,  though 
yet  they  cannot  think  and  speak  the  same  things,  might  be  of  one  accord  in  the 
Lord.  .  .  .  The  Lord  give  you  meeke  and  humble  spirits  and  to  striue  so  much 
for  uniformitie  as  to  keep  the  unity  of  the  spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace." 

Mr.  Hooker  held  very  different  ideas  from  those  current  among  the 
magistrates  in  the  Bay  touching  the  rights  of  the  individual  man  and 
his  place  in  a  human  government.  His  philosophy,  instead  of  starting 
with  the  divine  right  of  kings  and  lords  and  flowing  downward, 
started  with  the  individual  and  worked  outward  and  upward.  We 
have,  fortunately,  the  abstracts  of  two  sermons  or  lectures  preached  by 
Mr.  Hooker  in  connection  with  the  making  and  putting  into  operation 
of  the  original  constitution  for  the  government  of  the  Connecticut 
Colony  in  1638  and  1639.  These  abstracts  were  preserved  in  short- 
hand in  a  manuscript  note-book  of  Mr.  Henry  Wolcott,  of  Windsor.1 
These  heads  of  discourse  are  brief,  but  full  of  meaning.  They  mark 
the  strength  and  amplitude  of  Mr.  Hooker's  mind.  The  first  sermon 
or  lecture  was  given  on  Thursday,  May  31,  1638,  from  the  text, 
Deut.  i.  13,  "Take  you  wise  men,  and  understanding,  and  known  among 
your  tribes,  and  I  will  make  them  rulers  over  you."  ..."  Captains 
over  thousands,  and  captains  over  hundreds  —  over  fifties  —  over 
tens,"  etc. 

"  Doctrine  I.  That  the  choice  of  public  magistrates  belongs  unto  the  people, 
by  God's  own  allowance. 

"  II.  The  privilege  of  election,  which  belongs  to  the  people,  therefore  must 
not  be  exercised  according  to  their  humours,  but  according  to  the  blessed  will 
and  law  of  God. 

"  III.  They  who  have  power  to  appoint  officers  and  magistrates,  it  is  in 
their  power  also  to  set  the  bounds  and  limitations  of  the  power  and  place  unto 
which  they  call  them. 

"Reasons:  1.  Because  the  foundation  of  authority  is  laid  firstly  in  the  free 
consent  of  the  people. 

"  2.  Because,  by  a  free  choice,  the  hearts  of  the  people  will  be  more  inclined 
to  the  love  of  the  persons  [chosen],  and  more  ready  to  yield  [obedience]." 

No  one  could  desire  a  broader  charter  for  individual  right  and  pub- 
lic liberty.     He  might  have  drawn  another  lesson  from  the  text  which 

1  They  were  deciphered  by  Dr.  J.  Hammond  Trumbull,  and  are  printed  in  the  first  volume 
of  the  Collections  of  the  Connecticut  Historical  Society,  pp.  20,  21. 


28  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

he  chose,  and  very  likely  he  did  draw  it,  for  we  have  only  the  briefest 
outline  of  the  discourse,  namely,  that  God  said  unto  the  people,  "  Choose 
and  /  will  make  them  rulers,"  etc. ;  bringing  democratic  liberty  into 
harmony  with  that  great  Bible  truth,  "there  is  no  power  but  of  God; 
for  the  powers  that  be  are  ordained  of  God." 

The  same  broad  and  catholic  principles  of  government  are  an- 
nounced in  a  letter  from  Mr.  Hooker  to  Governor  John  Winthrop,  Sr. 
from  which  we  shall  have  occasion  to  quote  by  and  by  for  another  pur- 
pose. The  passage  we  are  now  to  copy  may  be  found  in  Vol.  I.  of  the 
''  Collections  of  the  Connecticut  Historical  Society,"  (p.  12)  : 

"  It 's  also  a  truth  that  counsel  should  he  sought  of  counsellors  ;  but  the 
question  yet  is,  who  those  should  be.  Reserving  smaller  matters,  which  fall  in 
occasionally,  in  common  course,  to  a  lower  counsel,  in  matters  of  greater  conse- 
quence, which  concern  the  common  good,  a  general  counsel  chosen  by  all,  to 
transact  businesses  which  concern  all,  I  conceive,  under  favour,  most  suitable  to 
rule  and  most  safe  for  relief  of  the  whole." 

Such  unmistakable  language  as  this  clearly  shows  the  bent  of 
Mr.  Hooker's  thinking  on  matters  pertaining  to  government.  It  is 
apparent  that  he  would  have  been  much  more  at  home  down  in  the 
Plymouth  plantation,  in  company  with  such  men  as  Governor  William 
Bradford,  Edward  Winslow,  and  Elder  William  Brewster,  than  he  was 
among  the  leading  magistrates  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay,  with  their 
high  prerogatives  That  Mr.  Hooker  had  this  democratic  tendency  in 
act  as  well  as  in  word,  is  made  evident  by  the  shape  given,  in  this  respect, 
to  the  Connecticut  Colony  when  it  came  to  be  politically  organized.  It 
seems  to  be  generally  conceded  that  no  one  man  did  more  than  he  to 
give  form  to  the  early  institutions  of  Connecticut.  Governor  John 
Haynes  and  other  of  the  chief  men  of  Connecticut  seem  to  have  been 
in  sympathy  and  harmony  with  him ;  but  he  stands  as  the  leading 
thinker  in  matters  civil,  as  in  matters  ecclesiastical  and  theological. 
When  society  here  had  been  organized,  and  the  government  set  in 
motion,  it  was  found  that  the  body  of  freemen,  as  a  rule,  embraced  all 
persons  who  should  be  recommended  and  presented  by  the  major  vote 
of  their  several  towns. 

Connecticut,  then,  was  born,  at  the  time  it  was,  largely  out  of  the 
public  dissatisfactions  prevailing  in  the  Massachusetts  Bay  ;  while  at 
the  same  time  it  is  not  to  be  doubted  that  the  rulers  and  managers  of 
affairs  in  that  jurisdiction  were  trying  sincerely,  according  to  the  light 
they  had,  to  establish  a  commonwealth  for  the  honor  of  God  and  the 
welfare  of  men.  And  in  spite  of  all  the  early  hindrances  encountered, 
it  grew  at  length  into  the  grandest  proportions  of  freedom  and  public 
intelligence. 


THE   EXODUS   AND   THE   FIRST   COMERS.  29 


II.     THE  EXODUS   AND   THE  FIRST  COMERS. 

In  what  precedes  many  things  have  been  said,  incidentally,  touching 
the  going*  out  of  the  people  from  the  settlements  of  the  Massachusetts 
Bay,  to  plant  the  first  towns  in  the  Connecticut  valley.  But  it  will 
not  be  amiss  if  we  consider,  in  more  minute  detail,  the  order  and  man- 
ner of  their  going.  In  looking  back  over  those  early  years,  we  are 
apt  to  think  of  this  movement  as  having  taken  place  in  solid  bodies, 
and  at  about  one  and  the  same  time.  On  the  other  hand,  what  may 
fairly  be  called  the  "  Exodus  "  was  fragmentary,  and  stretched  itself, 
as  a  whole,  over  several  years.  It  has  been  previously  suggested  that 
more  was  known  at  an  early  date  among  the  people  of  the  Bay  about 
the  Connecticut  valley  than  might  at  first  be  supposed.  It  must  be 
remembered  that  the  people  of  Plymouth  had  been  on  these  shores  ten 
years  before  Governor  Winthrop  and  his  company  arrived ;  and  what- 
ever knowledge  the  Plymouth  people  had  of  New  England,  its  previous 
history,  its  rivers,  lakes,  and  mountains,  the  Indian  tribes  inhabiting  it, 
etc.,  would  be  naturally  communicated  in  one  way  and  another  to  their 
Puritan  brethren  in  the  Bay. 

But  there  had  been  passings  to  and  fro  directly  between  the  Massa- 
chusetts Bay  and  the  valley  in  those  early  years.  Governor  Winthrop, 
in  his  Journal,  under  date  of  April  4,  1631,  says  :  — 

"  Wahgiimacut,  a  sachem  upon  the  River  Quonehtacut,  which  lies  west  of 
Xaragancet,  came  to  the  Governour  at  Boston,  with  John  Sagamore  and  Jack 
Straw  (an  Indian  who  had  lived  in  England  and  had  served  Sir  Walter  Raleigh, 
and  was  now  turned  Indian  again),  and  divers  of  their  sannops,  and  brought 
a  letter  to  the  governour  from  Mr.  Endecott  to  this  effect  :  that  the  said  Wah- 
giimacut was  very  desirous  to  have  some  Englishmen  to  come  plant  in  his  coun- 
try, and  offered  to  find  them  corn,  and  give  them  yearly  eighty  skins  of  heaver, 
and  that  the  country  was  very  fruitful,  etc.,  and  wished  that  there  might  be  two 
men  sent  with  him  to  see  the  country.  The  Governour  entertained  them  at 
dinner,  but  would  send  none  with  him.  He  discovered  after,  that  the  said  saga- 
more is  a  very  treacherous  man,  and  at  war  with  the  Pekoath  (a  far  greater  saga- 
more).    His  country  is  not  above  five  days'  journey  from  us  by  land." 

The  Pekoath  was  the  chief  of  the  Pequods,  and  it  was  nothing  very 
treacherous  or  wicked  in  Wahgiimacut  if  he  did  want  the  English, 
with  their  weapons  of  war  and  greater  power,  to  come  into  his  coun- 
try to  serve  as  a  shelter  against  that  cruel  and  warlike  tribe.  The 
reference  to  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  is  interesting.  When  Raleigh's  ships 
were  going  back  and  forth  in  the  ineffectual  attempt  to  plant"  a  colony 
in  Virginia,  1685-1691,  they  carried  quite  a  number  of  natives  to  Eng- 
land. It  must  have  been  more  than  forty  years  before,  that  this  Jack 
Straw  went  to  England,  probably  as  a  youth,  but  meanwhile  had  be- 
come a  man  well  advanced.  Although  Governor  Winthrop  and  his 
associates  concluded  not  to  give  ear  to  this  request,  yet  as  this  Indian 
deputation  came  with  an  interpreter,  they  must  have  communicated 
much  information,  then  fresh  and  new,  about  New  England's  chief 
river  and  the  lands  bordering  upon  it.  The  Indians  then  made  a 
like  application  to  the  men  of  the  Plymouth  Colony,  and  they  were 


30  MEMORIAL    HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

much  more  inclined  to  listen  to  it.  At  that  time  and  in  that  wilderness 
land  all  such  business  as  this  had  to  move  slowly.  But  Governor 
Winthrop,  under  date  of  July  12,  1633,  records  as  follows :  — 

"  Mr.  Edward  Winslow,  governour  of  Plimouth,  and  Mr.  Bradford  came  into 
the  Bay  and  went  away  the  18th.  They  came  partly  to  confer  about  joining  in 
a  trade  to  Connecticut,  for  beaver  and  liemp.  There  was  a  motion  to  set  up  a 
trading-house  there,  to  prevent  the  Dutch,  who  were  about  to  build  one  ;  but  in 
regard  the  place  was  not  fit  for  plantation,  there  being  three  or  four  thousand 
warlike  Indians,  and  the  river  not  to  be  gone  into  but  by  small  pinnaces,  having 
a  bar  affording  but  six  feet  at  high  water,  and  for  that  no  vessels  can  get  in  for 
seven  months  in  the  year,  partly  by  reason  of  the  ice,  and  then  the  violent 
stream,  etc.,  we  thought  not  fit  to  meddle  with  it."  1 

Mr.  Winslow  was  Governor  of  Plymouth  that  year,  because  Mr. 
Bradford  so  desired  (the  hitter  serving  as  governor  more  than  thirty 
years  in  all).  These  two  men,  of  high  character,  seem  to  have  been  at 
Boston  six  days  partly  on  this  business,  but  their  visit  was  unsuccess- 
ful. The  reasons  urged  against  their  proposition  (as  Mr.  Savage,  the 
editor  of  Winthrop,  admits)  "  look  more  like  pretexts  than  real  mo- 
tives." And,  he  adds,  "  some  disingenuousness,  I  fear,  may  be  imputed 
to  [the  Massachusetts]  council."  The  whole  matter  was  dismissed  in 
a  way  that  seems  wanting  in  courtesy.  "  We  thought  not  fit  to  meddle 
with  it."  The  settlements  were  rich  and  strong  in  the  Massachusetts 
Bay,  and  the  Separatists  down  at  Plymouth  were  rather  poor  and  hum- 
ble people,  and  the  Massachusetts  men  preferred  not  to  be  mixed  up 
with  them.  Governor  Winslow  and  Governor  Bradford  went  back  to 
Plymouth,  and  the  Plymouth  people  decided  to  undertake  alone  the  en- 
terprise which  they  had  asked  the  men  of  Massachusetts  to  share. 

Though  the  Massachusetts  leaders  thought  not  "  fit  to  meddle  with 
it,"  they  did  begin  to  meddle  with  it,  in  their  way,  almost  as  soon  as 
the  Plymouth  governors  were  gone  home.  It  happened  about  the  be- 
ginning of  September,  1633,  that  "  John  Oldham,  and  three  with  him, 
went  overland  to  Connecticut,  to  trade."  "  About  ten  clays  before 
this  time,  a  bark  was  set  forth  to  Connecticut  and  those  parts,  to 
trade."  2 

If  this  had  been  a  simple  private  enterprise  of  John  Oldham  and  his 
three  companions,  we  should  not  probably  have  found  his  name,  in  this 
connection,  in  Winthrop' s  Journal.  John  Oldham  was  a  strange  char- 
acter, a  man  of  considerable  ability,  but  a  restless  and  roving  adven- 
turer, who  came  to  Plymouth  as  early  as  1623,  and  had  already  passed 
through  a  variety  of  fortunes.  He  had  been  ignominiously  expelled  from 
Plymouth  in  1624,  and  had  lived  some  time  at  Nantasket.  He  had  now 
joined  himself  to  the  Watertown  settlement  in  the  Bay,  where  land  had 
been  granted  him,  and  where  he  was  employed,  to  some  extent,  in  an 
official  capacity.  No  man  in  the  Bay  was  more  fit,  by  his  knowledge 
of  the  Indians,  to  be  sent  on  such  an  exploring  expedition  than  he. 
Governor  Winthrop  tells  us,  "  The  sachem  used  them  kindly  and  gave 
them  some  beaver.  They  brought  of  the  hemp  which  grows  there  in 
great  abundance,  and  is  much  better  than  the  English."  3 

1  Winthrop,  vol.  i.  p.  105.  2  Ibid.,  p.  Ill  ;  under  date  of  Sept.  4. 

3  John  Oldham,  after  all  his  wanderings  and  exposures,  was  killed  by  the  Indians  of  Block 
Island  in  1636,  and  his  death  was  made  one  of  the  pretexts  for  the  war  against  the  Pequots. 


THE  EXODUS  AND   THE   FIRST   COMERS.  31 

Not  only  was  there  this  overland  expedition  to  the  valley,  but  under 
date  of  Oct.  2,  1633,  Winthrop  (i.  112)  records  the  return  of 

"  The  bark  Blessing  [Winthrop' s  vessel,  the  "  Blessing  of  the  Bay  "],  which  was 
sent  to  the  southward.  .  .  .  She  had  been  at  an  island  over  against  Connecticut, 
called  Long  Island.  .  .  .  They  were  also  in  the  river  of  Connecticut,  which  is 
barred  at  the  entrance,  so  as  they  could  not  find  above  one  fathom  of  water." 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  both  this  voyage  by  sea  and  Old- 
ham's overland  journey  were  brought  about  by  the  proposition  from 
Plymouth  which  the  Massachusetts  men  "  did  not  think  fit  to  meddle 
with."  John  Oldham  went  back  to  his  home  in  Watertown.  This  was 
in  the  fall  of  1633.  Winter  was  coming  on,  and  nothing  more  could  be 
done  until  another  season.1  Oldham  and  his  three  companions  seem  to 
have  been  the  first  white  men  that  had  gone  across  the  country  from 
the  Bay  to  the  river.  Winthrop  tells  us  that  "  he  lodged  at  Indian 
towns  all  the  way."  He  had  been  in  the  country  now  ten  years,  and 
he  knew  the  ways  and  habits  of  the  Indians,  and  probably  had  acquired 
their  language  sufficiently  to  hold  some  converse  with  them. 

The  winter  of  1633-1634  passed  by,2  and  in  the  summer  of  1634 
Oldham  led  out  a  company  of  settlers,  or  adventurers,  and  planted  them 
at  Pyquaug,  afterward  called  Watertown,  and  a  little  later  Wethers- 
field.  It  is  generally  believed  that  this  company  reached  their  destina- 
tion late  in  the  summer  or  in  the  early  autumn  ;  and  from  the  fact  that 
they  chose  Pyquaug,  it  is  supposed  that  this  place  had  been  reached  by 
Oldham  and  his  three  companions  the  previous  year. 

One  thing  here  is  worthy  of  particular  notice.  The  movement  of 
this  company  of  men  under  Oldham  was  before  leave  had  been  granted 
to  the  people  of  any  of  the  Massachusetts  towns  to  remove.  It  was 
Sept.  4,  1634,  when  the  long  debate  began,  which  decided  that  the  in- 
habitants of  Newtowne  might  remove ;  and  it  was  not  until  May  6, 
1635,  that  the  like  privilege  was  given  to  the  Watertown  company. 
But  these  adventurers  with  Oldham  were  on  the  ground  in  Connecticut 
before  even  the  Newtowne  people  — the  first  to  obtain  this  privilege  —  had 
received  any  such  permission.  This  was  not,  then,  a  part  of  that  larger 
movement  of  disaffected  people  upon  which  we  have  so  fully  dwelt. 

1  At  least  one  other  overland  journey  from  the  Bay  to  the  Connecticut  Valley  was  made  in 
the  autumn  of  1633.  Under  date  of  Jan.  20,  1634,  Winthrop  mentions  the  return  of  "Hall 
and  the  two  others,  who  went  to  Connecticut  November  3,  .  .  .  having  lost  themselves  and 
endured  much  misery.  They  informed  us  that  the  small-pox  was  gone  as  far  as  any  In- 
dian plantation  was  known  to  the  west,  and  much  people  dead  of  it,  by  reason  whereof  they 
could  have  no  trade."  (i.  123).  Hubbard  (Hist,  of  N.  England,  cxxviii.)  says  that  "Sam- 
uel Hall,  who  died  lately  about  Maiden,  in  Essex,  scil.  1680,"  went  with  Oldham  on  his 
first  journey  to  Connecticut,  "in  the  beginning  of  September."  Samuel  Hall  was  of  Ipswich, 
in  1636,  afterwards  returned  home  to  England,  and  died  1680,  "at  Langford,  near  Maiden,  in 
Essex." — Savage,  Genealogical  Dictionary. 

2  The  report  made  by  Hall  and  his  companions  was  not  such  as  to  encourage  new  adven- 
turers, even  if  the  season  had  been  more  favorable  for  undertaking  so  long  and  perilous  a  journey. 
"This  winter  was  very  mild,  .  .  .  but  oft  snows,  and  great  :  one  snow,  the  15th  [of  Febru- 
ary] was  near  two  feet  deep  all  over,"  in  Massachusetts.  {Winthrop,  i.  124).  There  was  no 
hope  of  success  in  trade  with  the  Indians,  for  hunting  and  trapping  were  suspended  by  the 
terrible  ravages  of  the  small-pox  among  the  Connecticut  tribes.  The  few  who  were  not 
stricken  by  disease  had  enough  to  do  in  tending  the  sick  and  burying  the  dead.  Of  "about 
a  thousand  of  them"  who  occupied  a  palisadoed  fort,  near  the  Plymouth  trading-house 
( Windsor),  ' '  above  900,  and  a  halfe  of  them  dyed,  and  many  of  them  did  rott  above  ground  for 
want  of  buriall."  —  Bradford,  History  of  Plymouth,  p.  325. 


32  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

Can  we  well  doubt  that  it  was  a  scheme  to  counterbalance  the  enter- 
prise of  the  Plymouth  men  in  planting  their  trading-house  at  Windsor 
the  year  before  ? 

Another  little  record  in  Winthrop's  Journal  for  July,  1634,  is  worthy 
of  attention :  — 

"  Six  of  Newtown  went  in  the  Blessing  (being  bound  to  the  Dutch  planta- 
tion), to  discover  the  Connecticut  river,  intending  to  remove  their  town  thither." 

It  is  certainly  a  curious  circumstance  that  a  place  "  not  fit  for  plan- 
tation, there  being  three  or  four  thousand  warlike  Indians,  and  the  river 
not  to  be  gone  into  but  by  small  pinnaces,"  etc.,  should  so  soon  after 
become  a  place  of  such  commanding  interest.  There  was  then,  in 
1634,  at  Windsor  a  small  company  of  white  men  from  Plymouth,  and 
a  larger  company  (eighteen  or  twenty)  at  Wethersfield.  Whether  the 
six  Newtowne  men  who  sailed  that  summer  "  to  discover  the  Connecticut 
river,"  which  the  Dutch  had  discovered  in  1614,  returned  home  or  tar- 
ried in  those  parts  we  do  not  discover. 

During  the  year  1635  other  important  steps  were  taken  in  the  settle- 
ment of  the  Connecticut  valley,  though  as  yet  the  whole  enterprise  was  in 
its  incipient  stages.  The  little  company  which  John  Oldham  led  to 
Wethersfield  in  1634  managed  to  live  through  the  winter  of  1634-35, 
and  early  in  the  summer  following  received  quite  a  large  accession 
from  their  old  friends  and  neighbors  at  Watertown,  Mass.  Francis  S. 
Drake,  in  his  "  History  of  Middlesex  County,  Mass."  (vol.  ii.  p.  440), 
says :  — 

"  Wethersfield,  the  oldest  town  in  Connecticut,  received  from  Watertown  its 
first  considerable  emigration  in  1634.  Pyquaug,  its  Indian  name,  was  changed 
in  1635  to  Watertown,  and  later  to  Wethersfield.  .  .  .  May  29,  1635,  the  follow- 
ing Watertown  men  went  to  Wethersfield  :  Rev.  Richard  Denton,  Robert  Rey- 
nolds, John  Strickland,  Jonas  Weede,  Rev.  John  Sherman,  Robert  Coe,  and 
Andrew  Ward." 

Others,  doubtless,  were  in  this  company,  but  these  are  mentioned  as 
leading  men.  It  has  already  been  stated  in  a  previous  section  that 
Watertown  did  not  send  an  embodied  church  to  Connecticut ;  but  in  this 
company  of  1635  were  two  ministers,  both  men  of  good  ability,  and 
one  of  them,  John  Sherman,  eminent  for  his  mathematical  knowledge 
as  well  as  his  pulpit  power. 

About  this  time  came  another  accession  to  the  population  of  the 
valley,  from  a  somewhat  unexpected  quarter.  June  16,  1635,  "  A 
bark  of  forty  tons  arrived  [at  Boston],  set  forth  with  twenty  servants, 
by  Sir  Richard  Saltonstall,  to  go  plant  at  Connecticut."  1 

Sir  Richard  Saltonstall  was  in  England,  and  this  company  sent  by 
him,  under  Mr.  Francis  Stiles,  came  up  the/river  and  landed  at  Wind- 
sor, where  they  found  the  little  company  of  Plymouth  men  already 
established.  This  new  arrival  complicated  matters  at  Windsor.  The 
men  from  Plymouth,  braving  the  opposition  of  the  Dutch,  had  already 
built  their  trading-house  at  this  point.  But  the  problem  at  Windsor 
was  still  more  complicated   by  the   arrival   of   a  pioneer   party  from 

1  Winthrop,  vol.  i.  p.  161. 


THE   EXODUS   AND   THE   FIRST   COMERS.  33 

Dorchester,  Mass.,  to  break  ground  and  prepare  for  the  coming  soon 
after  of  the  main  body  of  emigrants  from  that  plantation. 

Palfrey  quietly  remarks,1  "  It  was  not  by  Dutchmen  that  the  Plymouth 
people  were  to  be  dispossessed  of  Connecticut ; "  and  if  he  had  gone  on 
and  completed  the  sentence  as  it  lay  in  his  mind,  he  would  probably  have 
added,  "  but  by  their  English  brethren  in  the  Massachusetts  Bay." 

It  was  the  1st  of  July,  1635,  when  this  company  from  England 
landed  in  the  Connecticut  valley.  The  Dorchester  pioneers,  who  had 
been  there  a  few  days  before,  had  gone  up  the  river  prospecting,  to  see 
if  they  could  look  out  any  better  place.2  They  did  not  discover  any  that 
suited  them  so  well,  and  they  returned  to  find  those  new-comers  on  the 
ground.  Here  were  three  companies  of  English-born  people  putting  in 
their  claims  for  the  Windsor  territory  ;  and  the  Plymouth  people,  who 
had  bought  the  land  of  the  Indians,  being  few  in  number,  felt  compelled 
at  last  to  make  such  terms  as  they  could,  and  retire,  —  not  at  once,  for 
there  was  a  long  complication  over  this  business  before  matters  were 
finally  adjusted. 

John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  came  over  to  the  Massachusetts  Bay  in  1632, 
and  in  May  of  that  year  was  chosen  one  of  the  assistants.  In  1633, 
with  a  little  company  of  twelve  he  "  set  up  a  trucking  house  up 
Merrimac  river,"  at  Agawam,  thereby  laying  the  foundations  of  the 
town  of  Ipswich.  He  went  back  to  England  in  1634,  and  in  October, 
1635,  returned  at  the  head  of  a  new  enterprise  looking  to  the  occupation 
of  the  Connecticut  River  and  the  settlement  of  Connecticut. 

Palfrey  says  :  — 

' '  When  John  Winthrop  the  younger  came  to  Xew  England  the  second  time, 
he  bore  a  commission  from  Lord  Say  and  Sele,  Lord  Brooke,  and  others  their 
associates,  patentees  of  Connecticut.  It  constituted  him  Governor  of  that  terri- 
tory for  a  year,  with  instructions  to  build  a  fort  at  the  river's  mouth,  for  which 
he  came  provided  with  men  and  ammunition,  and  with  two  thousand  pounds  in 
money.  .  .  .  He  was  to  take  care  that  all  settlers  for  the  present  should  '  plant 
themselves  either  at  the  harbor  or  near  the  mouth  of  the  river,'  for  the  purpose 
of  more  effective  mutual  defence."3 

Sir  Richard  Saltonstall  was  one  of  these  patentees,  and  it  was  in 
aid  of  this  general  enterprise  that  he  had  sent  forward  the  vessel  and 
passengers  already  noticed.  This  company  held,  or  supposed  they  held, 
the  territory  of  Connecticut,  through  powers  conferred  by  Robert  Rich, 
Earl  of  Warwick,  president  of  the  council  for  New  England.  George 
Fenwick  was  one  of  these  patentees.  He  came  over  as  their  represent- 
ative, in  1636,  to  take  charge  of  the  Saybrook  plantation.  He  contin- 
ued to  manage  and  govern  the  same  until,  in  1644,  the  whole  was  sold 
to  the  colony  of  Connecticut. 

Governor  Winthrop  notices  in  his  Journal  the  arrival  of  his  son  at 
the  head  of  this  new  interest.     Under  date  of  October,  1635,  he  says : 

1  History  of  New  England,  vol.  i.  p.  340. 

2  July  6,  1635,  Jonathan  Brewster,  who  was  the  manager  of  the  Plymouth  trading-house 
at  "Matianuck"  (Windsor),  wrote  to  Governor  Bradford,  "  Ye  Massachusetts  men  are  coming 
almost  dayly,  some  hy  water  &  some  by  land,  who  are  not  yet  determined  where  to  setle,  though 
some  have  a  great  mind  to  ye  place  we  are  upon,  and  which  was  last  bought.  ...  I  shall  doe 
what  I  can  to  withstand  them.  I  hope  they  will  hear  reason,"  etc.  —Bradford,  History  of 
Plymouth,  p.  339. 

3  History  of  New  England,  vol.  i.  p.  450. 

vol.  I.  —  3. 


34  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

"  There  came  also  John  Winthrop,  the  younger,  with  commission  from  the 
Lord  Say,  Lord  Brook,  and  divers  other  great  persons  in  England,  to  begin  a 
plantation  at  Connecticut  and  to  be  governour  there." 

One  other  item  may  complete  the  record  of  1635  so  far  as  concerns 
the  laying  of  foundations  for  the  settlement  of  the  Connecticut  valley. 
Late  in  the  autumn  an  overland  company  set  out  from  the  Massachu- 
setts Bay  and  fell  on  troublous  times.  Winthrop  wrote,  under  date  of 
Oct.  15, 1635  :  — 

"  About  sixty  men,  Avomen,  and  little  children  went  by  land  towards  Con- 
necticut with  their  cows,  horses,  and  swine,  and  after  a  tedious  and  difficult 
journey  arrived  safe  there." 

A  month  later  (November  26)  he  has  the  following  entry,  which 
refers  to  the  same  journey  :  — 

"  There  came  twelve  men  from  Connecticut.  They  had  been  ten  days  upon 
their  journey,  and  had  lost  one  of  their  company,  drowned  in  the  ice  by  the  way  ; 
and  had  been  all  starved,  but  that,  by  God's  providence,  they  lighted  upon  an 
Indian  wigwam.     Connecticut  river  was  frozen  up  the  15th  of  this  month." 

The  cold  weather  set  in  early  that  season,  but  it  was  not  wise  to 
defer  such  a  journey,  with  women  and  children  and  cattle,  to  so  late  a 
period.  As  it  proved,  the  goods  which  they  sent  round  by  water  were 
frozen  in  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  and,  being  without  supplies,  the 
twelve  men  seem  to  have  struggled  back  through  the  forests  so  that  the 
burden  of  support  might  be  loss  upon  those  who  were  already  there. 
If  the  men  from  Plymouth  and  Stiles's  party  had  not  taken  care  of  these 
unfortunate  travellers  during  the  long  cold  winter  of  1635-36,  their 
condition  would  have  been  most  pitiable.  The  Plymouth  men  showed 
themselves  better  Christians  at  that  time  than  did  the  men  of  Massa- 
chusetts. 

In  many  histories  and  records  this  company  of  sixty,  that  came 
across  the  country  in  the  fall  of  1635,  is  regarded  as  an  advance  party 
of  Mr.  Hooker's  colony.  Sometimes  /they  are  spoken  of  as  if  they 
came  from  different  places  in  the  Baly,  and  were  destined  to  differ- 
ent places  in  the  valley.  But  the  fact  was,  probably,  that  they  were 
simply  Dorchester  people,  the  advance  party  from  that  town,  and 
that  others  would  follow  in  the  spring.  That  the  great  body  of  the 
Dorchester  people  had  not  removed  to  Connecticut  in  that  autumnal 
emigration  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  Edward  Winslow,  of  Plymouth, 
went  to  Dorchester,  after' that  migration,  to  effect  a  settlement  in  the 
wrong  done  about  the  lands  at  Windsor.  Governor  Winthrop  mentions 
this  under  date  of  Feb.  24,  1635-6  :  — 

"  Mr.  Winslow  of  Plimouth  came  to  treat  with  those  of  Dorchester  about 
their  land  in  Connecticut,  which  they  had  taken  from  them."  1 

1  For  an  account  of  the  "  differences  betweene  those  of  Dorchester  plantation  and  them 
[of  Plymouth],"  and  how,  at  last,  "  was  ve  controversie  ended,  but  the  unkindnes  not  so  soone 
forgotten,"  see  Bradford's  "History  of  Plymouth,"  pp.  338-342.  "They  of  New-towne  dealt 
more  fairly,  desireing  only  what  they  [of  Plymouth]  could  conveniently  spare  from  a  compe- 
tancie  reserved  for  a  plantation,  for  themselves  ;  which  made  [us]  the  more  carefull  to  procure 
a  moyety  for  them,  in  this  agreement  &  distribution."  —  History  of  Plymouth,  p.  342. 


THE  EXODUS  AND  THE  FIRST  COMERS.  35 

They  came  to  Dorchester  because  the  leaders  and  responsible  agents 
of  the  Windsor  plantation  were  still  there.  On  the  3d  of  that  month 
of  February,  John  Maverick,  one  of  the  ministers  of  the  congregation, 
died  at  Dorchester ;  and  the  prevailing  impression  is  that  Mr.  John 
Warham,  the  other  minister,  was  also  there  through  the  winter,  though 
some  think  he  went  on  to  Windsor  in  that  autumnal  journey.  No 
movement  to  organize  another  church  in  Dorchester  was  made  until 
1636,  and  it  is  altogether  probable  that  Mr.  Warham  did  not  leave 
Dorchester  before  the  spring  of  1636,  but  stayed  there  and  ministered 
as  before.  So  ends  the  year  1635  ;  and  we  have  endeavored  to  trace  the 
various  enterprises  and  events  of  that  year  which  had  a  bearing  on  the 
question  of  the  settlement  of  the  valley. 

The  year  1636  may  be  regarded  as  the  special  year  of  the  going  out 
of  the  children  of  Israel.  By  that  time  the  plans  for  removal  had  been 
well  matured.  The  incipient  stages  had  been  passed.  The  pioneers 
were  already  on  the  ground.  The  story  of  the  journey  of  Thomas 
Hooker  and  his  congregation  from  Newtowne  to  Hartford  in  the  early 
summer  of  1636  used  to  be  (and  we  trust  is  now)  well  known  to 
every  intelligent  boy  and  girl  in  Connecticut.  There  is  something 
picturesque  and  romantic  in  the  narrative,  however  simply  it  may  be 
related.  Art,  too,  has  lent  its  aid  to  heighten  the  effect.  The  season 
of  the  year,  the  solitude  and  loneliness  of  the  forests,  the  high  aim 
and  object  of  the  journey,  —  these  and  other  conspiring  influences  tend 
to  invest  that  early  emigration  westward  with  a  genuine  romance. 
Palfrey  (vol.  i.  p.  453)  tells  the  story  thus  :  — 

"  The  plan  of  removal  being  thus  facilitated  [by  arrangements  for  the  sale  of 
their  houses  and  lands  in  Newtown],  Hooker  and  Stone,  with  the  members  of  their 
congregation,  a  hundred  in  number,  of  both  sexes  and  all  ages,  took  advantage 
of  the  pleasantest  of  the  New  England  months  to  make  their  emigration.  They 
directed  their  march  by  the  compass,  aided  by  such  local  information  as  they  had 
derived  from  previous  explorers.  Their  herd  of  a  hundred  and  sixty  cattle,  which 
grazed  as  they  journeyed,  supplied  them  with  milk.  They  hewed  their  difficult 
way  through  thickets,  and  their  simple  engineering  bridged  with  felled  trees  the 
streams  which  could  not  be  forded.  Tents  and  wagons  protected  them  from  the 
rain,  and  sheltered  their  sleep.  Early  berries,  which  grew  along  the  Avay,  fur- 
nished an  agreeable  variety  in  their  diet,  and  the  fragrance  of  summer  flowers 
and  the  songs  of  innumerable  birds  beguiled  the  weariness  of  their  pilgrimage. 
It  occupied  a  fortnight,  though  the  distance  was  scarcely  a  hundred  miles.  Mrs. 
Hooker,  by  reason  of  illness,  was  conveyed  in  a  horse-litter. 

"  At  a  spot  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Connecticut,  just  north  of  the  Dutch 
stockade  [at  Dutch  Point],  the  caravan  reached  its  journey's  end.  The  little  set- 
tlements above  and  below  were  enlarged  in  the  course  of  the  summer  by  the  emi- 
gration of  the  churches  of  Dorchester  and  Watertown." 

By  the  closing  words  of  this  paragraph  it  is  very  evident  that  Dr. 
Palfrey  had  the  same  idea  that  has  already  been  expressed ;  namely, 
that  Windsor  and  Wethersfield  received  large  accessions  in  the  year 
1636,  —  larger  than  all  they  had  received  previously.  Only,  as  before 
suggested,  Watertown  did  not  send  an  organized  and  embodied  church, 
as  Newtowne  and  Dorchester  had  done.  If  any  will  turn  to  the  eccle- 
siastical record  of  Connecticut,  he  will  find  that  the  old  Wethersfield 
church  dates  from  1635,  and  was  formed  on  the  Connecticut  soil. 


36  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

Of  the  companies  coming  into  the  valley  from  Dorchester  and  Water- 
town  during  the  year  1636  we  have  little  information.  Whether  they 
came  in  considerable  bodies  or  in  little  and  scattered  companies  we  do 
not  know.  But  we  have  the  evidence  that  they  came  in  some  way  dur- 
ing that  year,  else  there  could  not  have  been  so  many  white  men  in  the 
valley  to  undertake  the  Pequot  war  in  the  spring  of  1637.  About  the 
1st  of  May,  1637,  a  levy  of  ninety  able-bodied  men  was  made  from 
the  three  plantations  on  the  river,  which  must  have  taken  from  one 
third  to  one  half  of  all  the  men  in  the  three  plantations.  Palfrey 
speaks  of  the  "  two  hundred  and  fifty  men  in  the  Connecticut  towns  " 
at  the  opening  of  the  Pequot  war  in  1637.  If  there  were  so  many,  and 
his  conjecture  cannot  be  far  from  the  truth,  many  of  them  must  have 
come  in  in  times  and  ways  to  us  unknown.  Such  as  were  here  must 
have  been  here  before  the  end  of  1636.  When  on  the  1st  of  May,  1637, 
it  was  "  ordered  that  there  shalbe  an  offensiue  warr  ag*  the  Pcquoitt," 
there  had  been  no  time  for  land  journeys,  that  year,  from  the  Bay. 
These  expeditions,  as  a  rule,  were  not  made  so  early  in  the  season. 

By  the  levy  then  made  it  is  shown  that  Hartford  had  more  popula- 
tion than  either  of  the  other  two  settlements,  and  Wethersfield  the  least. 
The  settlement  at  Wethersfield,  however,  had  just  passed  through  a 
horrible  slaughter,  which  had  taken  off  several  of  their  men,  and  in  the 
state  of  fear  and  distress  there  prevailing  it  may  be  that  plantation  was 
not  called  to  furnish  its  full  quota  according  to  its  numbers. 

We  may  properly  end  the  present  chapter  at  this  point,  though,  of 
course,  people  continued  for  several  years  to  come  in  considerable  num- 
bers from  the  Massachusetts  Bay  to  the  valley  towns.  Some  who  would 
have  come  at  the  first  were  compelled  to  delay  until  they  could  more 
satisfactorily  settle  their  affairs.  New-comers  from  England  sought 
these  Connecticut  towns  as  the  places  to  which  their  kindred  and  friends 
had  gone ;  but  the  real  transfer  which  originated  and  established  the 
colony  of  Connecticut  took  place  in  1635  and  1636. 


CHAPTER    III. 

SECTION    I. 

ORGANIZATION  OF  CIVIL  GOVERNMENT. 

BY    THE    REV.  INCREASE    N.    TARBOX,  D.D. 

The    Foundations    of    State    and    Church.  —  The   First   Constitution  :   the 
Fundamentals  of  January,  1639. 

~YT7~HEN  the  emigrants  from  the  Massachusetts  Bay  found  them- 
VV  selves,  in  the  summer  of  1636,  here  in  the  valley  of  the  Con- 
necticut, they  were  under  a  governmental  arrangement  provided 
for  them  by  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts.  At  the  session  of  March 
3,  1635-6,  "  A  Comission  [was]  graunted  to  seuerall  Prsons  to  governe 
the  People  att  Coiiecticott  for  the  Space  of  a  Yeare  nowe  nexte  comeing, 
an  Exemplincacon  whereof  ensueth  "  :  — 

"  Whereas,  vpon  some  reason  &  grounds,  there  are  to  remoue  from  this  or  Com- 
onwealth  &,  body  of  the  Mattachusetts  in  America  dyvrs  of  or  loveing  ffriends, 
neighbrs,  freemen  &  members  of  Newe  Towne,  Dorchesf,  Waterton,  &  other 
places,  whoe  are  resolved  to  transplant  themselues  &  their  estates  vnto  the  Ryver 
of  Conecticott,  there  to  reside  &  inhabite,  &  to  that  end  dyvrs  are  there  already,  & 
dyvrs  others  shortly  to  goe,  wee,  in  this  present  Court  assembled,  on  the  behalfe  of 
or  said  memb",  &  John  Winthrop,  Junr,  Esqr,  Goumir,  appoyncted  by  certaine 
noble  personages  &  men  of  quallitie  interesed  in  the  said  ryvr,  wch  are  yet  in 
England,  on  their  behalfe,  have  had  a  serious  consideracon  there[on],  &  thinke  it 
meete  that  where  there  are  a  people  to  sitt  down  &  cohabite,  there  will  followe, 
vpon  occacon,  some  cause  of  difference,  as  also  dyvers  misdeameanrs,  wch  will  re- 
quire a  speedy  redresse  ;  &  in  regard  of  the  distance  of  place,  this  state  and  gou- 
ernm1  cannot  take  notice  of  the  same  as  to  apply  timely  reined}',  or  to  dispence 
equall  iustice  to  them  &  their  affaires,  as  may  be  desired ;  &  in  regard  the  said 
noble  peonages  and  men  of  qualitie  haue  something  ingaged  themselues  &  their 
estates  in  the  planting  of  the  said  ryver,  &  by  vertue  of  a  pattent,  doe  require 
jurisdiction  of  the  said  place  &  people,  &  neither  the  mindes  of  the  said  peonages 
(they  being  writ  vnto)  are  as  yet  knowen,  nor  any  manner  of  gouernmt  is  yet 
agreed  on,  &  there  being  a  necessitie,  as  aforesaid,  that  some  present  gouernm1  may 
be  obserued,  therefore  thinke  meete,  &  soe  order,  that  Roger  Ludlowe,  Esqr,  Will1" 
Pinchon,  Esqr,  John  Steele,  Willm  Swaine,  Henry  Smyth,  Willm  Phelps,  Willm 
Westwood,  &  Andrewe  Ward,  or  the  greaf  pte  of  them,  shall  haue  full  power  & 
aucthoritie  to  hear  &.  determine  in  a  judiciall  way,  by  witnesses  vpon  oathe  exam- 
ine, wth[in]  the  said  plantacon,  all  those  differences  wch  may  arise  betweene  partie 
&  partie,  as  also,  vpon  misdemeanr,  to  inflicte  corporall  punishm*  or  imprisonm1, 
to  ffine  &  levj'-  the  same  if  occacon  soe  require,  to  make  &  decree  such  orders,  for 
the  present,  that  may  be  for  the  peaceable  &  quiett  ordering  the  affaires  of  the 


38  MEMORIAL   HISTORY  OF   HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

said  plantacon,  both  in  tradeing,  planting,  building,  lotts,  millitarie  dissipline, 
defensiue  warr  (if  neede  soe  require),  as  shall  best  conduce  to  the  publique  goode 
of  the  same,  &  that  the  said  Roger  Ludlowe  \_and  others],  or  the  greater  prte  of 
them,  shall  haue  power,  vnder  the  great'  parte  of  their  ha[ncls],  att  a  day  or  dayes 
by  them  appoyncted,  vpon  convenient  not[ice],  to  convent  the  said  inhabitants 
of  the  said  townes  to  any  convenient  place  that  they  shall  thinke  meete,  in  a 
legall  &  open  manner,  by  way  of  Court,  to  proceede  in  execute  [ing]  the  power 
&  aucthoritie  aforesaide,  &  in  case  of  present  necessitie,  two  of  them  ioyneing  to- 
geather,  to  inflict  corporal!  punishm'  vpon  any  offender  if  they  see  good  &  war- 
rantable ground  soe  to  doe  ;  provided,  alwayes,  that  this  comissiqn  shall  not  extende 
any  longer  time  than  one  whole  yeare  from  the  date  thereof,  &  in  the  meane  time 
it  shalbe  lawfull  for  this  Court  to  recall  the  said  presents  if  they  see  cause,  and  if  soe 
be  there  may  be  a  mutuall  and  setled  gouenim'  condiscended  vnto  by  &  with  the 
good  likeing  &  consent  of  the  saide  noble  personages,  or  their  agents,  the  inhab- 
itants, &  this  comonwealthe ;  provided,  also,  that  this  may  not  be  any  p?*eiudice 
to  the  interest  of  those  noble  personages  in  the  sd  ryver  &  confines  thereof  within 
their  seuerall  lymitts."1 

This  frame  of  provisional  government  was  probably  agreeable  to  all 
parties  concerned.  It  could  not  mean  very  much ;  for,  whatever  doubts 
may  have  existed  at  an  earlier  date,  it  must  have  been  generally  under- 
stood by  that  time  that  Massachusetts  had  no  jurisdiction  over  that  part 
of  the  Connecticut  valley  where  Windsor,  Hartford,  and  Wethersfield 
were  planted.  It  will  be  noticed  in  this  Commission,  granted  to  eight 
persons,  that  the  name  of  William  Pynchon,  the  founder  of  Springfield, 
is  included.  He  led  out,  in  this  summer  of  1G36,  his  little  colony  from 
Roxbury  and  planted  it  at  Agawam.  There  were  several  places  in  New 
England  called  by  this  Indian  name.  The  territory  in  Essex  County, 
Mass.,  on  which  now  stand  the  towns  of  Ipswich,  Newbury,  and  others, 
was  one  of  the  ancient  Agawams.  There  was  an  Agawam  2  also  in 
Wareham,  Mass.  Mr.  Pynchon  and  his  little  company  took  possession 
of  the  Agawam  of  the  Connecticut  valley  in  1636,  and  in  this  temporary 
government  it  was  thought  best  to  link  these,  four  river  settlements  in 
one  system  for  one  year.  During  the  year  while  this  provisional  gov- 
ernment lasted  there  seems  to  have  been  no  objection  raised  to  it  from 
any  quarter.  Six  public  courts  were  held  during  the  year,  four  of  them 
at  Newe  Towne  (Hartford),  one  at  Dorchester  (Windsor),  and  one  at 
Watertowne  (Wethersfield).  The  eight  commissioners  were  never  all 
of  them  in  attendance  at  one  of  these  meetings.  Mr.  Pynchon,  of  Aga- 
wam, was  present  only  once  during  the  year.  In  two  of  the  meetings 
only  five  commissioners,  "  the  major  prte  of  them,"  performed  the  service. 
The  last  meeting  of  the  commissioners'  court  before  the  expiration  of 
their  year  of  office  was  held  Feb.  21, 1637.  At  this  meeting  the  first  step 
was  taken  in  the  way  of  untying  themselves  from  their  Massachusetts 
belongings :  — 

y 

1  Massachusetts  Records,  vol.  i.  pp.  170,  171. 

2  This  Indian  name  denotes  a  tract  of  low  meadow,  or  "low  land"  in  general.  Captain 
John  Smith  (1616)  mentions  the  harbor  of  Augoam  (he  elsewhere  wrote  Aggowam),  now  Ips- 
wich, and  the  "  plaine  marish  ground,  fit  for  pasture  or  salt  ponds,"  covering  half  of  Plum 
Island  opposite  (Generall  Historie,  1624,  p.  214).  "Wood,  in  "  New  England's  Prospect," 
writes  the  name  of  this  place  Agowamme  and  Igoivam,  which  "  aboundeth  with  .  .  .  great 
Meads  and  Marshes  and  plaine  plowing  grounds,"  etc.  (p.  48).  Agawam  brook,  in  Wareham, 
flows  "throug  flat  meadows"  (2  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  iv.  286).  In  an  Indian  deed  to  John 
Pynchon  and  others,  of  Springfield,  July  15,  1636,  the  Indian  name  is  written  Aguam.  The 
Rev.  Thomas  Hooker,  in  a  letter  to  Governor  Winthrop,  1638,  made  it  Agaam.  —  En. 


ORGANIZATION    OF   CIVIL   GOVERNMENT.  39 

"  It  is  ordered  that  the  plantation  no  we  called  Newtowne  shalbe  called  & 
named  by  the  name  of  Harteford  Towne,  likewise  the  plantacon  now  called  Water- 
towne  shalbe  called  &  named  Wythersfeild." 

"  It  is  ordered  y*  the  plantacon  called  Dorchester  shallbee  called  Windsor." 

"Wythersfeild"  is  spelled  "  Weathersfeild  "  in  the  same  record;  and 
that  is  the  way  it  was  more  commonly  spelled  in  the  early  colonial 
days,  though  sometimes,  as  now,  "  Wethersfield." 

[By  common  consent  apparently,  possibly  by  election,  but  more 
probably  for  the  discharge  of  the  last  work  of  their  commission,  "  to 
convent  the  .  .  .  inhabitants  of  the  said  townes  to  any  convenient 
place  ...  in  a  legall  &  open  manner,  by  way  of  Court,"  etc.,  six  of 
the  eight  commissioners  (Mr.  Pynchon  and  Mr.  Smyth  of  Agawam  not 
being  present)  held  a  Court  at  Hartford,  March  28,  1637.  The  com- 
mission, by  its  own  limitation,  could  "  not  extend  any  longer  time  than 
one  whole  year  from  the  date  thereof,"  and  —  from  its  place  in  the 
Massachusetts  record  (though  the  commission  as  recorded  bears  no 
date)  —  it  seems  to  have  been  issued  by  the  Massachusetts  General 
Court  of  March  3,  1636.] 

Just  as  the  commissioners  continued  in  office  after  the  expiration  of 
their  year,  so  Agawam,  which  had  been  linked  to  the  three  towns  below, 
continued  on  for  a  time  in  this  same  connection,  and  Mr.  Pynchon 
occasionally  attended  as  a  magistrate  at  the  General  Court.  Agawam, 
though  it  sent  no  men  to  the  Pequot  War  in  1637,  was  assessed  for, 
and  apparently  did  bear,  its  portion  of  the  expenses,  as  if  its  part  and 
portion  had  been  with  the  three  towns  below. 

["  The  first  day  of  May,  1637,"  a  "  General  Court "  met  at  Hartford ; 
and  this  was,  so  far  as  the  records  show,  the  first  general  court  held  in 
the  colony.  The  towns  —  except  Agawam  (Springfield)  —  were  repre- 
sented each  by  two  magistrates,  assistants,  or  commissioners  (the  title 
of  these  "magistrates"  was  not  fixed  before  the  Constitution  of  1638- 
39),  and  by  three  deputies,  here  called  "  Committees."  An  election  by 
the  people  must  have  been  made  between  March  28  and  May  1 ;  but  of 
this  election  there  is  no  mention  in  the  records.  The  "  upper  house  " 
—  as  we  may  call  it  by  anticipation — included  five  of  the  six  com- 
missioners of  1636-1637,  the  sixth,  Mr.  (Thomas)  Welles,  taking  the 
place  of  Mr.  William  Westwood,  of  the  original  commission.  The 
colony  records  of  this  period  of  transition  from  a  provisional  to  an 
established  constitutional  government  are  manifestly  incomplete ;  but 
the  original  commission  had  expired  by  limitation,  and  Mr.  Welles 
could  not  have  been  substituted  for  Mr.  Westwood  except  by  the  choice 
of  his  town  (Hartford)  or  by  a  general  election.] 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Court,  Feb.  9, 1637-38,  after  the  transaction  of 
some  business  about  the  price  of  corn  and  the  payment  of  the  expenses 
of  the  recent  war  (Agawam  being  included  in  this  levy  of  money),  the 
following  important  vote  was  passed  before  adjournment :  — 

"It  is  ordered  y*  the  generall  Conrte  now  in  being  shall  be  dissolued  and 
there  is  noe  more  attendance  of  the  members  thereof  to  be  expected  except  they 
be  newly  Chosen  in  the  next  generall  Courte." 

At  this  point,  probably,  a  full  end  was  made  of  all  the  real  or  seem- 
ing authority  that  had  been  lodged  in  the  commission  granted  (with 


40  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

the  assent  of  the  emigrants)  by  the  Massachusetts  Court  in  March, 
1636,  for  the  government  of  the  river  towns.  The  people  of  Connecticut 
found  themselves  far  away  out  of  the  Massachusetts  jurisdiction,  and 
they  proposed  to  set  up  for  themselves  an  order  of  government  which 
should  be  their  own  as  fully  as  that  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  was  its 
own.  Both  colonies  owed  allegiance  in  a  general  way  to  the  mother 
country,  but  meant  to  be  independent  of  each  other  in  all  the  ordi- 
nary details  of  civil  rule,  while  they  might  be  united  for  mutual  sys- 
tem and  defence.  The  Connecticut  towns  had  already  chosen  their 
representatives  in  a  General  Court.  By  this  action  the  members  so 
elected  limited  their  own  tenure  of  office. 

Another  election  must  have  been  made  sometime  between  Feb- 
ruary 9  and  March  8 ;  for  the  new  Court  came  together  on  that  day, 
and  Mr.  Pynchon  was  in  attendance,  showing  that  Agawam  still 
inclined  to  be  counted  in  the  same  category  with  the  Connecticut 
towns,  and  sent  her  commissioner  to  the  Hartford  Court  as  before. 
Through  the  year  1638  (as  we  now  reckon  years)  Agawam  walked  in 
this  companionship,  and  apparently  regarded  herself  as  practically  a 
member  of  the  Little  River  confederacy.  But  on  the  14th  day  of  Janu- 
ary, 1638-9,  "  the  inhabitants  and  residents  of  Windsor,  Harteford,  and 
Wethersfield  "  adopted  by  their  votes  a  frame  of  government,  and  asso- 
ciated and  conjoined  themselves  "  to  be  as  one  Publike  State  or  Coin- 
on  welth."  The  eleven  "  fundamental  orders  "  by  which  this  union  was 
established  —  with  their  preamble  — present  "the  first  example  in  his- 
tory of  a  written  constitution,  —  a  distinct  organic  law,  constituting  a 
government  and  defining  its  powers."  1  The  Pilgrims  had  made  their 
simple  compact  in  few  words  in  the  cabin  of  the  "  Mayflower."  The 
Massachusetts  Company  had  brought  with  them  from  England  a  char- 
ter giving  certain  rights  and  prerogatives  over  a  described  amount  of 
territory.  But  this  constitution  defined  the  laws,  rules,  and  regulations 
of  a  government  created  by  the  people  and  existing  for  the  people. 
It  opens  as  follows  :  — 

"  Forasmuch  as  it  hath  pleased  the  Allmighty  God,  by  the  wise  disposition 
of  his  diuyiie  pruidence  so  to  Order  and  dispose  of  things,  that  we  the  Inhabitants 
and  Residents  of  Windsor,  Harteford  and  Wethersfield  are  now  cohabiting  and 
dwelling  in  and  vppon  the  Eiver  of  Conectecotte  and  the  Lands  thereunto  ad- 
joyneing ;  And  well  knowing  where  a  people  are  gathered  together  the  word  of 
God  requires  that  to  mayntayne  the  peace  and  vnion  of  such  a  people  there 
should  be  an  orderly  and  decent  Gouerment  established  according  to  God,  to  or- 
der and  dispose  of  the  affayres  of  the  people  at  all  seasons  as  occation  shall  re- 
quire :  doe  therefore  assotiate  and  conioyne  our  selues  to  be  as  one  Publike  State 
or  Cofnonwelth ;  and  doe,  for  our  selues  and  our  Successors  and  such  as  shall  be 
adioyned  to  vs  att  any  tyme  hereafter,  enter  into  Combination  and  Confederation 
togather,  to  mayntayne  and  prsearue  the  liberty  and  purity  of  the  gospell  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  wch  we  now  prfesse,  as  also  the  discipline  of  the  Churches  wch  accord- 
ing to  the  truth  of  the  said  gospell  is  now  practised  amongts  vs ;  As  also  in  or 
Ciuell  Affaires  to  be  guided  and  gouerned  according  to  such  Lawes,  Eules,  Orders 
and  decrees  as  shall  be  made,  ordered,  &  decreed,  as  followeth." 

[It  is  not  necessary  to  introduce  here  the  eleven  fundamental 
"  orders  "  which  follow  this  preamble  and  declaration.     They  may  be 

1  Dr.  Leonard  Bacon. 


ORGANIZATION   OF   CIVIL   GOVERNMENT.  41 

found,  in  full,  in  the  first  volume  of  the  Colony  Records  (pp.  21-25). ! 
The  tenth  order  vests  in  the  General  Courts,  composed  of  the  magis- 
trates elected  by  the  freemen  and  the  deputies  chosen  by  the.  several 
towns,  "  the  supreme  power  of  the  Commonwealth,"  and  "  they  only 
shall  have  power  to  make  laws  or  repeal  them,  to  grant  levies,  to  admit 
of  freemen,"  etc.] 

It  will  be  noticed  that  we  have  now  reached  a  point  where  Agawam 
drops  out.  The  paragraph  which  next  precedes  the  record  of  this  Con- 
stitution, and  ends  the  record  of  the  General  Court  of  April  5,  1638, 
reads  thus :  — 

"  It  is  ordered  that  none  shall  trade  in  this  Riuer  w*11  the  Indians  for  beau' 
[beaver],  but  those  that  are  hereafter  named  (vizt)  :  For  Agawam,  Mr.  Pyncheon  ; 
for  Windsor,  Mr.  Ludlowe,  Mr.  Hull ;  for  Harteford,  Mr.  Whytinge,  Tho.  Staun- 
ton ;  Wythersfeild,  Geo.  Hubberd  &  Rich.  Lawes ; "  etc. 

Here  Agawam  appears  as  co-partner,  but  appears  so  no  longer.2  The 
Connecticut  Colony  stands  alone,  self-governed,  with  its  three  towns. 

On  the  11th  of  April,  1639,  came  the  First  General  Meeting  of  the 
Freemen,  under  the  Constitution,  for  the  election  of  Magistrates,  when 
John  Haynes,  who  had  been  Governor  in  the  Massachusetts  Bay  in 
1635,  was  now  chosen  the  first  Governor  of  the  Connecticut  Colony. 
Mr.  Roger  Ludlowe,  of  Windsor,  was  chosen  deputy-governor.  The 
magistrates  were  Mr.  George  Wyllys,  Mr.  Edward  Hopkins,  Mr.  Thomas 
Welles,  Mr.  John  Webster,  Mr.  William  Phelps. 

Mr.  Edward  Hopkins  was  chosen  secretary,  and  Mr.  Thomas  Welles 
treasurer. 

Twelve  deputies  or  representatives  had  been  chosen,  four  from  each 
town,  and  so  the  constitutional  government  of  Connecticut  was  set  in 
motion. 

We  have  before  spoken  of  the  freedom  of  suffrage  in  early  Connecti- 
cut as  contrasted  with  that  which  prevailed  in  Massachusetts.  The 
first  passage  in  the  Colonial  Records  which  attempts  to  fix  the  law  on 
this  point  may  be  found  in  vol.  i.  p.  96 :  — 

"  Whereas  in  the  fundamentall  Order  y*  is  said  (that  such  who  haue  taken 
the  oath  of  tidellity  and  are  admitted  inhabitants)  shall  be  alowed  as  quallified 

1  A  good  abstract  of  them  is  given  in  Dr.  B.  Trumbull's  "  History  of  Connecticut," 
vol.  i.  pp.  100-103,  and  they  are  printed  in  full  in  his  Appendix,  pp.  498-502.  — Ed. 

2  The  discovery  of  the  Rev.  Thomas  Hooker's  letter  to  Governor  "VVinthrop,  written  in  the 
autumn  or  early  winter  of  1638  (published,  1860,  in  the  Conn.  Historical  Society's  Collec- 
tions, vol.  i.  pp.  3-15)  has  enabled  us  to  supply  an  important  omission  in  the  Colony  Records. 
Nothing  was  previously  known  to  historians  concerning  the  constitution  of  government  in 
Connecticut  between  the  expiration  of  the  Massachusetts  commission  in  March,  1637,  and  the 
adoption  of  the  Fundamental  Laws,  in  January,  1639.  The  records  show  the  proceedings  of  a 
General  Court  at  Hartford,  April  5,  1638,  composed  of  magistrates  and  committees  ;  but  noth- 
ing is  said  of  their  election,  or  of  any  delegation  of  authority  by  the  freemen.  At  this  court 
the  names  of  Mr.  Pynchon  and  Mr.  Smith  (of  Agawam)  appear  on  the  list  of  magistrates,  and 
those  of  Mr.  Moxam  and  Mr.  Jehu  Burr  (both  of  Agawam)  with  the  committees  or  deputies. 
"At  the  time  of  election,"  wrote  Mr.  Hooker,  in  the  letter  above  mentioned,  "the  committees 
from  the  town  of  Agaam  came  in  with  other  towns,  and  chose  their  magistrates,  installed  them 
into  their  government,  took  oath  of  them  for  the  execution  of  justice  according  to  God,  and 
engaged  themselves  to  submit  to  their  government  and  the  execution  of  justice  by  their  means 
and  dispensed  by  the  authority  which  they  put  upon  them,  by  choice."  To  this  General  Court, 
probably,  was  intrusted  the  work  of  framing  the  first  constitution  ;  and  Mr.  Hooker's  sermon 
(elsewhere  quoted)  of  May  31,  1638,  may  have  been  delivered  before  an  adjourned  session  of 
this  Court,  and  "was  apparently  designed  to  lead  the  way  to  the  general  recognition  of  the 
great  truths  soon  to  be  incorporated  in  the  Fundamental  Laws."  —  Ed. 


42  MEMORIAL   HISTORY  OF   HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

for  chuseing  of  Deputyes,  The  Court  declares  their  judgement,  that  such  only 
shall  he  counted  admitted  inhabitants,  who  are  admitted  by  a  generall  voate  of 
the  major  prte  of  the  Towne  that  receaueth  them." 

No  one  ought  to  desire  any  system  more  nearly  approaching  univer- 
sal suffrage  (for  men)  than  that.  In  this  infant  Commonwealth,  where 
the  great  desire  was  to  increase  and  grow,  if  any  man  was  so  bad  that 
a  major  part  of  the  voters  in  a  town  would  not  admit  him  as  an  inhab- 
itant, surely  he  ought  not  to  be  a  voter.  The  temptation  manifestly 
would  be  to  make  voting  almost  too  easy  under  this  rule.  Some  evi- 
dently crept  in  from  time  to  time  that  were  not  wanted.  So  in  1656 
the  law  was  changed  to  the  following  form :  — 

"The  Court  doth  order  that  those  that  shall  hereafter  bee  made  free  shall  haue 
an  affirmative  certificate  under  the  hands  of  all  or  a  major  part  of  the  deputies 
in  their  seueral  towns  of  their  peaceable  and  honest  conversation,  and  those  and 
only  those  of  them  wchthe  Gen1.  Court  shall  approue  shall  bee  made  free  men."  1 

This  fixed  a  check  upon  the  too  easy  compliance  of  a  given  town  ;2 
but  the  system  was  still  one  of  broad  general  suffrage  like  that  of  the 
Plymouth  Colony,  but  was  unlike  that  of  the  Massachusetts  or  the  New 
Haven  Colonies.  Palfrey  says  of  this  organization  of  government  in 
Connecticut :  — 

"  Containing  no  recognition  whatever  of  any  external  authority  on  either  side 
of  the  ocean,  it  provided  that  all  persons  should  be  freemen  who  should  be  ad- 
mitted as  such  by  the  freemen  of  the  towns  and  take  an  oath  of  allegiance  to  the 
Commonwealth.  .  .  .  The  whole  constitution  was  that  of  an  independent  state. 
It  continued  in  force,  with  very  little  alteration,  a  hundred  and  eighty  years,  se- 
curing throughout  that  period  a  degree  of  social  order  and  happiness  such  as  is 
rarely  the  fruit  of  civil  institutions."  3 

We  desire  again  to  call  special  attention  to  the  peculiar  character 
of  early  Connecticut,  in  that  the  beginning  of  everything  which  after- 
ward made  the  State  was  from  these  three  little  settlements  in  the  Con- 
necticut valley.  They  grew  out  of  no  government  before  existing. 
They  were  native  and  original.  They  rose  into  being  out  of  the  wants 
and  the  rights  of  individual  men  standing  in  the  presence  of  God,  just 
as  the  early  Congregational  Church  rose  into  being  wherever  there  was 
a  little  company  of  believers  needing  for  their  growth  and  education  to 
be  so  organized. 

We  desire  now  to  introduce  a  chapter  of  history  very  unlike  the  pages 
over  which  we  have  been  passing.  During  the  three  years  and  more 
since  the  little  colonies  came  out  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay,  many  things 
had  been  transpiring  there  and  here,  and  some  of  them  such  as  can 
hardly  be  believed  in  this  remote  generation.  But  the  evidence  of  their 
truth  cannot  well  be  resisted.  y 

The  following  are  extracts  from  a  letter  sent  by  Mr.  Thomas  Hooker 
to  Governor  John  Winthrop,  Sr.,  in  the  autumn  of  1638.     It  was  dis- 

1  Colonial  Records,  vol.  i.  p.  290. 

2  This,  however,  bears  only  on  the  admission  of  freemen.  It  does  not  take  from  the  towns 
the  right  to  admit  'inhabitants,  by  a  major  vote,  or  from  inhabitants  so  admitted  the  right  of 
voting  in  town  affairs  and  in  the  choice  of  deputies,  etc.  —  Ed. 

8  "History  of  New  England,"  vol.  i.  pp.  536,  537. 


ORGANIZATION   OF   CIVIL   GOVERNMENT.  43 

covered  by  Dr.  J.  H.  Trumbull  in  the  office  of  the  Massachusetts  Secre- 
tary of  State,  where  it  had  long  remained  unopened  and  unknown.  It 
will  be  found  a  remarkable  letter.  We  omit  the  opening,  and  shall  copy 
only  a  small  portion  comparatively  of  the  whole  epistle,  which  may  be 
found  unbroken  in  the  first  volume  of  the  "  Collections  of  the  Connecticut 
Historical  Society,"  pp.  1-18 :  — 

"  I  confess  my  head  grows  gray  and  my  eyes  dim,  and  yet  I  am  sometimes 
in  the  watch-tower :  and  if  the  quaere  be,  Watchman,  what  in  the  night,  as  the 
prophet  speaks,  I  shall  tell  you  what  I  have  observed,  and  shall  be  bold  to  leave 
my  complaints  in  your  bosom,  of  what  is  beyond  question,  and  then  I  hope  I 
shall  give  you  a  satisfactory  return  of  what  you  question  in  your  letter. 

"  Before  I  express  my  observations,  I  must  profess,  by  way  of  preface,  that 
what  I  shall  write  are  not  forged  imaginations  and  suppositions  coined  out  of 
men's  conceits,  but  that  which  is  reported  and  cried  openly,  and  carried  by  sea  and 
land  :  secondly,  my  aim  is  not  at  any  person,  nor  intendment  to  charge  any  par- 
ticular, with  you ;  because  it  is  the  common  trade,  that  is  driven  amongst  multi- 
tudes with  you,  and  with  which  the  heads  and  hearts  of  passengers  come  loaded 
hither,  and  that  with  grief  and  wonderment ;  and  the  conclusion  which  is  aimed 
at  from  these  reproaches  and  practices  is  this,  that  we  are  a  forlorn  people,  not 
worthy  to  be  succored  with  company  and  so  neither  with  support. 

"  I  will  particularize.  If  inquiry  be,  What  be  the  people  of  Connecticut  1  the 
reply  is,  Alas,  poor  rash-headed  creatures,  they  rushed  themselves  into  a  war  with 
the  heathen ;  and  had  not  we  rescued  them,  at  so  many  hundred  charges,  they 
had  been  utterly  undone.  In  all  which  you  know  there  is  not  a  true  sentence ; 
for  we  did  not  rush  into  the  war ;  and  the  Lord  himself  did  rescue  before  friends. 

"  If,  after  much  search  made  for  the  settling  of  the  people,  and  nothing  suit- 
able found  to  their  desires  but  toward  Connecticut ;  if  yet  then  they  will  needs 
go  from  the  Bay,  go  any  whither,  be  any  where,  choose  any  place,  any  patent,  — 
Narragansett,  Plymouth,  —  only  go  not  to  Connecticut.     We  hear  and  bear. 

"  Immediately  after  the  winter,  because  there  was  likelihood  multitudes  would 
come  over,  and  lest  any  should  desire  to  come  hither,  then  there  is  a  lamentable 
cry  raised,  that  all  their  cows  at  Connecticut  are  dead,  and  that  I  had  lost  nine 
and  only  one  left,  and  that  was  not  likely  to  live  (when  I  never  had  but  eight, 
and  they  never  did  better  than  last  winter).     We  hear  still  and  bear. 

"  And  lest  haply  some  men  should  be  encouraged  to  come  because  of  my 
subsistence  or  continuance  here,  then  the  rumour  is  noised  that  I  am  weary  of 
my  station ;  or,  if  I  did  know  whither  to  go,  or  my  people  what  way  to  take,  we 
would  never  abide  :  whereas  such  impudent  forgery  is  scant  found  in  hell ;  for 
I  profess  I  know  not  a  member  in  my  congregation  but  sits  down  well  apayd 
with  his  portion,  and  for  myself,  I  have  said  what  now  I  write,  if  I  was  to  choose 
I  would  be  where  I  am. 

"  But  notwithstanding  all  this  the  matter  is  not  sure,  and  there  is  some  fear 
that  some  men  will  come  toward  Connecticut  when  ships  come  over  ;  either  some 
have  related  the  nature  of  the  place,  or  some  friends  invited  them ;  and  there- 
fore care  must  be  taken,  and  is  by  this  generation,  as  soon  as  any  ship  arrives,  that 
persons  haste  presently  to  board  them,  and  when  no  occasion  is  offered  or  ques- 
tion propounded  for  Connecticut,  then  their  pity  to  their  countrymen  is  such  that 
they  cannot  but  speak  the  truth  :  Alas,  do  you  think  to  go  to  Connecticut  1 
Why,  do  you  long  to  be  undone  1  If  you  do  not,  bless  yourself  from  thence  ; 
their  upland  will  bear  no  corn,  their  meadows  nothing  but  weeds,  and  the  peo- 
ple are  almost  all  starved.     Still  we  hear  and  bear. 

"  But  may  be  these  sudden  expressions  will  be  taken  as  words  of  course,  and 
therefore  vanish  away  when  once  spoken.  Let  it  therefore  be  provided  that  the 
innkeepers  entertain  their  guests  with  invectives  against  Connecticut,  and  those 
are  set  on  with  the  salt,  and  go  off  with  the  voyder.    If  any  hear  and  stay,  then 


44  MEMORIAL   HISTORY  OF   HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

they  be  welcomed ;  but  if  these  reports  cannot  stop  a  man's  proceeding,  from 
making  trial,  they  look  at  him  as  a  Turk,  or  as  a  man  scant  worthy  to  live.  Still 
we  hear  and  bear. 

"  I  suppose  you  are  not  a  stranger  only  in  Israel,  nor  yet  usually  ignorant  of 
these  things,  being  they  are  not  done  in  a  corner  but  in  the  open  streets,  and  not 
by  some  frantic  forlorn  creatures,  or  madmen,  who  know  not  nor  care  what  they 
say ;  but,  before  the  ships  can  come  to  anchor,  whole  boats  are  presently  posted 
out  to  salute  persons,  ordinarily  with  such  relations.  The  daily  expressions  of 
passengers  report  these,  with  much  grief  of  spirit,  and  wonder  such  wretched 
falsehoods  should  be  suffered  amongst  Christians. 

"  That 's  in  New  England  :  but  send  over  a  watch  a  little  into  Old  England  : 
and  go  we  there  to  the  Exchange,  the  very  like  trade  is  driven  by  persons  which 
come  from  you,  as  though  there  was  a  resolved  correspondence  held  in  this  par- 
ticular ;  as  the  master  and  merchant  who  came  this  last  year  to  Sea-brook  Fort 
related,  even  to  my  amazement,  there  is  a  tongue-battle  fought  upon  the  Exchange 
by  all  the  plots  that  can  be  forged  to  keep  passengers  from  coming,  or  to  hinder 
any  from  sending  a  vessel  to  Connecticut,  as  proclaimed  an  utter  impossibility. 

"  Sir,  he  wants  a  nostril,  that  feels  not  and  scents  not  a  schismatical  spirit  in 
such  a  framer  of  falsifying  relations  to  gratify  some  persons  and  satisfy  their  own 
ends. 

"  Do  these  things  argue  brotherly  love?  do  these  issue  from  spirits  that  either 
pity  the  necessities  of  their  brethren  or  would  that  the  work  of  God  should  pros- 
per in  their  hands'?  or  rather  argue  the  quite  contrary.  If  these  be  the  ways  of 
God,  or  that  the  blessing  of  God  do  follow  them,  I  never  preached  God's  ways 
nor  knew  what  belonged  to  them. 

"  I  suppose  these  premises  will  easily  let  any  reasonable  man  see  what  the 
conclusion  must  be  that  men  would  have  to  follow.  The  misery  of  the  men  of 
Connecticut  would  be  marvellous  acceptable  to  such,  and  therefore  there  is  little 
expectation  they  do  desire  their  good,  and  would  procure  it,  who  are  not  willing 
any  good  should  come  to  them,  if  all  the  inventions  of  falsehood  can  prevail. 
Worthy  Sir,  these  are  not  jealousies  which  we  needlessly  raise ;  they  are  realities 
which  passengers  daily  relate,  and  we  hear  and  bear :  and  I  leave  them  in  your 
bosom  ;  only  I  confess  I  count  it  my  duty,  and  I  do  privately  and  publicly  pray 
against  such  wickedness;  and  the  Lord  hath  wont  to  hear  the  prayer  of  the 
despised." 

This  remarkable  language  from  a  man  so  truly  great  as  was  Thomas 
Hooker  shows  that  there  was  a  large  amount  of  human  nature  abroad 
two  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago  as  well  as  now,  and  that  too  in  Puritan 
New  England. 

But  in  spite  of  all  hindrances,  in  spite  of  all  enemies  within  and 
without,  by  the  year  1639  four  independent  colonies  were  planted  in 
New  England,  —  Plymouth,  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  New  Haven. 
The  seed-corn  was  in  the  earth  and  the  harvests  were  sure  to  come  in 
due  time. 


y 


CHARACTER  AND  SOCIAL  POSITION  OF    THE  SETTLERS.         45 


SECTION    II. 

CHARACTER  AND  SOCIAL  POSITION  OF  TEE  SETTLERS. 

BY    THE    REV.    INCREASE    N.    TARBOX,    D.D. 

The  leading  people  in  the  four  colonies  planted  between  1620  and 
1640  were  of  such  a  character  that  they  left  their  homes,  to  England's 
great  loss.  Just  as  France,  by  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes, 
drove  out  a  large  section  of  her  best  middle  class — her  manufacturers, 
artisans,  and  skilled  workmen  —  to  enrich  England,  so  England  herself 
at  an  earlier  period  drove  out  a  multitude  of  her  worthiest  and  ablest 
men  and  women  to  become  the  founders  of  a  New  England  three 
thousand  miles  away. 

In  every  one  of  the  four  colonies  these  choice  men,  able  and  wise, 
were  to  be  found.  But  it  cannot  be  regarded  as  unnatural  that  the 
class  of  emigrants  should  improve  a  little  as  the  years  passed  on. 
More  care  was  taken  not  to  admit  unworthy  persons  into  the  compa- 
nies. Men  of  larger  wealth  and  standing  were  drawn  into  sympathy 
with  the  new  enterprise.  We  think  it  entirely  safe  and  fair  to  say  that 
there  was  more  average  wealth  and  intelligence  among  the  people  who 
settled  the  river  towns,  1635-1637,  or  those  who  settled  New  Haven  in 
1638,  than  among  those  who  planted  Plymouth  in  1620,  Salem  in  1629, 
and  Charlestown,  Dorchester,  and  Watertown  in  1B30.  We  do  not 
claim,  however,  that  the  Puritans  of  the  Bay,  of  Connecticut,  or  of  New 
Haven  had  attained  any  higher  conceptions  of  true  Christian  liberty 
and  brotherhood  than  those  simple-hearted  Pilgrims  at  Plymouth.  In 
this  respect  we  regard  the  latter  as  our  best  models.  But  for  average 
culture,  wealth,  learning,  and  general  intelligence,  we  believe  that  the 
colonies  out  of  which  the  State  of  Connecticut  has  grown  were  in 
some  degree  in  advance  of  the  earlier  ones. 

This  will  appear  more  clearly,  perhaps,  if  we  bring  together  the 
names  of  some  of  the  leading  men  in  the  Connecticut  colony,  most  of 
whom  are  mentioned  particularly  in  biographical  and  genealogical 
sketches  in  other  chapters. 

Thomas  Hooker,  like  many  of  the  early  New  England  clergymen, 
was  a  graduate  of  Emmanuel  College,  Cambridge ;  was  a  teacher  and 
lecturer  at  the  University  ;  was  noted  on  both  sides  of  the  water  for 
learning  and  powerful  preaching;  and  was  one  of  the  three  divines 
who  were  invited  to  go  to  England  to  attend  the  Westminster 
Assembly. 

Governor  Winthrop,  of  Massachusetts,  notwithstanding  the  differ- 
ences which  had  occurred  between  him  and  Mr.  Hooker,  bears  this 
grand  and  noble  testimony  to  his  character.  Speaking  of  the  sickness 
prevailing  in  Connecticut  in  1647,  he  says  :  — 

"  But  that  -which  made  the  stroke  more  sensible  and  grievous  both  to  them 
and  all  the  country  was  the  death  of  that  faithful  servant  of  the  Lord,  Mr.  Thomas 


46  MEMORIAL   HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

Hooker,  pastor  of  the  church  in  Hartford,  who,  for  piety,  prudence,  wisdom,  zeal, 
learning,  and  what  else  might  make  him  serviceable  in  the  place  and  time  he  lived 
in,  might  be  compared  with  men  of  greatest  note.  And  he  shall  need  no  other 
praise  ;  the  fruits  of  his  labors  in  both  Englands  shall  preserve  an  honorable  and 
happy  remembrance  of  him  forever." 

Rev.  Samuel  Stone  was  also  a  graduate  of  Emmanuel  College.  His 
decision  at  Saybrook,  whereby  he  helped  Captain  Mason  out  of  his 
dilemma  in  the  time  of  the  Pequot  War,  added  to  the  laurels  gained  in 
the  pulpit ;  and,  in  spite  of  the  ecclesiastical  controversies  that  some- 
what tarnished  his  fair  fame  in  his  later  years,  he  was  buried  with 
funeral  honors  that  testified  to  his  high  standing.  Rev.  John  Warham, 
of  Windsor,  came  of  an  ancient  family,  was  college-bred,  and  was  a 
man  of  good  estate.  Of  the  three  clergymen  connected  more  or  less 
intimately  with  the  early  settlement  of  Wethersfield,  Sherman  and 
Denton  were  graduates  of  Cambridge. 

John  Haynes,  the  first  Governor  of  Connecticut,  came  to  America 
in  the  same  ship  with  Mr.  Hooker  in  1633.  He  had  his  residence  at 
Newtown,  and  was  a  member  of  Mr.  Hooker's  congregation.  He  came 
from  Copford  Hall,  Essex,  England,  bringing  with  him  wealth  and 
choice  culture.  He  was  in  the  highest  and  best  sense  a  Christian  gen- 
tleman. He  was  made  Governor  in  the  Massachusetts  Colony  in  1635, 
so  that  his  official  duties  retained  him  for  a  little  time  in  the  Bay  after 
the  removal  of  Mr.  Hooker  and  his  congregation  to  Hartford.  Mr. 
Haynes,  however,  followed  soon  after.  It  may  be  presumed  that  the 
written  constitution  of  Connecticut,  adopted  in  1639,  was  the  work  espe- 
cially of  Mr.  Hooker  and  Mr.  Haynes,  though  others  doubtless  were 
consulted  and  lent  assistance.  Bancroft  describes  Mr.  Haynes  as  a 
man  "  of  large  estate  and  larger  affections  ;  of  heavenly  mind  and  spot- 
less life."  He  was  a  man  to  make  himself  beloved  to  a  remarkable 
degree.  The  people  of  the  infant  colony  elected  him  their  governor  in 
1639,  and  as  he  could  hold  the  office  but  one  year  at  a  time,  they  chose 
him  every  other  year  as  long  as  he  lived.     He  died  March  1,  1654. 

Roger  Ludlow,  of  Windsor,  was  of  good  family,  and  a  brother-in-law 
of  Governor  Endicott,  a  lawyer  by  profession,  holding  various  offices 
in  Massachusetts,  and  after  his  removal  to  Connecticut  becoming 
deputy-governor,  etc.,  and  compiler  of  the  earliest  code  of  laws  in  that 
colony. 

Edward  Hopkins,  the  second  Governor  of  Connecticut,  came  to  these 
shores  in  the  New  Haven  company,  which  reached  the  Massachusetts 
Bay  in  1637.  He  married  the  daughter  of  the  honored  Theophilus 
Eaton,  first  Governor  of  the  New  Haven  Colony.  After  Mr.  Hopkins 
came  to  Hartford  he  was  chosen  a  magistrate,  and  secretary  of  the 
colony,  in  the  first  election  under  the  written  constitution ;  and  ever 
after,  so  long  as  he  remained  here,  he  was  in  office,  and  in  a  kind  of 
alternate  way  with  Mr.  Haynes  in  respect  to4hc  offices  of  governor  and 
deputy-governor.  In  the  year  1654,  May  18,  at  a  General  Court, 
Mr.  Hopkins  was  governor,  but  against  his  name  is  written  absent. 
He  had  gone  to  England,  never  to  return.  He  had  been  to  England 
before,  since  his  first  coming  over,  on  matters  of  public  and  private 
business.  But  now,  in  1654,  the  Commonwealth  was  in  full  power, 
and  Cromwell  was  at  the  head  of  the  nation.  Mr.  Hopkins  was  made  a 
Member  of  Parliament,  Warden  of  the  Fleet,  etc.     Before  he  could 


CHARACTER  AND  SOCIAL  POSITION  OF  THE  SETTLERS.  47 

shape  his  plans  to  return,  as  he  probably  intended,  he  was  cut  short 
by  death.  He  died  in  London,  in  March,  1657,  leaving  his  large  wealth, 
and  all  his  property  in  New  England,  to  be  devoted  to  the  academical 
and  collegiate  education  of  young  men. 

William  Phelps,  of  Dorchester,  Mass.,  was  one  of  the  eight  commis- 
sioners appointed  to  govern  the  Connecticut  settlements,  including 
Agawam,  one  year.  John  Steele  was  also  one  of  the  eight  commission- 
ers, and  for  some  years  his  name  led  the  list  of  deputies  from  Hartford 
to  the  General  Court.  Thomas  Wells,  another  commissioner,  high 
magistrate,  colonial  treasurer,  deputy-governor,  and  governor,  was  one 
of  the  chief  men  of  Hartford  ;  and  according  to  tradition  had  been  pri- 
vate-secretary to  Lord  Say  and  Sele  before  coming  to  America.  William 
Swayne,  "  gentleman,"  of  Wethersfield,  was  a  commissioner.  William 
Westwood,  of  Hartford,  was  a  commissioner,  constable  of  the  Connec- 
ticut plantation,  and  deputy  to  the  General  Court.  Andrew  Ward,  of 
Wethersfield,  was  another  of  the  eight  commissioners  ;  was  deputy  to 
the  General  Court.  George  Wyllys,  "  affluent  and  large-hearted,"  stood 
second  and  next  to  John  Haynes  on  the  list  of  Hartford  proprietors 
in  1639  ;  and  was  made  one  of  the  higher  magistrates,  deputy-governor, 
and  governor.  William  Whiting  stood  among  the  first  eleven  names 
on  the  list  of  Hartford  proprietors,  and  was  colonial  treasurer  for  six 
years.  John  Mason,  of  Windsor,  maintained  the  high  military  reputa- 
tion brought  to  this  country  ;  was  a  magistrate,  commander-in-chief  of 
the  colony,  deputy-governor,  and  greatly  honored. 

Henry  Wolcott,  of  Windsor,  belonged  to  the  gentry  of  England,  and 
was  of  large  estate.  He  was  deputy  to  the  first  General  Court  under 
the  Constitution.  "  George  Fenwick,  Esq.,"  says  Savage,  in  his  notes 
to  "  Winthrop's  History  of  New  England,"  "  would  surely  deserve  more 
consideration  than  he  has  received  from  the  writers  about  our  country." 
He  was  wealthy  and  of  good  standing  in  England,  being  by  profession  a 
barrister.  His  wife,  Lady  Fenwick,  was  "  probably  the  only  person  ever 
connected  with  the  First  Church  of  Hartford  who  popularly  wore  a  title 
of  English  rank."  Mr.  Fenwick  was  chosen  one  of  the  higher  magis- 
trates of  the  colony  in  1647  and  1648,  and  on  removing  to  England  was 
made  colonel  of  one  of  Cromwell's  regiments.  Matthew  Allyn,  one  of 
the  early  and  larger  proprietors  of  Hartford,  was  in  later  years  among 
the  higher  magistrates  and  the  deputies  to  the  General  Court,  of  which 
he  was  sometimes  moderator.  On  removing  to  Windsor  he  married  Eliz- 
abeth, granddaughter  of  Henry  Wolcott.  Matthew  Grant,  of  Windsor, 
bore  the  honorable  appellation  of  "  the  Recorder,"  and  was  not  only  the 
careful  keeper  of  town  records,  but  also  a  deputy  from  time  to  time. 
Sir  Richard  Saltonstall,  though  resident  in  New  England  but  a  short 
time,  fitted  out  the  ship  that  came  up. the  Connecticut  River  to  Windsor 
in  1635  ;  and  by  his  wealth  and  influence,  and  by  his  descendants, 
lodged  his  name  here  for  perpetual  remembrance. 

Lyon  Gardiner,  constructor  and  commander  of  the  fort  at  Saybrook, 
had  been,  to  use  his  own  language,  "  Engineer  and  Master  of  works  of 
Fortifications  in  the  legers  of  the  Prince  of  Orange,  in  the  Low  Coun- 
tries." He  purchased  the  island  now  bearing  his  name  and  still  held 
in  entail ;  and  if  he  did  not  himself  wear  the  title  of  "  Lord  of  the  Isle  of 
Wight,"  one  of  his  immediate  descendants  did,  as  a  tombstone  at  East- 
hampton,  Long  Island,  testifies.     John  Webster  was  a  leading  citizen 


48  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

of  Hartford  ;  one  of  the  five  higher  magistrates  in  1639,  holding  office 
until  1655,  when  he  became  deputy-governor  ;  and  after  serving  as 
governor  in  1656,  resuming  his  office  of  high  magistrate  and  holding  it 
until  1659.  William  Goodwin  "  was  prominent  in  all  the  early  trans- 
actions of  the  Hartford  settlement,  a  man  of  large  means  and  great 
influence."  He  was  the  first  and  perhaps  the  only  ruling  elder  of  the 
First  Church,  and  his  name  has  always  been  one  of  dignity  and  honor. 
John  Talcott  was  a  leading  man  in  Hartford  ;  was  for  years  a  magis- 
trate and  deputy,  and  from  1651  to  1659  colonial  treasurer.  John  Hig- 
ginson,  though  belonging  mainly  to  Massachusetts,  was  as  a  young  man 
brought  into  interesting  relations  with  Connecticut ;  was  employed  at 
one  time  as  chaplain  at  the  fort  in  Saybrook ;  and  was  a  teacher  in 
Hartford,  and  while  so  engaged  lived  with  Mr.  Hooker  as  a  student, 
helper  and  scribe.  John  Winthrop  the  younger  surpassed  even  his 
father  in  culture  ;  had  studied  at  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  and  had 
travelled  and  mingled  with  learned  men  on  the  Continent.  In  1657, 
having  served  as  a  magistrate  for  some  years,  he  was  chosen  governor 
by  the  people,  though  he  had  borne  the  title  by  commission  since  1635. 
Until  1662  he  was  alternately  governor  and  deputy-governor ;  then 
governor  continuously  until  1676. 

These  colonists  are  crowned  with  additional  honors  through  their 
descendants  immediate  or  remote.  The  son  of  George  Wyllys,  Samuel, 
a  graduate  of  Harvard,  was  an  assistant  thirty  years ;  his  grandson, 
Hezekiah,  was  colonial  secretary  twenty-two  years  ;  his  great-grandson, 
George,  was  colonial  secretary  sixty-one  years,  and  for  over  two  hun- 
dred years  this  family  retained  its  wealth  and  social  prominence. 
John  Webster,  of  Hartford,  was  the  ancestor  of  Noah  Webster.  John 
Talcott's  son,  Major  John,  commanded  the  Connecticut  forces  during 
King  Philip's  War,  and  his  grandson,  Joseph,  was  Governor  of  Con- 
necticut, 1725-1741.  William  Edwards,  of  Hartford,  though  not  per- 
sonally distinguished,  founded  one  of  the  most  notable  families  in  New 
England  ;  was  the  father  of  Richard  Edwards,  one  of  the  most  intelli- 
gent and  valuable  citizens  of  Hartford,  and  ancestor  of  Rev.  Timothy 
Edwards,  of  Windsor,  east  side  ;  of  Jonathan  Edwards ;  and  of  presi- 
dents Dwight  and  Woolsey,  of  Yale.  With  the  possible  exception  of 
Robert  Williams,  of  Roxbury,  Mass.,  he  was  the  ancestor  of  more  New 
England  clergymen  than  any  other  early  settler.  William  Pitkin,  of 
Hartford,  was  conspicuous  and  influential.  The  distinguished  positions 
of  his  sons,  William  and  Ozias,  his  grandsons,  Governor  William  and 
Colonel  John,  his  great-grandsons,  Colonel  William  and  Colonel  George, 
to  go  no  further,  are  related  in  the  chapter  on  East  Hartford.  This 
family  retained  its  prominence  for  over  two  hundred  years.  William 
Pitkin's  sister  Martha  married  Simon  Wolcott,  and  was  ancestress  of 
seven  governors.  From  Andrew  Ward,  of  Wethersfield,  was  descended 
Aaron  Burr  ;  and  Henry  Ward  Beecher  gets  his  middle  name  from 
him.  Perhaps  no  man  among  the  Connecticut  founders  could  boast 
among  his  descendants  so  many  governors,  statesmen,  and  judges,  as 
Henry  Wolcott,  of  Windsor.  The  (genealogical)  family  circle  of  his 
great-granddaughter  Ursula,  who  married  Matthew  Griswold,  of  Lyme, 
includes  twelve  governors  and  thirty-four  judges.  The  sons  of  Matthew 
Allyn,  of  Windsor,  John  and  Captain  Thomas,  were  prominent  men ; 
and  from  Matthew  Grant,  President  Ulysses  S.  Grant  was  descended. 


THE   PEQUOT    WAR.  49 


SECTION    III. 


BY    THE    REV.    INCREASE    N.    TARBOX,    D.D. 
The  Pequot  War.  —  The  Code  of  ]650.  —  General  History  to  1665. 

In  1636  John  Oldham,  a  trader  from  Watertown,  Massachusetts, 
was  murdered  by  the  Pequots  while  lying  off  Block  Island.  The  ex- 
pedition under  Governor  John  Endicott,  of  Salem,  despatched  to  avenge 
this  massacre  and  to  demand  submission  from  the  Pequots,  succeeded 
only  in  injuring  a  few  innocent  natives,  and  in  irritating  without  in- 
timidating the  warlike  nation ,  not  only  raising  new  hope  and  audacity 
in  the  breasts  of  the  Pequots,  but  also  inducing  a  kind  of  contempt  for 
the  English  in  the  large  and  powerful  tribe  of  the  Xarragansetts,  inhab- 
iting the  territory  now  covered  by  Rhode  Island.  There  was  imminent 
danger,  by  reason  of  this  turn  in  affairs,  that  the  Pequots  would  draw 
their  old  enemies,  the  Narragansetts,  into  league  with  themselves. 

Without  this  alliance,  however,  the  Pequots  were  greatly  embold- 
ened. They  knew  that  all  the  Indian  tribes,  far  around,  were  afraid 
of  them,  and  they  now  had  some  reason  to  think  that  the  white  people 
were  equally  afraid.  It  will  be  remembered  that  John  Winthrop,  Jr., 
began  to  build  a  fort  in  1635,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Connecticut  River, 
with  the  men  and  the  money  he  had  brought  over  from  England.  It 
was  of  course  well  understood  by  the  Indians  that  this  fort  was  a  part 
of  the  system,  offensive  and  defensive,  by  which  the  English  were  try- 
ing to  establish  themselves  in  the  country,  and  this  place  therefore 
became  an  object  against  which  the  Pequots  directed  their  hostilities. 
From  the  fall  of  1635  on  through  the  following  winter  squads  of  Pequots 
were  lurking  in  the  forests  about  this  fort,  never  daring  to  come  up  and 
attack  it  bodily,  but  watching  and  waiting  to  cut  off  any  persons  who 
might  be  passing  to  or  from  distant  places,  or  who  might  have  to  come 
outside  the  fort  for  any  purpose  whatever.  Lion  Gardiner,  under  whose 
care  and  oversight  the  fort  had  been  built,  had  been  left  in  charge  of 
the  same  through  that  long  and  dreary  winter.  But  the  crowning  act 
of  audacity  which  brought  matters  at  once  to  a  crisis  was  perpetrated 
in  the  early  spring  of  1636,  when  a  party  of  Pequots,  about  one  hun- 
dred in  number,  found  their  way  to  the  infant  settlement  at  Wethers- 
field,  where  they  killed  nine  men  and  carried  away  captive  two  girls. 

It  was  now  apparent  that  the  Pequots  had  entered  upon  a  course  of 
hostilities  which  would  not  stop  until  their  power  was  curbed  or  crushed. 
Under  such  circumstances  the  General  Court  came  together  at  Hartford 
on  the  first  day  of  May,  1637,  and  the  first  entry  in  the  record  of  that 
meeting  is  as  follows  :  — 

"  It  is  ordered  that  there  shalbe  an  offensive  warr  ag*  the  Pequoitt,  and  that 

there  shalbe  90  men  levied  out  of  the  3  Plantacons,  Hartford,  Weathersfield,  & 

Windsor  (viz1)  out  of  Harteford  42,  Windsor  30,  Weathersfield   18,  vnder  the 

comande  of  Captaine  Jo:  Mason,  &  in  Case  of  his  death  or  sicknes  vnder  cofnand 

vol.  i.  —  3. 


50  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

of  Rob.te  Seely  Leift  &  the  'ldest  sleant  or  military  officer  survivinge,  if  both 
these  miscarry." 

The  Massachusetts  and  the  Plymouth  colonies  agreed  to  render  aid 
in  this  war.  Massachusetts  in  a  special  session  of  the  General  Court 
ordered  a  levy  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  men  and  voted  <£600.  The 
military  forces  of  the  Massachusetts  colony  were  placed  under  the  com- 
mand of  Major  Israel  Stoughton,  who  afterward  went  back  to  England 
and  commanded  a  regiment  in  Cromwell's  army. 

It  was  on  the  10th  of  May  that  the  little  army  of  ninety  whites  and 
seventy  friendly  Indians  went  down  the  river  and  landed  at  Saybrook 
the  Monday  morning  following.  Mr.  Samuel  Stone,  associate  minister 
with  Mr.  Thomas  Hooker,  of  Hartford,  was  chaplain.  At  Saybrook 
Captain  John  Underbill,  with  nineteen  men,  joined  Captain  Mason's 
army,  and  twenty  men  were  sent  back  from  Saybrook  more  effectually 
to  guard  the  river  settlements,  which  had  been  left  in  an  exposed 
condition,  so  that  no  more  than  seventy  of  the  men  gathered  out  of 
Hartford,  Windsor,  and  Wethersfield  went  forward  to  the  great  battle. 
Of  these,  so  far  as  it  has  been  possible  to  recover  their  names,  Dr. 
Trumbull  has  made  the  following  enrolment :  — 

From  Hartford  :  Thomas  Bull,  Wm.  Blumfiehl,  John  Brunson,  Thos.  Bunce, 
Thos.  Barnes,  Peter  Blachford,  Benjamin  Burr,  John  Clarke,  Nicholas  Clarke, 
Sergt.  Philip  Davis,  Nich8  Desborough,  Thomas  Hales,  Samuel  Hales,  William 
Haydon,  John  Hills,  John  Hallaway,  Tho8  Hollyhut  (Hurlburt),  Jona,  luce, 
Benjamin  Munn,  Nich.  Jennings8  Nich.  Olmsted,  Richard  Olmsted,  John  Purkas, 
William  Pratt,  Wm.  Phillips,  Tho8  Root,  Thomas  Spencer,  Arthur  Smith,  Thomas 
Stanton,  Rev.  Samuel  Stone,  George  Steele,  Samuel  Whitehead,  John  Warner, 
Stephen  Hart,  Zachary  Field,  William  Cornwell,  Thomas  Munson,  —  37. 

From  Windsor :  Serj.  Benedict  Alvord,  Thos.  Buckland,  Thomas  Barber, 
John  Dyer,  Richard  Osborn,  Tho8  Styles,  Serj.  Stares,  Thomas  Parsons,  Thomas 
Gridley,  William  Trail,  Nathan  Gillett,  James  Egleston,  Geo.  Chappell,  Capt. 
John  Mason,  —  14. 

From  Wethersfield:   John   Johnson,   Jeremy   Jagger,   Lieut.   Robert    Seeley, 

Richard   Westcoat,    Merriman,   Thomas   Standish,    Tho8   Tibballs,   Henry 

Smith,  John  Nott,  — 9. 

Of  the  Men  from  Saybrook :  Capt.  John  Underbill,  Edward  Pattison,  James 
Rogers,  Edward  Lay,  John  Gallop,  John  Woods,  —  6. 

In  all  here  are  sixty-six ;  but  Dr.  Trumbull  notes  the  family  name 
of  another,  Mr.  Hedge,  who  was  certainly  in  the  battle  and  was  probably 
from  Windsor.  Captain  Mason  in  his  narrative  says  :  "  A  valiant,  reso- 
lute Gentleman,  one  Mr.  Hedge,  stepping  towards  the  gate  (of  the  Fort), 
saying,  '  If  we  may  not  enter,  wherefore  came  we  here,'  and  immedi- 
ately endeavoured  to  enter."  This  makes  sixty-seven.  Captain  Mason 
states  that  there  were  but  seventy-seven  white  men  actually  in  the  battle. 
Of  the  original  ninety,  several  had  to  be  left  to  guard  and  man  the 
vessels,  while  the  others  went  to  the  fight ;  and  none  of  these  should  be 
deprived  of  the  honors  of  the  expedition. 

Captain  Mason  concluded  to  take  "  the  farthest  way  about,"  instead 
of  the  Pequot  (Thames)  River,  and  when  the  winds  were  propitious 
set  sail  for  the  Narragansett  country.  They  started  off  on  a  Friday 
morning  and  reached  the  place  where  they  were  to  land  Saturday 
evening,  but  did  not  go  on  shore.     They  kept  quietly  in  their  vessels 


THE  PEQUOT  WAR.  51 

over  the  Sabbath,  and  doubtless  Chaplain  (the  Rev.  Samuel)  Stone 
held  religious  services  on  board.  On  Monday  the  wind  blew  so  strongly 
from  the  northwest  that  they  could  not  safely  land.  So  was  it  on 
Tuesday  till  near  night,  when  it  became  calmer.  As  soon  as  they  had 
landed  they  found  the  nearest  Narragansett  sachem  and  explained  the 
object  of  their  expedition;  and  he  gave  full  leave,  as  they  had  antici- 
pated, to  march  through  his  country.  So  they  left  certain  men  with 
the  vessels  and  proceeded  on  their  way.  The  place  where  they  had 
landed  was  not  far  off  from  Point  Judith,  and  the  distance  from  there 
to  the  Pequot  Fort,  in  a  straight  line,  could  not  have  been  more  than 
about  twenty-five  miles  ;  but  by  devious  ways  their  marches,  in  all, 
seem  to  have  been  from  thirty  to  thirty-five  miles  before  reaching  the 
enemy. 

Captain  Mason  and  his  men  setting  out  on  Wednesday  morning 
marched  about  eighteen  miles  to  Nyantick,  where  they  passed  Wednes- 
day night.  Though  the  sachem  here  was  ungracious,  yet  friendly  In- 
dians from  the  Narragansetts  joined  themselves  to  the  river  Indians 
with  whom  they  set  out,  till  they  had  in  their  train  not  far  from  five 
hundred  Indians,  of  whose  treachery  they  were  the  more  afraid  because 
they  were  dependent  upon  their  help. 

When  Mason  landed  near  Point  Judith  a  messenger  arrived  report- 
ing that  Captain  Daniel  Patrick  had  reached  what  is  now  Providence, 
on  his  way  from  Massachusetts  with  a  military  force,  and  asking  Captain 
Mason  to  wait  till  he  could  join  him.  But  Mason  feared  that  any  delay 
now  would  only  give  the  Pequots  an  opportunity  to  discover  his  plans, 
and  he  determined  to  go  forward  without  waiting  for  the  reinforce- 
ments. On  Thursday  morning  he  started  from  the  Nyantick  country 
and  marched  about  twelve  miles,  when  they  made  a  halt  of  some  hours 
to  rest  and  refresh  themselves.  Toward  night  they  moved  on  three 
miles  till  they  came  into  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  fort,  without 
giving  any  knowledge  of  their  approach. 

Next  morning  was  Friday,  and  in  the  early  morning  the  terrible 
blow  was  delivered,  by  gun,  by  sword,  by  fire,  or  in  any  way  to  insure 
the  quickest  and  most  wholesale  destruction  of  men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren. Captain  Mason  sums  up  the  result  of  that  attack  in  these  words : 
"  And  thus  in  little  more  than  one  Hour's  space  was  their  impregnable 
fort  with  themselves  utterly  Destroyed,  to  the  number  of  six  or  seven 
Hundred,  as  some  of  themselves  confessed.  There  were  only  seven  taken 
captive  and  about  seven  escaped." 

Captain  John  Underbill,  who  was  in  the  fight,  says  :  "  There  were 
about  four  hundred  souls  in  the  fort,  and  not  above  five  of  them  escaped 
out  of  our  hands." 

It  is  not  needful  that  we  should  repeat  the  horrible  details  of  that 
battle.  Palfrey  in  his  History  has  summed  up  this  whole  matter  in  a 
paragraph  admirable  for  its  wisdom  and  charity.1 

In  1637  Connecticut  consisted  simply  and  solely  of  the  three  original 
plantations,  Windsor,  Hartford,  and  Wethersfield.  We  have  elsewhere 
treated  of  the  co-operation  of  these  towns  in  the  Pequot  War,  and  the 
general   style   of  their  government  in  their  new  beginnings.     In  the 

1  History  of  New  England,  vol.  i.  p.  467. 


52  MEMORIAL  HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

spring  of  1638  the  New  Haven  colony  planted  itself  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Quinnipiack  River,  and  thus  gave  a  sense  of  friendly  neighborhood 
between  the  dwellers  on  the  river  and  those  on  the  south  shore. 

In  1639  the  new  written  Constitution  was  adopted  in  the  Connecti- 
cut colony,  and  society  was  organized  on  a  basis  of  more  strength  and 
dignity.  New-comers  were  rapidly  dropping  in  to  the  three  towns 
singly  or  in  little  companies.  The  annihilation  of  the  Pequot  tribe 
gave  to  the  planters  a  sense  of  security  in  their  daily  toil  and  in  the 
slumbers  of  the  night. 

In  1639  Roger  Ludlow,  of  Windsor,  led  off  a  little  colony  to  plant 
the  town  of  Fairfield,  which  seems  to  have  been  the  earliest  organized 
outgrowth  from  the  river  plantation.  By  its  locality,  its  more  natural 
connection  would  have  been  with  the  New  Haven  colony  ;  but  it  reckoned 
itself  from  the  first  as  within  the  Connecticut  jurisdiction. 

Not  far  from  the  same  time,  and  in  connection  with  Mr.  Ludlow's 
movements,  a  settlement  was  begun  in  a  place  bordering  on  Fairfield, 
called  by  the  Indians  Uncoway,  but  soon  after  known  as  the  town  of 
Stratford.  This  also,  though  near  Xew  Haven,  was  one  of  the  Connec- 
ticut plantations. 

Each  year  there  were  "two  General  Assemblies,  or  Courts,  the  one 
on  the  Second  Thursday  of  April,  and  the  other  on  the  Second  Thurs- 
day of  September.'"  The  one  in  April  was  called  the  Court  of  Election, 
when  the  governor,  magistrates,  deputies,  etc.,  were  chosen.  The 
other  General  Court,  in  September,  was  for  the  making  of  laws,  and 
the  transaction  of  all  business  touching  the  welfare  of  the  colony. 
Both  of  these  meetings  were  from  time  to  time  adjourned,  so  that  the 
court  was  usually  together  several  times  each  year. 

In  1641  the  town  of  Saybrook,  with  all  its  rights  and  belongings, 
was  made  over  by  sale  and  purchase  to  the  Connecticut  colony  ;  and 
though  there  were  many  later  frictions  before  matters  were  finally 
adjusted,  yet  Saybrook  stands  historically  connected  and  associated 
with  the  river  towns  above,  from  the  year  1644.  The  same  year 
Agawam  (Springfield),  which  had  kept  up  a  kind  of  half-way  lingering 
connection  with  the  towns  below,  was  entirely  taken  out  of  this  connec- 
tion, and  fixed  as  belonging  to  the  Massachusetts  jurisdiction. 

In  1645  Farmington,  on  the  Tunxis  River,  was  surveyed  and 
bounded,  and  admitted  into  the  list  of  Connecticut  towns.  Mr.  George 
Wyllis,  in  making  his  will  in  March,  1645,  calls  this  infant  settlement 
Tunxis  Cepus.  Sometimes  in  those  early  records  it  was  written 
Unxus  Sepus.  A  settlement  had  already  been  begun  there,  for  Mr. 
Wyllis  gave  "  forty  shillings  to  the  pore  at  Tunxis  Cepus."  Dr.  J.  H. 
Trumbull  says  Sepus  or  Cepus  is  an  Indian  word  for  a  little  river. 

The  plantation  on  the  Pequot  River,  begun  in  1645  by  the  younger 
Winthrop,  was  called  a  town  in  1646,  and  known  sometimes  as  Na- 
meage  and  sometimes  as  Pequitt.  To  what  jurisdiction  it  appertained 
was  for  a  time  uncertain.  At  a  General  Court  of  Connecticut,  March 
20,  1658,  this  matter  was  settled.  "  The  plantation  at  Pequet  is  named 
by  this  court,  New  London." 

At  a  General  Court  at  Hartford,  Sept.  11,  1651,  we  find  the  follow- 
ing items  in  the  records  :  "  It  is  ordered,  sentenced,  and  decreed,  that 
Mattabeseck   [Middletown]  shall  bee  a  Towne." 

"It  is  likewise  ordered  that  Norwauke  shall  bee  a  Towne." 


THE   CODE   OF   1650.  53 

111  the  year  1650  the  Code  of  Laws  was  completed  under  the  direc- 
tion of  Mr.  Roger  Ludlow,  and  accepted.  This  helped  to  give  a  sense 
of  order  and  security  throughout  the  infant  commonwealth. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  General  Court  of  Connecticut,  held  April  10, 
1646,  Edward  Hopkins  governor  and  John  Haynes  deputy-governor,  the 
following  action  was  taken  :  — 

"Mr.  Ludlowe  is  desired  to  take  some  paynes  in  drawing  forth  a  body  of 
Lawes  for  the  gouernment  of  this  Coition  welth  &  prsent  the  to  the  next  Generall 
Court,  and  if  he  can  prouide  a  man  for  his  occations  while  he  is  imployed  in  the 
said  searnice  he  shalbe  paid  at  the  Country  ehardge." 

It  is  provided  in  this  vote  that  this  work  of  embodying  the  colony 
laws  should  he  completed  in  a  year  and  report  thereof  made  to  the 
Court.  But  in  a  work  of  this  magnitude  and  importance  it  could  hardly 
be  expected  that  it  would  be  finished  in  a  year.  At  a  meeting  of  the 
Court,  May  25,  1647,  an  additional  minute  was  passed  as  follows :  — 

"  When  Mr.  Lndlowe  hath  prfeeted  a  body  of  lawes,  as  the  court  hath  desired 
him,  it  is  the  mynd  of  the  Court  that  he  should,  besids  paying  the  hyer  of  a  man, 
be  further  considered  for  his  paynes." 

These  arrangements  having  been  made  and  orders  passed,  Mr.  Lud- 
low was  busy  about  a  work  which  must,  if  properly  done,  occupy 
considerable  time ;  and  we  hear  no  more  until  Feb.  5, 1650-51,  when  we 
find  on  the  records  the  following  :  — 

"  This  Courte  graunts  and  orders,  that  the  Secretary  shall  bee  allowed  and 
paid  the  sum  of  six  pounds,  being  in  prt  of  payment  for  his  great  paines  in  draw- 
ing out  and  transcribing  the  country  orders,  concluded  and  established  in  May 
last." 

The  "  country  orders  "  here  spoken  of  are  the  code  of  laws  before 
provided  for ;  and  by  this  entry  we  learn  that  the  code  was  completed 
and  established  in  May,  1650,  and  hence  called  "  the  code  of  1650." 
The  colonial  secretary  at  that  time  was  John  Cullick,  of  Hartford ;  and 
the  last  vote  quoted  relates  to  his  compensation  for  "  drawing  out  and 
transcribing"  the  same.  The  whole  code  may  be  found  in  the  first 
printed  volume  of  the  Colonial  Records  of  Connecticut,  1636-1665  ;  it 
covers  fifty-four  large  and  compactly  printed  pages.  Mr.  Ludlow  had 
doubtless  been  paid  for  his  valuable  services  in  making  the  compilation, 
according  to  the  intimation  given  in  one  of  the  votes  we  have  quoted. 

Dr.  J.  Hammond  Trumbull,  the  editor  and  compiler  of  the  first  vol- 
umes of  the  Colonial  Records,  adds  a  note  at  the  opening  of  the  code, 
from  which  we  extract  the  following  :  — 

"This  Code  [usually  cited  as  Mr.  "  Ludlow's  Code"  or  "the  Code  of  1650"] 
is  recorded  at  the  end  of  Vol.  TT.  of  the  Colony  Records  [the  manuscript  volumes], 
and  separately  paged.  The  orders  subsequently  passed  were,  from  time  to  time, 
added  at  the  end,  or  occasionally  inserted  under  the  appropriate  title,  by  the  Sec- 
retary. Prefixed  to  the  Laws  is  a  copy  of  the  Fundamental  Orders,  or  Constitu- 
tion of  1639,  already  printed  on  pages  20-25  of  this  volume."1 

This  Code  is  divided  into  eighty-eight  sections,  arranged  alphabeti- 
cally according  to  the  topics  treated,  beginning  with  Ability,  Actions, 

1  Colonial  Records,  vol.  i.  p.  509. 


54  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF  HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

Age,  and  Arrests,  and  ending  with  Watches,  Wolves,  Wrecks  of  the  Sea, 
and  Vessels. 

In  this  year  (1650)  some  important  business  was  accomplished 
touching  the  Narragansett  Indians  and  the  Dutch.  The  commissioners 
of  the  four  colonies  met  that  year,  September  5,  at  Hartford.  This 
confederation  of  the  four  colonies  had  been  formed  and  ratified  May 
19,  1643.  At  the  meeting  in  1650  Massachusetts  was  represented  by 
Mr.  Simon  Bradstreet  and  Mr.  William  Hawthorne  ;  Plymouth,  by  Mr. 
Thomas  Prince  and  Mr.  John  Brown  ;  Connecticut,  by  Mr.  Edward 
Hopkins  and  Mr.  John  Haynes  ;  and  New  Haven,  by  Mr.  Theophilus 
Eaton  and  Mr.  Stephen  Goodyear. 

It  was  now  thirteen  years  since  the  utter  overthrow  of  the  Pequots 
had  brought  a  wholesome  fear  over  all  the  other  New  England  tribes. 
But  by  degrees  acts  of  cruelty  and  wrong  had  been  perpetrated  by  the 
great  tribe  of  the  Narragansetts,for  which  they  had  been  brought  to  terms, 
and  had  agreed  to  pay  a  large  tribute  as  a  penalty  for  these  outrages. 
Whenever  the  times  set  for  payment  came,  the  Narragansett  chiefs 
delayed  and  prevaricated,  all  the  while  making  fair  promises,  until  the 
patience  of  the  English  was  exhausted.  At  this  meeting  of  the  commis- 
sioners at  Hartford,  the  Narragansett  tribute-money  being  yet  unpaid, 
one  of  the  first  items  of  business  was  to  despatch  Captain  Humphrey 
Atherton,  then  at  Springfield,  with  twenty  men,  to  collect  their  long- 
delayed  payments.  Dr.  Benjamin  Trumbull,  in  his  "History  of  Connec- 
ticut" (Vol.  I.  p.  188),  has  told  us  how  this  commission  given  to  Captain 
Atherton  was  executed  :  — 

"  He  was  authorized,  if  they  should  not  be  paid  upon  demand,  to  seize  .on 
the  best  articles  he  could  find,  to  the  full  amount  of  what  was  due ;  or  on  Pessa- 
cus,  the  chief  sachem,  or  any  of  his  children,  and  carry  them  off.  Upon  his 
arrival  among  the  Narragansetts,  lie  found  the  sachem  recurring  to  his  former  arts, 
putting  him  off  with  deceitful  and  dilatory  answers,  and  not  suffering  him  to 
approach  his  presence.  In  the  mean  time  lie  was  collecting  his  warriors  about  him. 
The  captain  therefore  marched  directly  to  the  door  of  his  wigwam,  where,  posting 
his  men,  he  entered  himself,  with  his  pistol  in  his  hand,  and  seizing  Pessacus  by 
the  hair  of  his  head,  drew  him  from  the  midst  of  his  attendants,  declaring  if  they 
should  make  the  least  resistance,  he  would  despatch  him  in  an  instant.  This 
bold  stroke  gave  him  such  an  alarm  that  he  at  once  paid  all  the  arrearages." 

In  addition  to  this  Indian  business,  the  commissioners,  at  this  meet- 
ing of  1650,  undertook  to  clear  up  and  strengthen  the  relations  of  New 
England  with  the  Dutch.  Ever  since  the  coming  of  the  English  into 
the  river,  in  1633,  there  had  been  conflicting  interests  and  claims,  in 
reference  to  which  we  have  to  confess  that  the  Dutch  had  carried  them- 
selves quite  as  kindly  and  forbearingly  as  their  opponents. 

There  was  one  more  source  of  uneasiness  and  trouble  which  came 
before  these  commissioners  for  adjustment.  Ever  since  the  bargain 
had  been  made  with  George  Fenwick,  in  1644,  for  the  delivery  of  Say- 
brook,  its  fort  and  stores,  to  the  Connecticut  Colony,  the  people  in  the 
towns  above  had  been  dissatisfied  with  the  terms  on  which  that  bargain 
had  been  completed.  It  bound  the  Connecticut  people  to  such  a  system 
of  toll-paying  as  was  petty  and  disagreeable.  This  business  had  been 
reviewed  and  a  change  effected  in  1646.     But  there  were  still  friction 


GENERAL   HISTORY   TO    1665.  55 

and  strife.  The  year  1650  so  adjusted  matters  as  to  bring  comparative 
peace.  A  general  sum  was  to  be  paid  by  the  colony  for  a  term  of  years, 
instead  of  this  individual  tribute.  There  were  still  some  after  troubles 
about  this  matter. 

The  year  1653  was  one  of  great  fear  and  disturbance  throughout  the 
colonies,  especially  in  Connecticut  and  New  Haven.  The  difficulties 
with  the  Dutch  came  back  in  greater  strength  than  ever.  There  was  a 
wide-spread  belief  that  the  Dutch  Governor  at  New  York  was  in  a  plot 
with  the  Indians  for  a  general  uprising  to  extirpate  the  English  planta- 
tions. Six  of  the  eight  commissioners  for  that  year  thought  they  had 
sufficient  grounds  for  declaring  war  against  the  Dutch.  Massachusetts 
held  back. 

In  1654  a  fleet  was  sent  out  by  Cromwell  to  assist  the  }\e\v  England 
colonies  in  their  difficulties  with  the  Dutch.  There  were  great  runnings 
to  and  fro,  Massachusetts  consenting,  but  not  directly  assisting,  to  raise 
an  army  of  co-operation  with  the  fleet.  But  while  these  excitements 
were  abroad,  the  news  came  of  a  great  victory  of  the  English  over  the 
Dutch  in  a  naval  battle  in  which  the  Dutch  suffered  such  immense  loss 
that  they  were  glad  to  sue  for  peace ;  and  so  New  England  drifted 
through  these  Dutch  difficulties  without  actual  war. 

The  number  of  ratable  persons,  as  given  by  the  historian  Trumbull, 
in  the  Connecticut  Colony  for  the  year  1654  was  775,  which  would  imply 
a  population  of  nearly  4,000.  Hartford  had  the  highest  number,  177; 
but  Windsor  had  been  rapidly  gaining  on  Hartford  since  the  Pequot 
War,  for  Windsor  had  165  of  these  ratable  persons.  At  the  time  of  the 
war,  in  1637,  Hartford  furnished  forty-two  men  as  its  quota,  and  Wind- 
sor thirty.  The  smallest  town  in  Connecticut  was  Norwalk,  which  had 
twenty-four  rates.     The  grand  list  was  X 79,073. 

In  the  year  1660  a  full  and  final  adjustment  was  made  with  the  Fen- 
wick  heirs,  in  the  matter  of  the  purchase  of  Saybrook,  when  it  was 
found  that  the  heirs  had  been  overpaid,  and  that  they  were  indebted  to 
the  colony  to  the  amount  of  <£500. 

This  year  (1660)  saw  the  end  of  the  English  Commonwealth  under 
Cromwell  and  his  son  Richard.  Cromwell  died  on  the  4th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1658,  and  Richard,  after  idling  away  a  few  months  in  his  father's 
illustrious  seat,  retired  to  private  life ;  for  there  was  nothing  else  for 
him  to  do.  His  resignation  took  place  in  July,  1659,  ten  years  after 
Charles  I.  had  been  publicly  tried  and  executed.  Palfrey  says  :  "  Intel- 
ligence of  the  accession  of  Charles  the  Second  to  the  throne  of  his 
ancestors  was  not  long  in  reaching  Boston.  The  Journal  of  the  Gen- 
eral Court,  which  sat  three  months  later,  contains  no  reference  to  the 
new  state  of  things.1 

John  Leverett  was  at  that  time  the  agent  of  Massachusetts  in  Eng- 
land, and  in  the  month  of  November  a  letter  received  from  him  made  it 
plain  that  it  was  time  for  Massachusetts  to  speak.  Accordingly,  an 
extra  session  of  the  General  Court  was  at  once  called,  and  an  Address 
to  the  King  prepared.  It  was  nearly  a  year  after  the  king's  accession 
when  the  Plymouth  Colony  sent  an  address  of  welcome ;  but  its  mes- 
sage, when  sent,  was  full  and  hearty.  It  was  nearly  a  year  before  the 
New  Haven  Colony  acted  in  this  matter,  and  then  not  until  its  memory 
had  been  jogged  by  a  letter  from  Massachusetts. 

1  History  of  New  England,  vol.  ii.  p.  447. 


56  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

Connecticut  pursued  her  own  course.  At  the  session  of  the  General 
Court  held  March  14,  1661,  we  find  the  following  entry  upon  this  topic. 
The  opening  sentence  shows  that  the  subject-matter  had  been  under 
consideration  some  time  before  :  — 

"  In  reference  to  former  intentions  and  motions  wch  could  not  be  brought  to 
a  ful  conclusion,  for  ye  manner  and  meanes  to  accomplish  the  same,  til  this  meet- 
ing of  ye  Generall  Court,  It  is  concluded  and  declared  by  this  Court.  That  (as  it 
was  formerly  agreed  by  those  Magistrates  and  Deputies  that  could  then  be  as- 
sembled together)  it  is  our  duty  and  very  necessary  to  make  a  speedy  address  to 
his  Sacred  Majesty,  our  Soveraigne  Lord  Charles  the  Second,  King  of  England, 
Scotland,  France,  and  Ireland,  to  acknowledge  our  loyalty  and  allegiance  to  his 
highnes,  hereby  declareing  and  professing  ourselves,  all  the  inhabitants  of  this 
Colony,  to  be  his  Highnes  loyall  and  faythfull  subjects.  And  doe  further  con- 
clude it  necessary  that  we  should  humbly  petition  his  Majesty  for  grace  and 
favour,  and  for  ye  continuance  and  contirmation  of  such  priviledges  and  liberties 
as  are  necessary  for  the  comfortable  and  peaceable  settlement  of  this  Colony." 

At  the  regular  May  meeting  of  the  Court  a  draft  of  an  address  to 
the  king,  drawn  by  Governor  Winthrop,  was  presented,  with  which  the 
Court  was  well  satisfied ;  but  as  some  additions  or  changes  might  be 
needful,  a  committee  was  chosen  to  "  compleat  ye  Address,  and  draw  up 
the  Petition  to  bis  Majesty."  At  a  session  of  the  Court,  June  7,  1661, 
all  these  matters  were  finally  fixed  and  arranged  :  — 

"  This  Court  haueing  considered  the  Address  and  Petition  compleated  by  the' 
Committee,  to  be  sent  and  p'sented  to  his  Matie  or  Soveraigne  Lord  Charles  the 
2nd,  and  also  the  Instructions  drawen  vp  for  or  Wory  Governor,  Agent  for  the  Col- 
ony in  ye  prmisses,  doe  approve  of  that  wch  ye  Committee  hath  done." 

The  Court  went  on  to  make  provisions  for  the  support  of  Governor 
Winthrop  in  England,  and  for  the  expenses  which  would  be  incurred  in 
his  effort  to  procure  a  charter.  With  all  its  honors  and  congratulations 
to  the  king  in  the  address,  the  great  object  of  Governor  Winthrop's 
personal  visit  to  England  was,  if  possible,  to  obtain  a  charter  which 
would  put  certain  perplexing  questions  forever  at  rest. 

With  this  delicate  and  important  business  intrusted  to  his  hands, 
Governor  Winthrop  left  for  England  in  July,  1661.  Dr.  J.  H.  Trumbull, 
in  written  notes  appended  to  the  first  volume  of  the  Connecticut  Colo- 
nial Records,  says,  "  Gov.  Winthrop  sailed  from  New  Amsterdam  (New 
York)  23d  July,  in  the  Dutch  ship,  De  Trouw."  In  another  note  he 
says,  "July  18,  1661,  in  the  book  of  Monthly  Payments,  27  lbs.  pow- 
der are  charged  'to  salute  Gov.  Winthrop  coming  here  (New  York) 
from  the  Fresh  River  to  proceed  in  the  Trou  to  Fatherland.'  " 

In  one's  approaches  to  kings  and  rulers,  the  manner  often  weighs 
as  much  as  the  matter ;  and  Connecticut  was  exceedingly  fortunate  in 
having  intrusted  this  business  to  a  man  oi  polished  and  courtly  ad- 
dress, who  had  so  many  friends  in  England  to  open  the  doors  for  him 
into  the  king's  presence  and  give  him  a  favorable  introduction  to  the 
throne. 

In  this  year  (1660)  the  town  of  Huntington,  Long  Island,  having 
petitioned  to  be  taken  under  the  Connecticut  jurisdiction,  as  Southamp- 
ton had  done  in  1644  and  East  Hampton  in  1649,  the  General  Court 
granted  their  request,  conditioned  only  on  the  consent  of  the  Commis- 


GENERAL  HISTORY   TO   1665.  57 

sioners  of  the  United  Colonies.  No  objection  was  made  from  that 
quarter,  and  accordingly  Huntington  became  a  quasi  town  of  Connecti- 
cut. In  1(3(32  the  same  permission  was  given  to  the  town  of  Southold, 
Long  Island.  This  connection  of  the  Long  Island  towns  with  the  Con- 
necticut Colony  must  have  ceased  altogether  when  the  new  charter  went 
into  operation,  because  that  charter  did  not  touch  Long  Island.  Its 
territory  was  bounded  on  the  south  by  the  Ocean  Shore,  and  Long  Island 
Sound  was  understood  to  be  a  part  of  the  ocean.  Turning  to  Howell's 
History  of  "  Southampton,  Long  Island"  (pp.  60,  61),  we  find  this  whole 
matter  made  clear  and  definite  :  — 

"  March  12,  16G4,  Charles  II.  granted,  with  other  territory,  Long  Island  and 
islands  adjacent  to  his  brother  James,  Duke  of  York.  .  .  .  Under  the  patent 
granted  to  Connecticut,  Nov.  3,  1644,  the  province  claimed  jurisdiction  over  Long 
Island.  [There  is  a  mistake  in  this  date ;  he  doubtless  refers  to  the  charter  given 
to  the  Saybrook  patentees.]  .  .  .  Gov.  Winthrop,  on  seeing  the  letters-patent  to 
the  Duke  of  York,  informed  the  English  on  Long  Island  that  Connecticut  had  no 
longer  any  claims  upon  that  island." 

After  this  statement  Mr.  Howell  adds  the  following :  — 

"This  union  with  New  York  was,  however,  very  unacceptable  to  the  inhabi- 
tants at  the  east  end  of  the  island.  Their  intercourse  with  the  towns  along  the 
Connecticut  River  was  frequent,  and  in  customs,  education,  and  religion  they  were 
identical  with  their  New  England  brethren.  A  considerable  trade  had  grown  up 
between  the  three  towns  on  the  east  end  and  Connecticut,  and  the  efforts  of  his 
Royal  Highness's  officials  to  divert  this  to  New  York  met  with  hearty  resistance." 

While  this  topic  of  a  new  charter  was  on  the  docket,  a  very  per- 
plexing element  intruded  itself  upon  the  colonies.  As  soon  as  it  was 
known,  in  the  summer  of  1660,  that  Charles  II.  was  coming  back  from 
the  Continent  to  take  the  throne,  several  of  the  judges  who  had  signed 
the  death-warrant  of  Charles  I.  fled  the  land.  Two  of  these  judges, 
William  Goffe  and  Edward  Whalley,  reached  Boston  in  the  very  vessel 
which  brought  the  news  that  Charles  II.  was  on  the  throne.  At  first 
they  lived  openly  at  Cambridge,  hoping  and  expecting  that  they  would 
be  covered  and  protected  by  the  forthcoming  Act  of  Indemnity.  Some- 
time later  another  of  the  king's  judges  arrived, —  Colonel  John  Dixwell. 
When  Goffe  and  W'halley  found  that  they  were  not  exempted,  but  were 
singled  out  for  vengeance,  they  thought  they  should  be  safer  elsewhere 
than  in  the  Massachusetts  Bay.  They  betook  themselves  to  New  Haven, 
and  were  in  various  places  along  the  river  and  the  south  shore.  The 
story  of  the  concealment  of  those  judges  forms  one  of  the  wild  and 
romantic  stories  connected  with  the  early  history  of  New  England. 
The  two  officers  from  England,  Thomas  Kellond  and  Thomas  Kirk, 
were  all  the  while  in  hot  pursuit,  but  somehow  it  strangely  happened 
that  they  could  never  come  quite  up  to  the  fugitives.  They  had  taken 
the  wrong  road,  or  were  just  a  few  minutes  too  late ;  and  this,  too, 
notwithstanding  they  had  so  many  people  to  help  them.  This  was  a 
very  ugly  chapter  to  be  opened  just  as  Governor  John  Winthrop  had 
gone  over  to  England  to  obtain  a  charter. 

Through  the  winter  of  1661-1662  the  people  of  Connecticut  were 
eagerly  waiting  to  hear  news  about  the  progress  of  Winthrop' s  nego- 
tiations.   But  at  last  the  patience  of  the  people  was  to  be  gratified.     In 


58  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

the  first  volume  of  the  Collections  of  the  Connecticut  Historical  Society, 
pp.  52,  53,  may  he  found  the  letter  bearing  date,  London,  May  13,  1662, 
which  Governor  John  Winthrop  sent  home  when  he  was  sure  of  his 
charter.  He  knew  (though  it  took  some  persons  on  this  side  the  water 
a  long  time  to  find  it  out)  that  he  had  obtained  a  grant  from  Charles 
II.  for  which  all  the  people  of  Connecticut  ought  to  be  grateful.  Mr. 
Winthrop  was  writing,  as  is  supposed,  to  Mr.  John  Talcott,  Treasurer 
of  the  Connecticut  Colony.     He  says  :  — 

"  Sir,  —  I  must  refer  to  this  bearer,  Mr.  Woolcott,  to  lett  you  kuow  what  I 
might  certify  more  at  large  concerning  the  full  issue  of  this  Charter  for  our  colony 
of  Connecticut^  which  hath  now  newly  passed  the  great  seale,  and  is  as  full  and 
large  for  bounds  and  priviledges  as  could  be  desired,  so  as  I  hope  all  will  be  well 
satisfieed  about  the  Charge  that  has  been  necessary  for  the  affecting  and  prose- 
cuting a  business  of  such  consequence  which  is  to  the  full  settlement  of  the  colony 
for  them  and  their  posterity." 

There  is  not  much  doubt  that  the  bearer  of  the  letter  was  Henry 
Wolcott,  then  fifty-two  years  old,  who  was  one  of  the  trustees  mentioned 
in  the  charter.  These  incorporators,  or  patentees,  are  nineteen,  and  in 
the  various  repetitions  of  the  names,  as  is  common  in  such  documents, 
Mr.  Wolcott's  name  is  written  Woolicott,  Woollcott,  Woolcott,  but  never 
Wolcott. 

The  charter  itself  did  not  come  over  yet  for  some  months.  It  was 
first  exhibited  on  these  shores  at  the  meeting  of  the  Commissioners  in 
Boston,  Sept.  4, 1662.  It  was  a  death-blow  to  the  New  Haven  Colony  as 
a  separate  jurisdiction.  Palfrey  regards  the  conduct  of  Winthrop  toward 
New  Haven  as  of  doubtful  morality,  at  the  same  time  that  he  raises  the 
question  whether  this  annihilation  of  the  New  Haven  identity  was  not 
done  contrary  to  Mr.  Winthrop' s  own  wishes.  He  suggests  that  Lord 
Clarendon,  the  English  Prime  Minister,  may  have  desired  to  humiliate 
Massachusetts,  the  most  powerful  of  the  New  England  colonies,  and  could 
do  it  in  no  way  more  effectually  than  by  taking  the  New  Haven  Colony, 
which  in  its  ideas  of  Church  and  State  was  in  hearty  sympathy  with 
Massachusetts,  and  destroying  its  existence  by  merging  it  in  Connecti- 
cut. But  whoever  contrived  the  plan,  and  whatever  the  motives  may 
have  been,  after  the  hatreds  and  animosities  of  a  few  years  had  died  out, 
the  people  of  Connecticut,  of  both  colonies,  found  themselves  in  posses- 
sion of  a  fair  heritage  of  freedom  which  none  would  wish  to  part  with 
or  fundamentally  change. 

Governor  Winthrop  returned  from  England,  was  made  the  first 
governor  under  the  new  charter,  and  so  continued  by  re-election  yearly 
until  his  death,  April  5,  1676. 


THE   CHARTER   OF   1(562.  59 


SECTION    IV. 

BY    THE    REV.    INCREASE    N.    TARBOX,    D.D. 

The  Charter  of  1662. — The  Union  of  the  Colonies.  —  Hartford  County 
Constituted. 

We  have  before  given  a  rapid  account  of  the  agency  by  which  this 
charter  was  obtained;  but  it  is  fitting  that  we  should  look  somewhat 
more  closely  to  the  charter  itself,  its  contents,  and  its  after  history. 

Charles  II.  and  his  ministers  must  have  been  in  an  amiable  mood 
during  the  years  1662  and  1663,  to  have  conferred  on  Connecticut  and 
Rhode-Island  charters  so  much  more  large  and  liberal  than  those  con- 
ferred by  the  English  Crown  on  the  other  American  colonies.  Rhode 
Island  claims,  perhaps  with  some  justice,  that  hers  was  more  generous 
even  than  that  of  Connecticut.  If  so,  she  certainly  did  not  know  how 
to  use  it  any  more  wisely,  or  get  a  more  substantial  good  out  of  it, 
than  did  the  people  of  Connecticut  out  of  theirs.  The  vital  peculiarity 
of  these  charters,  in  distinction  from  those  of  other  American  colonies, 
appears  in  the  fact  that  no  veto  power  was  retained  in  England  to  thwart 
the  free  action  of  the  people  in  the  election  of  their  own  governors  and 
the  transaction  of  all  governmental  business.  To  show  the  practical 
outworking  and  variation  of  the  two  kinds  of  charters,  we  may  recall  the 
fact  that  just  before  the  breaking  out  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  Thomas 
Hutchinson,  an  American-born  citizen,  was  royal  governor  of  Massachu- 
setts, and  was  serving  his  royal  master,  when  he  was  obliged  to  fly  from 
the  anger  of  the  people  and  take  refuge  in  England.  Thomas  Gage, 
commander  of  the  English  army  at  Boston,  was  made  governor  in  his 
stead ;  as  though  the  king  of  England  had  said,  if  you  will  not  accept 
one  of  your  own  citizens,  whom  I  have  appointed  to  be  your  head,  I 
will  give  you  a  man  of  war,  with  his  battalions  and  ships  of  war  about 
him,  whom  you  cannot  so  easily  drive  away. 

But  how  was  it  in  Connecticut  at  that  time  ?  Jonathan  Trumbull, 
of  Lebanon,  had  been  elected  governor  of  Connecticut  in  1769  by  the 
free  suffrages  of  the  people,  and  was  re-elected  to  the  same  office  for 
fifteen  years,  to  the  close  of  the  war ;  and  there  was  no  place  in  the 
charter  given  by  Charles  II.  where  the  king  of  England  could  step  in  to 
stay  those  proceedings.  Jonathan  Trumbull  was  of  the  people  and  for 
the  people,  the  right-hand  counsellor  and  helper  of  Washington  through 
the  whole  revolutionary  struggle. 

It  is  true,  under  the  brief  but  miserable  reign  of  James  II.,  1685- 
1689,  this  guaranty  was  broken,  not  by  any  pretence  of  law  or  right- 
eousness, but  simply  by  kingly  violence,  and  the  conditions  of  the  char- 
ter for  a  little  time  were  suspended.  Sir  Edmund  Andros  was  appointed 
governor  and  claimed  to  be  governor  of  all  New  England,  in  spite  of  all 
previous  grants  and  charters.  It  was  in  this  time  of  usurpation  that 
the  Rev.  Gershom  Bulkeley  (or  Gershom  Bulkeley,  Esq.,  for  he  was  a 


60  MEMORIAL   HISTORY  OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

'  civilian  as  well  as  a  preacher)  wrote  a  letter  to  Governor  Treat  and  the 
Magistrates,  "  To  advise  concerning  Holding  of  a  Court  of  Election  by 
Virtue  of  and  according  to  the  late  Patent."  1 
In  this  letter  (p.  61)  he  says  :  — 

"Our  late  soveraign,  King  Charles  the  Second,  did  in  the  year  1662,  by  his 
letters  patents  for  himself,  his  Heires  and  Successors,  Ordaine  and  Constitute  the 
therein  named  Pattentees,  and  the  then  present  and  future  Freemen,  &c,  One 
Body  politick  and  Corporate  in  fact  and  name,  by  the  name  of,  His  Govemour  and 
Company  of  the  English  Colony  of  Connecticut  in  New  England  in  America,  and 
that  by  the  same  Name,  they  and  their  Successors  shall  and  may  haue  perpetual 
Succession.  .  .  .  But  now  you  are  not  such  a  Body  politick  and  Corporate,  capa- 
ble in  Law  as  aforesaid,  for  you  know  that  by  the  late  Transaction  between  his 
Majesty  and  his  then  Gouernour  and  Company  of  the  late  Colony  of  Connecticut 
the  Government  is  changed  and  taken  into  his  Majesties'  hands." 

As  it  proved,  this  was  only  a  brief  episode  in  the  history  of  Con- 
necticut, Not  far  from  the  time  when  Mr.  Bulkeley  was  writing  his 
letter  in  1689,  King  James  II.  was  driven  from  the  throne,  and  in  the 
reign  of  William  and  Mary,  that  succeeded,  there  was  no  disposition  to 
ply  these  tyrant  arts  against  New  England.  The  charter  ventured  out 
again  from  its  hiding-place,  clothed  with  all  its  beneficent  powers  and 
privileges  for  the  people.  For  nearly  one  hundred  years  after  this  at- 
tempt to  stifle  its  existence  it  stood  out  in  sight  of  all  men,  and  no- 
where, perhaps,  in  all  the  world,  could  a  people  be  found  more  intelli- 
gent, virtuous,  prosperous,  and  happy  than  those  who  lived  under  the 
protection  and  guidance  of  that  charter. 

The  charter  had  been  obtained,  and  it  was  as  ample  and  noble  as 
could  be  desired,  and  far  more  so  than  the  most  sanguine  mind  could 
have  expected.  The  charter  was  good,  and  was  safely  landed  on  our 
shores  in  the  autumn  of  1662.  But  the  great  question  now  was,  how  to 
bring  the  two  colonies,  legally  united  in  the  charter,  into  actual  and 
peaceable  union. 

It  was  not  to  be  wondered  at,  that  a  storm  of  indignation  arose  in 
the  towns  under  the  New  Haven  jurisdiction.  The  colony  of  New  Haven 
was  the  smallest  of  the  four,  but  inferior  to  none  in  the  intelligence, 
culture,  wealth,  and  social  standing  of  her  families.  It  came  from 
England  later  than  the  others  and  was  selected  and  organized  with 
great  care.  That  its  corporate  existence  should  be  thus  suddenly  taken 
away  without  note  or  warning,  and  that  it  should  at  once  be  merged  in 
any  other  jurisdiction,  however  good  it  might  be,  was  more  than  human 
nature  could  quietly  and   patiently  bear. 

As  hinted  in  another  place,  this  merging  of  the  New  Haven  Colony 
was  perhaps  more  of  an  English  than  a  New  England  idea.  In  addi- 
tion to  other  motives  that  may  have  influencedJDharles  II.  and  his  min- 
isters, the  following  may  have  been  one.  The  New  Haven  magistrates 
and  people  had  been  more  active  than  those  of  any  other  colony  in 
feeding,  sheltering,  and  concealing  the  judges  who  had  tried  and  exe- 
cuted Charles  I.  It  is  not  likely  that  the  king's  officers  on  this  side  the 
water,  Messrs.  Kellond  and  Kirke  could  fail  to  know  that  the  men  they 
were  after  were  hidden  by  the  New  England  people,  and  chiefly,  as  things 

1  See  Collections  of  Connecticut  Historical  Society,  vol.  i.  p.  59. 


HARTFORD   COUNTY   CONSTITUTED.  61 

turned,  by  the  people  of  New  Haven.  No  thorough  New  Englander, 
then  or  now,  would  be  apt  to  lay  this  particular  sin  to  their  charge. 
But  Charles  II.  in  the  years  1660  and  1661,  trying  to  catch  the  men 
who  had  had  the  unheard-of  audacity  to  sit  in  solemn  tribunal  on  his 
royal  father  and  then  publicly  execute  him,  would  be  likely  to  regard 
this  whole  matter  in  a  very  different  light.  No  doubt  from  time  to  time 
he  had  heard  from  the  officers  in  pursuit  how  their  best-laid  plans  were 
foiled  by  the  people,  and  all  their  efforts  to  trace  and  arrest  the  fugitives 
brought  to  nought,  very  largely  through  the  magistrates  of  the  New 
Haven  Colony. 

But  at  last  the  long  public  contest  was  ended.  Trumbull,  in  his 
"History  of  Connecticut"1  tells  us  (and  the  testimony  is  more  valuable 
because  he  lived  and  wrote  within  the  bounds  of  the  old  New  Haven 
Colony)  that :  — 

"At  the  General  Election,  May  11,  1665,  when  the  two  colonies  of  Connect- 
icut and  New  Haven  united  in  one  ...  a  proportionable  number  of  the  magis- 
trates were  of  the  former  colony  of  New  Haven  ;  all  the  towns  sent  their  deputies ; 
and  the  Assembly  appears  to  have  been  entirely  harmonious.  .  .  .  The  union  of 
the  colonies  was  a  happy  one.  It  greatly  contributed  to  the  convenience,  strength, 
peace,  and  welfare  of  the  inhabitants  of  both,  and  of  their  posterity.  Greater 
privileges  New  Haven  could  not  have  enjoyed,  had  they  been  successful  in  their 
applications  to  his  Majesty." 

By  the  union  of  Connecticut  and  New  Haven  the  territory  and  the 
population  were  so  increased  beyond  what  had  belonged  to  either  one 
before,  that  the  time  had  arrived  to  cast  the  State  into  four  subdivisions 
called  counties,  for  its  better  regulation  and  government.  This  business 
took  place  at  the  Court  of  Election  held  at  Hartford,  May  10, 1666,  when 
there  were  present  the  governor,  John  Winthrop  ;  the  deputy-governor, 
John  Mason;  twelve  assistants,  and  thirty-one  deputies.  Those  who 
had  before  been  called  Magistrates  were  now  under  the  new  charter 
called  Assistants. 

At  first  the  counties  were  four, — Hartford,  New  Haven,  New  London, 
and  Fairfield.     The  bounds  of  Hartford  County  were  as  follows  :  — 

"  The  Court  orders  that  the  Townes  on  the  Riuer  from  ye  north  bounds  of 
Windsor  wth  Farmington  to  ye  south  end  of  ye  bounds  of  Thirty  Miles  island 
shalbe  &  remaine  to  be  one  County  wch  shalbe  called  the  County  of  Hartford. 
And  it  is  ordered  that  the  County  Court  shalbe  kept  at  Hartford  on  the  1st  Thurs- 
day in  March,  and  on  the  first  Thursday  in  September  yearly."  J 

The  Thirty  Miles  Island,  so  called,  was  the  territory  now  occupied 
by  the  towns  of  Haddam  and  East  Haddam,  which  was  then  chiefly 
wild  and  unoccupied  land.  The  singular  name  it  bore  was  from  a  little 
island  in  the  river,  over  against  it,  which  was  reckoned  to  be  thirty 
miles  from  the  mouth  of  the  river.  At  this  same  session  clerks  were 
appointed  for  these  several  counties ;  and  in  Hartford  County  the  ap- 
pointment fell  upon  Mr.  Daniel  Clarke,  who  for  a  long  course  of  years 
was  to  be  one  of  the  well-known  public  men  of  the  county.  In  the  follow- 
ing year  it  was  voted  that  the  County  Courts  shall  have  leave  to  "  chuse 
their  own  clarkes."     In  this  year  (1667)  there  were  nineteen  towns  in 

1  Vol.  i.  pp.  276,  277. 


62  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

the  several  counties  of  the  State,  and  the  total  valuation  of  the  estates 
showed  £144,398  Qs.  9d. 

In  the  same  session  of  the  General  Court  constituting  these  coun- 
ties it  was  ordered  :  — 

"  That  ye  Wills  and  Inventories  of  persons  deceased  wthin  any  of  the  Counties 
in  this  Colony  shalbe  exhibited  and  proued  at  ye  County  to  which  the  deceased 
did  appertaine  by  his  habitation.  And  the  said  County  Court  is  to  settle  the 
distribution  of  the  estate  to  the  legatees."2 

The  County  Courts  too  were  to  have  liberty  and  power  (but  not 
exclusive  power)  over  the  question  of  selling  liquor,  which  has  been 
one  of  the  most  difficult  questions  to  manage,  from  that  day  to  this : 

"  This  Court  grants  liberty  to  the  County  Courtes  in  the  respective  Countyes 
to  grant  lycense  to  any  particular  person  to  retale  wine  &  liqrs,  as  occation  shall 
require;  and  none  els  but  such  as  are  lycensed  by  the  Generall  Court  or  the  County 
Courtes,  without  a  ticket  from  the  Magistrate  of  the  place  where  they  hue,  shall 
haue  leaue  to  sell  by  retale  any  wine  or  liqrs." 

Other  functions  and  powers  were  lodged  with  these  county  organi- 
zations as  time  passed  on ;  these  were  their  chief  primitive  duties. 

1  Colonial  Records  of  Connecticut,  vol.  ii:  p.  34.  2  Ibid.,  p.  39. 


&U* 


CHAPTER    IV. 

THE    COLONIAL    PERIOD. 


SECTION    I. 

THE  ANDBOS   GOVERNMENT.  — THE   CHARTER   AND    THE 
CHARTER  OAK. 

BY    SHERMAX    W.    ADAMS. 

CONNECTICUT'S  Charter  of  1662  was  more  favorable  to  its  grantees 
than  the  Charter  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  of  1629,  had  been  to  the 
latter  colony.  The  document,  in  the  form  of  letters-patent,  for 
Connecticut,  gave  to  John  Winthrop,  and  to  his  associates  therein  named, 
and  to  those  who  should  thereafter  be  "  made  free  of  the  Company  and 
Society  of  our  Collony  of  Conecticut  in  America,"  general  and  exclusive 
governmental  powers,  —  such  as  the  right  to  organize  and  maintain  a 
house  of  Deputies,  and  to  establish  courts ;  the  corporation  having  the 
right  to  execute  its  powers  on  the  soil  of  Connecticut.  In  Massachu- 
setts it  was  always  a  question  whether  the  corporate  powers  must  not 
be  executed  in  England,  where  the  office  of  the  "  Council  at  Plymouth" 
was,  from  whom  the  colony  received  its  deed.  The  grant  of  the  soil 
of  that  colony  was  to  the  Charter  grantees  and  their  assigns;  while 
the  powers  of  government  were  conferred  upon  the  corporation  and  its 
successors.  No  power  was  expressly  given  to  Massachusetts  to  estab- 
lish courts  of  law,  nor  had  it  admiralty  jurisdiction.  Connecticut, 
however,  was,  as  Chalmers  expresses  it,1  a  "  pure  Democracy  ;  since  the 
freemen  exercised  without  restraint  every  power,  deliberative  and  ex- 
ecutive." Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut,  he  says,  were  "  two  little 
republics,  embosomed  within  a  great  empire." 

The  most  active  and  unscrupulous  agent  for  the  revocation  of  the 
colonial  charters  of  New  England  was  Edward  Randolph,  the  collector 
of  His  Majesty's  customs  in  New  England,  and  deputy  auditor-general 
of  revenues  in  America.  He  it  was  who  framed  the  "  charges  "  whereon 
writs  of  quo  warranto  were  based,  against  the  colonial  governments. 
He  crossed  the  ocean  many  times  in  pursuance  of  his  purpose.  Two 
such  writs  were  served  upon  Massachusetts,  both  of  which  were  aban- 
doned ;  and  a  writ  of  scire  facias  was  finally  brought  to  the  High  Court 
of  Chancery  in  England ;  whereon,  in  October,  1684,  a  decree  was  ob- 
tained, annulling  and  vacating  the  Charter.  This  was  in  the  reign  of 
Charles  II.     In  the  following  February  James  II.  became  king.     The 

1  Introduction  to  the  "History  of  the  Revolt  of  the  American  Colonies." 


64  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

last  election  under  the  Massachusetts  Charter  occurred  in  May,  1686. 
In  the  same  month  Joseph  Dudley,  the  Royal  President  of  the  new 
government,  arrived.  His  territory  included  Massachusetts,  New 
Hampshire,  and  Maine  ;  and  Boston  became  the  seat  of  government  for 
all  the  provinces. 

Sir  Edmond  Andros  arrived,  bearing  a  royal  commission  as  Gov- 
ernor of  New  England,  Dec.  19,1686.    He  had  been  a  major  as  early  as 
1666,  in  the  war  against  the  Dutch,  in  New  York ;  in 

#1672  he  was  major  of  Prince  Rupert's  Dragoons,  and 
in  1674-1681,  Governor  of  New  York,  having  in  the 
mean  time  been  made  a  Knight,  while  on  a  visit 
to  England.  From  1681  to  1686  he  had  remained 
in  England,  where  he  had  been  a  lieutenant-colonel 
of  horse,  and  had  commanded  a  troop  of  horse 
against  the  rebellious  Duke  of  Monmouth. 
We  cannot  here  recount  the  doings  of  Andros 
as  Governor  of  New  England ;  but  it  may  be  said, 
generally,  that  he,  like  Randolph,  was  particularly 
offensive  to  the  Puritan  element.  He  compelled  them  to  open  their 
houses  of  worship  for  the  holding  of  services  according  to  the 
forms  of  the  Church  of  England.  Concerning  the  advent  of  Andros  to 
Connecticut,  much  more  than  can  be  stated  here  will  be  found  in 
Vol.  I.  of  Dr.  Benjamin  Trumbull's  "  History  of  Connecticut;"  in  Vol. 
III.  of  J.  Hammond  Trumbull's  "Colonial  Records  of  Connecticut;" 
and  in  the  unpublished  document,  entitled  "  Will  and  Doom ;  or,  the 
Miseries  of  Connecticut,"  written  in  1692  by  the  Rev.  Gershom  Bulkeley. 
Edward  Randolph  had  been  obnoxious  to  Connecticut  in  the  per- 
formance of  his  official  duties.  He  had  also  been  the  agent  of  the 
Duke  and  Duchess  of  Hamilton,  when  in  1683  they  had  laid  claim  to 
that  part  of  Connecticut  east  of  the  river.  In  July,  1685,  he  prepared, 
for  the  Lords  Commissioners  of  Plantations,  "  Articles  of  High  Mis- 
demeanors against  the  Governor  and  Company  of  Connecticut;"  that 
being  the  corporate  name  of  the  colony.  The  "  charges,"  six  in  num- 
ber, may  be  summarized  thus :  first,  the  general  one,  that  the  colony 
had  "  made  laws  contrary  to  the  realm  of  England  ; "  second,  that  fines 
were  converted  to  the  colonial  treasury  ;  third,  that  an  oath  of  fidelity, 
and  not  of  allegiance,  was  required  from  inhabitants  ;  fourth,  that  exer- 
cise of  the  religion  of  the  Church  of  England  was  denied ;  fifth,  that 
justice  could  not  be  obtained  in  the  courts ;  sixth,  that  loyalists  were 
excluded  from  office,  and  the  power  kept  in  the  hands  of  "  the  inde- 
pendent party."  These  accusations  were  made  in  order  to  justify  the 
issue  of  a  writ  of  quo  warranto  against  Connecticut ;  the  object  being 
• 

1  "  The  seal  used  by  Sir  Edmond  Andros  while  Governor  of  New  England  (a  fine  impres- 
sion of  which  is  preserved  on  the  commission  to  Governor  Threat  as  Colonel)  hears —  quarterly, 
first  and  fourth  on  a  chevron,  between  three  leopards'  faces,  as  many  castles  triple  towered 
[for  the  seigniory  of  Sausmarez]  ;  second  and  third,  a  saltire  voided,  on  a  chief  three  mullets. 
Crest,  a  falcon  affrontant,  wings  expanded.  Supporters  :  dexter,  a  unicorn,  gorged  ;  sinister,  a 
greyhound,  tail  cowarded,  gorged.  The  motto  is  not  legible.  That  of  the  family  of  Sausmarez 
(to  which  the  crest  and  supporters  belong)  is  '  In  Deo  Spero  '  (Burke's  Armory).  The  bear- 
ings of  the  second  and  third  quarters  are  given  by  Burke  as  those  of  Andrewes  of  London, 
and  Andrews  of  Doddington.  The  arms  of  the  Andros  of  Guernsey  (to  which  Sir  Edmond 
belonged)  are  described  in  Berry's  '  History  of  Guernsey  '  (p.  138)  as  'a  chevron  between  three 
pelicans  vulning  themselves.'  "  —  Dr.  J.  H.  Trumbull's  Note  to  Colonial  Records  of  Connecticut, 
iii.  392. 


THE   ANDROS    GOVERNMENT.  65 

to  make  that  colony  a  province  to  be  subject  to  the  government  to  be 
established  at  Boston. 

On  Randolph's  charges,  the  Privy  Council  recommended  that  the 
King  direct  his  Attorney-General  to  prosecute  such  a  writ.  In  July, 
1685,  two  writs  of  quo  warranto  were  issued.  Both  were  served  to- 
gether, a  year  later,  by  Randolph  ;  the  service  being  upon  Robert  Treat, 
Governor ;  Captain  John  Allyn,  Secretary ;  and  Major  John  Talcott, 
one  of  the  Assistants  of  the  General  Court.  The  service  was,  of  course, 
defective  ;  the  return-day  of  the  process  having  already  elapsed.  William 
Whiting  (son  of  William,  a  Hartford  gentleman)  was  then  a  merchant  in 
London,   and    Connecticut's   agent       ^,       s?  ? 

there.  To  him  Governor  Treat  JDrfjyyf-  ^^rr^lA-  -i  v 
wrote,  acquainting  him  with  these  I  /  *s 

facts  and  authorizing  him  to  procure  V — 

defence  against  the  suits.  A  petition  was  also  sent  in  August,  1686,  to 
the  King,  praying  that  the  privileges  of  the  colony  be  not  taken  away. 
No  action  was  had  in  the  Court  of  King's  Bench  upon  these  writs.  In 
December,  1686,  a  third  writ  was  served  upon  Governor  Treat,  requiring 
the  colony  to  appear  in  answer  thereto  in  the  following  February.  With 
the  service  of  this  writ,  December  28th,  a  letter  from  Governor  Andros 
was  delivered,  announcing  that  the  King  had  authorized  him  to  receive 
"  the  surrender  of  the  charter,  if  tendered"  by  Governor  Treat.  Nei- 
ther then  nor  afterward  did  Governor  Treat  offer  to  surrender  that 
instrument.  But  in  January,  1687,  Andros  was  informed  by  him,  by 
order  of  the  General  Court,  that  Mr.  Whiting  had  been  empowered,  in 
the  colony's  behalf,  to  defend  against  this  latest  writ.  It  was  added 
that  the  colony  desired  "  to  continue  in  the  same  station ; "  but  that  it 
would,  "  as  in  duty  bound,  submit  to  His  Majesty's  royal  commands  ;" 
and  that,  if  compelled  to  join  any  other  colonies,  it  would  prefer  those 
under  Andros. 

This  answer  was  made  the  pretext,  by  some  of  Andros's  adherents 
(as,  for  instance,  Gershom  Bulkeley),  for  the  claim  that  Connecticut 
"  consented  "  to  the  surrender  of  her  Charter.  But  Andros  himself  did 
not  so  construe  it ;  for  he  continued,  until  June,  1687,  to  urge  the 
colony's  submission  to  his  authority.  Finally,  Oct.  22,  1687,  he  wrote 
to  Governor  Treat  that  he  had  "  received  effectuall  orders  and  com- 
mands from  his  Matie  for  Connecticut,  annexed  to  this  [Boston]  Gov- 
ernment." He  further  stated  his  resolve  to  be  "  att  Hartford  abk  the  end 
of  next  weeke,  pursuant  thereunto,"  etc. 

Judge  Sewall's  Diary,  under  date  of  Oct.  26,  1687,  says :  — 

"  His  Excellency,  with  sundry  of  the  Council,  Justices,  and  other  Gentlemen, 
four  Blew-Coats,  two  Trumpeters  (Sam.  Bligh  one),  15  or  20  Red-Coats,  with 
small  Guns,  and  short  Lances  in  the  tops  of  them-*- set  forth  for  Woodcock's 
[Woodcock's  tavern,  in  what  is  now  Attleborongh,  Mass.],  in  order  to  goe  to 
Connecticut,  to  assume  the  Government  of  that  place." 

Andros,  m  fact,  set  out  at  this  date,  coming  by  way  of  Providence 
and  New  London,  and  crossing  the  river  at  Wethersfield  ferry,  later 
known  as  Pratt's  ferry.  At  the  latter  point,  to  quote  from  Mr.  Bulke- 
ley's  "  Will  and  Doom,"  he  arrived 

"On  Monday,  October  31,  1687,  with  divers  of  the  members  of  his  Council, 
and  other  gentl.  attending  him,  and  with  his  guard ;  came  to  Hartford,  where  he 

VOL.   I.  —  5. 


66  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 


GOVERXOR    ANDROS. 

was  received  with  all  respect,  and  welcome  congratulation  ;"  etc.  "The  troop  of 
horse  of  that  county  conducted  him  honorably,  from  the  ferry,  through  Wethers- 
field,  up  to  Hartford ;  where  the  trained  bands  of  divers  towns  .  .  .  united  to 
pay  their  respects  at  his  coming." 

The  county  troop  was  at  that  time  commanded  by  Captain  Samuel 
Talcott,  of  Wethersfield ;  and  it  is  not  probable  that  he  bad  much 
"  respect "  for  the  Andros  government,  for  he  had  furnished  money  to 
aid  in  defending  against  it.     But  Bulkeley,  though  undoubtedly  honest, 

colored  his  account,  as  a  partisan  of  An- 
dros naturally  would. 

At  Hartford,  the  same  day,  Andros, 
according  to  Bulkeley,  was  escorted  to  the 
"  Court  Chamber  "  (on  the  second  floor  of 
the  Meeting-House),  where,  taking  the  "  Governor's  seat,"  he  caused  his 
commission  to  be  publicly  read,  and  made  proclamation  of  his  assumption 


W% 


THE  CHARTER  AND  THE  CHARTER  OAK.         67 

of  the  government.  He  then  made  the  Governor  and  the  Secretary  mem- 
bers of  his  Council,  and  administered  to  them  the  oath  of  office.  The 
record  of  the  General  Court  shows  that  the  meeting  was  a  special  session 
of  that  body,  "  by  order  of  the  Governor."  Upon  the  conclusion  of  the 
proceedings,  Secretary  Allyn  closed  the  record  with  this  entry :  — 

"  His  Excelency,  Sr  Edmond  Andross,  Knt,  Capt.  Generall  &  Govr  of  his 
Maties  Teritorie  &  Dominion  in  New  England,  by  order  from  his  Matic  James  the 
second,  King  of  England,  Scotland,  France  &  Ireland,  the  31  of  October,  1687, 
took  into  his  hands  the  Government  of  this  Colony  of  Conecticott ;  it  being  by 
his  Matie  annexed  to  the  Massachusetts,  &■  other  colonys  under  his  Excelencies 
Government. 


Dr.  Benjamin  Trumbull's  version  of  the  proceedings  at  Hartford 
(History  of  Connecticut,  vol.  i.  p.  890)  is  very  different  from  Mr. 
Bulkeley's  ;  but  he  had  not  seen  the  latter.  He  says  that  Andros  was 
accompanied  by  more  than  sixty  "regular  troops;"  that  he  demanded 
the  Charter,  and  declared  the  government  under  it  dissolved.  During 
the  conference  between  the  royal  and  the  colonial  Governor,  — 

"  the  Charter  was  brought  in  and  laid  upon  the  table,  where  the  Assembly 
was  sitting.  .  .  .  The  lights  were  instantly  extinguished,  and  one  Captain  [Jo- 
seph] Wadsworth,  of  Hartford,  in  the  most  silent  and  secret  manner,  carried  off 
the  Charter,  and  secreted  it  in  a  hollow  tree,  fronting  the  house  of  the  Honorable 
Samuel  Wyllys,  then  one  of  the  magistrates  of  the  colon}7.  The  people  appeared 
all  peaceable  and  orderly.  The  candles  were  officiously  relighted ;  but  the  patent 
was  gone,  and  no  discovery  could  be  made  of  it,  or  of  the  person  who  had  con- 
veyed it  away.  Sir  Edmond  assumed  the  government,  and  the  records  of  the 
colony  were  closed,  in  the  following  words  "  :  — 

And  he  quotes  the  entry  we  have  recited  above.  The  latter  version 
accords  with  the  ancient  tradition.  Captain  Wadsworth  was  a  brother 
of  John  Wadsworth,  one  of  the  Assistants  present,  from  Farmington. 

What  is  certain  is,  that  the  Charter  was  never  surrendered ;  and, 
indeed,  there  never  was  any  decree  ordering  its  surrender  or  annulling 
it.  No  such  order  could  have  been  made  upon  the  quo  warranto  ;  and 
a  judgment  of  that  kind  would  not  have  been  responsive  to  the  writ  or 
its  demands. 

Andros  may  or  may  not  have  been  a  "  usurper  "  in  Massachusetts, 
whose  charter  had  been  annulled  under  a  scire  facias.  At  Hartford  his 
government  was  that  of  a  usurper;  for  he  had  no  judicial  warrant  for 
the  exercise  of  authority  there,  and  he  exceeded  the  very  doubtful  au- 
thority granted  by  the  King.  He  abolished  the  General  Court  and  the 
Court  of  Assistants,  and  he  set  up  new  tribunals  in  their  stead.  He 
established  a  Superior  Court,  Courts  of  General  Sessions,  and  Courts  of 
Common  Pleas.  He  commissioned  judges  and  justices  of  the  peace. 
Allyn,  who  had  been  Judge  of  the  County  Court  for  Hartford  County, 
was  made  Judge  of  the  Common  Pleas  Court.  The  Assistants  of  the 
General  Court  were  made  Justices  ;  as  were  also  some  others,  including 
Gershom  Bulkcley.  He  commissioned  Governor  Treat  to  be  Colonel  of 
Militia  ;  and  evidently  sought  to  placate  officials  whom  he  had  removed, 
by  placing  them  in  new  offices.  His  Council  at  Boston  enacted  laws  for 
the  government  of  Connecticut  until  the  revolution  of  1689. 


68  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF   HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

With  the  accession  of  William  and  Mary  to  the  throne,  the  charter 
government  was  resumed,  in  May,  1689 ;  Andros  and  Randolph  having 
been  arrested  and  deposed  in  April  of  that  year.  In  170-1  Governor 
Dudley,  of  Massachusetts,  and  Lord  Cornbury,  Governor  of  New  York, 
made  futile  efforts  to  have  the  Charter  revoked.  That  instrument  re- 
mained in  force,  so  far  as  Connecticut  chose  to  have  it,  until  the  adop- 
tion of  our  Constitution. 

Through  the  courtesy  of  the  Hon.  J.  Hammond  Trumbull,  the  writer 
is  enabled  to  mention  some  of  the  doings  of  the  courts  of  the  Andros 
government  in  Hartford  County.  The  original  records  of  those  courts 
are  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Trumbull,  to  whom  they  were  presented  by 
the  late  Thomas  G.  Talcott,  Esq.  They  were  among  the  "  Talcott 
papers,"  and  have  never  been  published.  They  are  in  twenty-five  closely 
written  folio  pages. 

The  first  Court  of  Sessions  held  at  Hartford  was  begun  on  March 
5,  1687-8.  The  "  Justices  "  present  were  :  Lieutenant-Colonel  John 
Talcott,  Humphrey  Davie,  and  Samuel  Wyllys,  of  Hartford ;  Gershom 
Bulkeley,  Samuel  Talcott,  and  John  Chester,  of  Wethersfield  ;  Benja- 
min Newberry,  of  Windsor ;  John  Wadsworth,  of  Farmington  ;  and  Giles 
Hamlin,  of  Middletown.  Mr.  Davie  had  lived  in  Boston,  but  was  of 
Hartford  at  the  date  of  his  decease,  Feb.  18,  1688-9.  He  was  a 
brother  of  Sir  John  Davie,  of  Creedy,  County  of  Devon,  England ;  to 
whom  his  son  John,  of  Groton,  Conn.,  succeeded  as  heir  to  the  baronial 
estate  and  title. 

The  Grand  Jury  consisted  of :  Nathaniel  Stanley  and  Joseph  Wads- 
worth,  of  Hartford  ;  James  Steele,  Sr.,  William  Burnham,  and  John 
Chester,  (Jr.  ?),  of  Wethersfield  ;  and  John  Bissell,  John  Moore,  Return 
Strong,  and  Nathaniel  Loomis,  of  Windsor.  A  marshal  attended  upon 
the  court. 

The  first  case  tried  was  a  prosecution  of  "  Mr.  Joseph  Mallison  "  (?), 
for  assaulting  Stephen  Chester,  of  Wethersfield.  Several  other  prose- 
cutions were  tried.  Packers  and  gaugers,  cullers  (of  fish),  and  sealers 
of  weights  and  measures  were  appointed  for  Hartford,  Windsor,  Weth- 
ersfield, Middletown,  Farmington,  Haddam,  Waterbury,  and  Simsbury. 

A  session  of  the  Inferior  Court  of  Pleas  was  begun  on  the  8th  of 
March,  1687-8.  At  this  court  John  Allyn  was  the  judge  ;  and  the  Jus- 
tices above  mentioned  (excepting  Davie)  were  his  associates  on  the 
bench.  Several  civil  causes  were  tried,  and  some  wills  were  probated. 
Justice  Davie  was  present  in  April  and  May.  Another  Court  of  Sessions 
was  begun  June  5,  1688.  At  this  term,  besides  the  trial  of  causes, 
commissioners  and  constables  were  appointed  for  some  of  the  towns, 
and  probate  matters  were  attended  to.  A  special  session  was  held 
June  19,  and  a  Court  of  Pleas  the  same  day,  with  Allyn  as  judge. 
Another  term  of  the  Court  of  Sessions  was  begun  September  4.  This 
was  a  general  session.  Special  sessions  were  held  September  11  and 
18.  In  the  following  February  and  March  there  were  sessions  of  the 
Court  of  Pleas,  the  last  one  having  been  on  March  7,  1688-9.  Suits 
and  prosecutions  were  tried,  and  wills  were  probated.  Several  wills 
are  recorded  in  extenso.  Ferry-keepers  (for  Lyme  and  Wethersfield) 
and  taverners  were  licensed. 

The  territory  over  which  jurisdiction  was  conferred  by  the  Charter 
was  bounded  northerly  by  Massachusetts,  easterly  by  "  Narrogancett 


y 


THE  CHARTER  AND  THE  CHARTER  OAK 


1 


River,''  southerly  "by  the  Sea,"  and  westerly  by  "the  South  Sea." 
This  last-mentioned  limit  was,  in  later  times,  construed  by  Connecticut 
to  be  the  Pacific  Ocean;  but  it  is  probable  that  the  Crown  had  no  idea 
of  the  vastness  of  the  extent  westerly.  The  tenure  was  >k  in  free  and 
common  socage ;"  which,  practically,  was  as  good  as  a  fee-simple.  The 
instrument  was  written  upon  three  skins,  or  pieces  of  parchment  ;  at 


THE    rilARTKR    OAK. 


the  beginning  of  the  first  of  which  is  a  finely  executed  drawing  of  the 
head  of  Charles  I.  There  was  originally  suspended  from  the  foot  of 
the  document  an  immense  waxen  seal;  but  it  long  ago  crumbled  to 
pieces.  The  whole  was  encased  in  a  box,  the  wood  of  which  resembles 
that  of  the  Scotch  fir.  The  box  is  now  in  the  possession  of  the  ( 'onnect  i- 
cut  Historical  Society.  The  charter  may  be  seen  at  the  office  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  State,  in  the  Capitol,  enclosed  in  a  carved  frame,  part 
of  which  is  of  wood  of  the  old  tree  itself. 

The  tree  stood  upon  land  on  the  homestead  of  the  celebrated  Wyllys 
family,  until  1827,  when  the  place  became  the  property  of  Stephen  Bulke- 
ley,  a  descendant  of  that  Gershom  Bulkeley  who  had  shown  so  much  dis- 
respect for  the  Charter.  In  1840  the  property  descended  to  Bulkeley's 
daughter,  Catharine,  the  wife  of  the  Hon.  Isaac  \V.  Stuart.  This  gen- 
tleman did  all  that  could  be  done  to  preserve  the  venerable  oak,  and 
remained  the  keeper  of  it  until  its  prostration,  which  occurred  in  a  high 
wind,  Aug.  21,  1856.  From  its  wood  thousands  of  small  articles  were 
made, including  "nutmegs,"  and  larger  productions  were  not  uncommon. 
Among  the  latter  may  be  mentioned  the  chair  of  the  presiding  officer  of 


72  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF   HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

the  Connecticut  Senate.  It  was  designed  by  a  son  of  Governor  A.  H. 
Hollev,  and  carved  by  one  Vigneaux,  a  Frenchman.  Several  seedlings 
from  the  tree  are  known  to  exist ;  two  of  which,  one  a  fine  and  thrifty 
specimen,  are  growing  on  Bushnell  Park.  The  species  is  the  common 
white  oak  (Quercus  alba  of  botanists),  and  is  one  of  slow  growth.  The 
parent  tree  is  said  to  have  been  twenty-one  feet  in  circumference  at 
a  height  of  seven  feet  from  the  ground.  And  it  is  also  said  that,  in  the 
presence  of  Mr.  Stuart,  twenty-one  persons  occupied  its  cavity  at  a  time. 
Near  its  base  the  breadth  of  the  trunk  was  very  much  greater  than  at 
the  height  of  a  person's  head.  A  careful  computation,  made  by  Pro- 
fessor John  Brocklesby  while  the  tree  was  prostrate,  fixed  its  age  at 
a  little  less  than  a  thousand  years.  A  marble  tablet  marks  the  spot 
whereon  the  old  oak  stood. 

Many  facts  concerning  the  Charter  Oak,  and  the  various  representa- 
tions, oii  canvas  and  paper,  which  have  been  made  of  it,  will  be  found 
in  the  recently  published  monograph  on  the  subject,  by  Mr.  William  1. 
Fletcher,  lately  assistant-librarian  of  the  Watkinson  Library.  One  of 
the  most  valuable  views,  in  a  historical  sense,  is  a  small  painting,  made 
by  George  Francis,  in  1818,  for  Mr.  Daniel  Wadsworth.  Mr.  Charles 
De  Wolf  Browncll,  about  1855,  made  several  sketches  and  oil-paintings 
of  the  tree,  the  finest  of  which  is  owned  by  the  heirs  of  the  late  Gov- 
ernor Marshall  Jewell.  The  Francis  painting,  and  several  other  views, 
are  in  the  rooms  of  the  Connecticut  Historical  Society. 


iSAAu^w 


GENERAL  HISTORY  TO  THE  END  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.  73 


SECTION    III 

GENERAL  HISTORY  OF  THE  COUNTY  TO   THE  END   OF 
THE   REVOLUTIONARY   WAR. 

BY   MISS    MARY   K.    TALCOTT. 

The  history  of  the  County  of  Hartford  during  this  period  must 
relate  very  largely  to  the  wars  in  which  the  English  colonies  were 
involved  with  the  French  and  Indians.  The  very  existence  of  the 
colonies  was  often  menaced,  and  every  able-bodied  man  bore  his  share 
in  the  incessant  conflicts  rendered  necessary  by  the  unceasing  hostility 
of  the  savage  foe  and  the  ambitious  projects  of  the  French.  The  Colony 
of  Connecticut  sent  men  both  to  Albany  and  New  York  to  assist  the 
inhabitants  in  repelling  the  assaults  of  the  savage  bands  despatched 
by  Count  Frontenac  to  ravage  their  borders.  Captain  Jonathan  Bull, 
afterward  sergeant-major  of  Hartford  County,  went  with  his  company 
from  Hartford  to  Albany,  in  1689,  to  aid  in  the  defence  of  that  region, 
and  in  the  following  winter  his  troop  was  among  the  number  surprised 
by  the  French  at  Schenectady.  His  lieutenant,  one  sergeant,  and 
three  privates  were  killed  in  that  massacre,  and  five  men  were  cap- 
tured. This  attack,  and  the  one  made  shortly  after  on  Salmon  Falls, 
on  the  Connecticut  River,  caused  great  alarm  in  New  England,  and 
constant  watchfulness  was  required  of  all.  More  troops  were  sent  to 
Albany,  and  also  to  the  settlements  in  Massachusetts  on  the  Connecti- 
cut. These  settlements  were  quite  as  dependent  upon  Connecticut, 
especially  Hartford  County,  as  upon  the  people  of  the  Bay,  for  assist- 
ance in  time  of  danger.  In  1693  Sir  William  Pliipps  asked  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  to  aid  in  protecting  the  eastern  settlements  in  Maine 
and  Massachusetts ;  and  a  company  of  sixty  Englishmen  and  forty 
Indians  was  sent,  commanded  by  Colonel  William  Whiting. 

In  October,  1696,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Stoddard,  Captain  Patrick,  and  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Williams  appealed  to  the  General  Assembly  of  Connecticut 
for  a  speedy  supply  of  forty  or  fifty  men  for  defence.  In  response, 
forty  men  were  raised  in  Hartford,  Wethersfield,  and  Windsor,  under 
command  of  Lieutenant  Stephen  Hollister,  to  march  with  all  possible 
speed  to  Deerfield. 

The  Peace  of  Ryswick,  in  1697,  gave  a  much  needed  repose  to  the 
colonists,  who  had  spent  freely  their  blood  and  money  to  repel  their 
fierce  and  crafty  enemy.  Notwithstanding  the  strain  and  depletion 
caused  by  these  wars  and  rumors  of  wars,  the  people  increased  in 
numbers  ;  and  in  1690  the  oldest  town  in  the  colony,  Wethersfield,  was 
divided,  that  part  of  it  lying  east  of  the  Great  River  being  made  a 
town,  and  called  Glastonbury.  This  was  the  first  division  of  any 
of  the  old  townships  in  the  county,  but  it  was  the  precursor  of  many 
more. 

The  records  of  the  county  court  for  this  period  show  with  what 


74  MEMORIAL   HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

vigilance  the  magistrates  watched  over  the  manners  and  morals  of  the 
inhabitants.  They  were  jealous  of  their  own  dignity,  and  rigorously 
punished  all  contempt  of  their  authority.  April  9,  1690,  Samuel  Gay- 
lord  was  fined  20s.  for  disobeying  Mr.  Henry  Wolcott's  commands  to 
stay  before  him  in  court ;  and  on  the  28th  of  November,  the  same 
year,  Benjamin  Crane  was  fined  =£15  for  speaking  ill  of  the  authori- 
ties, also  to  give  a  <£50  bond  for  good  behavior.  His  grievous  offence 
consisted  in  calling  the  magistrates  a  company  of  "  forsworn  wretches," 
and  saying  "  that  their  authority  was  neither  of  the  King  nor  of  God, 
but  of  the  Devil."  In  1706,  Captain  Joseph  "Wadsworth,  well  known 
in  tradition  as  the  preserver  of  the  charter,  was  fined  5s.  for  hot-headed 
remarks  in  court  and  hasty  reflections  on  the  judges.  The  same  year 
Bevil  Waters,  of  Hartford,  was  indicted  for  "  cursing  the  court,"  — 
having  said,  after  a  judgment  had  been  rendered  against  him,  "  God 
bless  you  over  the  left  shoulder." 

Many  persons  were  presented  before  the  court  for  not  attending 
public  worship,  and  5s.  was  the  ordinary  fine ;  though  occasionally, 
when  there  were  aggravating  circumstances,  the  fine  was  increased. 
Philip  Goffe,  of  Hartford,  and  his  wife  Naomi,  when  accused  of  absent- 
ing themselves  from  public  worship,  made  their  defence,  "  that  in  their 
Conscience  they  could  not,  nor  would  they,  go  to  meeting  on  the  Sab- 
bath day."  For  this  bold  declaration  they  were  fined  20s.  Profanity 
was  heavily  fined,  10s.  being  the  ordinary  rate.  Drunkenness  was  much 
more  common,  the  Indians  being  frequent  offenders  in  spite  of  the 
rigorous  precautions  adopted  to  prevent  them  from  obtaining  liquor. 
The  English  also  succumbed  to  the  influence  of  intoxicating  drinks 
even  on  solemn  occasions ;  for,  on  the  5th  of  April,  1698,  George 
Haines  was  fined  10s.,  or  to  sit  in  the  stocks  two  hours,  for  being 
4runk  at  Jonathan  Dibble's  funeral. 

A  tavern  in  Hartford  was  kept  by  Disbrow  Spencer,  and  his  hospi- 
tality appears  to  have  been  accompanied  by  many  discreditable  inci- 
dents. Playing  at  cards  was  forbidden  by  law,  but  Spencer  allowed  it 
in  his  house  on  the  sly;  and  Oct.  11,1703,  when  the  soldiers  were 
come  together  from  the  adjoining  towns  for  training,  a  brawl  occurred 
in  the  night  between  Joseph  Grant  and  Richard  Tudor,  caused  by  a 
disagreement  at  cards.  When  they  were  tried,  John  Butler  testified 
that  he  saw  them  playing  cards  for  money,  and  that  there  was  plenty 
of  drink  to  be  had  in  the  house.  Grant  was  fined  20s.  for  playing 
cards,  10s.  more  for  unseasonable  company-keeping ;  and  Spencer  had 
to  pay  10s.  for  entertaining  at  unseasonable  hours.  Three  years  later 
this  same  Disbrow  Spencer  was  again  brought  before  the  Court,  this 
time  as  a  duellist.  He  and  Henry  Merry,  of  Lyme,  having  a  quarrel, 
challenged  each  other  to  meet  with  swords  at  the  common  landing- 
place  in  Hartford,  there  to  decide  their  differences  by  force  of  arms. 
The  complaint  was  not  proved,  and  they  were  discharged  ;  so  Hartford 
can  hardly  compete  with  Boston  for  the  honor  of  the  first  duel  in 
New  England. 

Besides  punishing  the  sins  of  the  people,  the  court  also  directed 
them  whither  to  look  for  spiritual  aid.  Sept.  5,  1702,  on  account  of 
the  prevalence  of  "  Epidemicall "  diseases  in  this  county,  and  also  of 
the  continuance  of  the  drought,  the  ministers  and  congregations  were 
recommended  to  keep  the  24th  of  September  as  a  "day  of  humiliation 


GENERAL  HISTORY  TO  THE  END  OF  THE  REVOLUTION,  76 

and  prayer  to  Almighty  God,  that  he  would  look  in  mercy  upon  us  his 

Wilderness  people." 

The  intimate  connection  between  Church  and  State  broughl  eccle- 
siastical matters  occasionally  before  the  Court,  the  payment  oi  the 
rates  being  made  very  unwillingly  in  some  eases:  and  the  liberty  of  the 
inhabitants  to  leave  one  church  in  Hartford  and  go  to  the  Other  was 
questioned. 

In  1698  William  Whiting  was  Bigh  Sheriff, and  under  his  direction 
a  new  prison-house  was  ordered  to  be  built  in  Hartford.  The  Sheriff 
of  Hartford  County  was  then  a  very  important  official,  almost  next  to 
the  Governor  in  dignity,  and  the  position  was  usually  hold  by  some 
prominent  man.  Colonel  Whiting  held  the  office  for  many  years,  also 
represented  Hartford  in  the  General  Assembly,  and  frequently  Led 
the  colonial  troops  in  the  French  and  Indian  wars.  In  1 70S  he 
received  from  the  Assembly  the  sum  <A  £30  iov  his  good  services  in 
the  county  of  Hampshire,  and  in  this  colony.  Ee  was  a  son  oi  the 
Rev.  John  Whiting,  minister  of  the  First  Church  in  Eartford,  after- 
ward first  pastor  of  the  Second  Church.  This  family  is  prominent  in 
our  military  annals,  and  many  of  its  members  held  high  civil  positions. 

The  War  of  the  Spanish  Succession  in  Europe,  in  L702,  again  set 
the  colonists  in  battle  array.  As  usual,  a  requisition  was  made  from 
Massachusetts  for  aid,  and  a  committee  of  war  was  appointed  with 
plenary  powers  to  send  troops  into  Massachusetts  and  tin1  frontier 
towns  of  Connecticut.  Jan.  1,  170-1,  four  hundred  men  were  ordered 
to  be  raised  by  the  committee,  to  be  in  readiness  upon  any  sudden 
occurrence,  to  have  12s.  per  week,  furnishing  themselves  with  arms, 
ammunition,  snow-shoes,  and  Indian  shoes.  The  committee  of  war 
for  this  county  consisted  of  Nathaniel  Stanly,  Esq.,  of  Eartford,  Mr. 
William  Pitkin  of  East  Hartford,  Major  John  Chester  of  Wethers- 
field,  Major  William  Whiting  of  Hartford,  Captain  Cyprian  Nichols 
of  Hartford,  Captain  Matthew  Ally n  of  Windsor,  and  Captain  Aaron 
Cook  of  Hartford,1  —  all  prominent  men  in  the  colony.  In  1707  the 
colonists  were  again  alarmed  by  rumors  of  another  French  and  Indian 
invasion,  and  on  the  6th  of  February  a  council  of  war  was  convened  at 
Hartford,  the  governor  and  principal  military  men  of  the  colony  being 
present.  Measures  of  defence  were  organized,  more  especially  against 
the  Indians  within  our  borders.  The  sum  of  £50  was  allowed  out,  of 
the  treasury  for  procuring  dogs,  in  the  northern  frontier  towns,  "to 
hunt  after  the  Indian  enemy;"  and  the  committee  of  war  in  Eart- 
ford County  were  directed  to  obtain  as  many  dogs  as  that  sum  would 
allow,  to  be  always  ready  for  the  service.  Indian  methods  of  warfare 
were  adopted  in  allying  the  savages  with  the  colonial  soldiers.  A 
scouting-party  was  sent  out,  in  1710,  towards  "the  lake,"3  consisting 
of  four  or  five  Englishmen  and  sixty  Indians  ;  and  they  wen',  to  receive 
from  the  treasury  £10  for  each  scalp  they  should  bring  in. 

In  1711  a  large  expedition  for  the  reduction  of  Canada  was  raised, 
and  sanguine  expectations  were  cherished  of  its  .success.  A  general 
fast  was  appointed  throughout  the  colony,  Aug.  15,  1711,  to  be  followed 
by  fasts  on  the  last  Thursday  of  every  month  "until  the  present 
expedition  to  Canada  be  ended."     The  major  of  Hartford  County  was 

1  Colonial  Records,  vol.  iv.  p.  21.  2  Lake  Georgfc 


/6  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

directed,  Dec.  27, 1711,  to  impress  men  for  service  in  Hampshire  County, 
if  they  did  not  offer ;  a  scouting-party  being  needed,  to  be  posted  on 
some  eminence  above  Deerfield  for  the  discovery  of  the  enemy. 

The  Peace  of  Utrecht,  in  1713,  gave  the  wearied  colonists  a  res- 
pite from  fighting,  which  they  improved  by  devoting  themselves  with 
energy  to  the  occupation  and  subduing  of  the  wilderness  which  sur- 
rounded them  on  every  side. 

The  people  of  Hartford  and  Windsor  had  begun  even  earlier  to 
plan  new  townships  on  the  land  granted  to  these  two  towns  by  the 
General  Assembly  in  1686.  This  grant  was  a  hasty  measure  adopted  in 
anticipation  of  the  coming  of  Sir  Edmund  Andros,  when  it  was  feared 
he  would  attempt  to  sequestrate  the  unappropriated  lands  held  by  the 
Governor  and  company  of  Connecticut  under  the  charter  of  King 
Charles  II.,  as  well  as  to  annul  the  charter  itself.  The  grant  to  Hart- 
ford and  Windsor  consisted  of  "  those  lands  on  the  north  of  Woodbury 
and  Mattatuck,  and  on  the  west  of  Farmington  and  Simsbury,  to  the 
Massachusetts  line  north,  and  to  run  west  to  the  Housatunnuck  River 
(provided  it  be  not,  or  part  of  it,  formerly  granted  to  any  particular 
person),  to  make  a  plantation  or  village  thereon."  After  the  flight  of 
Andros,  in  1689,  when  the  charter  government  was  resumed,  no  action 
was  taken  in  regard  to  the  lands.  "  It  is  probable  that  the  General 
Court,  while  composed  mainly  of  those  who  voted  the  grant,  were  un- 
willing, by  a  revocation,  to  incur  the  imputation  of  having  made  a 
fictitious  disposal  of  the  lands ;  and  that  the  grantees,  while  the  well- 
known  intent  of  the  grants  was  fresh  in  their  remembrance,  were 
slow  to  repudiate  the  implied  trust  by  any  overt  act  of  ownership."  x 
In  1707,  more  than  twenty  years  after  the  grant,  and  after  most 
of  those  then  on  the  stage  had  passed  away.  Major  William  Whiting, 
Mr.  Nathaniel  Hooker,  and  Mr.  Caleb  Stanly  were  appointed  to  survey 
this  tract  of  land  in  conjunction  with  a  committee  from  Windsor. 
The  same  committee,  with  the  addition  of  Mr.  Richard  Edwards,  were 
appointed,  Jan.  19,  1708,  to  treat  with  Mr.  John  Reade,  of  Stratford, 
and  other  claimants  to  these  lands,  to  settle  the  boundaries,  and  to 
adopt  legal  measures,  if  necessary,  in  defence  of  the  rights  of  the  two 
towns.  Here  the  matter  seemed  to  rest  for  a  time ;  but  Nov.  2,  1713, 
after  peace  was  declared,  Captain  John  Sheldon,  Lieutenant  Cyprian 
Nichols,  and  Mr.  Samuel  Sedgwick  were  appointed  a  committee  to 
take  account  of  the  quantity  and  quality  of  the  lands,  and  to  ascertain 
the  nature  of  the  Indian  claims  to  the  territory.  Two  years  later,  in 
1715,  Colonel  William  Whiting,  Ensign  John  Marsh,  and  Ensign 
Thomas  Seymor  were  appointed  in  conjunction  with  the  Windsor  com- 
mittee to  lay  out  one  or  two  towns  in  this  tract  of  land ;  and  in  pursu- 
ance of  these  directions,  in  1717,  the  town  of  Litchfield,  at  first  called 
Xew  Bantam,  was  laid  out.  Certain  considerable  persons  in  Farming- 
ton  having  obtained  by  purchase  the  native's^right  to  a  portion  of  this 
township,  after  some  negotiation,  one  sixth  part  of  it  was  set  apart 
for  them,  provided  that  they  release  and  convey  to  the  two  towns  their 
claims  to  the  western  lands.  In  May,  1719,  the  General  Assembly 
confirmed  the  rights  of  the  settlers  of  Litchfield ;  but  with  evident  dis- 
approval of  the  proceedings  of   Hartford  and  Windsor  appends  the 

1  Boyd's  History  of  Winchester,  p.  10. 


GENERAL  HISTORY  TO  THE  END  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.         77 

declaration  that  the  whole  tract  north  of  Litchfield  and  Woodbury 
"  shall  lie  for  the  further  disposal  of  the  Assembly."  This  appears  to 
have  been  something  of  a  check  upon  the  plans  of  the  two  towns,  and 
made  it  necessary  for  them  to  go  through  the  form  of  requesting  the 
assent  of  the  Assembly  to  their  next  project,  —  Major  Talcott,  Captain 
Cook,  and  Ensign  Seymor  being  appointed,  Dec.  14,  1719,  to  ask 
leave  of  the  Assembly  to  settle  one  or  more  townships  on  the  remain- 
der of  the  western  lands.  There  is  no  evidence  that  any  such  consent 
was  ever  received ;  but  in  1720  Ensign  Thomas  Seymor  and  Ser- 
geant James  Ensign  were  appointed  to  purchase  the  territory  of  the 
natives ;  and  later  in  the  same  year  it  was  voted  that  a  list  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  town,  purchasers  of  the  western  lands,  be  made,  so 
that  every  purchaser  should  receive  his  proportion.  Dec.  19,  1721, 
Captain  John  Sheldon  was  charged  with  the  responsibility  of  selecting 
a  place  for  another  "  plantation."  The  next  year  John  Seymor,  Sam- 
uel Catlin,  and  William  Baker,  of  Hartford,  were  appointed,  with 
Thomas  More  and  Job  Elsworth,  of  Windsor,  "  to  take  a  further  view 
of  the  land  in  order  to  settling  another  town."  April  1,  1723,  this 
committee  reported  the  laying  out  of  a  town  of  sixty-seven  allotments, 
and  it  was  voted  that  the  allotments  be  disposed  of  at  £6  each. 
The  General  Assembly  was  at  last  aroused,  and  at  its  May  session 
ordered  the  King's  attorney  for  the  County  of  New  Haven  to  arrest 
the  Hartford  and  Windsor  committees,  who  had  the  matter  in  charge. 
Public  feeling  ran  so  high  in  Hartford  County  that  civil  process  against 
the  trespassers  could  not  be  executed ;  so  the  New  Haven  officials  were 
called  upon  to  act.  Hartford  responded  by  appointing  Joseph  Talcott, 
Esq.,  Captain  Hezekiah  Wyllys,  Lieutenant  Thomas  Seymor,  and  Mr. 
James  Ensign  to  appear  before  the  Assembly  and  explain  and  defend 
the  proceedings  with  regard  to  the  lands.  They  were  also  to  propose 
a  compromise,  dividing  the  lands  by  a  line  drawn  from  the  northwest 
corner  of  Litchfield  north  to  the  Massachusetts  line,  the  colony  taking 
the  western  division,  the  eastern  to  be  confirmed  to  Hartford  and 
Windsor.  This  was  not  acceded  to  ;  and  finally,  after  a  long  and  care- 
ful examination  of  claims  by  the  committee  of  the  Assembly,  in  1726 
they  proposed  that  the  whole  tract  of  land  in  question  should  be  equally 
divided  between  the  colony  and  the  two  towns,  —  the  colony  to  have 
the  western  portion  and  Hartford  and  Windsor  the  eastern  ;  also  that 
Litchfield  should  not  come  into  the  division,  but  should  belong  to  the 
proprietors.  This  territory  ceded  to  Hartford  and  Windsor  embraced 
the  present  towns  of  Colebrook,  Hartlancl,  Winchester,  Barkhamsted, 
Torrington,  New  Hartford,  and  Harwinton,  —  an  estimated  area  of 
291,806  acres,  to  which  should  be  added  the  township  of  Litchfield, 
covering  35,000  acres  more.  The  Government  was  probably  actuated 
by  an  earnest  desire  to  have  these  valuable  lands  thrown  open  for  settle- 
ment, as  could  not  well  be  done  while  this  conflict  continued ;  for, 
although  called  an  equal  division,  the  quantity  of  land  reserved  to  the 
colony  was  only  120,000  acres.  Notwithstanding  this  concession,  the 
compact  was  not  finally  ratified  until  Aug.  30,  1729,  when  the  patent 
was  duly  executed,  and  received  the  colony's  seal.  The  next  year  the 
General  Assembly  annexed  all  the  western  lands  belonging  to  Hartford 
and  Windsor  to  the  County  of  Hartford.  Captain  Thomas  Seymor 
and  Lieutenant  Roger  Newberry  were  appointed  in  May,  1731,  to  make 


78  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

a  division  of  these  lands,  and  Mr.  Kimberley  made  a  survey,  from 
which  it  was  calculated  that  five  towns  might  be  laid  out  eastward  of 
the  Housatonic  River,  four  north  of  Litchfield,  and  one  between  Litch- 
field and  the  river.  The  deed  dividing  the  land  between  the  two 
towns  bears  date  Feb.  11, 1732,  and  the  proprietors  of  Hartford  became 
the  owners  of  Hartland,  Winchester,  New  Hartford,  and  the  eastern 
half  of  Harwinton,  while  Colebrook,  Barkhamsted,  Torrington,  and  the 
western  half  of  Harwinton  were  assigned  to  Windsor.  The  Assembly 
passed  a  law  providing  that  each  tax-payer  of  the  two  towns,  on  their 
lists  for  1720,  should  own  a  share,  in  proportion  to  his  list,  in  one  of 
these  new  townships,  at  the  rate  of  more  than  three  acres  to  the  pound 
of  his  list.  The  lands  belonging  to  the  colony  were  sold,  and  the  pro- 
ceeds were  devoted  to  the  support  of  the  schools,  this  money  being 
divided  among  the  towns  then  settled,  to  remain  a  perpetual  fund. 

The  settlement  of  Harwinton  was  vigorously  carried  on  at  once,  and 
that  of  New  Hartford  a  few  years  later ;  but  the  remaining  townships 
were  unoccupied,  save  by  a  few  straggling  settlers,  before  1750,  as 
until  and  even  after  that  period  the  danger  of  attacks  from  the  In- 
dians was  sufficient  to  deter  the  people  from  settling  in  the  wilderness. 

In  connection  with  this  account  of  the  western  lands  should  be 
mentioned  the  "  Hartford  Riot,"  as  Dr.  Benjamin  Trumbull,  in  his 
"  History  of  Connecticut,"  represents  it,  mistakenly,  however,  as  one 
of  the  consequences  of  that  long  controversy.  "  Moreover,  the  charac- 
ter and  position  of  some  of  the  parties  implicated  gave  it  an  importance 
which  does  not  usually  attach  to  the  doings  of  a  mob.  The  cause  and 
occasion,  however,  have  been  completely  lost  sight  of.  .  .  .  More  recent 
writers  have  adopted  Dr.  Trumbull's  version ;  and  no  one,  so  far  as  I 
can  discover,  has  been  at  the  pains  of  investigating  the  real  causes  of 
this  popular  outbreak."1  The  following  account  is  condensed  from 
Dr.  J.  H.  Trumbull's  article  on  the  subject,  which  appeared  in  the 
"Hartford  Evening  Press,"  October,  1860. 

Joshua,  Sachem  of  the  Niantic  Indians,  by  his  will,  made  in  1676, 
gave  large  tracts  of  land  in  (what  now  constitutes)  the  counties  of 
Windham  and  Tolland,  to  certain  gentlemen  of  Hartford,  Windsor,  and 
elsewhere,  reserving  a  portion  on  Willimantic  and  Hop  rivers  for  his 
sons.  His  title  to  the  lands  which  he  so  liberally  distributed  was,  to 
say  the  least,  somewhat  questionable.  It  was  not  without  much  hesita- 
tion that  the  will  was  admitted  to  probate,  and  then  only  on  condition 
that  the  legatees  should  "  submit  the  dispose  and  improvement  of  the 
said  lands  to  the  General  Court's  ordering,  to  make  a  plantation  of." 
In  1706  the  Hartford  legatees  received  a  grant  of  township  privileges 
for  Coventry,  and  in  1715  those  of  Windsor  were  authorized  to  lay  out 
Tolland.  Before  that  date  Captain  Jeremiah  Fitch,  of  Norwich,  had 
purchased  a  considerable  tract  in  Coventry,  deriving  his  title  by  deed 
from  a  Windsor  settler  who  had  bought  from  one  of  the  Windsor  lega- 
tees. A  part  of  his  farm  was  within  the  tract  reserved  by  Joshua  for  his 
sons ;  and  the  last  survivor,  Abimelech,  had  willed  it  to  Major  John  Clarke 
and  the  Rev.  Thomas  Buckingham,  of  Saybrook.  Major  Clarke  brought 
an  action,  in  May,  1721,  against  Fitch,  in  the  Superior  Court,  to  recover 
possession  of  these  lands.  Judgment  was  given  for  the  plaintiff,  and 
execution  granted  for  the  costs,  amounting  to  £14  13s.     Captain  Fitch 

1  Dr.  J.  Hammond  Trumbull. 


GENERAL  HISTORY  TO  THE  END  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.  79 

remained  obstinate,  the  execution  was  returned  unsatisfied,  and  then 
the  captain  was  committed  to  prison  in  Hartford.  His  neighbors  were 
indignant  at  this  outrage  on  squatters'  rights.  There  was  scarcely  a 
farm  in  that  region  over  which  there  were  not  two  or  three  conflicting 
titles.  They  resolved  on  a  demonstration.  Oct.  22,  1722,  a  party  from 
the  Hop  River  country,  joined  by  some  from  East  Windsor,  —  about 
fifty  in  all,  —  crossed  the  Hartford  ferry,  and,  marching  to  the  jail, 
demanded  the  immediate  release  of  Captain  Fitch.  The  jailer,  Thomas 
Meakins,  refused  to  comply  with  their  demands,  and  opposed  their  en- 
trance. But  a  battering-ram  was  soon  found  in  a  piece  of  timber  lying 
near  by.  The  door  was  burst  open,  the  rioters  rushed  in,  carried  off 
Captain  Fitch  in  triumph,  and  made  a  general  jail-delivery.  Colonel 
William  Whiting,  the  High  Sheriff,  with  such  assistance  as  he  could 
muster,  pursued  and  overtook  them  at  the  river-side,  and  made  every 
exertion  to  recapture  the  prisoner.  But  the  rioters,  after  the  inter- 
change of  a  few  blows  and  some  scuffling,  in  which  the  Sheriff  came  off 
second  best,  all  got  safely  on  board  the  ferry-boat,  and  compelled  the 
ferry-man  to  land  them,  out  of  the  reach  of  immediate  pursuit,  on  the 
eastern  side.  The  General  Assembly  took  immediate  measures  for 
the  punishment  of  the  offenders,  and  a  special  court  was  ordered  to  sit 
in  Hartford  for  this  trial,  which  took  place  in  May,  1723.  Fifteen  per- 
sons were  tried  and  convicted  ;  but  Captain  Fitch  was  fully  acquitted 
of  all  participation  in  the  riot,  the  court  not  regarding  it  as  a  crime 
that  he  walked  out  of  prison  with  his  friends  when  the  doors  were 
opened. 

We  must  now  resume  the  thread  of  events  after  the  Peace  of 
Utrecht.  During  the  first  few  years  after  that  event  one  of  the  sub- 
jects which  most  concerned  the  people  of  Hartford  County  was  the 
proposed  removal  of  the  collegiate  school  from  Saybrook,  as  they  were 
very  desirous  that  it  should  be  located  at  Wethersfield  or  Hartford. 
The  sum  of  £1,000  was  offered  to  the  college  if  it  should  be  removed 
to  Hartford ;  and  two  of  the  trustees,  the  Rev.  Timothy  Woodbridge 
and  the  Rev.  Thomas  Buckingham,  favored  the  plan.  Dec.  18,  1716, 
the  town  of  Hartford  voted  in  favor  of  this  proposal,  and  one  of  the 
reasons  mentioned  was,  that  there  was  little  communication  between 
the  counties  of  Hartford  and  New  London  and  New  Haven,  "  the 
transporting  anything  by  water  being  so  uncertain."  After  the  As- 
sembly had  decided  that  the  college  should  go  to  New  Haven,  the  two 
opposing  trustees  offered  a  remonstrance  to  that  body ;  and  having  the 
two  junior  classes  at  Wethersfield  under  tuition,  they  held  a  Commence- 
ment there,  Sept.  12, 1718,  —  the  same  day  that  the  like  ceremonies  were 
going  on  in  New  Haven,  —  Mr.  Woodbridge  presenting  the  class  with 
certificates  that  they  were  worthy  to  be  Bachelors  of  Arts.  He  who 
was  afterward  known  as  the  great  divine,  Jonathan  Edwards,  was  one 
of  the  youths  who  figured  on  this  occasion.  The  people  of  Hartford 
were  so  much  gratified  by  Mr.  Woodbridge's  stout  resistance  to  the 
removal  of  the  college  to  New  Haven  that  they  elected  him,  and  also 
the  Rev.  Thomas  Buckingham,  of  the  South  Church,  his  fellow-pastor 
in  Hartford,  to  represent  them  in  the  General  Assembly  in  1719 ;  but 
they  were  not  allowed  to  take  their  seats. 

That  year  a  new  State  House  was  built  in  Hartford,  as  an  equivalent 


80  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

to  the  establishment  of  the  college  at  New  Haven.  Still,  the  Wethers- 
field  school  was  continued,  and  was  a  cave  of  Adullam  to  which 
students  discontented  at  New  Haven  repaired  for  refuge ;  but  finally 
the  breach  was  healed.  Mr.  Woodbridge  was  chosen  rector  pro  tempore, 
after  the  removal  of  Mr.  Cutler,  in  1722,  and  presided  at  the  Com- 
mencement in  New  Haven,  as  he  had  done  five  years  before  at 
Wethersfield. 

In  1723  the  peace  of  the  colony  was  disturbed  by  threatenings  of 
another  Indian  war.  Massachusetts  had  become  involved  in  conflict 
with  the  Indians  of  Maine,  and  called  upon  Connecticut  for  assistance. 
There  was  also  danger  that  the  tribes  on  the  western  and  northern 
borders  would  sympathize  with  their  brethren ;  and  in  August,  Major 
Talcott  was  ordered  to  ride  upon  the  frontiers,  from  Hartford  to  New 
Milford,  at  the  head  of  a  body  of  three  hundred  men,  scouts  were 
sent  out  to  range  the  woods  from  Simsbury  westward  to  the  Housa- 
tonic,  and  the  friendly  Indians  were  directed  not  to  go  hunting  north 
of  the  road  from  Farmington  to  Woodbury.  A  Committee  of  War  at 
Hartford  was  appointed,  consisting  of  Colonel  Matthew  Allyn,  Esq., 
Captain  Roger  Wolcott,  Esq.,  Colonel  William  Whiting,  Captain  Aaron 
Cook,  Lieutenant  Nathaniel  Stanly,  and  Captain  David  Goodrich ;  and 
fifty  men  were  sent  to  the  advanced  posts  of  Deerfield  and  Northfield, 
in  Massachusetts.  The  new  settlement  at  Litchfield  suffered  from  this 
war,  —  some  of  the  inhabitants  deserting  their  new  homes  on  account 
of  the  alarm  caused  from  fears  of  Indian  attacks,  and  also  perhaps 
because  of  the  arduous  duties  of  keeping  watch  and  ward,  rendered 
necessary  by  the  fear  of  the  enemy.  The  western  settlements  were 
considered  so  exposed  that  thirty-two  men  were  sent  from  Hartford, 
Wethersfield,  and  Farmington  to  their  assistance.  In  October,  1724, 
the  Assembly  passed  a  law  that  all  persons  who  had  deserted  Litch- 
field should  forfeit  their  lands  there,  unless  they  returned  within  the 
space  of  one  month  after  the  rising  of  the  Assembly,  or  sent  other 
settlers  as  their  substitutes.  The  Committee  of  War  at  Hartford 
was  authorized  to  admit  new  settlers  in  the  place  of  such  deserters, 
and  to  give  them  the  forfeited  lands.  In  May,  1724,  Indians  having 
been  discovered  lurking  about  Litchfield,  a  party  of  thirty-two  men 
was  ordered  to  go  from  Hartford,  Wethersfield,  and  Farmington  to 
the  aid  of  that  town.  The  sum  of  <£50  was  offered  for  every 
Indian  scalp  produced  before  the  Governor  and  Council  or  the  Com- 
mittee of  War.  In  the  autumn  the  fears  of  a  surprise  were  apparently 
lessened ;  for  the  friendly  Indians  were  allowed  to  hunt  as  formerly, 
"  provided  they  wore  something  white  upon  their  heads,  to  distinguish 
them  as  friends."  But  in  March,  1725,  there  was  another  alarm,  and 
the  detachment  in  the  towns  of  Hartford,  Wethersfield,  and  Windsor, 
two  hundred  strong,  were  ordered  to  be  in  readiness  to  march  at  the 
shortest  notice.  September  17,  Captain  Cyprian  Nichols  and  a  com- 
pany of  fifty  men  were  ordered  into  Hampshire  County,  as  the  Indians 
were  reported  to  be  preparing  to  attack.  The  next  year  peace  was 
restored,  and  for  a  period  of  fourteen  years  no  war  with  either  French- 
man or  Indian  disturbed  the  colonists. 

The  wilderness  lying  east  of  the  Connecticut  River,  being  less  ex- 
posed to  hostile  incursions  than  the  western  lands,  naturally  attracted 
numerous  settlers.    The  laying  out  of  Coventry  and  Tolland  has  already 


GENERAL  HISTORY  TO  THE  END  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.  81 

been  mentioned.  Stafford  was  incorporated  in  1719,  and  Bolton, — 
where  many  Hartford  families  were  represented,  —  in  1716. 

Hartford  County,  which  then  embraced  a  much  larger  extent  of 
territory  than  now,  suffered  diminution  a  little  later.  Windham  County 
was  established  in  1726  ;  and  in  1728  the  people  of  Waterbury,  at  their 
own  request,  were  annexed  to  New  Haven  County.  The  townships  of 
Norfolk  and  Salisbury  were  sold  at  auction  in  Hartford,  in  May,  1738. 
New  Hartford  was  settled  earlier ;  but  these  frontier  settlements  were 
less  popular,  for  danger  from  the  savages  was  by  no  means  at  an  end, 
and  fortifications  were  needed  for  safety. 

In  1740  a  war  with  a  more  distant  foe  claimed  the  attention  of  Con- 
necticut, and  in  July,  Major  William  Pitkin  was  appointed  to  enroll 
volunteers  in  Hartford  County,  and  to  beat  up  for  recruits  for  the 
expedition  against  the  territories  of  the  Catholic  King  in  the  West 
Indies.  This  was  Admiral  Vernon's  expedition,  sent  from  England  to 
capture  Porto  Bello  and  Carthagena.  Although  successful  in  capturing 
Carthagena,  an  extraordinary  sickness  attacked  the  forces,  and  out 
of  one  thousand  New  Englanders  only  one  hundred  lived  to  return  to 
their  homes. 

France  openly  declared  war  against  Great  Britain  in  1744,  having 
previously  assisted  Spain  secretly  in  every  possible  manner.  The  pre- 
vious year  there  appears  to  have  been  some  alarm  with  regard  to  the 
Indians,  as  a  Committee  of  War  was  appointed  in  Hartford  County, 
consisting  of  the  Deputy  Governor,  Roger  Wolcott,  Nathaniel  Stanly, 
Ozias  Pitkin,  and  William  Pitkin,  Esquires,  Captain  John  Marsh,  and 
Mr.  Joseph  Buckingham,  to  send  men  into  the  frontier  towns  and  into 
Hampshire  County  in  case  of  an  invasion. 

A  great  effort  was  made  in  1745  to  raise  troops  for  the  expedition 
to  Cape  Breton,  of  which  William  Pepperell  was  Lieutenant-general, 
and  Roger  Wolcott,  of  Windsor,  was  second  in  command,  with  the 
rank  of  Major-general.  The  popularity  of  these  two  commanders 
induced  many  of  the  better  sort  of  people  to  enlist.  Connecticut  raised 
four  hundred  men,  and  sent  also  her  sloop,  "  The  Defence,"  with  one 
hundred  men  for  the  sea-service.  Great  sacrifices  and  exertions  were 
made  by  all  classes,  as  the  reduction  of  Louisbourg  was  believed  to  be 
necessary  for  the  peace  of  New  England.  The  Connecticut  forces 
sailed  from  New  London  about  the  1st  of  April,  and  the  General 
Assembly  ordered  the  3d  of  April  to  be  kept  as  a  day  of  fasting  and 
prayer  for  the  success  of  the  expedition.  The  object  of  these  prayers 
was  obtained,  and  Louisbourg  capitulated  to  the  prowess  of  the  provin- 
cial army,  unaided  by  any  British  ships  or  soldiers,  after  a  siege  of 
forty-nine  days.  After  the  place  was  captured  it  was  garrisoned  by 
the  New  England  soldiers,  and  Connecticut  sent,  in  July,  three  hun- 
dred men  to  assist  in  occupying  the  town. 

Meanwhile  the  Committee  of  War  at  Hartford  were  engaged  in  pro- 
viding troops  for  defence  nearer  home.  A  company  of  sixty  men  was 
raised  in  May,  to  be  employed  in  garrisoning  the  line  of  block-houses 
erected  in  Massachusetts  between  the  Connecticut  River  and  the  Dutch 
settlements  at  Hoosack.  The  next  year,  1746,  they  built  a  fort  in  the 
northwesterly  part  of  Salisbury. 

Encouraged  by  the  success  of  the  Louisbourg  expedition,  another 
plan  was   made   for  the    reduction  of  Canada,  in  1746.     Connecticut 

VOL.    I.  —6. 


82  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

furnished  one  thousand  men,  —  Elisha  Williams  colonel,  Samuel  Talcott 
lieutenant-colonel ;  but  very  little  was  accomplished,  although  the  army 
was  well  provided  with  men  and  munitions  of  war. 

After  the  Peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  signed  in  1748,  the  colonists 
were  able  to  turn  their  attention  to  the  arts  of  peace,  though  they  still 
suffered  annoyances  from  the  Indians,  who  by  no  means  scrupulously 
observed  the  articles  of  the  treaty.  Nevertheless  the  frontier  settle- 
ments increased  rapidly,  and  by  the  year  1755  there  were  many  in- 
habitants in  New  Hartford,  Norfolk,  Canaan,  and  other  towns  in  what 
is  now  Litchfield  County,  that  county  being  established  in  1751. 

Although  Hartford  County  lost  territory  by  this  separation,  a 
partial  equivalent  for  this  loss  was  received  by  the  final  cession  by 
Massachusetts  of  the  towns  of  Suffield  and  Enfield,  in  1752,  after  a 
long  retention,  against  the  wishes  of  the  inhabitants. 

The  French  as  well  as  the  Indians  disregarded  the  provisions  of  the 
Treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  and  encroached  in  many  places  on  the  north- 
ern and  western  frontiers.  Their  design  was  to  hem  the  English  in 
and  confine  them  to  the  Atlantic  seaboard.  But  the  colonists,  resent- 
ing thoroughly  this  attempt  to  restrict  their  advance  into  the  rich  and 
fertile  country  beyond  the  Alleghanies,  resolved  that  this  frontier 
bristling  with  savage  hostility  should  be  removed,  at  whatever  expense 
of  blood  and  treasure.  The  English  government  promised  assistance, 
and  advised  the  colonists  to  unite  in  defence  against  this  common 
enemy.  In  accordance  with  this  recommendation  a  convention  of  the 
governors  and  principal  gentlemen  of  the  colonies  met  at  Albany  in 
1754.  Connecticut  was  represented  by  the  Hon.  William  Pitkin,  Roger 
Wolcott,  Jr.,  and  Elisha  Williams,  Esq.,  all  of  Hartford  County.  The 
next  year  war  was  openly  declared  between  France  and  England. 
One  thousand  men  were  raised  by  Connecticut  for  Governor  Shirley's 
expedition  against  Crown  Point,  and  the  Committee  of  War  in  Hartford 
County  were  empowered  to  assist  Massachusetts  in  building  a  fort 
between  Fort  Massachusetts  (now  Williamstown)  and  the  Hudson 
River.  After  this  time  the  field  of  hostilities  was  so  far  removed  from 
the  borders  of  Connecticut  that  Hartford  County  was  no  longer  spe- 
cially called  upon  to  assist  in  the  defence  of  Hampshire  County  ;  but 
she  furnished  her  full  share  of  the  men  who  fought  at  Crown  Point 
and  Ticonderoga.  This  long  and  arduous  war,  lasting  seven  years,  was 
a  heavy  strain  upon  the  resources  of  Connecticut.  The  treasury  being 
almost  exhausted  in  1757,  in  order  to  raise  £1000  a  public  lottery 
was  opened  in  Hartford,  and  Colonel  Thomas  Welles,  of  Glaston- 
bury, Colonel  Samuel  Talcott,  and  Mr.  Richard  Edwards  were  the 
managers. 

While  the  colonies  were  recovering  from  the  effects  of  this  long 
and  costly  war,  the  government  in  England  was  preparing  the  oppres- 
sive and  annoying  Stamp  Act.  When  the  Colonies  became  aware  of 
the  proposed  measure,  they  used  all  possible  means  to  avert  it.  Jared 
Ingersoll,  the  agent  sent  to  London  by  Connecticut,  finally  accepted 
the  office  of  stamp-master  for  the  colony.  When  he  returned,  he 
experienced  great  difficulties  in  executing  his  duties,  and  on  the 
road  to  Hartford  he  was  encountered  by  the  Sons  of  Liberty  near 
Wethersfield,  who  escorted  him,  five  hundred  strong,  into  that  town, 
and  then   insisted   on   his   resigning  the   office.      With   considerable 


GENERAL  HISTORY  TO  THE  END  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.  83 

unwillingness  he  submitted  to  the  mandates  of  the  crowd,  who  then 
took  him  to  Hartford,  where  the  Sons  of  Liberty  formed  a  semicircle 
round  the  court-house.  The  stamp-master  was  stationed  in  a  conspicu- 
ous place,  and  compelled  to  read  his  recantation  aloud,  in  the  hearing 
of  the  Assembly  and  the  presence  of  the  people.  In  1766  the  Stamp 
Act  was  repealed,  to  the  great  joy  of  the  colonies  ;  but  the  policy  of 
the  English  government  was  not  changed.  The  taxes  imposed  on 
imported  articles  led  to  the  formation  of  non-importing  associations  in 
nearly  all  the  colonies.  Some  of  the  New  York  merchants  did  not 
keep  this  agreement;  and  Sept.  13,  1770,  a  convention  of  merchants 
and  landholders  from  all  the  towns  in  the  colony  met  at  New  Haven  to 
consider  these  matters,  and  also  to  provide  for  the  growth  of  home 
manufactures. 

The  general  dissatisfaction  and  discontent  increased,  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  British  ministry  being  ill  calculated  to  allay  the  indignation 
felt  in  all  the  colonies.  The  Boston  Port  Bill  raised  a  spirit  of  resist- 
ance everywhere ;  and  Connecticut,  so  closely  connected  with  Massa- 
chusetts by  ties  of  blood,  friendship,  and  interest,  sympathized  most 
keenly  with  the  distressed  inhabitants  of  Boston  and  Charlestown. 

In  Farmington  the  Act  of  Parliament  was  burnt  by  the  common 
hangman  in  the  presence  of  a  large  assemblage  of  people.  June  23, 1774, 
a  meeting  was  held  at  Glastonbury,  Colonel  Elizur  Talcott  chairman ; 
spirited  resolutions  were  passed,  and  a  committee  appointed  to  receive 
contributions  for  the  people  of  Boston ;  and  similar  measures  were 
taken  in  other  towns. 

Sept.  15,  1774,  a  convention  was  held  at  Hartford,  composed  of 
delegates  from  most  of  the  towns  in  the  eastern  and  central,  and  a 
number  from  the  western  section  of  Connecticut.  Many  strong  reso- 
lutions were  adopted  in  favor  of  the  Non-Consumption  Agreement 
being  entered  into  by  the  consumers  of  British  goods.  Tea  was  the 
article  of  commerce  most  disapproved  of;  and  after  the  Continental 
Congress  had  prohibited  the  purchase  and  consumption  of  it,  those  who 
used  it  had  to  do  so  by  stealth,  sentinels  being  posted  at  the  windows 
to  watch  if  neighbors  or  strangers  were  coming.  March  23,  1775,  Solo- 
mon Cowles,  of  Farmington,  and  Martha  his  wife,  having  been  con- 
victed of  partaking  of  that  "  detestable  and  obnoxious  vegetable  called 
East  India  tea,"  and  of  having  allowed  it  to  be  used  in  their  house,  were 
obliged  to  sign  a  public  confession  of  their  errors,  which  was  printed 
in  the  "  Connecticut  Courant,"  and  to  promise  that  they  would  in  the 
future  conform  themselves  strictly  to  the  prohibition  of  Congress. 
And  this  is  only  one  example  out  of  many  cases. 

When  the  farmers  at  Lexington  "  fired  the  shot  heard  round  the 
world,"  Connecticut  sprang  to  arms.  Hastily  formed  companies  started 
at  once  from  the  following  towns  in  Hartford  County  :  from  Hartford, 
four  companies,  under  Captains  Jonathan  Welles,  Timothy  Cheney,  Abra- 
ham Sedgwick,  and  George  Pitkin ;  East  Windsor,  four  companies,  under 
Captains  Charles  Ellsworth,  Matthew  Grant,  Lemuel  Stoughton,  and 
Amasa  Loomis  ;  from  Simsbury,  two  companies,  under  Captains  Amos 
Wilcox  and  Zachariah  Gillet ;  from  Bolton,  two  companies,  under  Cap- 
tains Ezekiel  Olcott  and  Thomas  Pitkin  ;  from  Wethersfield,  one,  under 
Captain  John  Chester ;  from  Enfield,  one,  under  Captain  Nathaniel 
Terry  ;  from  Glastonbury,  one,  under  Captain  Elizur  Hubbard ;  from 


84  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF   HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

Windsor,  one,  under  Captain  Nathaniel  Hayden ;  and  one  from  Suffield, 
under  Captain  Elihu  Kent. 

The  surprise  of  Fort  Ticonderoga  was  planned  in  Hartford,  mostly 
by  Hartford  County  men,  who  borrowed  money  from  the  colonial  trea- 
sury to  defray  the  expense,  giving  their  individual  obligations  with 
security.  These  persons  were  Samuel  Wyllys,  Samuel  Holden  Parsons, 
Silas  Deane,  Samuel  Bishop,  Jr.,  William  Williams,  Thomas  Mumford, 
Adam  Babcock,  Joshua  Porter,  Jesse  Root,  Ezekiel  Williams,  and 
Charles  Webb.  Their  proceedings  were  carried  on  ostensibly  without 
the  knowledge  of  the  Assembly,  then  in  session,  and  a  committee  was 
appointed  to  complete  the  arrangements  for  this  daring  project.  This 
committee  selected  sixteen  men  from  Connecticut,  the  following  being 
Hartford  County  men  :  Epaphras  Bull,  William  Nichols,  Elijah  Babcock, 
Captain  John  Bigelow,  Bernard  Romans,  Ashbel  Welles,  of  Hartford ; 
Captain  Elisha  Phelps  and  Noah  Phelps,  of  Simsbury.  This  party 
went  to  Pittsfield,  where  Colonel  James  Easton,  of  that  town,  a  native  of 
Hartford,  joined  them  with  forty  men  from  Berkshire  County.  At  Ben- 
nington they  were  reinforced  by  one  hundred  men,  and  Colonel  Ethan 
Allen  took  command  of  the  expedition.  The  result  of  the  attack  is 
well  known,  but  the  initiative  taken  by  Connecticut  has  not  always  been 
recognized.  At  the  same  time  that  Ticonderoga  was  taken,  was  cap- 
tured also  Major  Skene,  of  Skenesborough,  a  prominent  loyalist,  with 
several  members  of  his  family.  They  were  sent  to  Hartford  with  Cap- 
tain Delaplace,  the  commander  at  Ticonderoga,  and  other  officers.  The 
remaining  prisoners,  forty-seven  in  number,  came  later,  under  the  escort 
of  Mr.  Epaphras  Bull.  The  elder  Major  Skene,  or  Governor  Skene,  as 
he  was  called,  was  also  sent  to  Hartford  by  the  Continental  Congress. 
He  and  his  son  left  Hartford,  without  liberty,  July  25,  but  were  easily 
found  at  Middletown.  On  their  return  they  were  removed  to  a  "  very 
commodious  and  pleasantly  situated  house  in  the  West  Society,"  Mrs. 
Hooker's,1  and  apparently  lived  there  in  a  very  comfortable  manner, 
Major  French  being  quartered  there  also.  Their  conduct,  however, 
did  not  always  please  the  people  of  the  West  Division,  and  they 
narrowly  escaped  a  coat  of  tar  and  feathers. 

The  prisoners  taken  at  St.  John's,  in  Canada,  in  1775,  were  quar- 
tered in  Wethersfield,  on  their  parole  of  honor  not  to  depart  from  the 
town. 

In  1775,  Colonel  Erastus  Wolcott,  Samuel  Wadsworth,  Ezekiel 
Williams,  Epaphras  Bull,  Henry  Allyn,  Colonel  Fisher  Gay,  Colonel 
Matthew  Talcott,  Colonel  James  Wadsworth,  Jonathan  Welles,  Ebenezer 
White,  and  Colonel  J.  Humphrey  were  appointed  a  committee  to  pro- 
vide for  the  prisoners  of  war  in  Hartford. 

During  the  early  years  of  the  Revolution  many  prisoners  of  impor- 
tance were  sent  to  Hartford  and  its  vicinity  for  safe-keeping.  A  town 
so  far  inland  was  in  little  danger  of  being  .surprised  by  the  British 
forces,  and  the  people  were  so  ardent  in  the  cause  of  independence  that 
they  could  be  relied  upon  to  keep  strict  guard  over  the  captives.  Gov- 
ernor Franklin,  of  New  Jersey,  was  for  a  time  in  a  house  in  South 
Windsor.     Mayor  Matthews,  of  New  York,  was  brought  to  Hartford, 

1  This  house  is  now  standing  on  the  hill  in  Elmwood,  at  the  junction  of  the  New  Britain 
and  Newington  roads,  and  was  long  known  as  the  Mills  place.  Anecdotes  relating  to  the  stay 
of  the  British  officers  are  still  related  by  descendants  of  families  residing  in  the  vicinity. 


GENERAL  HISTORY  TO  THE  END  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.  85 

but  obtained  liberty  to  stay  at  Litchfield,  in  charge  of  Captain  Moses 
Seymour.  Other  gentlemen  from  New  York  made  the  journey  to  Hart- 
ford for  being  suspected  of  entertaining  sentiments  unfriendly  to  the 
American  cause.  The  mayor  of  Albany,  the  postmaster,  and  the  clerk 
of  that  county  also  came  hither  on  a  compulsory  visit. 

Epaphras  Bull,  of  Hartford,  was  appointed  in  1776  commissary  of 
the  prisoners  of  war  in  this  State,  to  observe  all  the  orders  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  and  the  Continental  Congress,  and  to  make  monthly 
returns  of  the  condition  of  said  prisoners  to  the  board  of  war  appointed 
by  Congress. 

In  1777,  prisoners  taken  at  Princeton  and  on  Long  Island  were 
brought  here,  among  them  several  Hessian  officers  ;  and  later  a  number 
of  Burgoyne's  soldiers,  Colonel  Spade,  the  Hessian,  being  one. 

The  journal  of  Major  Christopher  French,  H.  B.  M.,  Twenty-second 
Regiment,  published  in  the  "  Connecticut  Historical  Society's  Collec- 
tions," vol.  i.,  gives  a  lively  representation  of  the  manner  in  which  the 
prisoners  were  kept,  although  occasional  brief  items  in  the  columns  of 
the  "  Connecticut  Courant "  present  the  other  side  of  the  picture.  The 
fact  that  the  officers,  at  least,  were  allowed  to  go  to  Middletown  on  Sun- 
days, where  the  Rev.  Mr.  Jarvis  officiated  after  the  manner  of  the  Church 
of  England,  shows  that  they  were  allowed  considerable  liberty  for  a 
space  of  time.  Major  French  and  Ensign  Moland  escaped  from  the  jail 
in  Hartford,  with  the  assistance  of  the  Rev.  Roger  Viets,  the  Episcopal 
minister  in  Simsbury,  who  secreted  them.  Mr.  Viets  was  severely  pun- 
ished for  this  offence,  and  for  holding  a  traitorous  correspondence  with 
the  enemy. 

Many  tories  from  other  parts  of  the  State  were  incarcerated  at 
Simsbury  in  the  copper-mines,  better  known  as  Newgate.  Toward  the 
end  of  the  war  Congress  entered  into  negotiations  with  the  State  of 
Connecticut  for  the  use  of  the  mines  as  a  prison  "  for  the  reception 
of  British  prisoners  of  war ; "  but  the  peace  put  an  end  to  the  need  of  any 
such  arrangement. 

March  27,  1776,  the  committees  of  inspection  of  fifteen  towns  in 
Hartford  County  met  at  the  State  House  to  establish  the  prices  of  West 
India  goods,  so  that  the  merchants  should  not  take  advantage  of  the 
scarcity,  —  West  India  rum  to  be  sold  at  3s.  Qd.  per  gallon;  molasses, 
2s.  per  gallon  ;  coffee,  lOd.  per  pound,  etc. 

When  the  Connecticut  militia  was  organized  into  regiments  in  1739, 
a  number  of  the  companies  in  Hartford  County  formed  the  First  Regi- 
ment. At  the  beginning  of  the  Revolution  the  First  Regiment,  Colonel 
Wyllys's,  was  formed  of  companies  from  Hartford  (west  side  of  the 
river),  Windsor,  Suffield,  and  Wintonbury.  The  Sixth  Regiment,  Colo- 
nel Belden,  consisted  of  troops  from  Wethersfield  and  Glastonbury. 
The  Fifteenth  Regiment  was  composed  of  Farmington  men,  under  the 
command  of  Colonel  Hooker.  The  companies  from  East  Windsor,  En- 
field, Bolton,  and  Hartford  (east  side  of  the  river)  formed  the  Nine- 
teenth Regiment.  Hebron  and  Marlborough  men  were  in  the  Twelfth 
Regiment,  and  Simsbury  men  in  the  Eighteenth.  The  Twenty-third 
Regiment  was  drawn  from  Middletown  and  Chatham.  In  the  autumn 
of  1776  another  organization  of  the  militia  took  place.  Six  battalions 
were  despatched  to  New  York,  and  the  Second,  under  command  of  Colonel 
Fisher  Gay,  of  Farmington,  and  the  Sixth,  under  Colonel  John  Chester 


86  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

of  Wethersfield,  were  largely  composed  of  Hartford  County  men.  The 
campaign  of  1776,  in  and  about  New  York,  called  into  active  service 
nearly  all  the  Connecticut  militia.  The  regiments  on  the  west  side  of 
the  Connecticut,  and  two  from  the  east  side,  marched  to  New  York 
under  Oliver  Wolcott  as  Brigadier-general,  and  at  the  same  time  the 
militia  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  State  was  called  to  New  London,  and 
Suffolk,  Long  Island. 

During  the  succeeding  years  of  the  war  many  such  calls  were  made 
upon  the  citizens  of  Connecticut,  when  the  alarm  was  raised  that  the 
British  troops  were  about  to  attack  some  exposed  point  on  our  borders, 
as  at  Norwalk,  Danbury,  and  New  London. 

Many  privateers  were  despatched  from  Connecticut  ports  to  prey 
upon  the  English  merchant  vessels,  those  trading  with  the  West  Indies, 
and  others  bringing  supplies  to  the  army,  offering  a  rich  and  tempting 
prey.  Advertisements  frequently  appeared  in  the  "  Connecticut  Cour- 
ant,"  that  a  sloop  was  lying  off  Rocky  Hill,  waiting  for  "  gentlemen  vol- 
unteers," who  were  besought  to  take  this  easy  means  of  making  their 
fortunes.  Captain  Gideon  Olmsted,  of  East  Hartford,  was  a  very 
prominent  leader  in  these  enterprises,  and  distinguished  himself  by 
his  bravery  and  daring. 

April  30,  1783,  a  formal  celebration  of  the  news  of  the  signing  of 
the  Treaty  of  Paris  was  held  in  Hartford.  The  people  hailed  with  joy 
the  successful  termination  of  the  long  and  arduous  struggle  for  inde- 
pendence, and  gladly  laid  aside  their  weapons  to  practise  the  arts  of 
peace. 


It  would  seem  in  order  now  to  say  a  few  words  about  the  government 
of  the  County,  and  Mr.  C.  J.  Hoadly,  State  Librarian,  has  kindly  fur- 
nished the  following  notes  on  the  subject :  — 

"  An  executive  officer  for  the  courts  was  of  course  necessary  from 
the  beginning,  but  he  is  first  mentioned  in  our  records  by  his  title  of 
Marshal,  under  date  of  June  15,  1659.  The  earliest  law  for  appointing 
county  marshals  appears  in  the  revision  of  our  statutes  printed  in  1673, 
which  gave  that  power  to  the  county  courts.  During  the  interruption 
of  the  colony  government  by  Andros,  1687-1689,  sheriffs  were  ap- 
pointed for  the  four  counties  by  the  Governor  and  Council ;  but  on  the 
re-assumption  of  the  Charter  the  former  order  prevailed.  At  the  May 
session  of  the  General  Court,  1698,  it  was  ordered  and  enacted  that  the 
marshal  of  the  colony  should  be  called  the  High  Sheriff,  and  the  county 
marshal  in  like  manner  the  county  sheriff.  The  powers  of  the  sheriff 
were  enlarged  by  an  act  passed  in  May,  1724,  and  the  appointment 
was  vested  in  the  Governor  and  Council ;  the  official  term,  as  before, 
was  at  the  pleasure  of  the  appointing  power.  By  the  Constitution  of 
1818  the  appointment  was  given  to  the  General  Assembly,  and  the 
official  term  was  fixed  at  three  years,  removable  by  said  Assembly. 
By  a  constitutional  amendment  adopted  in  1838  a  sheriff  for  each 
county  was  to  be  chosen  by  the  electors  residing  therein,  the  term 
remaining  as  before.  Formerly,  and  within  the  memory  of  some  now 
living,  the  sheriff  while  in  the  execution  of  his  official  duty  wore  a 
sword,  and  at  all  public  processions  he  was  the  marshal.    Another  duty 


GENERAL  HISTORY  TO  THE  END  OF  THE   REVOLUTION.         87 

he  performed  was  to  walk  before  the  Governor,  bareheaded,  carrying 
a  drawn  sword,  when  his  Excellency  proceeded  to  and  from  his  lodging 
to  the  General  Assembly." 

The  office  of  County  Commissioner  came  into  existence  in  1838, 
when  the  General  Assembly  passed  a  law  appointing  two  county  com- 
missioners annually,  who,  with  the  judge  of  the  county  court,  were  to 
form  a  county  court.1  In  1841  the  number  of  commissioners  was  in- 
creased to  three,  and  they  are  now  appointed,  one  each  year,  by  the 
General  Assembly,  for  the  term  of  three  years  each.  The  members  of 
the  legislature  for  Hartford  County,  in  caucus,  nominate  the  Commis- 
sioner to  be  elected,  and  he  is  then  voted  for  by  the  General  Assembly, 
and  generally  the  action  of  the  caucus  is  indorsed.  The  county  taxes 
are  laid  by  the  representatives  from  Hartford  County.  The  commis- 
sioners have  charge  of  the  county  property,  and  are  given  powers  in 
relation  to  the  removal  of  deputy  sheriffs,  the  county  taxes,  and  licenses, 
and  they  appoint  the  county  treasurer. 

The  county  jail  is  perhaps  the  most  important  institution  under 
their  care.  The  site  of  the  first  jail,  built  in  1641,  was  on  the  north 
side  of  State  Street,  covering  probably  the  present  Market  Street  and 
the  lot  just  west  of  it.  For  over  one  hundred  years  the  jail  stood  on 
this  spot ;  but  in  1754  William  Pitkin,  Thomas  Welles,  Jabez  Hamlin, 
and  Joseph  Buckingham,  in  behalf  of  the  county,  sold  the  largest  por- 
tion of  the  "  Prison  land  "  to  John  Lawrence,  and  "  the  whole  body  of 
said  old  Prison  and  prison  house,  with  all  the  materials  and  appurte- 
nances thereof,"  to  Daniel  Edwards.  The  workhouse  had  been  placed, 
about  1727,  on  the  highway  now  Pearl  Street,  and  the  jail  was  removed 
to  the  same  location.  A  deed  dated  in  1771  calls  Pearl  Street  "the 
highway  that  leads  from  the  Court  House  to  the  County  Gaol ; "  and  in 
1774  sundry  prisoners  for  debt  petitioned  the  General  Assembly  that 
the  jail  limits  might  be  enlarged  as  far  east  as  the  Court  House,  repre- 
senting that  they  "  labor  under  many  Inconveniences,  hardships,  and 
disadvantages  ...  By  Reason  that  the  Gaol  is  in  so  retired  and  back 
part  of  the  Town,  so  seldom  frequented  by  any  Inhabitants  of  the 
Town,"  etc.  A  new  jail  building  was  erected  on  the  same  lot,  the  pres- 
ent corner  of  Trumbull  and  Pearl  streets,  in  1793,  and  was  occupied  for 
that  purpose  until  June,  1837.2  In  1835  a  lot  at  the  lower  end  of  Pearl 
Street  was  bought  of  William  H.  Imlay,  and  a  new  building  erected 
the  following  year,  which  was  occupied  until  1874.  Land  was  bought 
on  Seyms  Street  in  1873,  at  a  cost  of  $35,582,  and  before  the  end  of 
1874  the  new  building  was  completed  and  occupied.  The  cost  of  the 
new  jail  was  $175,898;  entire  cost  of  land  and  building,  $211,481.22. 
The  old  lot  on  Pearl  Street,  near  the  river,  was  not  sold  until  January, 
1882,  when  it  was  bought  by  the  iEtna  Life  Insurance  Company  for 
$23,000.  In  connection  with  the  jail  on  this  lot  may  be  mentioned  an 
interesting  historical  incident, —  the  detention  there  and  trial  of  the 
"  Amistad  "  captives,  an  occurrence  which  aroused  great  interest  among 
the  Antislavery  agitators  in  the  country.  June  27,  1839,  the  schooner 
"  L' Amistad"  left  Havana  for  Puerto  Principe,  with  a  cargo  of  slaves 

1  The  county  court  was  abolished  in  1856.     See  page  110. 

2  Occupied  later  by  the  well-known  printers  and  publishers,  Case,  Tiffany,  &  Co.,  until 
it  was  pulled  down  to  make  way  for  the  present  building  of  the  Case,  Lockwood,  & 
Brainard  Company. 


88  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

fresh  from  Africa.  These  slaves  at  the  first  opportunity  rose  in  revolt 
and  killed  the  whites,  except  two,  whom  they  reserved  to  navigate  the 
vessel  to  Africa.  The  two  white  men  gradually  altered  the  ship's  course, 
so  that  in  August  she  was  off  Long  Island,  and  the  negroes  landed  on 
the  beach  at  Culloden  Point,  near  Montauk.  Here  they  were  seized  by 
the  United  States  brig  "  Washington,"  Aug.  26,  1839,  and  brought  to 
New  London.  M.  Calderon,  the  Spanish  minister,  in  the  absence  of  an 
extradition  treaty,  asked  the  surrender  of  the  ship  and  cargo  as  an  act  of 
international  comity,  and  President  Van  Buren,  supported  by  the  advice 
of  the  attorney-general,  determined  to  grant  the  request.  On  the  14th 
of  September  the  fifty-three  negroes  were  brought  to  Hartford  to  await 
their  trial  before  the  district  court  of  the  United  States  for  the  district 
of  Connecticut.  Seth  P.  Staples,  an  ardent  Abolitionist,  Theodore 
Sedgwick,  Jr.,  of  New  York,  and  Roger  S.  Baldwin,  of  New  Haven, 
were  counsel  for  the  negroes,  and  gained  a  verdict  in  the  district  court. 
In  November  they  were  remanded  to  New  Haven,  the  district  attorney 
having  appealed  the  case  to  the  circuit  court.  The  Administration  was 
so  confident  of  the  result,  that  a  United  States  vessel  was  ordered  to 
New  Haven  to  convey  the  blacks  to  Cuba ;  but  the  case  was  carried  to 
the  Supreme  Court,  which  gave  final  judgment,  March  9, 1841,  that  the 
negroes  having  been  kidnapped  from  a  foreign  country  were  not  bound 
by  treaties  with  Spain,  but  were  free  men.  They  were  taken  to  Farm- 
in  gton,  where  much  attention  was  paid  them  and  instruction  given 
them,  and  they  were  finally  returned  to  their  own  country. 

A  very  important  edifice,  built  for  the  county  uses,  is  the  handsome 
County  Building 1  on  Trumbull  Street,  opposite  the  foot  of  Pratt  Street, 
begun  in  the  spring  of  1882,  and  completed  January,  1885.  The  land 
was  bought  of  Dr.  G.  B.  Hawley  and  the  Hon.  Marshall  Jewell  at  a 
cost  of  $51,725,  and  the  whole  building  and  lot  cost,  in  round  numbers, 
$260,000. 

The  "Temporary  Home  for  Dependent  and  Neglected  Children," 
established  in  1883,  is  under  the  care  of  the  County  Commissioners. 
This  Home  was  first  opened  in  Bloomfield,  but  was  removed  in  Novem- 
ber, 1885,  to  East  Hartford,  where  the  house  known  as  the  "  Deming 
place,"  on  Burnside  Avenue,  has  been  rented  for  three  years,  with  the 
privilege  of  two  more. 


O^Ciyiy 


J^.jK£crf& 


See  page  111. 


CHAPTEE    V. 

THE    WAR   OF  THE  REBELLION. 

BY   JOHN    C.    KINNEY. 

The  wave  of  patriotic  wrath  which  like  a  cyclone  swept  through 
the  Nation  in  the  spring  of  1861,  in  response  to  the  first  guns  of  the 
Great  Rebellion,  penetrated  no  more  loyal  region  than  the  towns  and 
villages  of  Hartford  County.  The  heart  of  Connecticut  throbbed  as 
strongly  and  as  warmly  as  that  of  Massachusetts,  although  with  the 
inefficient  militia  system  then  prevailing  in  this  State  the  response  to 
the  Nation's  call  for  help  was  less  prompt  than  that  of  our  sister 
Commonwealth.  It  was,  however,  only  a  delay  of  a  few  days  until, 
from  the  swarming  thousands  of  volunteers  from  every  corner  of  the 
State,  three  regiments  of  ardent  men  could  be  organized,  uniformed, 
armed,  and  given  a  little  rudimentary  instruction. 

So  far  as  the  popular  enthusiasm  in  the  work  was  concerned,  the 
story  of  one  town  is  the  story  of  nearly  all,  the  outward  demonstrations 
varying  in  degree  with  the  size  of  the  town.  Everywhere  the  news  of 
the  shots  at  Sumter  came  as  an  electric  shock,  bringing  to  the  hitherto 
incredulous  the  unwelcome  assurance  that  the  Union  could  be  pre- 
served only  by  the  shedding  of  blood.  Everywhere  the  first  shock  was 
followed  by. such  a  demonstration  of  love  and  devotion  to  the  Union 
as  the  Nation  had  never  witnessed  or  dreamed  of.  Party  lines  were 
lost  sight  of;  the  stars  and  stripes  blazed  forth  on  every  hill-top,  from 
every  farm-house  and  church-spire  ;  pulpits  were  made  more  sacred  by 
being  covered  with  its  folds.  Tbe  patriotic  enthusiasm  was  contagious, 
and  for  a  time  at  least  the  few  who  were  out  of  sympathy  wisely  kept 
out  of  sight.  Few  then  doubted  the  righteousness  of  the  cause  or  its 
speedy  triumph ;  and  doubtless  it  was  the  impulse  given  to  loyal  sentiment 
at  this  time  that  had  much  to  do  in  arousing  the  feeling  which  would 
tolerate  no  compromise  that  involved  a  disruption  of  the  Union. 

In  New  Britain  a  great  war-meeting  was  held  on  the  evening  of 
"Battle  Sunday,"  —  the  first  Sunday  after  Sumter  was  fired  upon. 
Resolutions  to  support  the  Government  wTere  unanimously  passed  ;  a 
list  of  volunteers  was  begun,  headed  by  Frank  Stanley  (afterward  shot 
dead  at  Irish  Bend,  Louisiana)  ;  and  V.  B.  Chamberlain,1  a  young  law- 
yer, and  afterward  a  gallant  soldier,  presented  to  the  audience,  accom- 
panied by  a  thrilling  speech,  a  handsome  portrait  of  Major  Anderson, 
the  Sumter  hero,  encircled  with  a  laurel-wreath  prepared  by  a  New 
Britain  lady.  The  vast  assemblage  rose  to  its  feet  with  the  wildest 
demonstrations  of  patriotic  devotion,  presenting  such  a  scene  as  the 
little  city  had  never  before  witnessed  on  a  Sunday  evening  or  any  other 
evening.     This  was  the  first  regular  war-meeting  held  in  the  county, 

1  Afterward  captain  of  the  Seventh  Connecticut  Volunteers  ;  captured  inside  Fort  Wag- 
ner at  the  hist  assault  on  it ;  at  present  (1885-1886)  treasurer  of  the  State. 


90  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF  HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

although  nearly  every  church  service  in  the  State  on  that  never-to-be- 
forgotten  Sunday  might  with  propriety  be  called  a  war-meeting. 

It  was  not  until  the  next  day  that  the  President's  call  for  seventy- 
five  thousand  three  months'  volunteers  was  received,  under  which  the 
quota  for  Connecticut  was  a  single  regiment.  How  the  call  was  re- 
sponded to  the  present  generation  will  never  forget.  In  four  days  the 
First  Regiment  was  in  camp  at  New  Haven,  the  Second  was  ready 
within  a  week,  the  Third  was  in  camp  in  Hartford  in  two  weeks,  and 
within  three  weeks  Governor  Buckingham  had  been  tendered  the  ser- 
vices of  fifty -four  companies.  The  First  Regiment  contained  three 
companies  from  Hartford,  in  each  of  which  there  were  men  from  other 
towns  in  the  county.  The  anxiety  to  get  into  the  ranks  then  was  as 
great  as  it  was  to  keep  out  of  them  two  or  three  years  later.  Men 
came  from  miles  away  to  beg  the  privilege  of  enlisting,  some  of  them 
being  credited  to  the  places  of  enlistment  instead  of  to  the  towns  where 
they  resided.  On  this  account,  and  because  the  town  records  as  a  rule 
are  exceedingly  incomplete,  it  is  not  possible  to  give  to  each  town  all  the 
credit  that  is  its  due,  either  for  men  furnished  or  for  money  expended. 

But  what  tested  and  proved  the  patriotism  of  the  people  was  not 
the  impulsive  springing  to  arms  in  April,  1861,  when  many  thought  a 
three  months'  campaign  in  Virginia  would  end  the  war,  but  the  subse- 
quent facing  reverses  and  disappointments,  and  meeting  the  repeated 
calls  for  men  and  money  during  the  sad  four  years  which  followed. 
The  men  who,  immediately  after  Bull  Run,  enlisted  for  three  years  or 
the  war,  were  chiefly  men  who  had  counted  the  cost ;  and  so  it  may  be 
said  of  the  great  mass  of  all  the  subsequent  enlistments.  The  .only 
men  of  whom  the  county  or  the  State  had  reason  to  feel  ashamed  were 
the  professional  bounty -jumpers,  who  during  the  last  year  or  so  were 
hired  as  substitutes  by  men  who  stayed  at  home  and  voted  town-taxes 
to  pay  for  their  exemption.  Many  such  names  of  deserters  are  found 
on  the  rolls  under  the  head  of  recruits ;  and  it  is  remarked  with  satis- 
faction by  the  Adjutant-General  of  the  State  at  the  close  of  the  war, 
that  these  men  were  not  natives  of  the  State. 

The  population  of  Hartford  County  by  the  census  of  1860  was 
89,962,  and  that  of  New  Haven  County,  97,345.  The  quota  of  Hartford 
County  under  the  various  calls,  and  estimating  on  the  basis  of  the  three 
years'  standard,  was  9,594.  The  number  of  men  actually  furnished 
from  the  county,  not  including  the  three  months'  men,  was  11,791,  or, 
reduced  to  the  three  years'  standard,  10,632,  —  a  surplus  of  1,038  three 
years'  men,  or  more  than  one  full  regiment.  In  this  estimate  no 
account  is  made  of  the  536  three  months'  men  sent  from  the  county  in 
response  to  the  first  call  for  help,  and  before  any  quotas  were  assigned. 
These  make  a  total  of  12,327  men  enlisted  from  the  county,  or  nearly 
one  quarter  the  entire  number  furnished  by  the  State.  And  in  this 
statement  no  record  is  made  of  the  many  from  the  county  who  served 
in  the  navy,  or  who  for  various  reasons  enlisted  elsewhere,  and  were 
not  credited  to  their  homes. 

To  compare  the  record  of  the  county  with  the  remainder  of  the 
State,  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  total  quota  of  the  State  under 
all  the  calls  was  41,483  three  years'  men,  and  that  the  State  actually 
furnished  the  equivalent  of  48,181  three  years'  men.  Had  the  re- 
mainder of  the  State  contributed  men  in  the  same  ratio  to  population 


THE   WAR  OF   THE   REBELLION. 


91 


that  Hartford  County  did,  the  number  of  three  years'  men  sent  into  the 
field  would  have  been  over  53,300,  or  more  than  5,000  in  excess  of  the 
number  actually  furnished. 

The  following  table  gives  the  number  of  men  furnished  by  each 
town  so  far  as  the  official  records  show :  — 


a 

3 

o 
S 

Quotas. 

Men  furnished. 

a 

|f| 

i 

L 

£  s 

1 

o 

u 

a 

a  3  -p 

1 

o 
a 

s  1 

■a 

"3 

n  a" 

■3  2 

Hartford     .     . 

H 

2 

Z  " 

H 

H 

'£ 

&H 

H 

£ 

321 

520 

130 

3,778 

3,908 

598 

150 

3,897 

4,047 

139 

Avon      .     .     . 

0 

16 

4 

79 

83 

18 

4 

95 

99 

16 

Berlin     .     .     . 

5 

33 

8 

199 

207 

14 

4 

239 

243 

36 

Blooinfield .     . 

1 

31 

8 

135 

143 

46 

11 

145 

156 

13 

Bristol    .     .     . 

0 

67 

17 

311 

328 

50 

13 

371 

384 

56 

Burlington 

0 

15 

4 

115 

119 

13 

3 

116 

119 

0 

Canton   .     .     . 

21 

43 

11 

238 

249 

50 

12 

284 

296 

47 

East  Hartford 

1 

50 

12 

294 

306 

40 

10 

304 

314 

8 

East  Granby  . 

0 

16 

4 

74 

78 

24 

6 

87 

93 

15 

East  Windsor 

11 

47 

12 

262 

274 

68 

17 

283 

300 

26 

Enfield  .     .     . 

19 

m 

16 

321 

337 

80 

20 

425 

445 

108 

Farmington     . 

11 

56 

14 

298 

312 

54 

14 

346 

360 

48 

Glastonbury    . 

3 

58 

15 

293 

308 

67 

17 

344 

361 

53 

Granby  .     .     . 

2 

34 

8 

142 

150 

6 

1 

187 

188 

38 

Hartland     .     . 

0 

16 

4 

77 

81 

27 

7 

82 

89 

8 

Manchester     . 

12 

47 

12 

253 

265 

11 

3 

318 

321 

56 

Marlborough  . 

0 

10 

2 

54 

56 

1 

0 

89 

89 

33 

New  Britain    . 

60 

97 

24 

516 

540 

5 

1 

644 

645 

105 

Rocky  Hill      . 

8 

19 

5 

99 

104 

19 

5 

107 

112 

8 

Simsbury    .     . 

14 

33 

8 

194 

202 

25 

6 

253 

259 

57 

Southington    . 

0 

59 

15 

314 

329 

19 

5 

368 

373 

44 

South  Windsor 

2 

24 

6 

143 

149 

27 

7 

161 

168 

19 

Suffieid  .     .     . 

4 

59 

15 

317 

332 

75 

19 

365 

384 

52 

West  Hartford 

7 

29 

7 

143 

150 

45 

11 

153 

164 

14 

Wethersfield  . 

G 

41 

10 

218 

228 

57 

14 

236 

250 

22 

Windsor      .     . 

2 

46 

12 

187 

199 

71 

18 

184 

202 

3 

Windsor  Locks 
Totals .     . 

20 

34 

9 

148 

157 

36 

9 

162 

171 

14 

536 

1,566 

392 

9,202 

9,594 

1,546 

387 

10,245 

10,632 

1,038 

Hartford  alone  furnished  one  tenth  of  the  three  months'  troops  from 
Connecticut,  and  about  one  twelfth  of  the  three  years'  and  other  soldiers. 
Although  the  State  at  that  time  retained  its  two  capitals,  Hartford  was 
the  seat  of  the  government  when  the  Avar  began,  as  it  was  during  the 
most  eventful  two  years, — 1863  and  1865.  Here  Governor  Buckingham 
made  his  headquarters  when  the  first  call  for  help  came  from  Washing- 
ton ;  and  here  he  found  a  hearty  patriotic  support  during  all  the  dark 
days  of  the  terrible  struggle.  Within  five  days  from  the  firing  of  the 
first  gun  at  Sumter  the  bankers  of  Hartford  tendered  to  the  governor 
a  loan  of  half  a  million  dollars,  and  nearly  three  hundred  men  had 
volunteered  for  the  service. 

The  first  Hartford  company  was  started,  April  17,  by  Joseph  R. 
Hawley,  Albert  W.  Drake,  and  Joseph  Perkins,  in  the  office  of  the 
"  Evening  Press,"  of  which  Hawley  was  editor.  Before  sundown  a 
minimum  had  enlisted,  and  at  a  great  war-meeting  held  in  the  evening 


92  MEMOEIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFOED  COUNTY. 

the  company  was  filled.  George  S.  Burnham,  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  the 
First  Regiment  Connecticut  Militia,  was  chosen  captain  ;  Hawley,  first 
lieutenant ;  and  Drake,  second  lieutenant.1  Before  going  into  camp 
Captain  Burnham  was  promoted  to  be  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  regi- 
ment, and  Hawley  became  captain,  and  so  continued  during  the  three 
months'  campaign. 

From  this  time  until  the  close  of  the  war  Hartford  was  busy  in  the 
work  of  furnishing  men  and  supplies. 

Of  the  thirty-five  regiments  or  batteries  sent  into  the  field  by 
Connecticut,  fifteen  rendezvoused  in  Hartford.  To  the  list  of  generals, 
active  or  brevet,  Hartford  County  furnished  the  names  of  Hawley, 
Tyler,  Steclman,  Whittaker,  Ellis,  and  Otis.  On  the  death-roll  there 
are  the  names  of  hundreds  buried  in  Hartford,  while  scores  sleep  in 
unknown  graves  or  on  Southern  battle-fields.  The  limits  of  a  single 
paper  will  suffice  to  give  only  the  briefest  mention. 

The  following  regiments  rendezvoused  in  Hartford,  and  started 
thence  to  the  field :  the  Third,  Fourth,  Fifth,  Eighth,  Tenth,  Eleventh, 
Twelfth,  Fourteenth,  Sixteenth,  Twenty-second,  and  Twenty-fifth.  The 
regiments  commanded  by  Hartford  County  men  were  as  follows  :  — 

First  Infantry.  —  Colonel  George  S.  Burnham,  of  Hartford  (succeeding 
Colonel  Daniel  Tyler). 

First  Cavalry  Squadron.  —  Major  William  H.  Mallory,  of  Hartford. 

First  Heavy  Artillery.  —  Colonel  Levi  Woodhouse,  from  May  to  August, 
1861  ;  Colonel  Bobert  0.  Tyler,  of  Hartford,  to  Jan.  19,  1863. 

Fifth  Infantry.  —  Colonel  George  1).  Chapman,  of  Hartford. 

Seventh  Infantry.  —  Colonel  Joseph  R.  Hawley,  Hartford  (succeeding  Colo- 
nel Alfred  H.  Terry2);  Lieutenant-Colonel  Daniel  C.  Rodman.3 

Tenth  Infantry.  —  Colonel  Albert  W.  Drake,4  South  Windsor  (died  in 
service)  ;   Colonel  John  L.  Otis,  Manchester  (brevet  brigadier-general). 

Eleventh  Infantry.  —  Colonel  Griffin  A.  Stedman,5  Hartford  (promoted  to 
brigadier-general ;  killed  in  action). 

1  Hawley  became  brevet  major-general  ;  Drake  died  in  service  as  colonel  of  the  Tenth 
Connecticut  Volunteers  ;  and  Perkins,  who  enlisted  as  a  private,  was  afterward  colonel  of  a 
United  States  colored  regiment. 

2  Colonel  Terry  (now  Major-General  Terry  of  the  Regular  Army),  although  a  resident  of 
New  Haven,  is  a  Hartford  man  by  birth  and  long  descent,  tracing  his  ancestry  through 
Major  Nathaniel  Terry,  fourth  Mayor  of  Hartford,  to  Dr.  Thomas  Hooker  and  others  of  the  first 
settlers. 

3  Lieutenant-Colonel  Daniel  C.  Rodman  (Seventh)  was  a  native  of  New  Hampshire,  but 
a  long-time  resident  of  Hartford.  He  was  one  of  the  earliest  volunteers  of  the  State,  going 
into  the  service  as  lieutenant  of  Company  B,  First  Regiment,  three  months'  troops.  Return- 
ing from  Bull  Run,  he  recruited  a  company  for  the  Seventh,  of  which  he  later  became  major 
and  lieutenant-colonel.  When  the  first  assault  at  Fort  Wagner  was  decided  upon,  Rodman 
was  selected  to  lead,  being  given  four  companies  of  his  regiment  as  a  storming  column.  A 
brilliant  charge  was  made,  but  the  support  failed,  and  Rodman  was  terribly  wounded.  Two 
ribs  were  crushed  by  a  fragment  of  shell,  and  a  rifle-ball  shattered  his  left  leg.  It  was  at  first 
supposed  that  his  injuries  were  fatal  ;  but  he  had  a  strong  constitution,  and  after  three  months 
absence  he  again  took  the  field.  Before  leaving  Hartford  he  was  presented  an  elegant  sword 
by  the  leading  citizens.  He  never  regained  his  full  heaifh,  and  his  death,  which  occurred 
Oct.  9,  1881,  was  caused  by  the  injury  to  his  lungs,  and  was  preceded  by  years  of  pain. 
After  the  war  he  was  for  several  years  pension-agent  for  the  State.  He  was  a  man  of  strong 
character  and  greatly  beloved  by  his  old  comrades. 

4  Albert  Waldo  Drake,  bom  in  South  Windsor  in  1834,  was  graduated  at  Yale  ;  with 
Joseph  R.  Hawley  he  raised  the  first  volunteer  company  in  the  State,  and  served  during  the 
three  months'  campaign;  he  assisted  in  raising  the  Tenth  Connecticut  Volunteers,  and  went  to 
the  field  as  lieutenant-colonel,  being  advanced  to  the  chief  command  on  the  death  of  Colonel 
Russell,  Feb.  8,  1862.     Drake  died  of  quick  consumption  June  5,  1862,  aged  twenty-eight. 

5  Brigadier-General  Griffin  A.  Stedman  was  born  in  Hartford,  Jan.  6,  1838;  he  was  gradu- 
ated at  Trinity  College  in  1859,  and  after  reading  law  for  a  year  entered  the  office  of  Mr.  S.  H. 


THE   WAR   OF   THE   REBELLION.  93 

Twelfth  Infantry.  —  Colonel  Henry  C.  Deming,1  Hartford. 

Fourteenth  Infantry.  —  Colonel  Theodore  G.  Ellis,  Hartford  (brevet  brigadier- 
general)  ;   Lieutenant-Colonel  S.  A.  Moore,  New  Britain. 

Sixteenth  Infantry.  —  Colonel  Frank  Beach,  Hartford  ;  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Frank  W.  Cheney,  Manchester;  Lieutenant-Colonel  John  H.  Burnhain,  Hart- 
ford. 

Twentieth  Infantry.  —  Colonel  Samuel  Ross,  Hartford. 

Twenty-second  Infantry.  —  Colonel  George  S.  Burnham,  Hartford. 

Twenty-fifth  Infantry.  —  Colonel  George  P.  Bissell,  Hartford ;  Major  Thomas 
McManus,  Hartford. 

Thirtieth  Infantry  (colored).  —  Colonel  Henry  C.  Ward,  Hartford. 

The  Fourth  Regiment  was  changed  into  the  First  Heavy  Artil- 
lery, —  one  of  the  most  noted  artillery  regiments  in  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac. 

The  names  of  many  Hartford  and  Hartford  County  citizens  noted 
for  their  patriotism  suggest  themselves,  —  those  who  did  noble  service 
in  the  field,  and  those,  equally  patriotic,  who  could  not  go  to  the  front, 
but  by  their  contributions  and  by  their  energy  did  no  less  valuable  work 
at  home.  No  city  of  its  size  in  the  Union  can  point  to  a  more  honora- 
ble record. 

The  women  of  Hartford  County  were  among  the  very  first  to  organ- 
ize for  the  care  of  sick  and  wounded  soldiers.  The  firing  upon  Fort 
Sumter  was  the  signal  for  commencing  preparations  for  the  impending 
struggle,  —  at  first  by  a  few  ladies,  who  met  in  private  parlors,  rolling 
bandages  and  making  lint  for  the  wounded.  This  soon  led  to  more 
extended  efforts,  which  finally  resulted  in  the  formation  of  the  Hart- 
Perkins,  of  Philadelphia.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  he  enlisted  in  the  Washington  Grays, 
of  Philadelphia,  but  came  to  Hartford,  where  the  Fifth  Regiment  was  forming,  raised  a  com- 
pany, and  went  into  the  field  as  captain  of  Company  I.  He  manifested  so  much  ability  as  a 
soldier  that  when  the  Eleventh  Regiment  was  raised  he  was  appointed  its  major.  At  Antie- 
tam,  after  Colonel  H.  W.  Kingsbury  was  killed,  he  led  the  regiment  in  the  famous  assault 
upon  the  Stone  Bridge,  which  Burnside  carried  and  held.  He  was  severely  wounded  during 
the  battle,  and  was  promoted  to  be  colonel.  He  commanded  the  Eleventh  from  this  time  until 
the  beginning  of  General  Grant's  advance  upon  Richmond,  when  he  was  assigned  to  the  com- 
mand of  the  Second  Brigade,  Second  Division  of  the  Eighteenth  Army  Corps.  He  gained  a 
high  reputation  for  coolness,  intrepidity,  and  military  skill,  and  on  the  recommendation  of  all 
his  superior  officers  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  Brigadier-General,  his  commission  being  on 
its  way  when  on  the  evening  of  Aug.  5,  1S64,  in  front  of  Petersburg,  Virginia,  he  was  mor- 
tally wounded  by  a  random  shot.  He  died  the  next  morning.  General  Ames,  by  whose  side 
he  was  standing  when  he  received  his  death-wound,  in  announcing  the  event  to  General  Ord, 
said  the  country  had  lost  one  of  the  finest  soldiers  in  the  army.  He  fell  at  the  early  age  of 
twenty-six  years,  having  won  his  way  to  high  rank  and  having  exhibited  qualities  which  gave 
pronnse  of  a  glorious  and  useful  career.  From  Ball's  Bluff  with  the  Fifth,  through  all  the 
battles  of  the  Eleventh,  at  Newbern,  South  Mountain,  Antietam,  Fredericksburg,  Suffolk, 
Drury's  Bluff,  and  Cold  Harbor,  up  to  the  last  contest  before  Petersburg,  he  was  foremost 
in  battle,  disposing  our  lines,  heading  our  charges,  careful  of  his  men,  prodigal  of  his  own 
life,  always  brave,  always  cool.  He  lived  and  died  nobly,  without  fear  and  without  re- 
proach. Well-bred,  highly  cultured,  rich,  witli  brilliant  intellectual  gifts,  and  with  a  life  of 
elegant  ease  at  his  command,  he  gave  all  to  his  country,  and  accepted  the  result  without  a 
murmur. 

1  The  Hon.  Henry  C.  Deming  was  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1836,  and  before  the 
war  was  a  prominent  lawyer  of  Hartford,  and  had  served  in  both  branches  of  the  legislature, 
being  Speaker  of  the  House  in  the  session  of  1861.  For  six  years  he  was  mayor  of  Hartford. 
In  the  fall  of  1861  he  was  appointed  Colonel  of  the  Twelfth  Connecticut  Volunteers,  and  with 
his  regiment  went  with  (Jeneral  Butler's  expedition  against  New  Orleans.  Alter  the  capture 
of  the  city  he  was  appointed  mayor,  which  position  lie  held  until  February,  1863,  when  he 
resigned,  returned  home,  and  was  elected  to  the  Thirty-eighth  Congress.  lie  served  lor  two 
terms.  Afterward  he  was  Collector  of  Internal  Revenue  for  the  State.  He  excelled  as  an 
orator.     He  died  in  1872. 


94  MEMORIAL  HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

ford  Soldiers'  Aid  Association,  for  the  care  of  "  Connecticut  soldiers." 
When  some  months  afterward  the  United  States  Sanitary  Commission 
was  organized,  this  Aid  Association  was  wrell  established  and  prepared 
to  contribute  valuable  supplies  to  that  admirable  agency.  The  energy 
and  industry  of  the  women  were  nobly  supplemented  and  sustained  by 
the  unbounded  liberality  of  moneyed  men.  As  a  financial  centre  the 
city  furnished  money  and  materials,  which  were  prepared  for  the  needle 
by  the  Hartford  women,  and  made  up  by  societies  in  all  the  neighbor- 
ing towns  and  far  beyond  the  limits  of  the  county.  Valuable  donations 
of  supplies  poured  in  from  town  and  country,  and  it  was  remarked  that 
every  housewife  gave  of  her  very  best.  No  inferior  material  was 
allowed  to  be  used,  and  wherever  the  hospital  clothing  and  other  com- 
forts bearing  the  stamp  of  this  Soldiers'  Aid  Association  found  its  way, 
they  were  remarked  for  their  unrivalled  excellence.  From  regimental 
surgeons  and  chaplains  by  whom  they  were  received,  from  hospitals 
both  temporary  and  permanent,  and  even  from  Southern  prisons,  came 
most  grateful  acknowledgments  of  the  comfort  afforded  by  these  varied 
appliances  for  the  sick  and  wounded.  The  talent  of  the  younger  ladies 
was  devoted  to  the  arranging  of  dramatic  and  other  entertainments 
given  for  the  purpose  of  replenishing  the  treasury ;  and  the  most  bril- 
liant series  of  tableaux  ever  exhibited  in  this  county  were  a  memora- 
ble example  of  the  success  attending  these  efforts.  The  two  ladies 
who  were  at  the  head  of  these  relief  organizations  were  Mrs.  John 
Olmstead  and  Mrs.  S.  S.  Cowen. 

The  wrork  of  the  Soldiers'  Aid  Association  was  carried  on  with 
unabated  energy  and  interest  until  the  close  of  the  war,  and  during  its 
existence  more  than  thirty  thousand  dollars  in  cash,  and  even  a  larger 
amount  in  other  contributions,  was  received  and  distributed.  Retain- 
ing its  independent  organization  to  the  last,  it  was  able  to  assist  by 
its  contributions  both  sanitary  and  Christian  associations,  and  also 
to  respond  to  constant  calls  from  Connecticut  regiments.  The  record 
of  donations  of  money  is  now  placed  in  the  safe-keeping  .of  the  Con- 
necticut Historical  Society,  where  the  names  and  benefactions  of  the 
patriotic  men  and  women  of  that  day  are  duly  recorded.  Of  those 
noble  women  who  gave  their  time  and  energies  as  well  as  their  prayers 
and  tears  to  this  beneficent  work,  few  now  survive ;  and  to  them  and 
to  their  representatives  was  committed,  by  the  courtesy  of  General 
Hawley,  the  sacred  charge  of  preparing  for  removal  to  the  Capitol  the 
battle-flags  which  constitute  one  of  the  choicest  possessions  of  the 
State. 

At  a  special  town-meeting  in  Hartford,  July  10,  1862,  the  sum  of 
one  hundred  thousand  dollars  was  appropriated  for  the  purpose  of  pro- 
moting enlistments  and  granting  aid  to  the  families  of  enlisted  men. 
The  following  committee  was  appointed  to  supervise  the  expenditures 
under  this  appropriation :  William  J.  Hamef  sley,  Allyn  S.  Stillman, 
Calvin  Day,  Charles  Cheney,  John  C.  Palmer,  A.  S.  Beckwith,  Charles 
T.  Hillyer,  E.  H.  Owen,  James  G.  Batterson,  N.  M.  Waterman,  Frank 
Howard,  William  H.  Green,  A.  E.  Burr,  James  B.  Powell,  David  Clark, 
John  T.  McManus,  Sidney  A.  Ensign,  William  M.  Charter,  Hawley 
Kellogg,  Horace  Ensworth,  Henry  Selling,  John  McGoodin,  Horace 
Lord,  Joseph  Pratt,  and  James  White.  This  was  known  as  the  War 
Committee.     This  same  meeting  adopted  the  following  vote  :  — 


THE   WAR   OF   THE   REBELLION.  95 

"  Resolved,  That  no  efforts  on  the  part  of  this  Government  should  be 
spared  to  preserve  the  union  of  the  States,  and  to  put  down  the  atrocious  re- 
bellion ;  and,  further,  that  we  will  never  submit  to  any  foreign  intervention. 
Republicanism  does  not  need  the  nursing  care  of  monarchs  and  emperors." 

Upon  application  of  Caleb  Clapp  and  ninety-five  others,  a  special 
meeting  was  held,  Sept.  17,  1862,  for  the  purpose  of  considering  the 
propriety  of  providing-  support  for  the  families  of  drafted  men,  and  also 
of  paying  bounties  to  such  men.  The  meeting  adjourned  without 
action,  the  moderator  (Allvn  S.  Stillman)  stating  that  legal  advice  had 
been  given  that  no  appropriation  could  be  made  for  drafted  men  at  the 
meeting. 

A  special  meeting  was  held,  Sept.  18,  1862,  upon  application  of 
James  Goodwin  and  twenty-five  other  electors,  at  which  the  Hon. 
William  J.  Hamersley  presided,  and  the  following  preamble  and  reso- 
lutions were  adopted  after  an  animated  discussion :  — 

"  Whereas,  The  Committee  of  Citizens  of  Hartford  appointed  at  a  town- 
meeting  held  on  the  19th  day  of  July,  1862,  did,  at  a  regular  meeting  of  said 
committee,  held  on  Tuesday  evening,  Sept.  16,  1862,  unanimously  pass  the 
following  resolution  : 

'"Voted,  That  the  sum  of  one  hundred  dollars  each  be  paid  to  such  citizens 
of  this  town  as  have  recently  been  drafted,  and  that  the  same  provision  be  made 
for  the  family  as  has  already  been  made  for  the  families  of  the  nine  months'  vol- 
unteers ;  it  being  understood,  however,  that  the  benefits  of  this  appropriation  are 
not  to  extend  to  those  who  serve  as  substitutes,  or  to  those  who  are  detailed  for 
service  in  workshops  or  manufactories,  or  who  may  be  excused  from  service  as 
soldiers  by  competent  authority  :  Voted,  That  the  foregoing  appropriations  shall 
not  be  paid  until  the  principal  or  his  substitute  shall  have  been  regularly  sworn 
and  mustered  into  the  United  States  service.'  And  whereas  this  meeting  does 
approve  said  action  on  the  part  of  said  committee,  '  Voted,  That  this  meeting  do 
endorse  and  ratify  said  votes,  and  do  hereby  authorize  and  empower  said  com- 
mittee (known  as  the  War  Committee)  to  make  such  appropriations  as  are  con- 
templated by  said  votes,  and  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  thereof.'  " 

The  meeting  voted  an  additional  appropriation  of  one  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  out  the  provisions  of  these 
votes ;  and  also  voted  that  persons  who  had  enlisted  into  the  service 
and  had  subsequently  been  elected  and  commissioned  as  officers  were 
nevertheless  entitled  to  the  bounty  paid  to  enlisted  men. 

At  a  town-meeting  in  December,  1862,  William  L.  Collins,  N.  H. 
Morgan,  and  George  Brinley  were  appointed  a  committee  to  prepare  a 
plan  for  funding  the  war-debt.  They  reported  Dec.  23,  1862,  and  in 
accordance  with  their  recommendation  six  per  cent  bonds  to  the 
amount  of  #200,000  were  issued,  falling  due  in  sums  of  $10,000 
annually  after  Jan.  1,  1874.  The  total  amount  of  this  debt,  principal 
and  interest,  was  #826,000.  A  special  meeting  July  23,  1863,  voted 
$200,000  for  defraying  the  expenses  of  the  town  for  the  care  of  depen- 
dent families  of  drafted  men.  A  special  meeting  Aug.  15,  1864,  voted 
a  sum  not  exceeding  $500,000  to  be  used  by  the  selectmen  in  filling  the 
quota  of  Hartford  under  the  last  draft.  It  does  not  appear,  however, 
that  this  money  was  used,  and  Nov.  26,  1864,  the  sum  of  $200,000 
was  appropriated  for  the  same  purpose,  and  a  committee  consist- 
ing of  Calvin  Day,  J.  Hurlbut  White,  Thomas  T.  Fisher,  and  Fred- 


96  MEMORIAL   HISTORY  OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

erick  S.  Brown  was  appointed  to  disburse  the  money  in  procuring 
enlistments. 

Unfortunately  the  State  has  no  record  of  its  sons  who  served  in  the 
navy  ;  and  there  are  no  town  or  county  statistics  on  this  point,  although 
Hartford  County  furnished  the  Hon.  Gideon  Welles,  the  chief  of  the 
Navy  Department,  quite  a  number  of  distinguished  officers,  and  several 
hundred  sailors,  the  county  having  representatives  in  every  squadron. 
Among  naval  officers  who  achieved  distinction  Hartford  furnished 
the  lamented  Commander  Ward,  and  Lieutenant-Commanders  Francis 
M.  Bunce,  Edward  Terry,1  and  Henry  C.  White.  The  service  rendered 
by  Mr.  William  Faxon,  as  chief  clerk  of  the  Navy  Bureau,  was  inval- 
uable. He  was  throughout  the  war  the  efficient  right-hand  man  of 
Secretary  Welles. 

The  more  than  twelve  thousand  men  from  this  county  who  entered 
the  military  service  were  scattered  among  twenty-nine  regiments  or 
batteries;  namely,  —  the  First,  Second,  and  Third  Regiments  (three 
months')  ;  the  Cavalry  Squadron  and  the  Cavalry  Regiment ;  the  First 
and  Second  Light  Batteries  ;  the  two  Heavy  Artillery  Regiments  ; 
the  Fifth,  Sixth,  Seventh,  Eighth,  Ninth,  Tenth,  Eleventh,  Twelfth, 
Thirteenth,  Fourteenth,  Fifteenth,  Sixteenth,  Twentieth,  Twenty- 
first  (three  years'  men)  ;  Twenty-second,  Twenty-fourth,  Twenty -fifth, 
Twenty-seventh  (nine  months');  and  the  Twenty-ninth  and  Thirtieth 
(colored).  In  some  of  these  commands  the  number  from  this  county 
was  small ;  in  others  there  were  two  or  more  companies  ;  while  other 
regiments,  like  the  First,  Sixteenth,  Twenty-second,  and  Twenty-fifth, 
were  regarded  as  Hartford  County  organizations,  although  not  formed 
exclusively  within  county  lines. 

To  tell  what  these  men  did  in  the  field  would  be  to  recall  in  large 
part  the  history  of  the  war.  From  the  muster-in  of  the  First  Regiment 
of  three  months'  men  in  April,  1861,  to  the  muster-out  of  the  Veteran 
Battalion  of  the  Thirteenth  in  April,  1866,  —  from  Bull  Run,  where  the 
First  Connecticut  left  the  disastrous  field  in  1  tetter  shape  than  any 

1  Commander  Edward  Terry,  U.  S.  N.,  was  born  in  Hartford,  Jan.  22,  1839  ;  was  gradu- 
ated at  the  Naval  Academy  in  1857  ;  served  with  East  India  and  Mediterranean  squadrons 
until  the  breaking  out  of  the  Rebellion,  when  the  "Eichmond,"  to  which  he  was  attached,  was 
ordered  to  the  "West  Gulf  Squadron,"  under  Farragut.  He  participated  in  the  operations 
by  which  the  Lower  Mississippi  was  opened,  including  the  passage  of  Forts  Jackson  and  St. 
Philip,  the  capture,  of  New  Orleans,  and  the  operations  against  Port  Hudson.  At  the  latter 
place  he  commanded  a  battery  of  heavy  guns  which  were  landed  from  the  "Richmond  "  to 
assist  in  the  siege,  and  which  did  very  effective  work.  He  was  also  executive  officer  of  the 
"  Eichmond,"  under  Captain  Jenkins,  at  the  battle  of  Mobile  Bay,  Aug.  5, 1864.  After  the  war 
he  served  successively  in  the  South  Pacific  ;  at  the  Naval  Academy  (where  from  1867  to  1870 
he  was  Professor  of  Naval  Gunnery,  and  from  1874  to  1878  wTas  Commandant  of  Cadets);  com- 
manded the  United  States  Steamship  "Saco"  in  the  European  and  Asiatic  squadrons  from  1870 
to  1873.  In  1878  he  was  ordered  as  chief  of  staff  to  Rear-Admiral  Rodgers,  commanding  the 
Pacific  squadron,  and  the  following  year  was  prostrated  with  pneumonia,  from  the  effects  of 
which  he  died  June  1, 1882.  Commander  Terry  was  connected  with  the  oldest  families  of  Con- 
necticut. His  father.  Dr.  Edward  P.  Terry,  was  a  son  of  General  Nathaniel  Terry,  M.  ('.,  fourth 
mayor  of  Hartford.  He  was  related  also  to  the  Rev.  Thomas  Hooker,  founder  of  the  colony, 
to  "the  worshipful"  Mr.  John  Talcott,  the  Goodwins,  William  Whiting,  and  others  of  the 
first  settlers  of  Connecticut,  and  through  another  line  to  Governor  William  Bradford,  of  Plym- 
outh Colony.  Admiral  Rodgers  wrote  of  him:  "Singularly  modest  in  his  nature,  very 
gentle  in  his  judgment  of  others,  a  thoughtful,  studious  man  of  much  culture  and  sound 
judgment,  he  was  at  the  same  time  a  calm,  intrepid  seaman,  of  fiery  energy,  but  imperturb- 
able in  the  greatest  peril,  and  equal  to  every  emergency.  The  writer  of  these  lines  served 
with  him  continuously  during  the  last  six  years  of  his  active  service,  and  leai-ned  to  think 
him  a  man  witli  no  superior  in  the  navy.  He  was  a  reverent  believer  in  the  great  truths  of 
religion,  and  he  was  a  gentleman  without  fear  and  without  reproach." 


THE   WAR  OF  THE   REBELLION.  97 

other  command  except  the  regulars,  —  through  every  campaign  of  the 
long  war,  in  every  important  engagement  on  land  or  sea,  Hartford 
County  was  honorably  represented.  The  flag  of  the  State  was  borne 
with  honor  by  men  of  the  county  wherever  the  Army  of  the  Potomac 
marched  or  halted,  and  the  blood  of  the  best  of  her  sons  crimsoned 
every  great  battle-field  of  that  army,  —  Fredericksburg,  Chancellors- 
ville,  Antietam,  Gettysburg,  the  Wilderness,  Petersburg,  and  the  cam- 
paigns against  Richmond.  They  were  at  Roanoke  with  Burnside  on 
his  expedition ;  with  Banks  in  his  fatal  repulse  at  Cedar  Mountain  ; 
with  Butler  and  Banks  in  Louisiana ;  at  the  capture  of  Fort  Pulaski 
and  of  Fort  Fisher  ;  in  the  fatal  assaults  at  Fort  Wagner  and  the  deadly 
attempts  on  Port  Hudson ;  at  Irish  Bend,  Louisiana ;  with  Sherman  in 
his  march  to  the  sea ;  with  Sheridan  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  at 
Winchester,  Fisher's  Hill,  and  Cedar  Creek ;  at  the  capture  of  New 
Orleans,  Atlanta,  Mobile,  and  Richmond  ;  and  at  the  final  surrender  of 
Lee  at  Appomattox.  No  important  event  took  place  in  the  armies  of 
the  East  and  South  at  which  Hartford  County  soldiers  were  not  present 
in  positions  of  honor.  And  not  only  in  the  volunteer  armies,  but  also 
in  the  regular  army  and  navy,  the  county  was  honorably  represented. 
Brevet  Major  J.  Hartwell  Butler,  of  Hartford,  commanded  a  company 
of  the  Second  Artillery  United  States  Army,  and  lost  a  leg  in  action. 
Other  Hartford  officers  of  the  army  were  General  Robert  0.  Tyler,1 

1  Major-General  Robert  Ogclen  Tyler,  U.  S.  A.,  was  born  Dec.  22,  1831,  in  Hunter, 
Greene  County,  New  York,  the  son  of  Frederick  and  Sophia  Tyler.  His  paternal  grandfather 
was  a  soldier  of  the  Revolution,  and  three  of  his  paternal  uncles  were  officers  of  the  re°-ular 
army,  one  of  them  being  General  Daniel  Tyler.  The  family  was  of  Connecticut  origin,*3  and 
removed  to  Hartford  when  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was  eight  years  old.  He  was  graduated 
from  West  Point  in  the  famous  class  of  1853,  McPherson,  Scofield,  and  Vincent  being  anions 
his  classmates.  After  graduation  he  became  a  lieutenant  in  the  Third  Artillery.  In°1854  he 
crossed  the  country,  with  Colonel  Steptoe's  command,  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Pacific, 
spending  the  winter  at  Salt  Lake.  He  was  stationed  for  several  years  on  the  Pacific  coast,' 
and  took  part  in  several  Indian  campaigns.  In  1859  he  was  attached  to  T.  W.  Sherman's 
light  battery  in  Minnesota,  and  the  next  year  joined  his  regiment  at  Fort  Columbus,  New 
York  Harbor,  where  he  remained  until  the  breaking  out  of  the  war.  He  went  with  the 
expedition  intended  to  relieve  Fort  Sumter  in  April,  1861,  witnessed  the  bombardment  from 
a  distance,  and  returned  to  New  York  on  the  same  steamer  with  Major  Anderson  and  his 
command.  After  brief  service  on  the  staff  of  General  Patterson  he  took  command,  in  May,  of 
a  light  battery,  with  which  he  assisted  in  opening  the  communications  through  Baltimore. 
He  was  appointed,  May  17,  1861,  a  captain  in  the  Quartermaster  Department,  and  established 
the  supply  depots  at  Alexandria,  Virginia.  In  September,  1861,  he  was  appointed  Colonel  of 
the  Fourth  Connecticut  Volunteers  (afterward  the  First  Connecticut  Heavy  Artillery),  —  a  fine 
regiment,  which  had  become  temporarily  demoralized  by  bad  management.  Under  the  charge 
of  Colonel  Tyler  the  regiment  was  transformed  into  the  finest  artillery  regiment  of  the  Volun- 
teer Service,  and  was  employed  in  the  defences  of  Washington.  In  April,  1862,  Tyler  was 
given  command  of  the  siege-train  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  He  conducted  seventv-one 
pieces  of  artillery  to  Yorktown,  and  thence  with  great  difficulty  removed  it.  In  the  subse- 
quent movements  on  Richmond  Colonel  Tyler  received  high  commendations  for  the  distin- 
guished part  taken  by  his  regiment  in  the  capture  of  Hanover  Court-House  and  in  the 
battles  of  Gaines  Mill  and  Malvern  Hill.  When  General  McClellan  retired  upon  Washing- 
ton, Colonel  Tyler's  regiment  did  splendid  service,  in  concert  with  the  gunboats,  in  protecting 
the  rear  of  the  army.  For  his  brilliant  services  in  this  campaign,  and  for  his  skill  and  success 
in  saving  his  siege-train  under  the  most  trying  circumstances,  he  was  appointed  a  brigadier- 
general,  Nov.  29,  1862.  He  was  then  assigned  to  the  command  of  the  artillery  of  the  Centre 
Grand  Division  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  under  Burnside,  and  did  gallant  service  at 
Fredericksburg.  On  May  2,  1863,  he  was  assigned  to  command  the  "Artillery  Reserve"  of 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  which  played  an  important  part  in  the  battle  of  Chancellorsville 
and  in  the  pursuit  of  Lee's  army  into  Pennsylvania.  Major-General  Cullum  writes  of  his 
service  :  "  At  the  battle  of  Gettysburg  this  Artillery  Reserve  comprised  over  one  hundred  and 
thirty  guns  and  more  than  three  hundred  ammunition  wagons.  The  grand  part  which  the 
artillery  played  in  this  death-struggle  with  the  Confederacy  is  too  well  known  to  require 
description.  Impatiently  awaiting  the  signal  for  action,  Hunt,  the  chief,  and  Tyler,  his  able 
vol.  I.  —  7. 


98  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

Colonel  Frank  Beach,1  Brevet  Major  James  B.  Burbank  (now  of  the 
Third  Artillery). 

Perhaps  no  other  single  engagement  of  the  war  proved  so  disastrous 
to  the  men  of  this  State,  especially  to  those  of  this  county,  as  the  battle 
of  Antietam,  Sept.  17,  1862,  in  which  the  Eighth,  Eleventh,  Fourteenth, 
and  Sixteenth  regiments  participated,  the  latter  having  just  entered  the 
service  and  being  entirely  ignorant  of  battalion  movements.  The  Con- 
necticut troops  were  in  the  thickest  of  the  light  on  the  left  of  the  Union 
line,  General  Edward  Harland,  of  Norwich,  commanding  the  brigade. 
No  braver  lighting  against  overwhelming  odds  was  ever  witnessed,  and 
the  losses  in  killed  and  wounded  were  terrible.  The  Eighth  lost  34 
killed  and  139  wounded  ;  the  Eleventh,  38  killed  and  97  wounded  ;  the 
Fourteenth,  21  killed  and  88  wounded ;  and  the  Sixteenth,  43  killed 
and  142  wounded,  —  making  a  total  of  136  killed  and  466  wounded. 
Among  the  killed  were  a  large  number  of  officers,  including  General 
Mansfield  of  the  regular  army  ;  Colonel  Kingsbury  of  the  Eleventh; 
and   from   this    county,  Captain    J.   E.  Blinn  of  New  Britain,  of  the 

assistant,  opened  with  almost  one  hundred  guns,  from  Cemetery  Hill  to  the  Round  Tops, 
upon  Pickett's  magnificent  assaulting  column,  tearing  vast  gaps  in  the  advancing  ranks,  and 
almost  annihilating  that  proud  array  of  eighteen  thousand  of  the  hest  Southern  infantry. 
General  Tyler,  in  this  battle  of  the  giants,  had  two  horses  shot  under  him,  and  his  coolness, 
skill,  and  intrepidity  contributed  greatly  to  the  success  of  the  final  struggle."  After  Gettys- 
burg, General  Tyler  was  engaged  in  the  pursuit  of  the  enemy  to  Culpepper,  and  commanded 
the  artillery  in  the  combat  of  Rappahannock  Station  and  at  Mine  Run.  From  January  to 
May,  1S64,  he  was  a  division  commander  in  the  Twenty-second  Army  Corps,  covering  the 
capital  and  the  communications  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  afterward,  in  command  of 
a  division  of  heavy  artillery,  was  attached  to  the  Second  Army  Corps.  He  won  new  distinc- 
tion at  the  opening  of  the  Richmond  campaign  in  the  battles  about  Spottsylvania,  where  his 
command,  acting  as  infantry,  occupied  the  extreme  right  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and 
repulsed  (May  19,  1864)  a  furious  assault  by  Swell's  corps.  In  the  pursuit  of  the  enemy  which 
followed,  General  Tyler's  command  fought  at  North  Anna,  Tolopotoniy,  and  Cold  Harbor. 
In  the  last-named  battle  he  was  severely  wounded  ami  disabled  by  a  ritle-ball  through  his 
ankle,  —  a  wound  which  ended  his  active  service,  and  which  gave  his  vigorous  constitution  a 
shock  from  which  it  never  fully  recovered.  He  was  brevetted  a  major  in  the  regular  army 
for  Fredericksburg,  lieutenant-colonel  for  Gettysburg,  colonel  for  Spottsylvania,  brigadier- 
general  for  Cold  Harbor,  and  major-general  "  for  gallant  and  meritorious  services  in  the  field 
during  the  Piebellion."  He  also  received  a  sixth  brevet  —  that  of  major-general  of  United 
States  Volunteers —  "for  great  gallantry  at  the  battle  of  Cold  Harbor."  The  citizens  of 
Hartford  presented  him  with  a  sword  in  appreciation  of  his  personal  gallantly,  and  the  legis- 
lature of  Connecticut  passed  a  resolution  of  thanks  in  his  honor.  His  wound  was  so  far 
healed,  after  a  six  months'  leave  of  absence,  that  he  was  able  to  go  on  duty  as  a  commissioner 
for  the  disbursement  of  the  cotton  fund  for  the  supply  of  Rebel  prisoners,  and  subsequently 
was  assigned  to  the  command  of  the  District  of  Delaware  and  the  Eastern  Shore,  with  head- 
quarters at  Philadelphia.  On  the  reorganization  of  the  army,  General  Tyler,  July  29,  1866, 
was  appointed  lieutenant-colonel  ami  deputy  quartermaster-general.  His  failing  health  led 
him  to  visit  Europe  in  1868-1869  ;  and  again  in  1872  he  secured  a  year's  leave  of  absence,  and 
took  a  journey  around  the  world.  His  journal  while  in  India  has  been  published  in  book 
form,  as  an  appendix  to  a  brief  memoir  from  the  pen  of  his  friend  General  George  W.  Cullum, 
U.  S.  A.  (J.  B.  Lippincott  &  Co.,  Philadelphia,  1878).  General  Tyler  died  suddenly  at  his 
post  of  duty,  Boston,  Dec.  1,  1874,  aged  nearly  forty-three.  He  was  buried  at  Cedar  Hill 
Cemetery,  Hartford,  with  the  military  honors  due  to  his  rank  and  his  distinguished  services. 

1  Colonel  Frank  Beach  was  a  son  of  George  Beach,  for  many  years  president  of  the  Phoenix 
Bank,  Hartford.  He  was  graduated  at  West  Point  in  1857,  and  in  subsequent  campaigns  in 
Utah  and  on  the  Plains  his  health  was  seriously  injured.  When  the  war  broke  out  he  was 
adjutant  at  Fort  McHenry.  In  the  summer  of  1862  he  was  appointed  Colonel  of  the  Sixteenth 
Connecticut  Volunteers.  His  regiment  had  the  misfortune  to  be  ordered  into  the  fight  at 
Antietam  before  it  had  had  an  opportunity  for  a  battalion  drill,  and  was  terribly  cut  to 
pieces,  although  Colonel  Beach  exhibited  reckless  bravery  in  his  efforts  to  rally  and  lead 
them.  Colonel  Beach  was  taken  prisoner  with  his  regiment  at  Plymouth,  North  Carolina, 
when  that  outpost  was  surprised  and  captured.  After  his  exchange  ill  health  prevented  his 
further  service  in  the  field.  He  never  recovered  his  strength,  and  he  died  in  New  York, 
Feb.  5,  1873. 


THE    WAR   OF   THE   REBELLION.  99 

Fourteenth  ;  and  from  the  Sixteenth,  Captains  Samuel  Brown  of  Enfield, 
Frederick  M.  Barber  of  Manchester,  John  L.  Drake  of  Hartford,  and 
Newton  S.  Manross  of  Bristol.1  Of  Company  I  of  the  Sixteenth,  Cap- 
tain  Drake,  First  Lieutenant  Horton,  First  Sergeant  Orville  Campbell  of 
New  Britain,  and  Second  Sergeant  Thomas  McCarty  of  Hartford  were 
killed  ;  Third  Sergeant  Rufus  Chamberlain  of  Stafford  was  mortally 
wounded.  Sergeants  W.  A.  Washburn  of  Berlin  and  Charles  C.  King 
of  East  Windsor  were  among  the  killed  in  Company  G.  Among  the 
wounded  at  Antietam  were  Lieutenant-Colonel  Frank  W.  Cheney  (Six- 
teenth) of  Manchester,  Sergeant  Frederick  R.  Eno  (Fourteenth)  of 
Bloomfield,  Captains  Charles  Babcock  of  Canton  and  Nathaniel  Harden 
of  Hartford  (both  of  the  Sixteenth).  No  other  battle  of  the  war 
brought  so  much  sorrow  to  Connecticut. 

The  death-roll  of  the  county,  of  those  who  were  killed  or  died  in  the 
service,  amounts  to  nearly  thirteen  hundred,  to  which  might  be  added 
the  many  who  have  died  since  the  war  from  diseases  caused  by  wounds 
or  exposure.  The  graves  are  on  every  great  battle-field,  and  scattered 
through  many  States.  To  the  list  Hartford  contributed  very  largely, 
among  the  more  distinguished  of  her  dead  sons  being  General  Griffin 
A.  Stedman,  Captain  James  Harmon  Ward  2  (Navy),  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Thomas    S.    Trumbull3    (First   Heavy    Artillery),    Major    Henry    W. 

1  Newton  S.  Manross  was  a  highly  educated  and  accomplished  gentleman,  a  graduate  of 
Yale,  and  just  before  entering  the  service  had  been  elected  Processor  of  Chemistry  and  Botany 
in  Amherst  College. 

2  James  Harmon  Ward,  17.  S.  N.,  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Rebellion  was  recognized  as  one 
of  the  most  intelligent  and  promising  officers  of  the  navy,  being  of  mature  years,  and  having 
established  a  brilliant  reputation.  He  was  born  in  Hartford  in  1806,  the  soil  of  Colonel  James 
Ward,  commissary-general  of  the  War  of  1812.  He  entered  the  navy  as  midshipman  on  the 
old  frigate  "  Constitution  "  in  1823.  He  was  the  author  of  the  "Manual  of  Naval  Tactics  " 
published  about  1835.  In  1842  he  delivered  a  course  of  popular  lectures  in  Philadelphia  on 
Gunnery,  in  which  he  advocated  the  establishment  of  a  naval  school,  and  when  the  school 
was  founded  he  became  one  of  its  foremost  professors  and  so  continued  until  the  outbreak  of 
the  Rebellion.  He  was  then  summoned  to  Washington,  where  he  speedily  organized  (or  cre- 
ated) the  Potomac  flotilla,  our  first  effective  naval  force,  of  which  he  was  given  command  May 
16,  1861.  Only  a  month  later,  while  endeavoring  to  silence  a  Rebel  battery  at  Acquia  Creek, 
he  was  killed  by  a  sharp  shooter.  He  was  buried  in  Hartford,  from  St.  Patrick's  Church,  with 
the  highest  military  honors.  Those  who  knew  him  best  regarded  his  death  at  that  time  as  a 
greater  loss  to  the  country  than  would  have  been  the  loss  of  a  division  of  troops. 

3  Thomas  Swan  Trumbull  was  born  at  Stonington,  Feb.  15,  1835  ;  died  at  Wash- 
ington, D.C.,  March  30,  1865.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  Mr.  Trumbull,  a  graduate  of 
the  Harvard  Law  School,  was  in  the  practice  of  his  profession  in  New  York  City.  At  once 
he  enlisted  as  a  recruit  in  the  famous  Seventh  Regiment  of  New  York,  with  the  purpose  of 
following  it  to  Washington.  He  received  word  that  no  more  recruits  would  be  needed  there. 
Then  he  hastened  to  Hartford,  where  he  had  a  similar  experience  in  his  enlistment  into  the 
company  of  Captain  —  afterward  General —  Hawley  ;  the  later  names  on  the  roll  of  that  com- 
pany being  stricken  off  to  reduce  it  to  regulation  standard.  Yet  again  he  enlisted,  into  the 
Third  Connecticut  Regiment,  under  Colonel  Levi  Woodhouse,  and  was,  at  the  latter's  request, 
transferred  with  him  when  he  was  given  command  of  the  Fourth  Regiment, — the  first  from 
the  State  for  a  three  years'  term.  Appointed  First  Lieutenant  and  Adjutant,  Trumbull  left 
for  the  front,  with  his  regiment,  June  10,  and  first  saw  service  on  the  Upper  Potomac,  under 
General  Patterson  and  General  B-anks.  The  regiment  being  changed  into  the  First  Connecti- 
cut Heavy  Artillery,  under  Colonel  Robert  0.  Tyler,  an  officer  of  the  regular  army,  Adjutant 
Trumbull  was  promoted  to  a  majorship,  March  1,  1862  ;  the  Colonel  taking  this  unusual  step, 
as  he  said,  "  solely  for  the  good  of  the  service,  and  because  of  Trumbull's  extraordinary  capa- 
city as  an  artillery  officer."  From  doing  duty  in  the  defences  of  Washington,  the  regiment 
went  forward  as  the  siege-train  of  General  McCIellan  in  the  campaign  against  Yorktown  and 
in  the  Peninsula.  Major  Trumbull  had  charge  of  one  of  the  most  important  batteries  before 
Yorktown  ;  and  he  fought  through  the  campaign  with  his  regiment,  down  to  the  close  of  the 
series  of  battles  around  Richmond,  in  the  battle  of  Malvern  Hill.  While  yet  on  the  Upper 
Potomac  Trumbull  had  received  an  injury,  by  the  fall  of  his  horse,  from  the  effects  of  which 
he  never  entirely  recovered.     The  pestilential  influences  of  the  Chickahominy  Swamp  aided  in 


100  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

Camp1  (Tenth),  Captain  Henry  A.  Wells  (Tenth),  Lieutenant  John  C. 
Coffing  (Tenth),  Captain  Horatio  D.  Eaton  (Sixth),  Adjutant  Heber  S. 
Smith  (Fifth),  Lieutenant  John  H.  Wilson  (Seventh),  Captain  Edwin  R. 
Lee  (Eleventh),  Captain  William  H.  Sackett  (Eleventh),  Captain  Wil- 
liam S.  Buckley  (Twelfth),  Captain  Charles  A.  Tennant  (Sixteenth), 
Lieutenant  John  M.  Waters  (Sixteenth),  Captain  Henry  C.  Smith 
(Twentieth),  Captain  Oliver  R.  Post  (Twentieth). 

From  other  towns  the  names  are  recalled  of  Colonel  Albert  W. 
Drake  (Tenth)  of  South  Windsor  ;  Colonel  Richard  E.  Holcoinb  of 
East  Granby,  who  was  shot  through  the  heart  at  Port  Hudson  while 
leading  the  First  Louisiana  Regiment,  to  the  command  of  which  he  had 
been  promoted  from  major  of  the  Thirteenth ;  Major  Joseph  H.  Con- 
verse (Eleventh)  of  Windsor  Locks,  killed  at  Cold  Harbor ;  Captain 
Joseph  R.  Toy  (Twelfth)  of  Simsbury ;  Lieutenant  Horace  E.  Phelps 
(Twelfth)  of  Windsor  Locks,  killed  at  Cedar  Creek  ;  Lieutenant  Theo- 
dore A.  Stanley  (Fourteenth)  of  New  Britain,  killed  at  Fredericksburg ; 
Captain    Samuel   S.    Hayden(  (Twenty-fifth),   killed    at    Irish   Bend, 

sapping  his  life  forces  ;  but  he  battled  with  disease  as  bravely  as  with  the  enemies  of  his  Gov- 
ernment. Again,  in  the  defences  of  Washington,  Major  Trumbull  was  in  command  of  Forts 
Richardson,  Scott,  and  Barnard.  In  December,  1862,  he  was  in  command  of  two  companies 
and  their  batteries,  under  General  Burnside,  at  Fredericksburg.  In  the  spring  of  1864  the 
regiment,  under  Colonel  —  afterward  General  —  H.  L.  Abbot,  another  regular-army  officer,  went 
again  to  the  front,  at  Bermuda  Hundred.  There  Major  Trumbull  was  given  "the  post  of  honor," 
in  command  of  Battery  No.  3,  later  known  as  Fort  Anderson.  His  skill  and  efficiency  in  that 
position  were  recognized  l>y  his  commander,  and  in  June  he  was  sent  to  assume  command  of  bat- 
teries in  front  of  Petersburg.  For  some  time  after  this  he  was  "  in  charge  of  all  the  guns  of  the 
siege  on  both  sides  of  the  Appomattox."  "  He  showed  in  this  higher  sphere,"  says  Colonel  Abbot, 
"the  same  admirable  qualities  which  had  distinguished  him  when  in  command  of  Battery 
No.  3."  In  two  instances  Major  Trumbull  was  tendered  the  position  of  Chief  of  Artillery  on 
a  corps  commander's  staff ;  but  he  preferred  to  remain  with  his  regiment  while  he  could  have  so 
active  and  important  service  there.  He  was  promoted  to  be  Lieutenant-Colonel,  Nov.  29,  1864. 
When  a  return  of  his  illness  forbade  for  a  time  his  service  along  the.  extended  line  of  the 
Petersburg  front,  he  did  duty  on  the  staff  of  General  Benham,  in  completing  the  line  of 
defences  at  City  Point,  and  having  charge  of  the  reserve  artillery  there.  In  the  early  spring  of 
186;)  Lieutenant-Colonel  Trumbull  was  detailed  on  a  general  court-martial  at  Washington,  pre- 
sided over  by  General  H.  L.  Briggs,  where  his  legal  training  was  again  of  service.  It  was  while 
on  this  duty  that  he  finally  succumbed  to  disease,  and  died  March  30,  1865.  His  remains  were 
taken  to  his  Hartford  home,  and  as  they  were  borne  to  their  resting-place  in  Spring  Grove 
Cemetery,  on  the  afternoon  of  April  2,  his  friends  heard  the  shouts  of  rejoicing  over  the  fall 
of  Petersburg,  for  the  accomplishing  of  which  he  had  striven  so  bravely  and  untiringly. 
Possessed  of  a  vigorous  constitution,  young  Trumbull  was  early  distinguished  for  physical 
strength  and  athletic  accomplishments,  "  few  excelling  him  in  those  manly  sports  requiring 
cool  nerves,  trained  muscle,  and  a  quick  eye."  Of  brilliant  intellectual  powers,  and  of  rare 
geniality  in  spirit  and  manner,  he  was  exceptionally  winsome  and  popular,  and  withal  he  had 
a  keen  sense  of  honor,  a  lofty  purpose  of  noble  doing,  and  an  indomitable  will.  He  had  given 
promise  of  success  in  his  chosen  profession,  but  all  Ins  good  qualities  found  amplest  play  in 
the  duties  of  his  soldier  life.  Overtaxed  and  maimed  in  the  discharge  of  those  duties  in  his 
first  year  of  army  service,  he  kept  up  and  persevered  in  arduous  campaigning  for  wellnigh  four 
years  ;  and  he  lay  down  to  die  only  within  eleven  days  of  the  close  of  the  war  at  Appomattox 
Court-House.  While  he  was  yet  living,  Colonel  Abbot  wrote,  of  him,  in  his  official  report  for 
1864  :  "  Lieutenant-Colonel  Trumbull  has  highly  distinguished  himself  for  ability,  courage,  and 
devotion  to  duty.  Entering  upon  the  campaign  with  healtlvmuch  impaired,  ...  he  seemed 
to  throw  off  disease  by  determined  will.  .  .  .  His  only  fault  was  in  laboring  beyond  his 
strength.  Few  officers  have  the  energy  and  ability  to  accomplish  what  he  has  done."  With 
such  a  record,  a  life  (dosing  at  thirty  years  cannot  be  called  incomplete  ! 

1  Major  Henry  W.  Camp,  of  the  Tenth  Connecticut  Volunteers,  was  a  Hartford  high-school 
boy,  son  of  the  Rev.  Henry  B.  Camp.  He  was  graduated  at  Yale  in  1860,  and  was  distin- 
guished for  manly  beauty,  physical  vigor,  and  intellectual  nobleness  and  strength  of  character. 
The  story  of  bis  brief  life  is  told  in  "  The  Knightly  Soldier,"  from  the  pen  of  his  intimate 
friend  and  companion  in  arms  and  in  prison,  Chaplain  Henry  Clay  Trumbull,  of  the  Tenth. 
Major  Camp  was  killed  Oct.  13,  1864,  near  Darhytown,  Virginia,  while  leading  a  charge  of  his 
regiment. 


THE    WAR   OF   THE    REBELLION. 


101 


Louisiana  ;  Captain  Newton  P.  Johnson  (Twenty-fifth)  of  East  Granby  ; 
Captain  Andrew  Upson  (Twentieth)  of  Southington ;  Sergeant  Albert 
Stillman  (Twentieth)  of  New  Britain ;  Sergeant  John  F.  Carroll 
(Twenty-fourth),  killed  at  Port  Hudson ;  Lieutenant  Owen  S.  Case 
(Thirtieth),  killed  at  Petersburg,  Virginia. 

The  total  expenditure  of  the  towns  of  the  State  for  .bounties,  pre- 
miums, support  of  families,  and  other  war-purposes  was  $5,195,877.80, 
of  whieh  the  towns  of  Hartford  County  paid  $1,217,966.19,  or  nearly 
one  quarter  of  the  entire  amount.  The  tables  published  below  are 
taken  from  the  "  History  of  Connecticut  during  the  Rebellion,"  but  the 
figures  are  not  in  every  instance  trustworthy. 


Expenditure  of 

Estimated  Amount 

Estimated 

Towns  for  Bounties, 

paid  by  Individuals 

Amount  paid 

Towns. 

Premiums,  Commu- 

for Bounties  to 

by  Individuals 

tation,  and  Support 

Volunteers 

for 

of  Families. 

and  Substitutes. 

Commutation. 

Hartford      .... 

$200,646. 86 



§35,403,478 

Avon 

15,094.17 

$1,975.66 

$1,800 

546,454 

Berlin 

35,880.66 

4,825.00 

1,078,882 

Bloomfield.     .     .     . 

39,235.00 

1,000.00 

833,529 

Bristol 

55,534.99 

13,551.98 

2,i66 

1,765,942 

Burlington  .... 

20,250.00 

2,000.00 

3,600 

456,487 

Canton 

36,644.63 

4,700.00 

3,500 

1,224,792 

East  Granby   .     .     . 

13,295.00 

1,800.00 

1,170 

495,888 

East  Hartford      .     . 

58,209.46 

24,800.00 

550 

1,464,822 

East  Windsor      .     . 

45,730.04 

3,000.00 

1,214,300 

Enfield 

00,314.00 

4,450.00 

2,669,099 

Fannington     .     .     . 

89,975.98 

9,000.00 

0,060 

2,162,570 

Glastonbury    .     .     . 

45,947.00 

5,950.00 

1,422,056 

Granby 

10,700.00 

3,316.00 

2,666 

609,726 

Hartland     .... 

12,492.25 

1,300.00 

2,100 

356,847 

Manchester      .     .     . 

47,212.70 

8,000.00 

1,632,047 

Marlborough  .     .     . 

6,674.00 

350.00 

305,482 

New  Britain    .     .     . 

45,628.45 

35,000.00 

14, 400 

2,608,418 

Rocky  Hill  .... 

20,605.00 

130.00 

7,000 

471,038 

Simsbury    .... 

14,575.00 

2,500.00 

3,600 

1,257,503 

Southington     .     .     . 

35,695.00 

12,250.00 

1,504,150 

South  Windsor    .     . 

25,800.00 

10,000.00 

1,211,873 

Suffield 

74,224.02 

1,720,255 

West  Hartford     .     . 

36,981.50 

1,388,857 

Wethersfield    .     .     . 

38,975.50 

5,401.00 

1,200 

1,726,711 

Windsor      .... 

34,700.00 

5,225.00 

1,421,333 

Windsor  Locks    .     . 

15,944.98 

2,630.00 

612,990 

$1,217,960.19 

$163,153.98 

$49,020 

$67,626,129 

Returns  from  present  town  officials  vary  slightly  from  these  figures 
in  many  instances,  but  they  are  probably  as  nearly  correct  as  it  is  pos- 
sible at  this  date  to  make  them,  owing  to  the  fact  that  frequently  the 
town  records  fail  to  specify  whether  certain  individual  appropriations 
were  in  aid  of  soldiers  or  their  families. 

The  following  additional  statistics  are  furnished  by  town  officials  : 

Berlin.  —  Appropriated  for  bounties,  822,307.17;  for  support  of  families  of 
volunteers,  $0,959.58,  —  total,  $29,966.57.  Furnished  171  men,  of  whom  12 
were  killed,  22  died  in  service.  In  Company  G,  Sixteenth,  were  27  Berlin  men, 
of  whom  2  were  killed  and  6  wounded  at  Antietam,  and  6  died  in  Rebel  prisons. 


102  MEMORIAL   HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

More  than  30  soldiers  of  the  late  war  are  buried  in  the  town  cemeteries.  There 
are  two  soldiers'  monuments  in  the  town, — one  in  Kensington  and  one  in  East 
Berlin,  the  former  believed  to  be  the  first  erected  in  the  State  ;  it  bears  the 
names  of  hfteen  soldiers.  That  of  East  Berlin  has  thirty-five  names  of  soldiers, 
some  of  whom  belonged  in  adjoining  towns.  Private  E.  W.  Bacon  of  Berlin,  of  the 
Fourteenth  Regiment,  captured  the  colors  of  the  Sixteenth  North  Carolina  Regi- 
ment  at  Gettysburg.     He  was  afterward  killed  during  the  Wilderness  campaign. 

Bristol.  — Appropriated  $40,300  as  bounties  to  volunteers  and  drafted  men. 
There  were  also  large  expenditures  for  support  of  families.  Furnished  250  men, 
of  whom  it  is  believed  that  some  75  are  dead.  Among  the  most  conspicuous  of 
the  dead  was  Captain  Manross,  of  the  Sixteenth,  heretofore  mentioned.  The 
town  has  a  soldiers'  monument. 

Canton.  — Furnished  257  soldiers  during  the  War  of  the  Rebellion.  Of  these, 
186  were  honorably  discharged  ;  41  were  either  killed  in  battle  or  died  from  the 
effects  of  wounds  or  disease  while  they  were  in  service ;  and  about  30  are  classed 
in  the  records  published  by  the  adjutant-general's  office  as  deserters,  but  most  of 
these  were  hired  substitutes  who  were  never  residents  of  the  town.  The  town 
voted  a  bounty  of  $100  to  each  man  who  counted  on  its  quota,  and  also  paid 
considerable  for  the  expense  of  enrolling,  and  the  records  show  that  the  sum 
of  $36,242  was  paid  towards  the  expense  of  furnishing  soldiers  for  the  war. 
There  has  been  no  appropriation  from  the  town  for  the  expense  of  a  soldiers' 
monument,  though  the  subject  has  sometimes  been  agitated. 

East  Hartford. — Expended  for  volunteers  and  substitutes  $70,733,  a  por- 
tion of  which  was  paid  by  individuals.  Furnished  311  men,  of  whom  211  were 
volunteers,  55  drafted  or  substitutes,  and  45  paid  commutation  money.  There 
were  killed,  14  ;  died  in  service,  18  ;  wounded,  10.1  The  town  has  a  fine  soldiers' 
monument  of  freestone,  surmounted  by  an  eagle.  It  was  erected  chiefly  by  sub- 
scription, and  bears  the  inscription  :  "  Erected  to  the  Memory  of  those  brave 
men  who  gave  up  their  lives  that  the  country  might  live."  The  town  annually 
votes  an  appropriation  to  assist  in  the  observance  of  Memorial  Day. 

Farmington.  — Paid  for  volunteers  and  substitutes,  $73,000  ;  to  families  of 
soldiers,  $26,475.98  ;  by  individuals  for  sanitary  commission,  soldiers'  relief,  etc., 
$7,635.97  :  total,  $107,111.95.  Furnished  360  men,  the  full  proportion  of  whom 
are  among  the  killed  and  wounded.     The  town  has  a  soldiers'  monument. 

Glastonbury.  —  War  expenses,  $50,035.94.  Number  of  men  furnished, 
393,  as  follows:  three  months'  volunteers,  10;  nine  months'  volunteers,  62; 
three  years' volunteers,  159;  re-enlisted  veterans,  28;  three  years'  recruits,  74; 
three  years'  substitutes,  46  ;  surgeons,  3  ;  lieutenant  regular  army,  1  ;  navy,  10. 
The  bounties  paid  by  the  town  ranged  from  $10  to  $500  per  man.  Appropria- 
tions were  also  made  for  the  mothers  and  infant  brothers  and  sisters  of  volunteers. 
There  were  killed  in  battle,  16  ;  died  in  service  (including  3  at  Andersonville), 
16.  The  town  furnished  1  lieutenant-colonel,  2  captains,  2  lieutenants,  3  sur- 
geons, 1  lieutenant  in  the  regular  army  (Robert  G.  Welles,  severely  wounded  at 
Gettysburg),  and  3  warrant  officers  in  the  navy. 

Marlborough.  —  Furnished  42  men,  of  whom  9  were  killed  or  died  in  the 
service.     The  amount  paid  for  volunteers  and  substitutes  was  about  $2,700. 

Manchester.  —  Sent  to  the  War  of  the  Rebellion  251  men  ;  namely,  volun- 
teers,  224;   substitutes   and   drafted,    27, — total,/ 251.     These  are  accounted 

1  The  most  distinguished  resident  of  the  town  who  served  during  the  war  was  Harry 
Howard  Brownell,  private  secretary  of  Admiral  Farragut,  who  was  called  by  Oliver  Wendell 
Holmes  "  the  battle  laureate  of  the  Union."  He  was  the  author  of  "  War  Lyrics,"  and  wrote 
an  account  of  the  "  Battle  of  Mobile  Bay  "  in  verse,  which  is  the  most  graphic  and  accurate 
description  of  the  fight  ever  written.  During  the  thickest  of  the  fight,  in  passing  the  forts, 
he  sat.  on  the  quarter-deck  making  notes  of  every  incident,  the  notes  being  written  as  carefully 
as  though  he  had  been  a  hundred  miles  away  from  any  danger.  He  died  in  1875,  and  is 
buried  in  the  Centre  Cemeterv. 


THE    WAR  OF   THE   REBELLION.  103 

for  as  follows :  missing  in  action,  1 ;  enlisted  in  C.  8.  A.,  while  prisoner  of  war, 
1  ;  not  taken  up  on  rolls,  3  ;  killed  in  action,  6  ;  died  in  service,  of  disease  and 
wounds,  32;  deserted,  33; 1  honorably  discharged,  175,  —  total,  251.  As  the 
total  population  of  Manchester  in  1860  was  hut  3,294,  making  by  the  ordinary 
estimate  G58  voters,  the  town  must  have  sent  nearly,  if  not  quite,  one  half  of  the 
number  of  those  fit  for  military  service.  The  251  Manchester  men  were  scat- 
tered into  many  widely  separated  commands,  being  distributed  according  to  their 
enlistments  as  follows  :  First  Regiment  Connecticut  Volunteers  (three  months'),  8 ; 
Second  Regiment  Connecticut  Volunteers,  1  ;  First  Squadron  Cavalry,  4  ;  First 
Regiment  Cavalry,  5  ;  First  Light  Battery,  4  ;  Second  Light  Battery,  1  ;  First 
Connecticut  Artillery,  40;  Second  Connecticut  Artillery,  8;  Infantry, — Fifth 
Volunteers,  15;  Seventh  Volunteers,  11;  Eighth  Volunteers,  5;  Ninth  Volun- 
teers, 4;  Tenth  Volunteers,  38;  Eleventh  Volunteers,  7;  Twelfth  Volunteers,  10; 
Fourteenth  Volunteers,  9  ;  Fifteenth  Volunteers,  3  ;  Sixteenth  Volunteers,  44  ; 
Twentieth  Volunteers,  8 ;  Twenty-First  Volunteers,  1  ;  Twenty-second  Volun- 
teers, 7  ;  Twenty-fifth  Volunteers,  4  ;  Twenty-ninth  Volunteers,  7  ;  Third  Bri- 
gade Band,  2 ;  First  United  States  Artillery,  1  ;  Wisconsin  Volunteers,  1  ; 
United  States  Navy,  3, — total,  251.  John  L.  Otis,  Second  Lieutenant  Com- 
pany B,  Tenth  Connecticut  Volunteers,  was  promoted  to  the  colonelcy  of  his  regi- 
ment, and  at  the  close  of  the  war  was  made  brigadier-general  by  brevet  "  for 
gallantry  at  the  crossing  of  James  River,  Va.,  June  20,  1864,  and  at  the  battle 
of  Flusser's  Mills  and  Deep  River,  Va.  ;  to  date  from  March  13,  1865."  The 
first  five  volunteers  from  Manchester  enlisted  April  20,  1861,  in  Captain  Com- 
stock's  Company  (A,  First  Regiment  Connecticut  Volunteers,  three  months'). 
Their  names  were  Philip  W.  Hudson  (afterward  captain  Company  B,  Tenth 
Connecticut  Volunteers),  George  C.  Chad  wick,  John  B.  Warburton,  William 
Annis,  and  Charles  Avery.  Manchester  has  a  tasteful  soldiers'  monument,  cost- 
ing with  its  surroundings  $3,029.03,  of  which  the  town  paid  $2,636.34,  and 
Drake  Post  No.  4,  G.  A.  R.,  $392.69.  This  was  selected  and  purchased  by 
Robert  H.  Kellogg,  Frank  W.  Cheney,  and  Horace  White  (a  committee  appointed 
by  the  town),  and  dedicated  Sept.  17,  1877.  Manchester  has  a  flourishing  Post 
of  the  G.  A.  R.  (Drake  No.  4),  named  after  Colonel  Albert  W.  Drake,  of  the 
Tenth  Connecticut  Volunteers,  and  organized  July  9,  1875. 

Rocky  Hill.  —  Seventy-three  men  were  credited  to  this  town,  receiving 
from  $100  to  $300  bounty  each,  the  total  town  bounty  amounting  to  $12,000. 
In  addition  to  this  amount,  volunteers  under  the  first  and  second  calls  received 
from  General  James  T.  Pratt,  then  a  resident  of  the  town,  the  sum  of  $10  each. 
More  than  one  household  gave  all  its  young  men,  many  of  whom  never  returned. 
Representatives  of  Rocky  Hill  families  enlisted  in  other  States  to  a  considerable 
extent. 

Southington.  — Gave  311  men  to  the  army  and  1  man  to  the  navy.  Of 
this  number  50  died  in  service.  $35,695  was  expended  by  the  town  for  boun- 
ties, the  support  of  soldiers'  families,  etc. ;  and  it  is  estimated  that  in  addition  to 
this  amount  the  sum  of  $12,250  was  paid  by  individuals  in  aid  to  volunteers 
and  for  substitutes. 

Wethersfield.  —  On  July  21,  1862,  the  town  voted  $50  bounty  to  every 
resident  enlisting  under  the  call  for  300,000  men.  The  amount  was  increased, 
August  18,  to  $125,  with  an  additional  $25  if  the  town's  quota  should  be  raised 
without  a  draft.  On  July  20,  1863,  the  sum  of  $300  was  voted  to  each  drafted 
man,  thus  paying  them  double  what  the  volunteers  received.  On  Aug.  22,  1863, 
the  treasurer  was  authorized  to  borrow  $14,400  to  meet  the  expense.  The  quota 
under  this  draft  was  48.  In  December,  1863,  the  town  was  called  on  for  33 
more  men,  and  $4,200  more  was  appropriated.     On  July  28,  1864,  $6,000  was 

1  The  deserters  were  largely  from  the  "  bounty -jumping "  class,  eighteen  out  of  the 
twenty-seven  substitutes  being  recorded  as  such. 


104  MEMORIAL   HISTORY  OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

appropriated  to  meet  the  demands  under  the  call  for  500,000  men.  On  Nov.  28, 
1864,  the  selectmen  reported  that  they  had  procured  46  volunteers  and  substi- 
tutes at  an  expense  of  $9,681.66,  and  the  town  voted  $10,000  to  defray  the  cost. 
The  town  has  no  soldiers'  monument. 

Windsor.  —  The  town  furnished  2  three  months'  men,  71  nine  months'  men, 
and  184  three  years'  men,  or  the  equivalent  of  202  three  years'  men.  Of  this 
number  5  were  killed  or  died  of  wounds  received  in  action,  1  was  missing  in 
action,  7  were  wounded,  10  died  in  service,  8  were  discharged  for  disability, 
4  were  promoted  to  commissions,  4  deserted  after  muster  and  13  as  recruits  be- 
fore muster,  the  latter  belonging  to  the  infamous  army  of  bounty-jumpers.  There 
are  35  soldiers'  graves  in  the  town.  E.  !N.  Phelps,  of  Windsor,  was  lieutenant- 
colonel  of  the  Twenty-second  Regiment.  Windsor  at  the  beginning  of  the  war 
had  a  large  anti-war  party,  but  the  Union  sentiment  prevailed.  To  the  Women's 
Soldiers'  Aid  Society  great  credit  was  due  for  stimulating  patriotism  at  home  and 
sending  supplies  into  the  field.  Among  the  prominent  Union  men  of  the  town 
was  the  late  Brevet  Brigadier-General  William  S.  Pierson. 


^&t^_, 


CHAPTER  VI. 


THE  BENCH  AND   THE  BAR. 

BY    SHERMAN    W.    ADAMS. 
General  View. — The  Courts.  —  Judges  and  Lawyers. 

FOR  the  trial  of  causes,  civil  and  criminal,  courts  are  almost  as  old 
as  governments.  And  the  Bench,  a  term  which  is  significant  of 
the  magistrate  or  judicial  officer  who  occupies  it,  must,  of  course, 
be  as  ancient  as  the  court.  This  is  not  so,  however,  with  the  Bar.  For 
there  have  been  periods  when  there  were  suitors  at  law  without  attor- 
neys, and  culprits  without  counsel ;  in  other  words,  when  there  was  no 
Bar,  in  the  figurative  sense  of  the  word  as  here  used.  But  neither 
those  who  sat  upon  the  Bench  nor  those  who  practised  at  its  Bar  have 
always  been  trained  to  the  legal  profession.  Hence,  we  must  notice 
persons  who  were  not  lawyers,  nor  bred  to  the  law,  but  who  fall  within 
the  class  indicated  by  the  title  which  heads  this  article. 

The  members  of  the  first  court  which  existed  in  this  colony,  estab- 
lished in  March,  1635-1636,  were  eight  in  number  ;  namely,  Roger 
Ludlow,  William  Pynchon,  John  Steele,  William  Swayne,  Henry  Smith, 
William  Phelps,  William  Westwood,  and  Andrew  Ward.  Of  these, 
only  five  participated  in  the  first  recorded  session  of  the  court,  that 
of  April  26,  1636,  at  Hartford.  These  gentlemen  had  been  com- 
missioned by  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  "  to  govern  the 
people  at  Connecticut  for  the  space  of  a  year  next  coming."  They 
were  in  effect  invested  with  exclusive  legislative,  judicial,  and  executive 
power ;  including  "  military  discipline,  defensive  war,"  and  "  to  make 
and  decree  such  orders,  for  the  present,  that  may  be  for  the  peaceable 
and  quiet  ordering  the  affairs  of  the  said  plantation,"  etc.  They  ruled 
the  plantations  during  their  term  of  office ;  and  when,  in  the  following- 
year,  the  plantations  became  townships,  the  latter  chose  the  "  commit- 
tees" which  represented  the  towns  in  the  General  Court,  and  formed 
the  lower  section  of  that  body.     The  court  was  aided  by  a  jury. 

Prior  to  January,  1639,  when  the  fundamental  articles  of  govern- 
ment of  the  colony  were  formed,  Thomas  Welles,  John  Haynes,  John 
Plumb,  Matthew  Mitchell,  and  Samuel  Smith  had  been  added  to  the 
list  of  members  of  the  upper  section,  called  magistrates,  which  had 
powers  over  life,  liberty,  and  property,  such  as  no  body  of  officers  since 
their  day  has  been  intrusted  with.  And  of  all  these  men  who  exercised 
the  double  function  of  makers  and  expounders  of  the  law,  it  is  not  cer- 
tain that  one  had  been  trained  to  the  legal  profession,  though  probably 
Ludlow  had  been.     He  it  was,  who,  in  1646-1650,  prepared  that  body 


106  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

of  laws  known  as  the  Code  of  1650,  which  was  distributed  in  manu- 
script to  the  several  towns,  and  remained,  until  1673,  the  only  book  of 
laws  of  the  colon}'. 

In  1638  an  inferior  court,  without  legislative  power,  was  consti- 
tuted, the  members  whereof  consisted  of  a  majority  of  the  magistrates 
of  the  General  Court.  It  was  known  as  the  Particular  Court.  From 
1639  until  the  union  of  Hartford  and  New  Haven  colonies,  under  the 
Charter,  in  1665,  the  General  Court  consisted  of  two  branches.  They 
occupied  the  same  chamber,  and  were  presided  over  by  the  governor  or 
the  deputy-governor.  The  upper  branch  was  composed  of  magistrates 
elected  by  the  "freemen"  at  large,  and  the  lower  branch  consisted  of 
deputies  sent  by  the  several  towns.  The  General  Court  exercised  gen- 
eral legislative  and  judicial  powers.  In  the  Particular  Court  the  juris- 
diction was  over  misdemeanors,  small  civil  onuses,  and  the  probate  of 
wills. 

It  cannot  be  said  that  at  this  time  there  were  any  members  of  the 
Bar,  as  we  now  understand  the  term.  The  occupants  of  the  Bench 
were  not  learned  in  the  law,  and  justice  was  administered  in  a 
crude,  though  effectual  way,  often  adopting  the  principles  of  the  Mosaic 
code.  Many  were  convicted  and  punished  under  evidence  which  would 
not  now  be  admitted  in  any  court ;  and  it  is  probable  that  in  the  name 
of  justice  much  injustice  was  done.  The  meagre  abstracts  of  trials  of 
criminal  causes  in  those  days  are  curious  and  interesting. 

In  May,  1671,  Governor  Winthrop  and  Deputy-Governor  Leete,  with 
the  Assistants,  were  directed  to  procure  a  revision  of  the  laws.  This, 
the  first  printed  edition  of  our  statutes,  was  completed  in  1672,  and 
published  at  Cambridge  in  1673. 

During  the  Andros  usurpation,  1687-1689,  the  great  legal  question  of 
the  right  of  Great  Britain  to  take  away  our  charter  was  uppermost  in 
importance  and  attention.  It  was  freely  and  hotly  discussed,  and  by  none 
more  so  than  by  the  Rev.  Gershom  Bulkeley,  of  Wethersfield.  This  gen- 
tleman had  exchanged  the  pulpit  for  the  forum,  where  he  became  one  of 
the  leading  advocates  of  his  day.  He  espoused  the  Tory  side  of  the  main 
question,  and  was  probably  the  most  ardent  supporter  of  Andros  in  the 
colony.  Bulkeley  had  lost  his  voice  before  he  left  the  pulpit ;  but  he 
was  a  skilful  legal  draughtsman  and  special  pleader.  He  was  not, 
however,  engaged  exclusively  in  the  practice  of  the  law,  for  he  had,  at 
the  same  time,  a  large  medical  practice. 

In  January,  1698,  the  office  of  justice  of  the  peace  was  provided  for 
by  law.  In  1699  the  General  Assembly  became,  for  the  first  time, 
divided  into  an  upper  and  a  lower  house,  each  having  its  own  presiding 
officer.  Thereafter  legislation  became  more  methodical,  and  the  legis- 
lature more  strictly  a  law-making  body. 

In  1696  Secretary  Eleazer  Kimberly,  of  Glastonbury,  and  Colonel 
John  Allyn,  of  Hartford,  and  Major  James  Fitch,  of  Plainfield  (then  in 
Hartford  County),  Assistants,  were  appointed  a  committee  to  revise  the 
laws  of  the  colony.  They  completed  their  work  in  1700,  and  printed  it 
in  Boston  in  1702. 

At  this  time  the  field  of  legislation  was  broadening.  It  included 
the  laying  out  of  plantations,  townships,  parishes,  military  and  school 
"  precincts,"  highways  and  admiralty  matters,  the  inspection  of  provi- 
sions and  manufactured  goods,  educational  and  ecclesiastical  matters, 


THE   BENCH   AND   THE   BAR.  107 

and  sumptuary  laws.  Military  affairs  and  special  matters,  as  divorces, 
engaged  much  of  the  attention  of  the  General  Assembly. 

In  1709  the  practice  of  printing  the  session-laws  annually  was  be- 
gun. The  edition  of  1715,  including  session-laws  to  that  date,  was 
prepared  by  William  Pitkin,  Joseph  Talcott,  and  Roger  Wolcott,  Sr. 

The  law  empowering  the  parishes  (or  societies)  to  regulate  the 
ministry  and  "  the  school,"  within  their  respective  limits,  was  enacted 
in  1717.  In  1726  grand-jurors  were  recognized  as  informing  officers, 
even  when  acting  singly.  In  1750  a  revision  of  the  Statutes  of  Con- 
necticut was  published ;  it  had  been  begun  in  1742.  An  "  Act  for 
securing  the  general  Privileges  of  the  Inhabitants"  —  being  the  initial 
statute  in  the  edition  of  1715 — was  changed  in  its  title  by  substituting 
"  His  Majesty's  subjects  in  this  colony  "  in  place  of  "  the  inhabitants." 
The  statute  was  enlarged  in  its  scope,  and  it  reads  much  like  parts 
of  Magna  Charta.  Much  of  the  legislation  included  in  the  edition  of 
1750  relates  to  matters  ecclesiastical.  "  The  people  called  Baptists," 
for  instance,  are  given  the  "same  privilege"  as  the  "  Sober  Dissenters 
commonly  called  Quakers."  Imposts,  marine  and  admiralty  matters, 
are  largely  the  subject  of  statutory  provisions.  But  there  is  nothing- 
indicating  the  right  of  any  private  corporation  to  exist  in  Connecticut ; 
and  indeed  the  General  Assembly  had  declared,  in  1733,  that  — 

"Inasmuch  as  all  companies  of  merchants  are  made  at  home,  by  letters- 
patent  from  the  King,  and  we  know  not  of  one  single  instance  of  any  govern- 
ment in  the  plantations  doing  such  a  thing,  it  is,  at  least,  very  doubtful  whether 
we  have  authority  to  make  such  a  society ;  and  hazardous,  therefore,  for  this 
government  to  presume  upon  it." 

A  sixth  county,  Litchfield,  was  formed  in  1751,  by  subdivision  of 
Hartford  County.  Windham  County  had  been  formed  in  the  same  way 
in  1726.  Important  legislation  was  that  of  1766,  which  authorized  the 
formation  of  school-districts  within  towmships  and  parishes  (societies) ; 
whereas  theretofore  the  care  and  control  of  schools  had  been  vested  in 
the  towns,  and,  in  special  cases,  in  the  parishes. 

In  June,  1776,  the  statutes  purported  to  be  passed  by  the  "  General 
Court  or  Assembly  of  the  English  Colony  of  Connecticut  in  New  Eng- 
land." In  October  of  the  same  year  they  were  said  to  be  by  the  "  State 
of  Connecticut,  in  New  England."  But  the  charter  of  Charles  II. 
was  declared  to  remain  in  full  force  so  far  as  the  same  was  consistent 
with  the  absolute  independence  of  this  State,  etc. 

The  subjects  of  first  importance  in  the  General  Assembly  during 
the  Revolutionary  period  were,  naturally,  embargoes,  the  militia,  bills 
of  credit,  imposts,  etc.  But  as  early  as  1739  the  colony  had,  for  the 
first  time,  authorized  the  formation  of  regimental  organizations,  and 
had  constituted  thirteen  regiments  of  militia. 

A  new  revision  of  the  statutes  appeared  in  1784.  They  began  with 
an  ample  Bill  of  Rights  of  the  people,  quite  in  accordance  with  the 
Declaration  of  Independence.  The  status  of  courts  and  attorneys  will 
appear  in  other  parts  of  this  article.  Societies  were  still  quasi  municipal 
corporations,  having  distinctly  defined  territorial  limits. 

A  revision  of  the  laws  appeared  in  1795.  It  contains  a  declaration 
by  Matthew  Griswold,  president,  that  the  National  Constitution  had 
been  ratified  by  the  Connecticut  Convention,  Jan.  9, 1788,  by  the  affirm- 


108  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

ative  votes  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  delegates,  against  forty 
negative  votes. 

Another  edition  of  the  statutes  was  prepared  in  1808,  the  most 
complete  we  have  ever  had,  —  thanks  to  the  labors  of  Mr.  Day,  the 
most  competent  man  in  the  State  for  such  work.  Many  acts  of  a  pri- 
vate nature  were  contained  in  this  edition,  for  in  those  days  there  was 
no  separate  publication  of  special  enactments.  But,  excepting  seven 
banks,  five  insurance  companies,  five  aqueduct  companies,  two  fishing 
companies,  two  literary  societies,  and  a  few  turnpike  companies,  there 
were  no  private  corporations,  nor  any  general  laws  authorizing  the  for- 
mation of  such.  And  under  the  National  Constitution  tbe  State  had 
parted  with  its  right  to  legislate  on  the  subjects  of  coinage  and  cur- 
rency, foreign  duties,  imposts,  naval  and  marine  matters  on  public 
waters,  and  post-offices ;  so  that  the  body  of  laws  was  quite  different 
in  many  departments  from  that  of  earlier  editions. 

In  1789  was  published  the  first  printed  collection  of  reports  of 
cases  adjudicated  in  our  courts  of  last  resort,  or,  indeed,  in  the 
United  States.  They  were  compiled  by  Ephraim  Kirby,  and  published 
at  Litchfield,  and  comprised  cases  decided  in  the  years  1785-1788. 
Judge  Jesse  Root  continued  the  series,  beginning  in  1789  and  ending 
in  1797.  He  included  some  cases  decided  much  earlier;  one  as  early 
as  1764.  The  publication  of  these  cases  was  not  resumed  until  1806, 
when  Thomas  Day  began  a  series  of  Reports,  running  back  to  1802 ; 
leaving  a  space  of  four  years,  for  which  the  decisions  were,  and  re- 
main, unreported.  Since  Mr.  Day  began,  the  Reports  have  been  con- 
tinued to  the  present  time. 

The  Constitution  of  1818  effected,  practically,  a  divorce  of  Church 
from  State  interests.  In  the  mean  time  slavery  was  becoming  extinct, 
through  the  operations  of  enactments  begun  in  1784.  A  revision  of  the 
laws,  made  necessary  by  the  adoption  of  this  Constitution,  appeared  in 
1821.  In  1828  an  amendment  of  the  Constitution  required  that  State 
senators  be  thereafter  elected  by  districts,  instead  of  at  large,  as  had 
been  the  mode  of  election.  In  1837  the  same  change  was  begun  as  to 
the  mode  of  election  of  representatives  to  Congress.  United  States 
senators,  of  course,  were  first  elected  in  1789. 

Revisions,  or  compilations  of  the  statutes,  have  followed,  in  the 
years  1824,  1835,  1838,  1849,  1854,  1866,  and  1875.  In  1837  appeared 
the  first  compilation  of  Private  Laws  of  the  State ;  but  it  included  no 
enactments  passed  prior  to  1789.  The  next  compilation  was  published 
in  1857,  since  which  time  several  others  have  been  made,  always  includ- 
ing those  acts  only,  passed  since  the  next  preceding  edition. 

In  the  same  year,  1837,  was  begun  the  practice  of  publishing  in  a 
separate  pamphlet,  annually,  the  private  acts  and  resolves  of  each  year 
or  session.  In  1837,  also,  was  begun  the  annual  publication  of  the 
Journal  of  the  House,  and  in  1840,  that  of  tlie  Senate. 

The  statute  authorizing  and  regulating  the  formation  of  joint-stock 
companies  was  passed  in  1837.  Since  that  date  private  corporations 
have  become  almost  innumerable,  and  they  have  been  one  of  the  chief 
sources  of  litigation  and  causes  of  legislation. 

The  publication  of  the  Records  of  Connecticut  Colony  was  begun  in 
1850  by  the  Hon.  J.  Hammond  Trumbull,  and  they  were  continued  by 
him  until  they  included  the  Records  down  to  1689.     From  that  date 


THE   BENCH   AND   THE   BAR.  109 

to  1772  they  have  been  published  in  volumes  prepared  by  Charles  J. 
Hoadly,  Esq. 

The  publication  of  the  various  legislative  documents  of  the  State  has 
been  continued  from  different  dates,  which  it  is  difficult  to  establish. 
The  number  of  these  documents,  of  which  no  catalogue  has  ever  been 
made,  is  increasing  annually,  owing  to  the  formation  of  new  depart- 
ments from  time  to  time. 

Courts.  —  The  Particular  Court,  the  highest  strictly  judicial  body  in 
the  colony,  existed  from  1638  until  1665, — twenty-six  years.  Excepting 
one  session  each  (?)  at  New  London  and  Wethersfield,  it  was  holden  at 
Hartford  only.  Of  the  thirty-five  men  who  at  one  period  or  another  oc- 
cupied its  bench,  twelve  were  from  Hartford,  seven  from  Windsor,  and 
three  from  Wethersfield.  It  was  presided  over  by  the  governor,  or  his 
deputy  for  the  time  being,  and  with  him  were  associated  two  or  three  of 
the  magistrates,  or  members  of  the  upper  section  of  the  General  Court. 
Thus  it  happened  that  six  governors  —  Haynes,  Webster,  Hopkins,  and 
Wyllys,  of  Hartford ;  Welles,  of  Wethersfield  ;  and  Winthrop,  of  New 
London  and  Hartford  —  were  its  presiding  officers.  Majors  William 
Whiting  and  John  Talcott,  Jr.,  of  Hartford,  and  John  Mason,  at  first  of 
Windsor,  occupied  its  bench  ;  as  did  Lieutenant-Colonel  John  Allyn, 
of  Hartford,  Roger  Ludlow,  Secretary  Daniel  Clarke,  and  Henry  Wol- 
cott,  all  of  Windsor.  William  Phelps,  of  Windsor,  sat  with  the  court 
much  of  the  time,  as  did  Secretary  John  Cullick  and  Samuel  Wyllys, 
of  Hartford. 

At  the  last  session  of  the  General  Court  prior  to  the  union,  the 
number  of  magistrates  present  (April  20,  1665)  was  six ;  the  number 
of  deputies  was  twenty-five.  Under  the  Charter  the  General  Court 
became  the  General  Assembly.  The  members  of  the  upper  branch, 
called  Assistants,  were  twelve  in  number,  and  elected  at  large.  The 
lower  branch  was  composed  of  deputies,  who  sat  with  the  assist- 
ants ;  the  whole  being  presided  over  by  the  governor  or  the  deputy- 
governor. 

In  1665  the  Court  of  Assistants  was  established  ;  the  members 
whereof  were  at  least  seven  in  number,  and  were  chosen  from  the 
Assistants  in  the  General  Court.  The  Court  of  Assistants  existed  until 
1711,  when  it  was  succeeded  by  the  Superior  Court  of  the  Colony.  Most 
of  its  sessions  were  holden  at  Hartford ;  a  few  at  New  Haven  and  New 
London.  Its  jurisdiction  extended  to  matters  of  a  higher  nature  than 
those  tried  in  the  Particular  Court,  to  which  it  was  the  successor.  Fifty 
persons,  usually  from  seven  to  ten  at  a  time,  became  acting  members 
of  this  court.  Of  these,  eleven  were  from  Hartford,  five  from  Windsor, 
four  each  from  Wethersfield  and  Farmington,  one  from  Middletown, 
and  the  rest  from  New  Haven,  New  London,  and  Fairfield  counties. 
Prominent  members  were :  Matthew  Allyn,  Colonel  John  Allyn,  Sam- 
uel Wyllys,  Major  John  Talcott,  Jr.,  James  Richards  (Commissioner 
of  the  United  Colonies  of  New  England),  Nathaniel  Stanley,  Sr.,  Cap- 
tain Caleb  Stanley,  Sr.,  Treasurer  WTilliam  Pitkin,  Sr.,  and  William 
Pitkin,  Jr.,  all  of  Hartford ;  Secretary  Daniel  Clarke  and  Henry  Wol- 
cott,  Jr.,  of  Windsor ;  Major  John  Chester,  Sr.,  and  Captain  Samuel 
Talcott,  of  Wethersfield  ;  John  Wadsworth,  of  Farmington  ;  John  Ham- 
lin, of  Middletown.     Others,  equally  prominent,  but  holding  shorter 


110  MEMORIAL   HISTORY    OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

terms,  were  Governor  Thomas  Welles  and  Richard  Treat,  Sr.,  of  Weth- 
ersfield  ;  Governor  Joseph  Talcott,  of  Hartford  ;  Major  Benjamin  New- 
berry, Sr.,  of  Windsor  ;  Governor  Robert  Treat,  of  Wethersfield  and 
Milford. 

In  1666,  counties,  for  the  first  time,  were  organized.  They  were 
Hartford,  New  Haven,  New  London,  and  Fairfield ;  Hartford  County 
at  this  time  including  about  one  half  of  the  area  of  the  colony.  Then, 
also,  the  several  County  Courts  were  established.  The  County  Courts, 
from  1666  to  1698,  consisted  of  one  assistant,  or,  as  we  would  now  say, 
senator,  and  three  or  four  commissioners ;  the  latter  corresponding  to 
the  justices  of  the  peace  of  to-day.  From  1698  to  1821  the  incum- 
bents were  one  judge,  and  from  two  to  five  "  Justices  of  the  Peace 
and  Quorum;"  all  specially  commissioned  by  the  General  Assembly. 
Ordinarily  the  Bench  consisted  of  five  members;  and  the  court,  which 
had  both  civil  and  criminal  jurisdiction,  was  as  important  as  is  the 
present  Superior  Court.  Nearly  all  those  whom  we  have  mentioned  as 
members  of  the  Court  of  Assistants  sat  in  the  County  Court.  The  num- 
ber of  judges  of  this  court,  for  Hartford  County,  including  assistants 
and  justices  of  the  quorum,  prior  to  1821,  was  eighty-six  ;  too  many  to 
be  named  here.  About  twenty-five  of  these  were  chief  judges.  The 
very  foremost  citizens,  lawyers  and  laymen,  occupied  this  Bench. 
Among  them,  not  heretofore  mentioned,  were :  Major  John  Chester, 
Jr.,  of  Wethersfield;  Colonel  Matthew  Allyn,  of  Windsor;  Henry 
Wolcott,  Jr.,  Governor  Roger  Wolcott,  and  Roger  Wolcott,  Jr.  ;  Gov- 
ernor William  Pitkin,  3d,  of  Hartford;  Colonels  David  Goodrich  and 
John  Chester,  3d,  of  Wethersfield ;  Colonel  Thomas  Welles,  of  Glas- 
tonbury ;  Colonel  Jabez  Hamlin,  of  Middletown  (forty  years  on  the 
bench)  ;  General  Erastus  Wolcott,  of  East  Windsor ;  Colonel  John 
Chester,  4th,  of  Wethersfield ;  General  Roger  Newberry,  of  Windsor ; 
Governor  John  Treadwell  and  Colonel  John  Mix,  of  Farmington ; 
Colonel  Thomas  Seymour,  -1th,  of  Hartford  ;  General  Dyer  Throop,  of 
East  Haddam  ;  Stephen  Mix  Mitchell,  United  States  Senator  and  Chief 
Justice  of  the  State,  Wethersfield ;  Jonathan  Brace,  of  Glastonbury 
and  Hartford.  Governor  Joseph  Talcott,  of  Hartford,  born  in  1669, 
was  so  much  of  the  time  chief  judge  of  the  County  Court  and  judge  of 
the  Probate  Court  for  Hartford  County,  that  his  name  should  be 
specially  mentioned.  Major  John  Chester,  of  Wethersfield,  who  in 
1711  took  Pitkin's  place  as  judge  of  the  County  and  Probate  Court, 
died  the  same  year,  and  so  the  Bench  was  early  deprived  of  one  of  its 
brightest  luminaries.  Most  of  the  judicial  officers,  from  this  time  down 
to  a  date  subsequent  to  the  Revolution,  were  military  officers  also ;  and 
the  clerks  of  courts  usually  prefixed  their  military  rather  than  their 
civil  titles  in  the  public  records. 

From  1821  to  1839,  the  County  Court  consisted  of  three  judges,  two 
forming  a  quorum.  Justices  of  the  Peace  and J^uorum  no  longer  existed 
after  1821.  From  1839  to  1856,  when  this  court  was  abolished,  the 
triers  were  one  judge  and  two  or  three  county  commissioners.  During 
this  last  period  of  about  seventeen  years  the  court  had  ceased  to  have 
anything  like  the  importance  which  it  formerly  possessed. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  office  of  judge,  eo  nomine,  was  unknown 
in  the  colony  prior  to  1698.  The  first  legally  to  hold  this  title  was 
Nathaniel  Stanley,  Sr.,  of  Hartford,  Judge  of  the  County  Court. 


THE   BENCH   AND   THE   BAR.  113 

In  1711  the  Court  of  Assistants  was  abolished,  and  in  its  place  was 
established  the  Superior  court  of  the  colony.  It  was  a  circuit  court, 
having  one  chief  judge  and  four  associate  judges  ;  its  sessions  being 
two  in  each  county  annually  ;  its  jurisdiction,  like  that  of  the  County 
Courts,  extending  to  both  civil  and  criminal  causes.  Governor  Gurdon 
Saltonstall  was  its  first  chief  judge:  his  bench-fellows  being  William 
Pitkin  (son  of  William,  hereinbefore  mentioned) ;  Richard  Christo- 
phers, of  New  London  ;  Peter  Burr,  of  Fairfield  ;  and  Samuel  Eells,  of 
Milford,  all  members  of  the  upper  branch  of  the  General  Assembly. 
Pitkin  became  chief  judge  in  1713.  His  son,  Governor  William,  be- 
came chief  judge  in  1754  ;  his  son,  General  William,  became  judge  in 
1789 ;  and  thus  four  successive  generations  of  William  Pitkins  filled 
most  important  judicial  positions  in  the  colony. 

A  "Superior"  Court  has  existed  from  1711  until  the  present  day. 
It  was  colonial  until  1776,  and  a  State  court  from  the  latter  date  to 
1798.  Since  then  it  has  been  a  county  court.  Chief  judges  were  pro- 
vided until  1855  ;  and  its  bench,  until  1819,  was  occupied  by  from  three 
to  five  judges  at  a  time ;  three  being  a  quorum.  Since  1819  one  judge 
only  has  regularly  occupied  it.  Before  1819  fifty-eight  judges  had  filled 
the  judicial  office.  Of  these,  nineteen  were  chief  judges  of  the  Superior 
Court  and  seventeen  were  ex-officio  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court ;  that 
is,  from  1807  to  1819.  Seventeen  judges  were  from  Hartford  County, 
of  whom  three  —  namely,  Stephen  Mix  Mitchell,  of  Wethersfield  ;  John 
Trumbull,  of  Hartford  ;  and  John  Thompson  Peters,  of  Hebron  and 
Hartford  —  were  Supreme  Court  judges  prior  to  1819.  Of  the  nine- 
teen chief  judges  of  the  Superior  Court,  four  — namely,  Judge  Mitchell, 
William  Pitkin,  Jr.,  of  Hartford  ;  Governor  Roger  Wolcott,  Sr.,  of 
Windsor  ;  and  Governor  William  Pitkin,  3d,  of  Hartford  — ■  were  from 
Hartford  County. 

Since  it  became  a  single-judge  court  (June,  1819)  thirty-eight  per- 
sons have  been  judges  of  the  Superior  Court.  From  1807  its  judges 
were,  when  sitting  in  banc,  the  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court.  Since 
1855  the  two  classes  of  judges  have  been  entirely  distinct.  Five  of  the 
thirty-eight  judges  since  1819  came  from  Hartford  County  ;  namely  : 
John  Thompson  Peters,  mentioned  above  ;  Thomas  Scott  Williams,  of 
Wethersfield  and  Hartford ;  Governor  William  Wolcott  Ellsworth,  of 
Windsor  and  Hartford;  Thomas  Belden  Butler,  of  Wethersfield  and 
Norwalk ;  Dwight  W.  Pardee,  of  Bristol  and  Hartford.  All  these 
were  promoted  to  the  Bench  of  the  Supreme  Court.  So  also  was 
Elisha  Carpenter,  a  native  of  Ashford,  but  now  of  Hartford.  We 
may  also  include  Chief  Justice  William  Lucius  Storrs,  who,  coming 
from  Middletown  .about  1840,  resided  thereafter  in  Hartford. 

The  Supreme  Court  of  Errors  wTas  constituted  in  1784.  From  that 
date  to  1806  its  members  were  the  Governor,  Lieutenant-Governor  (after 
1793),  and  the  Assistants  of  the  General  Assembly,  then  twelve  in 
number.  Seven  (eight  after  1793)  formed  a  quorum.  The  court  took 
cognizance  of  such  cases  as  had  theretofore  gone  to  the  General  Assem- 
bly by  writ  of  error.  The  Governor  or  Lieutenant-Governor  presided, 
and  the  Secretary  of  State  was  the  clerk.  Two  sessions  were  held  an- 
nually, one  each  at  Hartford  and  New  Haven  respectively.  The  sessions 
were  holden  in  the  week  next  preceding  the  opening  of  the  General 
Assembly. 

VOL.   I.  —  8. 


114  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

There  were  thirty-nine  of  this  class  of  ex-officio  judges  in  this  period 
of  twenty-two  years.  Of  these,  eleven  were  from  Hartford  County. 
They  were  General  William  Pitkin,  4th,  East  Hartford  ;  Governor  Oliver 
Wolcott,  Sr.,  East  Windsor  and  Litchfield  ;  Governor  Oliver  Ellsworth, 
Sr.,  Windsor  ;  General  Erastus  Wolcott,  East  Windsor  ;  Governor  John 
Treadwell,  Farmington  ;  Colonel  John  Chester,  4th,  Wethersfield ; 
General  Roger  Newberry,  Windsor;  Colonel  Thomas  Seymour,  4th, 
Hartford ;  Colonel  Jeremiah  Wadsworth,  Hartford ;  Jonathan  Brace, 
Glastonbury  and  Hartford ;  Lieutenant-Governor  Chauncey  Goodrich, 
Durham  and  Hartford. 

Governor  Wolcott  was  chief  judge  during  the  years  1787-1796.  He 
was  the  son  of  Governor  Roger  Wolcott,  and  father  of  the  second  Gov- 
ernor Oliver  Wolcott.  He  was  not  a  member  of  the  Bar,  having  been 
first  a  soldier,  then  a  physician.  He  was  a  signer  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  and  member  of  the  Continental  Congress ;  and  his  son 
was  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  Ellsworth,  one  of  the  most  distin- 
guished men  of  his  time,  was  a  lawyer,  and,  by  common  consent,  the 
head  of  the  Bar  of  the  State.  He  sat  in  the  Continental  Congress  and 
assisted  in  framing  the  National  Constitution ;  then  he  became  a  mem- 
ber of  the  United  States  Senate,  Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States 
Supreme  Court,  and  Minister  to  France,  successively. 

Governor  Treadwell  was  a  noted  lawyer,  and  the  most  useful  mem- 
ber of  the  committee  for  revising  the  Statutes  of  1795.  Chauncey 
Goodrich  was  one  of  the  most  distinguished  members  of  a  family  re- 
markable for  civil  and  military  honors  and  literary  attainments.  He 
ranked  with  the  highest  in  his  chosen  profession,  the  law.  Both  he  and 
Treadwell  were  members  of  the  famous  Hartford  Convention.  He  was 
a  leader  in  the  United  States  Senate,  and  a  speech  of  his,  in  that  body, 
is  said  to  have  been  the  occasion  of  De  Tocqueville's  memorable  remark 
about  the  important  position  occupied  by  the  State  represented  by  "  that 
little  yellow  spot  on  the  map." 

General  Erastus  Wolcott  was  a  brother  of  Chief  Judge  Oliver  WTol- 
cott,  and  had  been  a  brigadier-general  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution. 
He  aided  in  the  formation  of  the  National  Constitution.  Chester, 
Newberry,  Pitkin,  and  Wadsworth  had  been  officers  in  the  same  war. 
Nearly  all  in  the  foregoing  list  of  Hartford  County  members  were 
lawyers. 

Another  class  of  ex-officio  members  of  the  Supreme  Court  were  those 
who  held  the  office  of  Superior  Court  Judge  between  the  years  1807  and 
1855,  wdien  sitting  in  banc.  Of  these  there  were  twenty-four.  Four 
only  were  from  Hartford  County ;  namely :  Stephen  Mix  Mitchell,  Weth- 
ersfield ;  John  Trumbull,  Jr.,  Watertown  and  Hartford ;  John  Thompson 
Peters,  Hebron  and  Hartford ;  and  Thomas  Scott  Williams,  Wethers- 
field and  Hartford.  Mitchell  and  Williams  became  chief  judges.  All 
were  noted  lawyers  and  jurists,  and  Mitchell  arid  Williams  were  states- 
men. The  former  was  a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress  and  of 
the  United  States  Senate ;  the  latter  served  in  the  lower  house  of  Con- 
gress. Some  of  the  most  valuable  opinions  of  our  Supreme  Court  were 
written  by  Williams,  who  was  one  of  the  most  distinguished  members 
of  the  celebrated  family  of  that  name. 

Since  1855  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  have  been  elected  and 
commissioned  as  such.    Of  these  there  have  been  fifteen,  of  whom  three 


9%  #&>&&:. 


THE   BENCH   AND   THE  BAR.  115 

were  contributed  by  Hartford  County.  These  were  :  Governor  William 
Wolcott  Ellsworth,  of  Windsor  and  Hartford  ;  Thomas  Belden  Butler, 
Wethersfield  and  Norwalk  ;  and  D  wight  Whitefield  Pardee,  Bristol  and 
Hartford.  Butler  was  chief  judge.  He  was  bred  first  to  the  medical, 
then  to  the  legal  profession.  He  wrote  many  valuable  opinions  and 
acquired  some  fame  as  an  author.  He  was  particularly  interested  in 
meteorology,  and  wrote  an  ingenious  volume  upon  the  subject.  Ells- 
worth, while  much  less  distinguished  than  his  father,  achieved  an 
honorable  record  on  the  Bench  and  in  the  lower  house  of  Congress. 
Pardee  is  still  upon  the  Bench.  Ellsworth  was  a  brother-in-law  of 
Chief  Judge  Williams,  and  a  son-in-law  of  Noah  Webster.  It  will 
be  seen  that  there  have  been,  from  the  beginning,  seventy-nine  judges 
of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  that  nineteen  of  these  were  from  Hartford 
County.  There  have  been  seventeen  chief  judges,  of  whom  seven  were 
from  this  county. 

Until  1719  the  courts  were  held  in  the  "  Court  Chambers,"  on  the 
second  floor  of  the  "  Meeting-house."  Afterward,  until  the  completion 
of  the  County  building  (1885),  they  were  held  in  the  Capitol. 

Since  the  establishment  of  the  United  States  Court  for  the  District 
of  Connecticut,  in  1789,  the  Bench  of  that  court  has  been  occupied  by 
seven  judges  in  turn.  None  of  these  was  a  native  of  Hartford  County, 
and  but  two,  namely,  William  D.  Shipman  and  Nathaniel  Shipman  (the 
latter  the  present  incumbent),  were  ever  residents  of  Hartford  County. 

Prosecuting  Officers.  —  United  States  Attorneys  for  the  District 
of  Connecticut  have  been  thirteen  in  number  since  1789.  Of  these,  if 
we  exclude  those  born  in  other  counties,  but  three  were  contributed  by 
Hartford  County.  These  were :  Hezekiah  Huntington,  of  Suffield  and 
Hartford,  1807-1829  ;  Asa  Child,  of  Hartford,  1830-1835  ;  and  Thomas 
Clapp  Perkins,  of  Hartford,  1850-1853  (see  p.  143).  Huntington  was 
born  in  Tolland  when  it  was  in  Hartford  County.  He  was  a  student  of 
Gideon  Granger,  of  Suffield,  and  of  Judge  John  Trumbull,  of  Hartford. 

Three  others  resided  in  Hartford.  They  were:  Charles  Chapman, 
a  native  of  Newtown  ;  William  D.  Shipman,  born  in  Chester  ;  and  Lewis 
Elliott  Stanton  (the  present  incumbent),  a  native  of  Clinton.  Mr. 
Chapman,  son  of  Judge  Asa  Chapman,  was  a  representative  to  Con- 
gress, 1852-1853.  He  was  a  natural  orator,  and  his  skill  in  cross- 
examining  witnesses  was  almost  matchless. 

In  October,  1662,  the  first  step  was  taken  toward  establishing  the 
office  of  King's  Attorney  ;  or,  as  we  would  now  say,  State's  Attorney. 
William  Pitkin,  1st,  of  Hartford,  a  gentleman  who  proved  to  be  well 
qualified  for  the  place,  was  "  desired  and  appointed  "  by  the  General 
court  to  prosecute  certain  delinquents,  from  Wethersfield,  in  the  Par- 
ticular Court.  Pitkin  is  said  to  have  come  from  Norwich,  England,  and 
to  have  been  bred  a  lawyer.  But  his  first  occupation  here  was  that  of 
a  schoolmaster.  In  May,  1664,  the  General  Court  appointed  him  their 
Attorney,  "  to  implead  any  delinquents  in  the  Colony."  In  the  same 
year  he  was  granted  "  twenty  nobles,  for  his  pains  in  prosecuting  "  Cap- 
tain John  Scott,  who  was  charged  with  seditious  practices.  Mr.  Pitkin 
died  in  1694,  aged  fifty-nine  years.1 

1  For  a  notice  of  his  eminence  in  his  profession,  see  J.  Hammond  Trumbull's  note  to 
p.  165,  vol.  iii.,  Colonial  Records  of  Connecticut. 


116  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

A  long-continued  and  earnest  effort,  on  the  part  of  the  writer,  to 
prepare  a  complete  list  of  the  prosecuting  officers  of  the  colony  and 
State  has  been  unavailing.  The  public  records  do  not,  in  some  cases, 
afford  the  means  of  ascertaining  their  names  or  dates  of  appointment. 
Richard  Edwards,  of  Hartford,  mentioned  elsewhere,  was  probably  the 
first  Queen's  Attorney,  for  he  was  appointed  in  April,  1705.  The  office 
had  been  first  created  in  May,  1704.  The  act  provided  that  there 
should  be  "  in  every  countie,  a  sober,  discreet,  and  religious  person, 
appointed  by  the  County  Courts,  to  be  Atturney  for  the  Queen ;  to 
prosecute  and  implead  in  the  lawe  all  criminall  offenders,  and  to  doe 
all  other  things  necessary  or  convenient,  as  an  Atturney,  to  suppress 
vice  and  immorallitie." 

Edwards  seems  to  have  held  the  office  until  1712  or  1713,  perhaps 
until  1717.  At  about  the  latter  date,  perhaps  as  early  as  1711,  John 
Read,  of  Stratford,  began  to  hold  the  office,  and  he  seems  to  have  acted 
officially  throughout  the  colony.1  Since  Read's  term  of  office  there 
have  been  twenty-two,  at  least,  who  succeeded  him.  Peter  Pratt,  of 
Hartford,  but  earlier  of  Lyme,  became  King's  Attorney  in  1719.  He 
was  a  noted  and  successful  lawyer,  and  remarkable  for  his  forensic 
eloquence.2  John  Bissell,  of  Windsor,  succeeded  him  in  1727,  and 
Pelatiah  Mills,  of  the  same  place,  followed  in  1728.  He  was  succeeded 
by  Joseph  Gilbert,  of  Hartford,  in  1730  (?).  Roger  Wolcott,  Jr.,  of 
Windsor,  held  the  office  from  1731  to  1753.  Mention  has  been  made 
of  these  last  five  names,  and  of  Edwards,  elsewhere.  Daniel  Edwards, 
of  Hartford,  son  of  Richard,  above  mentioned,  held  the  office  in  1753. 
Thomas  Seymour,  3d,  of  Hartford,  appears  to  have  held  the  same  office 
in  1756.  Colonel  Thomas  Seymour,  4th,  of  Hartford,  afterward  an 
officer  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  was  the  incumbent  from  1767  to 
1776.  He  was  the  last  of  the  King's  Attorneys.  He  was  succeeded  by 
Oliver  Ellsworth,  State's  Attorney,  of  Windsor,  of  whom  some  account 
is  given  under  the  head  of  "  Judges." 

Colonel  Jesse  Root,  of  Coventry  and  Hartford,  having  honorably 
served  in  the  Revolutionary  War,  became  the  prosecuting  officer  for 
this  county  in  1785,  holding  the  place  until  1789.  He  became  Chief 
Judge  of  the  Superior  Court  in  1798,  and  there  remained  until  that 
court  was  constituted  the  Supreme  Court.  To  him  we  are  indebted  for 
the  two  very  early  volumes  of  Reports  of  cases  adjudicated  in  our  Su- 
preme Court,  bearing  his  name.  He  was  born  in  Northampton,  Mass., 
and  had  preached  some  three  years  before  his  admission  to  the  Bar. 

John  Trumbull,  Jr.,  a  native  of  Watertown,  and  a  cousin  of  Gov- 
ernor Jonathan  Trumbull,  Sr.,  was  State's  Attorney  for  this  county 

1  From  memoranda  furnished  to  me  by  the  Hon.  .T.  Hammond  Trumbull,  and  from  Todd's 
"  History  of  Redding,"  the  writer  is  able  to  give  the  following  facts  concerning  this  remarkable 
man.  He  was  born  in  Connecticut  in  1680 ;  was  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1697  ;  ad- 
mitted an  attorney  in  New  Haven  in  1708  ;  appointed  Queen's  Attorney  in  1711 ;  went  to  New 
London  the  same  year  to  prosecute  John  Rogers,  the  leader  of  the  sect  of  "Rogerenes;"  left 
"Lonetown  Manor"  (Stratford)  in  1722,  removing  to  Boston;  became  Attorney-General  of 
Massachusetts,  and  the  most  eminent  lawyer  in  New  England ;  was  the  author  of  a  Latin 
Grammar,  published  in  Boston  in  1736  ;  died  in  February,  1749,  leaving  a  large  estate.  His 
wife  was  Ruth,  daughter  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  John  Talcott,  of  Hartford,  where  Mr.  Read 
lived  for  some  years,  and  where  one  or  two  of  his  first  children  were  born. 

2  His  mother  was  the  divorced  wife  of  the  John  Rogers  mentioned  in  note  1.  She  was  a 
daughter  of  Matthew  Griswold,  Sr.  Pratt  became  a  Rogerene  ;  but,  having  been  imprisoned 
for  this  offence,  he  published  a  recantation  of  the  heresy. 


(^{i  a^  LsU  aJ^^o^ 


THE  BENCH  AND  THE  BAR  117 

from  1789  to  1795.  He  had  been  graduated  at  Yale  College,  and 
admitted  an  attorney  at  New  Haven,  before  his  arrival  in  Hartford, 
which  was  in  1781.  A  part  of  his  legal  training  was  received  in 
the  law-office  of  President  John  Adams.  He  is  well  'known  as  a 
judge  of  the  Supreme  Court,  but  most  widely  known  as  the  author  of 
"  McFingal,"  which  was  completed  in  Hartford.  He  died  in  Detroit, 
Michigan,  in  1831. 

Thomas  Young  Seymour,  of  Hartford,  succeeded  Trumbull,  being 
in  office  from  1796  to  1807.  To  him  Jonathan  Brace,  of  Hartford,  suc- 
ceeded, 1807-1809.  He  was  a  native  of  Harwinton,  and  a  law-student 
of  Oliver  Ellsworth ;  he  settled  in  Vermont,  where  he  was  a  State's 
Attorney.  He  resided  in  Glastonbury  from  1786  to  1794,  when  he 
removed  to  Hartford.  He  was  Judge  of  the  County  Court,  and  a  rep- 
resentative to  Congress.  Chauncey  Goodrich  succeeded,  until  1811. 
Enoch  Perkins,  of  Hartford,  followed,  from  1812  to  1818.  Hezekiah 
Huntington,  of  Suffield  and  Hartford,  filled  the  term  from  1819  to  1822. 

Isaac  Toucey,  a  native  of  Newtown,  was  State's  Attorney  from  1823 
to  1835,  and  again  in  1843-1844.  Making  Hartford  his  residence,  he 
became  one  of  Connecticut's  distinguished  lawyers  and  statesmen. 
He  served  with  credit  during  two  terms  in  the  Lower  House  of  Con- 
gress. He  was  Attorney-General  during  part  of  the  administration  of 
President  Polk ;  United  States  Senator,  1851—1857 ;  and  Secretary  of  the 
Navy  in  Buchanan's  Cabinet.     He  was  Governor  of  the  State  in  1846. 

Henry  A.  Mitchell,  of  Bristol  and  Hartford,  served  two  years,  1836- 
1838.  He  was  something  of  a  politician,  and  for  a  time  edited  the 
"Hartford  Times."  He  is  still  living.  Isaac  Perkins,  of  Hartford, 
served  from  1839  to  1840. 

Thomas  Clapp  Perkins,  of  Hartford,  was  State's  Attorney  in  1841- 
1842,  and  again  in  1845-1846.  He  was  a  son  of  Enoch  Perkins,  and 
his  mother  was  a  member  of  the  famous  Pitkin  family.  He  had  little 
taste  for  politics  or  for  political  offices.  He  was  United  States 
Attorney  for  the  District  of  Connecticut,  and  might  have  been  Chief 
Judge  Storrs's  successor  on  the  Supreme  Court  Bench,  having  been 
elected  to  that  office  in  1861.  He  was  at  the  time  of  his  decease  the 
recognized  head  of  the  Bar  of  the  county,  if  not  of  the  State. 

Governor  Richard  Dudley  Hubbard,  a  distinguished  son  of  Connecti- 
cut, was  State's  Attorney  during  the  terms  1847-1854  and  1857-1869. 
Of  humble  origin,  he  was  born  in  Berlin,  but  passed  his  boyhood  in 
East  Hartford.  He  was  less  noted  for  scholarship  in  his  class  at  Yale 
College  than  he  af- 

terward   became    in        y^^        G~L—^?s  S    * 

the  legal  profession  ;  ^£^  .  ^  /0^^^^-^^^^^> 
but,   as   he    himself 

has  said,  he  paid  particular  attention  to  belles-lettres  and  oratory. 
He  was  brilliant  and  eloquent  as  an  advocate,  keen  as  a  public 
prosecutor,  learned  as  a  lawyer,  honorable  and  high-minded  in  all  his 
official  duties.  A  democrat  in  politics,  he  was  not  a  partisan ;  and  his 
patriotism  was  conspicuous  in  the  late  Civil  War.  He  occupied  a  seat 
in  the  Lower  House  of  Congress,  and  was  Governor  of  the  State.  In 
the  last  years  of  his  life  he  was  at  the  head  of  the  State  Bar. 

Mr.  Horace  Cornwall  succeeded  Governor  Hubbard  as  State's  At- 
torney- at  the  close  of  his  first  term  of  office,  for  two  years.     Mr.  William 


118 


MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY". 


THE    HON.    RICHARD    D.    HUBBARD. 


Hamersley,  who  took  the  office  upon  Governor  Hubbard's  resignation 
in  1869,  has  held  it  ever  since.  He,  Mr.  Mitchell,  and  Mr.  Cornwall 
arc  the  only  persons  now  living  who  have  held  the  office. 

Lawyers.  —  There  were  attorneys  in  fact,  as  contradistinguished 
from  attorneys  at  law,  quite  early  in  the  history  of  the  colony. 
Persons  —  usually  without  legal  training  —  armed  with  a  letter  of  at- 
torney from  a  suitor,  appeared  in  court,  and  were,  by  special  permission, 
allowed  to  act  in  behalf  of  their  constituents.  In  May,  1667,  Thomas 
Welles,  son  of  Governor  Thomas  Welles,  and  William  Pitkin,  Sr.,  were 
recognized  as  attorneys  for  certain  petitioners  who  were  proprietors  of 
lands  on  the  east  side  of  Connecticut  River;  but  Welles  was  not  a 
lawyer.1 

In  1667  the  General  Court  declared  that  a,  former  order  prohibiting 
"  all  persons  from  pleading  in  ye  behalfe  of  any  person  y*  is  charged  and 
prosecuted  for  delinquency,"  had  been  disregarded  ;  and  it  ordered  that 
"  what  person  or  persons  soever  shall  take  that  boldnes  to  himselfe  as 
to  plead  or  speake  in  the  behalfe  of  any  person  y*  is  upon  examination 
or  tryal,  for  delinquency  (except  he  speak  directly  to  matter  of  law, 

1  Such,  also,  was  Thomas  Burnhani,  of  Hartford,  who  was  allowed  to  act  as  attorney  in 
some  cases  ;  one,  in  the  Quarter  Court  (as  counsel  for  Jeremy  Adams),  as  early  as  1659. 


THE  BENCH   AND   THE  BAR.  119 

and  with  leave  from  ye  authority  present)  he  shall  pay  ten  shillings  to 
ye  Publick  Treasure,  as  a  line ;  or  sit  in  ye  stocks  one  hour,  for  every 
such  offence."  This  is  but  one  of  the  many  indications  of  the  hostility 
of  the  courts  to  those  few  who  assumed  to  act  as  lawyers. 

In  May,  1708,  the  office  of  attorney  at  law  seems  to  have  been  first 
authorized  by  law.1  But  the  act  probably  contemplated  only  the  right 
to  plead,  after  special  permission  from  the  Court,  in  each  particular 
case ;  although  the  official  oath  rendered  the  incumbent  competent  to 
"  use  yourself  in  the  office  of  atturney,  within  the  court "  wherein  the 
oath  was  administered.  In  other  words,  a  class  was  created,  out  of 
which  practitioners  were  to  be  selected  by  the  court,  in  causes,  as  they 
arose.  But  one  grade  of  attorney  was  known,  the  different  grades  or 
ranks  in  the  English  courts  having  never  existed  here. 

The  earliest  regularly  admitted  attorneys  of  Hartford  County,  and 
of  the  colony  (if  we  except  Clarke  and  Hosford,  admitted  by  Andros), 
were  those  of  1708.  Richard  Edwards,  of  Hartford,  was  admitted  by 
the  County  Court  in  September  of  that  year,  and  by  the  Court  of  As- 
sistants in  October.  He  was  about  sixty  years  of  age  at  the  time ;  his 
grandson,  the  elder  Jonathan  Edwards,  being  then  but  five  years  old.2 

When,  in  1691,  he  had  petitioned  for  a  divorce  from  his  wife,  he  had 
prayed  that  he  might  "  have  relief  therein,  if  the  law  of  God  or  man 
will  afford  it;"  and  for  "  a  committee  of  able  divines  upon  his  charge." 
Upon  a  report  submitted  by  certain  "  divines,"  the  General  Court 
granted  him  a  favorable  decree.  He  was  the  ancestor  of  the  two  Presi- 
dents Jonathan  Edwards,  Governor  Henry  W.  Edwards,  Judge  Ogden 
Edwards  of  New  York,  Judge  Pierpont  Edwards  of  Connecticut,  Aaron 
Burr,  and  others  distinguished  in  law  and  theology. 

Governor  Roger  Wolcott,  Sr.,  of  Windsor,  was  admitted  at  the  same 
time  with  Edwards.  He  was  about  twenty-eight  years  old.  He  is  so 
well  known  to  Connecticut  in  civil  and  military  relations,  that  we  need 
say  no  more  of  him  at  this  time.  His  poetical  effusions  did  not  do 
him  equal  credit  with  his  other  efforts.  Captain  John  Wadsworth,  of 
Farmington,  was  admitted  at  this  time.  Captain  Thomas  Welles,  of 
Wethersfield,  a  grandson  of  Governor  Thomas  Welles,  was  also  ad- 
mitted in  1708.  He  was  attorney  for  the  defendants  in  the  important 
suit  of  Nathaniel  Hooker  vs.  Wethersfield,  —  a  case  which  involved  the 
question  of  the  right  of  the  plaintiff  to  share  in  an  allotment  of  public 
lands  made  nearly  forty  years  before,  and  which  was  sought  to  be  car- 
ried to  the  Court  of  Queen's  Bench.  In  Welles's  brief  in  this  case  he 
quoted  largely  from  the  Sacred  Scriptures.  He  died  in  1711,  at  the  age 
of  forty-nine  years,  and  before  a  final  issue  of  the  suit. 

Edwards,  Wolcott,  Wadsworth,  and  Welles  were  the  first  regularly 
admitted  attorneys  within  their  respective  townships. 

In  the  following  year  Captain  Joseph  Wadsworth  (famous  for  hav- 
ing secreted  the  Charter),  Thomas  Olcott  (better  known  as  a  constable), 
and  Captain  Aaron  Cook,  Sr.,  all  of  Hartford,  were  admitted  to  the 
legal  fraternity.      So  were  Samuel  Moore,  of  Windsor,  and  Joseph 

1  Captain  Daniel  Clarke,  of  Windsor,  who  had  been  Secretary  of  the  Colony,  was  allowed 
to  take  the  attorney's  oath,  in  the  Andros  Court  of  Sessions,  at  Hartford,  in  March,  1687-8. 
But  no  law  of  this  Colony  authorized  the  act,  William  Hosford,  of  the  same  town,  was 
admitted  with  Clarke. 

2  He  had  acted  as  an  attorney  as  early  as  1684.  In  1702-3  he  had  argued  a  fugitive  slave 
case  against  Saltonstall. 


120  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

Kirby,  Jr.,  of  Middletown,  —  the  latter  being  the  first  one  from  his 
township. 

Edward  Bulkeley,  of  Wethersfield,  son  of  the  Rev.  Gershom  Bulkeley, 
heretofore  mentioned,  was  admitted  in  1711  ;  but  his  grist-mill  and 
his  fulling-mill  probably  occupied  most  of  his  time.  Thomas  Kimberly, 
of  Glastonbury,  followed  in  1712.  He  was  for  some  years  Colonial 
Secretary.     He  had  been  for  years  the  schoolmaster  of  Wethersfield. 

With  him  was  admitted  Abram  Morris,  of  Wethersfield.  Captain 
Thomas  Stoughton,  of  Windsor  (east  side  ?),  dates  his  attorneyship 
from  1714.  John  Bissell,  also  of  Windsor,  but  later  of  Bolton,  joined 
in  the  same  year.  He  became  one  of  the  most  noted  lawyers  of  the 
colony.  Daniel  Hooker,  of  Hartford,  was  admitted  at  the  same  time. 
He  was  probably  more  successful  as  an  army  surgeon  than  as  a  member 
of  the  bar.1 

At  this  time  few  in  America  could  have  had  the  advantages  of  a  legal 
training;  and  few  desired  them,  excepting  on  the  ground,  as  Black- 
stone  puts  it,  that  "  a  competent  knowledge  of  that  society  in  which  we 
live  is  the  proper  accomplishment  of  every  gentleman  and  scholar." 
Text-books  of  the  law  were  almost  unknown.  There  were  a  few 
copies  of  Fleta  and  of  the  treatises  of  Bracton  and  Glanville,  all  in  Latin, 
in  the  colony.  How  many  had,  or  understood,  the  law  French  of  Brit- 
ton,  or  the  Tenures  of  Littleton  in  their  law  French  form,  even  with 
the  learned  explications,  in  Latin  and  English,  of  Sir  Edward  Coke  ? 
None  of  Sir  Matthew  Hale's  works  were  published  until  years  later, 
although  written  years  before.  Besides,  the  common  law  of  England 
was  not  accepted  as  of  binding  force  in  this  colony,  and  so  there  was 
less  reason  for  learning  it.  And  the  learned  and  bigoted  fulminations 
of  Cotton  Mather  were  more  potent  to  wield  public  opinion,  especially 
in  witchcraft,  and  other  cases  founded  largely  upon  superstition,  than 
the  best  legal  arguments  that  could  then  have  been  made. 

A  new  attorney,  from  Windsor,  appears  in  1719,  —  Pelatiah  Mills, 
the  principal  taverner  of  that  place. 

In  1730  a  law  was  enacted  limiting  the  number  of  attorneys  in  the 
colony  to  eleven.  Three  were  apportioned  to  Hartford,  and  two  to 
each  of  the  other  counties ;  all  to  be  appointed  by  the  respective  county 
courts.  The  same  courts  were  to  appoint  one  King's  Attorney  in  each 
county.  The  three  attorneys  appointed  for  Hartford  County  were  : 
Joseph  Gilbert,  of  Hartford  (admitted  in  1727)  ;  Roger  Wolcott,  Jr.,  of 
Windsor;  John  Curtis,  of  Wethersfield.  Wolcott  was  also  appointed 
King's  Attorney.  The  number  authorized  by  this  act  was  too  small, 
and  after  a  year's  trial  the  act  was  repealed. 

Lieutenant  Samuel  Pettibone,  Jr.,  of  Simsbury,  was  admitted  in 
1729,  the  first  attorney  from  that  township.  He  removed  to  Goshen, 
and  became  King's  Attorney  for  Litchfield  County.  John  Curtis,  of 
Wethersfield,  was  admitted  the  same  year<  but  in  1732  he  removed 
to  New  London,  in  order  to  assume  the  duties  of  treasurer  of  the  "  New 
London  Society  united  for  Trade  and  Commerce."  And  we  may  here 
remark  that  this  was  the  first  corporation,  strictly  private,  ever  incor- 
porated by  our  General  Assembly  ;  its  history  is  given  more  fully  in 
Mr.  Swift's  paper  elsewhere.2    It  resulted  in  the  financial  ruin  of  Curtis, 

1  He  was  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1700,  and  was  the  first  tutor  of  Yale,  1702-3. 

2  Commerce  and  Banking,  p.  328. 


THE   BENCH   AND   THE   BAR  121 

of  John  Bissell,  and  other  lawyers  and  worthy  citizens,  who  embarked 
therein.  Its  charter  was  repealed  in  the  following  year;  and  it  was 
not  until  1792  that  (with  the  exception  of  Yale  College)  another  private 
corporation  existed  with  the  express  sanction  of  the  legislature. 

No  manufacturing  corporation  existed  prior  to  1810,  and  but  one 
insurance  company  and  six  banks  antedate  the  year  1800.  Thus  we 
see  that  vast  interests,  which  to-day  occupy  much  of  the  attention  of 
our  courts  and  lawyers,  were  then  almost  wholly  wanting. 

Captain  Thomas  Seymour,  3d,  of  Hartford,  was  admitted  in  1740. 
He  died  a  few  years  later.  He  was  the  father  of  Colonel  Thomas  Sey- 
mour, 4th,  also  an  attorney.  Seth  Wetmore,  of  Middletown  (then  in 
Hartford  County),  was  admitted  in  1742.  The  old  spelling  of  this  name 
was  Whitmore. 

In  1751  the  number  of  members  of  Hartford  County  Bar  was  some- 
what reduced,  by  the  detachment  of  a  large  part  of  Hartford  County  to 
form  the  new  county  of  Litchfield.  Windham  had  been  detached  in 
172(3. 

Asa  Phelps,  of  Hebron,  was  admitted  in  1756.  Elisha  Steele  was 
admitted  from  Tolland  the  same  year ;  so  was  Colonel  Thomas  Sey- 
mour, 4th,  of  Hartford.  The  latter  was  afterward  an  active  officer  of 
the  Revolution,  and  a  member  of  the  Council  of  Safety.  He  was  a 
successful  lawyer,  having  an  office  on  the  south  side  of  the  present 
Arch  Street,  opposite  to  his  dwelling-house.  He  was  the  first  Mayor 
of  the  city  of  Hartford. 

Titus  Hosmer,  of  Middletown,  was  admitted  in  1760.  Though  he  died 
at  the  early  age  of  forty-four  years,  he  lived  long  enough  to  be  classed 
by  Noah  Webster  as  one  of  the  "  Three  Mighties ; "  the  other  two 
being  William  Samuel  Johnson,  LL.D.,  and  Chief  Justice  Oliver  Ells- 
worth. He  was  a  student  in  the  natural  sciences  and  the  languages, 
possessed  a  poetic  mind,  and  encouraged  Joel  Barlow,  a  brother  lawyer, 
to  write  the  "  Vision  of  Columbus."  In  the  stirring  days  of  the  Revo- 
lution he  was  an  ardent  patriot,  and  one  of  the  most  active  members  of 
the  Council  of  Safety.  He  several  times  represented  Connecticut  in  the 
Continental  Congress.  He  belongs  to  Hartford  County,  for  he  died  be- 
fore the  formation  of  Middlesex.  He  was  father  of  the  distinguished 
jurist,  Stephen  Titus  Hosmer. 

Bildad  Phelps  was  admitted,  from  Windsor,  in  1760.  Silas  Deane,  of 
Wethersfield,  a  native  of  Groton,  was  admitted  in  1761.  A  notice  of  him 
appears  in  Vol.  II.  of  this  work  (p.  471).  Benjamin  Payne,  of  Hartford, 
admitted  in  1762,  represented  his  town  in  the  General  Assembly,  in  the 
Revolutionary  period,  and,  in  addition,  was  one  of  the  busiest  members 
of  the  Council  of  Safety,  and  of  the  Committee  on  the  issue  of  Colonial 
Paper  Money.  Gideon  Granger,  Sr.,  of  Suffield,  admitted  in  1763, 
though  less  noted  than  his  son  of  the  same  name,  was  distinguished  in 
his  profession.  Jedediah  Strong,  admitted  at  Hartford  in  1764,  is  sup- 
posed to  be  the  same  who  was  afterward  a  prominent  lawyer  of  Salis- 
bury. He  was  several  times  elected  to  the  Continental  Congress,  but 
declined  to  take  office.  With  him  were  admitted  Joseph  Isham,  Jr.,  of 
Colchester,  and  Roswell  Welles,  of  Windsor. 

General  Roger  Newberry,  Jr.,  of  Windsor,  was  admitted  in  1765. 
His  mother  was  a  daughter  of  Roger  Wolcott,  Sr.  He  was  Judge  of 
the  County  Court,  was  successful  as  a  lawyer  and  merchant,  and  served 


122  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

with  distinction  in  the  Revolutionary  War.  Major  William  Judcl,  of 
Farmington,  an  officer  of  the  Revolution,  and  William  Nichols,  of  Hart- 
ford, were  also  admitted  in  1765.  Major  Judd  was  one  of  the  most 
distinguished  lawyers  and  patriots  in  the  colony.  He  was  chairman  of 
the  Convention  of  citizens  of  the  State  in  New  Haven,  in  1804,  which 
had  for  its  object  the  formation  of  a  public  sentiment  in  favor  of  a 
State  Constitution.  The  General  Assembly  was  so  offended  by  his 
prominent  action  in  the  matter  that  it  revoked  his  commission  as  a 
justice  of  the  peace.  Nichols  was  the  army  paymaster  of  that  name 
in  the  Revolution. 

Ralph  Pomeroy,  of  Hartford,  admitted  in  1768,  was  an  army  pay- 
master in  the  Revolution,  but  I  am  not  informed  as  to  his  professional 
life.     He  removed  to  Litchfield  County. 

Chief  Judge  Stephen  Mix  Mitchell,  of  Wethersfield,  having  been  a 
student  of  Jared  Ingersoll,  was  admitted  in  Fairfield  County  in  1770. 
He  began  practising  law  in  his  native  town  in  1772.  So  much  has 
been  said  of  him  elsewhere  that  we  omit  further  mention  of  him  here. 

Jonathan  Ingersoll  was  admitted  from  Middlctown  in  1770,  but  his 
professional  life  was  spent  in  New  Haven.  Joseph  Church,  Jr.,  of 
Hartford,  was  admitted  in  1771,  but  I  know  nothing  more  of  him. 

Pierpont  Edwards,  of  New  Haven,  lawyer,  soldier,  and  judge,  while 
admitted  at  Hartford,  was  born  at  Northampton,  Mass.,  and  practised 
his  profession  at  New  Haven.  He  probably  did  not  practise  in 
Hartford. 

Judge  Tapping  Reeve,  born  at  Brookhaven,  on  Long  Island,  became 
a  member  of  the  legal  profession,  at  Hartford,  in  1771.  But  he  opened 
a  law  office  in  Litchfield  as  early,  it  is  said,  as  1772,  and,  as  is  well 
known,  founded  the  famous  Law  School  there  in  1784.  Of  Charles 
Whiting,  Jr.,  admitted  from  Middlctown  in  1772,  we  know  only  that 
he  removed  to  Great  Barrington,  Mass.,  where  he  was  an  officer  of  the 
Revolution. 

Captain  Daniel  Humphrey,  of  Simsbury,  joined  the  legal  fraternity 
in  1774,  as  did  Thomas  Kimberley,  of  Glastonbury.  The  latter  lost 
his  life  by  the  explosion  of  a  powder-mill,  in  1777. 

Chief  Justice  Oliver  Ellsworth  became  a  lawyer,  from  Windsor,  in 
1777.  He  has  been  fully  noticed  elsewhere.  Sylvester  Gilbert,  of 
Hebron,  who  joined  in  1778,  was  one  of  the  ablest  lawyers  in  the  State. 
He  was  a  student  of  Jesse  Root's  law  office  in  Hartford  ;  and  it  is  said 
that  fifty-six  law-students  fitted  for  the  profession  in  Mr.  Gilbert's  office 
in  Hebron.  After  the  formation  of  Tolland  County  (1786)  he  became 
State's  Attorney  for  twenty-one  years,  County  Court  Judge  for  eigh- 
teen years,  and  representative  to  Congress. 

The  year  1780  witnessed  the  admission  of  Benjamin  Farnham,  of 
Simsbury,  Zephaniah  Swift,  of  Lebanon,  Asher  Miller  and  Ezekiel  Gil- 
bert, of  Middletown,  and  Thomas  Young  Seymour,  of  Hartford.  Of 
Farnham  nothing  definite  is  known  to  the  writer.  Miller  became  one 
of  the  foremost  lawyers  of  the  new  county  of  Middlesex,  formed  soon 
thereafter.  Swift,  the  distinguished  chief  judge  and  law-writer,  cannot, 
we  are  sorry  to  say,  be  claimed  for  this  county,  for  he  was  a  native  of 
Wareham,  Mass.,  and  a  resident  of  Lebanon,  Mansfield,  and  Windham. 
Seymour  became  prominent  in  his  profession.  Gilbert  removed  to 
Hudson,  New  York,  where  he  became  a  representative  to  Congress. 


THE   BENCH    AND   THE   BAR.  123 

In  1781  there  were  added  five  bright  luminaries  to  the  fraternity. 
They  were:  Alexander  Wolcott,  Jr.,  of  Windsor;  Jeremiah  Gates 
Brainard,  of  East  Haddam  and  New  London  ;  Noah  Webster,  Jr.,  of 
Hartford;  John  Trumbull,  Jr.,  of  Watertown ;  and  Samuel  Whittlesey 
Dana,  of  Wallingford  and  Middletown. 

Wolcott  was  a  distinguished  member  of  a  distinguished  family.  A 
Republican  in  politics,  he  was,  in  the  opinion  of  John  M.  Niles,  the 
founder  of  the  Jeffersonian  school  of  politics  in  Connecticut.  President 
Jefferson  made  him  a  Collector  of  Customs  for  the  district  of  Middle- 
town,  and  President  Madison  nominated  him  a  Judge  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States.  The  Senate  did  not  confirm  the  nomina- 
tion ;  and  Judge  Story,  after  the  same  place  had  been  offered  to  John 
Quincy  Adams,  was  elected  thereto.  Wolcott  was  a  delegate,  from 
Middletown,  to  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1818. 

Trumbull  practised  law  in  Hartford  until  1794.  But  he  did  not 
neglect  his  literary  pursuits ;  and,  indeed,  it  was  during  this  period 
(in  1782)  that  he  completed  his  world-famous  epic,  "  McFingal." 
(See  further,  under  "  State's  Attorneys.") 

General  Dana  can  hardly  be  credited  to  this  county,  for  he  was  a 
native  of  Wallingford,  and  during  his  long  residence  in  Middletown  but 
four  years  of  it  elapsed  prior  to  the  detachment  of  that  township  from 
Hartford  County. 

Webster,  the  great  lexicographer,  a  descendant  of  Governors  Web- 
ster, of  Connecticut,  and  Bradford,  of  Plymouth  Colony,  was  a  native 
of  Hartford,  West  Society.  Ho  may  have  received  part  of  his  legal 
training  from  Chief  Justice  Oliver  Ellsworth,  in  whose  family  he  lived 
for  some  months.  He  did  not  at  once  upon  his  admission  open  a  law 
office,  but  continued  in  his  favorite  occupation  of  instructor.  From 
1789  to  1793  he  practised  law  in  Hartford ;  but  at  the  latter  date  he 
resumed  literary  work,  such  as  he  had  done  in  early  life.  After  this 
he  was  not  an  active  member  of  the  profession,  though  he  often  wrote 
upon  legal  and  political  questions,  strongly  espousing  the  Federal 
cause. 

Oliver  Lewis,  admitted  in  1783,  may  have  been  the  person  of  that 
name  from  Southington,  who  died  in  Savannah,  Ga.,  in  1784. 

General  Samuel  Holden  Parsons,  of  Lyme  and  Middletown,  became 
a  member  of  the  Bar  of  this  county  in  1783.  He  was  mainly  instru- 
mental in  the  formation  of  Middlesex  County,  whereof  he  remained  a 
resident  until  his  removal  to  Ohio. 

Ephraim  Root,  a  prominent  lawyer,  admitted  in  1784,  practised  law 
in  Hartford  from  that  date  until  1812. 

On  Nov.  14,  1783,  the  foundations  were  laid  for  the  present  Bar 
Association  of  Hartford  County.  The  original  document,  containing 
the  regulations  which  will  govern  the  signers  in  recommending  "  young 
Gentlemen,"  candidates  for  admission  to  the  Bar,  is  in  the  possession 
of  Charles  J.  Hoadly,  Esq.  It  is  signed  by  Sylvester  Gilbert,  Asher 
Miller,  Samuel  W.  Dana,  Chauncey  Goodrich,  Thomas  Chester,  William 
Whitman,  Oliver  Wolcott,  Jr.,  Ephraim  Root,  John  Williams,  William 
Moseley,  Thomas  Seymour,  Oliver  Ellsworth,  Jesse  Root,  Dyar  Throop, 
Gideon  Granger,  William  Judd,  Roger  Newberry,  Samuel  H.  Parsons, 
William  Nichols,  Joseph  Isham,  Jr.,  Samuel  Lyman,  John  Trumbull, 


124  MEMORIAL   HISTOEY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

Thomas  Y.  Seymour,  Benjamin  Farnham,  Enoch  Perkins,  Timothy 
Pitkin,  Jr.,  Nathaniel  Terry,  Jr.,  Gideon  Granger,  Jr.,  William  Kibbe, 
William  Williston,  Gaylord  Griswold,  and  Hezekiah  Bissell,  —  thirty- 
two  in  all.  They  could  not  all  have  signed  as  attorneys  at  the  date 
borne  upon  the  instrument,  for  some  were  not  admitted  until  1789  and 
1790.  Judge  Miller  and  Mr.  Dana  were  of  Middletown,  General  Throop 
of  East  Haddam,  and  Captain  Isham  of  Colchester. 

In  1785  Chief  Judge  Stephen  Titus  Hosmer  was  admitted  from 
Middletown.  But  in  the  same  year  the  formation  of  Middlesex  County 
made  him  a  member  of  the  Bar  of  that  county.  Thomas  Webster,  of 
Wethersfield,  Newington  Society,  was  admitted  the  same  year ;  as  was 
William  Whitman,  of  Hartford.  Colonel  Jesse  Root,  a  native  of  North- 
ampton, Mass.,  entered  the  legal  profession  at  Hartford  in  1785,  and 
practised  law  there  until  1789.  This  distinguished  jurist  is  mentioned 
elsewhere. 

Joel  Barlow,  poet  and  diplomat,  while  a  native  of  Redding,  became 
a  member  of  the  Hartford  Bar  in  1785,  and  so  remained  until  1789. 
During  his  residence  in  Hartford  (he  lived  also  some  months  in  Weth- 
ersfield) he  edited  the  "  American  Mercury  "  and  wrote  the  "  Vision  of 
Columbus."  It  does  not  appear  that  he  practised  law  in  any  other 
place.  Jonathan  Brace,  mentioned  elsewhere,  began  practising  law  in 
Glastonbury  in  1786.     He  was  admitted  in  Bennington,  VTt.,  in  1779. 

Uriel  Holmes,  admitted  in  1787,  if  he  ever  lived  in  Hartford,  re- 
moved to  New  Hartford,  where  he  practised  in  his  profession,  and  was 
sent  thence,  or  from  Hartiand,  a  representative  to  Congress. 

Gideon  Granger,  Jr.,  of  Sufheld,  admitted  in  1789,  became  a  distin- 
guished member  of  the  Bar.  He  was  active  in  originating  our  Common 
School  Fund,  and  was  Postmaster-General,  1801-1814.  William  Willis- 
ton,  a  native  of  SufKeld  (?),  was  admitted  the  same  year.  He  practised 
in  Simsbury  until  1817. 

General  Nathaniel  Terry,  a  native  of  Enfield,  after  graduation  at 
Yale  College  became  a  student  of  Jesse  Root,  and  was  admitted  an 
attorney  in  1790.  He  practised  first  at  EnfieJd,  then  at  Hartford, 
1796-1844.  He  represented  this  district  in  Congress  one  term,  was 
Judge  of  the  County  Court,  and  a  member  of  the  Constitutional  Con- 
vention of  1818.  He  was  a  studious  and  thorough  lawyer,  devoted  to 
his  profession.  Gaylord  Griswold,  Windsor,  and  Decius  Wadsvvorth, 
Farmington  and  Hartford,  were  admitted  in  1790.  The  former  went 
to  New  York  about  1793,  and  became  a  representative  to  Congress. 
The  latter  disappears  from  the  list  of  attorneys  in  1794. 

Hezekiah  Huntington,  of  Tolland,  Suffield,  and  Hartford,  joined  the 
Bar  in  1791,  having  been  a  student  of  Gideon  Granger,  Sr.,  and  of  John 
Trumbull.     He  was  many  years  a  lawyer  in  the  latter  town. 

Joseph  Backus,  admitted  the  same  year,  practised  in  Glastonbury 
until  1796,  then  in  Stratford,  and  finally  in"  Bridgeport.  We  sup- 
pose him  to  have  been  the  author  of  a  volume  relating  to  the  Office  of 
Sheriff,  etc.  One  Root,  an  attorney  in  Granby,  1797-1799,  was  proba- 
bly General  Erastus  Root,  born  in  Hebron  ;  removed  to  New  York,  where 
he  was  a  major-general  and  representative  to  Congress. 

Theodore  Dwight,  Si-.,  a  native  of  Northampton,  Mass.,  and  a  stu- 
dent of  Pierpont  Edwards,  at  New  Haven,  was  admitted  from  Green- 
wich, in  1787.     He  practised  at  Haddam  until  1791,  when  he  removed 


THE   BENCH   AND   THE   BAR.  125 

to  Hartford,  where  he  practised  until  1813.  He  served  one  term  as 
a  representative  to  Congress.  After  1815  he  followed  journalism  at 
Albany  and  New  York,  until  1836,  when  he  returned  to  Hartford.  He 
was  Secretary  of  the  Hartford  Convention,  and  published  a  history  of 
it,  besides  other  works.     He  was  a  descendant  of  Jonathan  Edwards. 

Heretofore  I  have  given  the  names  and  dates  of  admission  of  all 
members  of  the  Bar  of  this  county,  so  far  as  a  thorough  search  of  origi- 
nal court  records  discloses  them.  I  now  give  the  entire  list  of  Hartford 
County  lawyers,  or  "  Practising  Attorneys,"  as  they  appear  in  the  "  Con- 
necticut Register  "  for  1789.     They  are  seventeen  :  — 

Jesse  Root,  William  Nichols,  Chauncey  Goodrich,  Thomas  Y.  Seymour,  John 
Trumbull,  Oliver  Wolcott,  Jr.,  Ephraim  Root,  William  Moseley,  and  Enoch  Per- 
kins, all  of  Hartford  ;  John  Williams  and  Thomas  Chester,  Wethersfield  ;  Wil- 
liam Judd,  Farmington  ;  Roger  Newberry  and  Alexander  Wolcott,  Windsor ; 
Jonathan  Brace,  Glastonbury ;  Gideon  Granger,  Suffield  ;  Benjamin  Farnham, 
Simsbury. 

Brief  notices  have  been  given,  either  in  this  or  other  divisions  of 
this  article,  of  all  whose  names  are  in  the  list  above  quoted,  excepting 
Wolcott,  Moseley,  Williams,  and  Chester. 

Oliver  Wolcott,  Jr.,  a  native  of  Litchfield,  was  not  in  Hartford  after 
1789;  how  much  earlier  we  cannot  say.  At  that  date  he  was  thirty-nine 
years  of  age.  He  became  Auditor,  then  Secretary  of  the  United  States 
Treasury,  Judge  of  the  United  States  Circuit  Court,  President  of  the 
Constitutional  Convention  of  1818,  and  Governor  of  the  State.  Moseley 
remained  in  practice  in  Hartford  until  1823.  "  Squire  "  John  Williams, 
as  he  was  usually  called,  was  the  oldest  son  of  the  noted  patriot,  Ezekiel 
Williams.  He  was  remarkable  for  personal  beauty  and  courtliness  of 
manners.  Though  his  name  is  carried  on  the  list  of  attorneys  until 
1813,  his  circumstances  were  such  that  he  was  not  compelled  to  labor 
in  his  profession,  and  he  was  never  active  in  the  courts  of  law. 

Thomas  Chester,  member  of  a  family  noted  for  its  gentlemen  in 
the  best  sense  of  the  word,  was,  after  1796,  almost  wholly  occupied  as 
Clerk  of  the  Courts. 

In  the  decade  from  1790  to  1800  the  "  Connecticut  Register"  adds 
twenty-two  names  to  its  list  of  "  Practising  Attorneys.  " 

Timothy  Pitkin,  Jr.,  of  Farmington,  beginning  in  1790,  practised 
law  in  that  town  until  1836.  He  represented  this  district  in  Congress, 
and  was  five  times  Speaker  of  the  Connecticut  House  of  Representa- 
tives. He  was  perhaps  the  most  noted  political  writer  of  his  day ;  the 
author  of  two  volumes  on  the  Political  History  of  the  United  States, 
and  a  volume  on  the  Statistical  History  of  the  same. 

Daniel  W.  Lewis,  of  Farmington,  was  an  attorney  there,  1791-1792, 
when  he  removed  to  Litchfield  (?).  William  Kibbe  was  in  Enfield,  1792- 
1800  ;  John  Lathrop,  in  Hartford,  1793-1794.  Hezekiah  Bissell,  Jr., 
Windsor  and  Hartford,  Judge  of  the  County  Court,  was  in  practice  from 
1793  to  1802.  One  of  the  same  name  was  practising  in  Windham  as  early 
at  least  as  1786.  Walter  Edwards,  Sr.,  of  Hartford,  son  of  Rev.  Jonathan 
Edwards,  was  an  attorney  there,  1796-1797.  He  married  a  daughter 
of  Captain  Moses  Tryon,  United  States  Navy,  of  Wethersfield,  and 
retired  from  practice.     Two  of  his  sons  became  lawyers  in  Xew  York. 


12G  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

Elkanah  Smith,  of  Berlin  ;  David  Parmelee  and  Zephaniah  H.  Smith, 
both  of  Glastonbury  ;  and  Roger  Whittlesey,  of  Southington,  all  first  ap- 
pear as  attorneys  in  179(3.  Parmelee  disappears  after  1796,  Elkanah 
Smith  after  1801,  while  Zephaniah  H.  Smith  and  Whittlesey  practised 
in  their  townships  until  1833  and  1844,  respectively.  Whittlesey  was 
a  native  of  Wethersfield,  Newington  Society.  John  Sargent,  of  Wind- 
sor, beginning  in  1797  or  earlier,  practised  law  there  until  1829.  His 
wife  was  a  daughter  of  General  Robert  Newberry,  Jr.  William  Brown, 
of  Hartford,  practised  from  1798  to  1804.  Jonathan  Walter  Edwards, 
a  native  of  New  Haven,  grandson  of  Jonathan  Edwards,  the  great 
theologian,  and  son  of  President  Jonathan  Edwards,  Jr.,  practised  in 
Hartford  from  1799  until  about  the  time  of  his  death  in  1831  ;  a 
brilliant  lawyer. 

In  the  next  decade,  1800  to  1810,  the  Hartford  Bar  was  increased 
by  the  astonishing  number  of  sixty  members,  at  least.  One  of  these, 
Thomas  Scott  Williams,  an  attorney  from  1805,  has  been  mentioned 
elsewhere.  Of  the  rest  we  can  only  mention  the  names  and  places  of 
residence,  while  in  practice,  in  most  instances.  Allen  Mather  and 
William  D.  How  were  in  Hartford,  1800-1802  ;  Timothy  Button,  Sims- 
burv,  1800-1801 ;  William  Gay,  Suffield,  1800-1843,  forty-three  years  ; 
David  Bissell,  Jr.,  East  Windsor  and  Hartford,  1800-1813  ;  Thomas 
Day,  Hartford,  1800-1809. 

Mr.  Day  rendered  so  many  and  so  valuable  services  to  the  profession, 
and  to  the  public  in  general,  that  he  is  entitled  to  special  mention.  He 
was  the  principal  member  of  the  committee  which  revised  the  Statutes 
in  1808, —  the  best  edition  we  have  ever  had.  His  summary  of  the 
various  revisions  is  a  valuable  contribution  to  history  ;  and  so  is  his 
history  of  the  Courts  of  the  State,  prefixed  to  Vol.  I.  of  the  Con- 
necticut Reports.  He  was  for  fifty  years  the  Reporter  of  the  cases 
adjudicated  in  the  highest  court  of  the  State.  He  was  Chief  Judge  of 
the  County  Court,  and  many  years  Secretary  of  State  for  Connecticut. 

Samuel  Woodruff,  Jr.,  born  in  1760,  having  first  practised  law  in 
Wallingford,  returned  to  his  native  town  (Southington)  in  1802,  where 
he  practised  until  1810;  thence  he  went  to  (4  ran  by,  and  while  there 
became  Judge  of  the  County  Court.  He  removed  to  Windsor  about 
1827,  and  practised  there  about  three  years.  He  went  on  a  mission  of 
charity  to  Greece,  and  on  his  return  published  a  volume  entitled  "  A 
Tour  to  Greece,  Malta,  and  Asia  Minor"  :  Hartford,  1832. 

Seth  Parsons  practised  in  Suffield  forty-four  years,  beginning  in 
1800  ;  William  Bradley,  in  Granby  and  Hartford,  1802-1811.  Walter 
Mitchell,  Wethersfield*  and  Hartford,  a  son  of  Chief  Judge  Stephen 
Mix  Mitchell,  and  Chief  Judge  of  the  County  Court,  practised  law, 
1803-1849  ;  Thomas  Huntington,  Jr.,  in  Hartford,  1803-1838 ;  John 
Hooker  (son  of  Rev.  John?),  Farmington,  1803;  Thomas  Holcomb, 
Granby,  1803-1825  ;  James  McCooley,  Granby;  1803  ;  Andrew  D.  Hill- 
ver,  Simsburv,  1803-1816;  Elijah  Adams,  Hartford,  1804;  Daniel 
Dunbar,  Berlin,  1804-1841 ;  Joseph  L.  Smith,  Berlin,  1804-1805,  re- 
moved to  Florida,  and  became  its  territorial  governor ;  Calvin  Butler, 
Bristol,  1804-1806;  Hezekiah  Flagg,  East  Hartford  and  Hartford, 
1804-1809 ;  Henry  Terry,  Enfield,  1804-1828,  and  was  Judge  of  the 
County  Court ;  Samuel  Cowles,  Farmington  and  Hartford,  1804-1818  ; 
William  Arms.  Simsburv,  1804;   Roger  Newberry,  3d,  Windsor,  1804- 


'7>~^^^>^/'   <^L^7 


... 


THE   BENCH   AND   THE   BAR.  127 

1807  ;  Thomas  Scott  Williams,  Wethersfield  and  Hartford  (noticed 
elsewhere),  1805-1826;  Isaac  Perkins,  Hartford,  1805-1840;  Aaron 
M.  Church,  Hartford,  1805-1811 ;  Joseph  Trumbull,  Hartford,  1805- 
1849  —  must  be  added  here. 

Mr.  Trumbull  was  a  grandson  of  Governor  Jonathan  Trumbull,  Sr. 
He  was  admitted  to  the  Bar,  in  Windham  County,  in  1803 ;  practised  at 
first  in  Ohio  ;  was  president  of  the  Hartford  Bank  for  eleven  years  ;  sat 
two  terms  as  a  representative  to  Congress,  and  was  Governor  of  Con- 
necticut 1849-1850. 

Ebenezer  Grander  appears  as  a  lawyer,  in  Hartford,  in  1805-1806  ; 
John  Wales,  1805-1809 ;  Stedman  Adams,  1805-1809 ;  Seth  Terry, 
1805-1865.  Mr.  Terry  was  a  native  of  Enfield,  and  member  of  a  family 
noted  for  its  achievements  in  civil  and  military  affairs ;  was  a  law  stu- 
dent of  General  Nathaniel  Terry.  He  was  more  than  sixty  years  an 
active  practitioner,  mostly  as  an  office  lawyer.  He  was  noted  for  his 
strict  integrity  and  piety.  Samuel  Putnam  Waldo  was  a  lawyer  at  East 
Windsor,  1805-1816.  He  was  the  author  of  several  volumes,  including 
a  "  Life  of  President  Jackson,"  and  the  "  Tour  of  President  Monroe  " 
through  the  United  States ;  and  was  the  compiler  of  "  Robbins'  Jour- 
nal." With  these  were  Samuel  Jones,  Jr.,  Glastonbury,  1805-1809; 
Grove  Griswold,  Granby  and  Windsor,  1805-1840. 

Elisha  Phelps,  a  member  of  one  of  the  most  distinguished  families 
of  the  colony  and  State,  practised  law  at  Simsbury,  his  native  place, 
and  in  Hartford,  1805-1847.  He  was  eminent  in  his  profession,  and 
served  three  terms  as  a  representative  to  Congress.  He  was  also  Judge 
of  the  County  Court. 

Samuel  Henry  Woodruff,  a  native  of  Sonthington,  practised  there, 
1805-1829  ;  in  Granby,  1830-1848  ;  in  Tariffville,  1849-1859.  He  was 
a  lawyer  of  rare  gifts  for  his  profession,  but  his  habits  of  dissipation  pre- 
vented his  attaining  to  a  high  eminence. 

Joseph  H.  Russell  was  in  Windsor,  1805-1825.  Simeon  Abbe  was  an 
attorney,  in  Enfield,  in  1806 ;  Jared  Scarborough,  in  Hartford,  1807 ; 
Solomon  Smith,  in  Hartford,  1807-1809 ;  Pliny  Wight,  in  East  Hart- 
ford, 1807-1812. 

William  Dixon,  a  native  of  Enfield,  and  a  lawyer  there,  1807-1825, 
was  of  high  rank  in  his  profession,  but  was  noted  for  some  eccentrici- 
ties of  character.  He  was  the  father  of  the  late  United  States  Senator, 
James  Dixon.  Lemuel  Whitman  had  his  law-office  in  Farmington,  his 
native  place,  1807-1841.  He  held  many  offices,  including  that  of  Judge 
of  the  County  Court  and  Representative  to  Congress.  General  Nathan 
Johnson,  of  Hartford,  was  in  practice  there,  1808-1852. 

Lauren  (or  Loren  ?)  Barnes  was  an  attorney  in  Bristol,  1808-1809 ; 
Sherman  Everest,  Canton  and  East  Windsor,  1808-1816  ;  Ichabod  Lord 
Skinner,  Hartford,  1809-1816;  Jonathan  Law,  Hartford,  1809-1820; 
Godfrev  Scarborough,  Suffield  and  East  Windsor,  1809-1821 ;  John  M. 
Gannett,  Hartford,  1810-1825  ;  Sheldon  Wales  Candee,  Hartford,  1810- 
1820.  He  was  a  native  of  Oxford,  his  wife  being  a  daughter  of  Jesse 
Root.  He  died  at  Demarara,  Guiana,  in  1821.  Charles  Moseley  prac- 
tised in  Hartford,  1810-1814;  Shubael  F.  Griswold,  Hartford,  1810- 
1820  ;  Samuel  Root,  Hartford,  1810-1817  ;  Martin  Welles,  at  Farming- 
ton,  1811-1813,  and  at  Hartford,  1850-1863.  Mr.  Welles  was  a  son 
of  General  Roger  Welles,  Sr.,  of  Wethersfield,   Newington   Society. 


128  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

Admitted  to  the  Bar  in  1810,  lie  practised,  after  1813,  at  Newburgh,  New 
York,  and  in  New  York  City,  until  1820,  when  he  removed  to  Wethers- 
field,  and  followed  farming  there  until  1850.  He  was  one  of  the  fore- 
most lawyers  and  special  pleaders  of  his  time,  was  several  times  Speaker 
of  the  lower  house  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  was  Chief  Judge  of 
the  County  Court. 

Between  1810  and  1820  the  members  added  to  the  Bar  were  thirty- 
seven  or  more ;  somewhat  more  than  half  as  many  as  in  the  next  pre- 
vious decade,  when  the  population  was  less.  Three  of  these,  Judges 
William  Wolcott  Ellsworth  and  John  Thomson  Peters,  and  State's  At- 
torney Isaac  Toucey,  have  been  noticed  elsewhere. 

Guy  Gaylord  was  a  practising  attorney  in  East  Windsor,  1811- 
1813 ;  and  with  him  was  Charles  Reynolds  during  the  same  period. 
Samuel  Pettis  practised  at  Wethersfield,  1811-1815,  when,  as  I  suppose, 
he  removed  to  Ohio.  Noah  A.  Phelps,  of  Simsbury,had  his  law-office  in 
Hartford,  1812-1820,  when  he  retired  from  the  profession  and  became 
Sheriff  of  the  county  ;  an  office  which  he  held  for  some  years.  He  was 
also  Secretary  of  State.  He  was  a  man  of  extensive  general  informa- 
tion, author  of  "A  History  of  Simsbury,  Granby  and  Canton,"  etc. 

Thomas  S.  Seymour,  of  Hartford,  had  a  law  office  there  one  year, 
1812.  Thomas  S.  Sill  was  also  there  as  an  attorney,  1812-1813.  1 
suppose  him  to  have  been  a  native  of  Windsor,  and  to  have  removed  to 
Erie,  Pennsylvania,  and  to  have  represented  that  district  in  Congress. 

Lorrain  T.  Pease  practised  in  Enfield  (of  which  place  he  was  a 
native),  1812-1838,  and  was  Judge  of  the  County  Court.  George 
Plummer  was  in  Glastonbury,  1812-1813  ;  James  H.  Smith,  in  Granby 
and  Canton,  1812-1832  ;  Silas  Higlev,in  Granby,  more  than  forty  years, 
1812-1853;  Daniel  Miller,  Hartford,  1813-1816  ;  Elizur  Goodrich,  Jr., 
1813-1821.  He  was  the  fourth  in  the  line  of  descent  from  the  Rev. 
Elizur  Goodrich,  of  Wethersfield  and  Durham,  all  bearing  the  same 
name.  Ralph  Welles,  of  Hartford,  had  an  office  there,  1813-1815 ; 
Ralph  R.  Phelps  had  his  office  in  East  Hartford,  1814-1823,  then  in 
Manchester  until  1874,  —  sixty  years  a  practitioner. 

Sidney  A.  Grant,  East  Windsor ;  Samuel  G.  Strong,  Glastonbury ; 
and  Frederick  W.  Jewett,  Granby,  all  appear  to  have  practised  in  those 
towns  respectively,  from  1814  until  1815,  when  they  all  disappear. 

Ethan  Allen  Andrews,  a  native  of  New  Britain,  son  of  Levi  and 
Chloe  (Welles)  Andrews,  both  of  Wethersfield,  Newington  Society, 
began  practising  law  in  Berlin  in  1814  ;  perhaps  two  years  earlier.  He 
is  carried  on  the  list  of  attorneys  there  until  1824,  but  he  was  part 
of  this  time  an  instructor  in  select  schools,  and  author  of  Andrews's 
Latin-English  Lexicon. 

Asher  Robbins  practised  law  in  Wethersfield,  his  native  place,  1814- 
1832.  He  was  a  public-spirited  citizen,  and  having  engaged  in  manu- 
facturing enterprises,  became  financially  wrecked.  He  never  resumed 
his  practice.  Henry  L.  (Loomis  ?)  Ellsworth,  son  of  Chief  Justice  Oliver 
Ellsworth,  and  twin-brother  of  Governor  William  Wolcott  Ellsworth, 
practised  in  Windsor,  1814-183(3.  President  Jackson  appointed  him 
Commissioner  of  the  Indian  tribes  south  and  west  of  Arkansas.  He  was 
also  United  States  Commissioner  of  Patents  for  ten  years.  Removing 
to  Indiana,  he  there  became  the  largest  farmer  in  that  State,  if  not  in 
all  the  West.     Died  at  Fair  Haven,  in  1858. 


THE   BENCH   AND  THE   BAR.  129 

Alfred  Cowles,  of  Farmington,  practised  there,  1815-1821.  John 
Milton  Niles,  born  in  Windsor,  was  an  attorney  in  Suffield  and  Hartford 
for  some  years,  beginning  in  1815.  He  was  more  active  in  politics  and 
in  literary  work  than  in  his  profession.  A  sketch  of  his  life  is  given 
elsewhere. 

George  Wyllys,  member  of  an  old  and  prominent  family  of  Hart- 
ford, was  an  attorney  there  1816-1822.  Henry  W.  Huntington, 
member  of  another  distinguished  family,  had  his  office  there  one  year 
only,  1816.  John  Mitchell,  in  Bristol,  1816,  probably  removed  to  Penn- 
sylvania. Algernon  S.  Grant  and  Ebenezer  Lane  were  attorneys  in 
East  Windsor,  1816-1818,  and  1816-1817  respectively.  George  Merrick 
practised  in  Glastonbury  (South)  from  1816  until  the  year  of  his 
death,  1879.  He  was  Judge  of  the  County  Court.  Elijah  Keach,  of 
Wethersfield,  Newington  Society,  practised  there  thirty  years  or  more, 
beginning  in  1816.  He  was  an  eccentric  character,  always  ready  with 
a  flaming  Democratic  speech.  Alfred  Smith,  1818-1850,  a  Hartford 
lawyer,  and  Judge  of  the  County  Court,  was  learned  in  his  profession, 
and  one  of  the  best  legal  draughtsmen  the  Bar  ever  had.  He  had  few 
superiors  as  a  member  of  the  legislature.  Oliver  Ellsworth  Williams, 
a  son  of  Ezekiel  Williams,  the  Wethersfield  Revolutionary  patriot, 
was  in  practice  in  Hartford,  1819-1870,  if  the  "  Connecticut  Register" 
be  correct ;  but  he  certainly  was  not  in  active  practice  for  ten  years 
or  more  prior  to  the  latter  date.  John  Watson,  3d,  was  an  East  Wind- 
sor attorney  some  five  years,  beginning  in  1820  or  earlier.  Charles 
Shepard  practised  in  Suffield,  1820-1829  ;  then  in  Hartford,  1830-1850. 

The  writer  is  not  aware  that  any  of  those  admitted  to  the  Bar  before 
1821  are  living.  From  this  date  to  1830,  inclusive,  the  number  of 
added  members  was  about  thirty-seven. 

One  of  these,  Thomas  C.  Perkins,  who  first  appears  in  1821,  has 
been  noticed.  Probably  none  of  those  who  became  attorneys  before 
1831  are  living. 

Samuel  Howard  Huntington,  Judge  of  the  County  Court,  son  of 
Hezekiah,  is  borne  on  the  list  of  Hartford  lawyers,  1821-1854 ;  Jared 
Griswold,  at  Simsbury,  Farmington,  and  Hartford,  1822-1835  ;  Francis 
Parsons,  at  Hartford,  1822-1861.  He  was  born  at  Amherst,  Mass.,  and 
was  a  nephew  of  Chief  Justice  Thomas  Scott  Williams,  in  whose  office  he 
was  a  student.  He  was  a  model  lawyer,  and  at  one  time  Judge  of  the 
County  Court. 

Ichabod  Bulkeley  had  an  office  in  Hartford  one  vear,  1822 ;  George 
W.  Griswold.  in  East  Hartford,  1822-1826,  in  Manchester,  1827-1855. 
Hiram  R.  Pettibone.  in  Granbv,  1822-1833  ;  William  C.  Gay,  Suffield, 
1822-1831 ;  Apollos  D.  Bates/Windsor,  1822-1824. 

Ira  E.  Smith  practised  in  Berlin,  1823-1849 ;  was  some  time  Chief 
Judge  of  the  County  Court.  Romeo  Lowrey,  born  in  Plainville,  was  a 
lawyer  in  Southington,  1822-1855,  during  part  of  which  time  he  pre- 
sided over  the  County  Court.  Horace  H.  Sill  was  in  Windsor,  1823- 
1845 ;  John  Gardner  Calkins  Brainard,  the  poet,  1824-1828. 

Jonathan  Edwards,  son  of  Walter,  had  his  office  in  Hartford, 
1824-1832.  He  removed  to  Troy,  New  York,  of  which  city  he  became 
mayor. 

William  Barnes  practised  in  East  Windsor,  at  Warehouse  Point, 
1825-1873 ;  Simeon  F.  Dixon,  in  Enfield   and   Hartford,  1825-1830  ; 


130  MEMORIAL    HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

Horace  Foote,in  Marlborough,  the  first  attorney  from  that  township,  in 
1825  ;  Samuel  H.  Parsons,  in  Hartford,  1826-1849  ;  William  H.  Perkins, 
Windsor,  1826-1828 ;  Nathan  Cooley,  Hartford,  1827-1828 ;  Alfred  Terry 
(a  native  of  Hartford  and  a  son  of  General  Nathaniel),  Hartford,  1827- 
1832.  He  was  the  father  of  Major-General  Alfred  H.  Terry , who  practised 
in  New  Haven  ;  now  in  the  United  States  Army. 

Benjamin  L.  Ray  nor  had  a  law  office  in  Hartford,  1827-1832 ;  soon 
after  which,  as  I  suppose,  he  removed  to  Boston.  He  was  the  author 
of  a  "  Life  of  Thomas  Jefferson,"  published  in  Wethersfield.  Selah  B. 
•Treat,  in  East  Windsor,  1827-1831,  became  a  clergyman  and  secretary  of 
the  A.  B.  C.  F.  M.,  residing  in  Boston.  He  was  a  frequent  contributor  to 
periodical  publications.    Frederick  W.  Jewett,  in  Simsbury,  1827-1833. 

Thomas  R.  Holt  was  a  Windsor  attorney,  1827-1831 ;  Enoch  T.  Par- 
sons, in  Hartford,  1828-1830  ;  Norman  Merriam,  Hartford,  1828-1830  ; 
William  M.  Holland,  Hartford,  1829-1832 ;  Hugh  Peters,  Hartford,  1829. 
Mr.  Peters  was  a  son  of  Judge  John  Thompson  Peters.  He  inclined  to 
poetry,  and  wrote  some  pieces  which  were  published.  He  was  drowned, 
when  thirty  years  of  age,  in  1832,  near  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  Seth  P.  Beers 
was  in  Hartford,  1830-1832  ;  but  most  of  his  professional  life  was  spent 
in  Litchfield  County,  where  he  became  a  prominent  State  official.  Asa 
Child  was  in  Hartford,  1830-1832.  He  removed  to  Norwich.  William 
Hungerford  was  a  Hartford  lawyer  from  1830  until  a  few  years  before 
his  death,  1873.  He  was  born  in  East  Haddam.  A  student  of  Hon. 
Matthew  Griswold  and  Governor  Roger  Griswold,  at  Lyme,  he  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  Bar  in  1812.  He  practised  in  his  native  town  until  1829, 
when  he  removed  to  Hartford,  where  he  became  the  most  learned  lawyer 
in  the  State.  He  is  said  to  have  read  Blackstone's  Commentaries  through 
thirty  times,  and  to  have  delighted  in  that  dryest  and  most  intricate  of 
all  legal  works,  "  Fearne  on  Contingent  Remainders."  He  was  largely 
instrumental,  through  his  briefs  in  the  Supreme  Court,  in  settling  the 
law  on  important  points  involved.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Constitu- 
tional Convention  of  1818.  Probably  the  history  of  the  profession  con- 
tains no  individual  lawyer  of  our  State  who  reached  greater  attainments 
in  learning. 

Charles  M.  Emerson  practised  in  Hartford,  1830-1838  ;  Sheldon 
Moore,  in  Southington  and  Berlin  during  the  same  period  ;  Erastus 
Smith,  first  in  Windsor,  then  in  Hartford,  1830  to  1878,  the  year  of  his 
death.  In  his  early  life  he  was  a  school-teacher.  He  was  noted  for  his 
wit  and  his  inattention  to  his  personal  appearance.  He  often  held  Court 
as  a  United  States  Commissioner. 

In  the  next  decade,  1831  to  1840,  only  thirty  new  members  appear 
in  the  list  of  practising  attorneys.  Five  of  these,  perhaps  more,  are 
living.  These  are  James  H.  Holcomb,  William  R.  Cone,  Henry  A. 
Mitchell,  Henry  Nash,  and  Francis  Fellowcs. 

Isaac  E.  Crary,  born  in  Preston,  was  "an  attorney  in  Hartford, 
1831-1832.  He  removed  to  Michigan,  where  he  became  a  major-general 
of  militia,  representative  to  Congress,  etc.  Hiram  Hunt  was  in  Farm- 
ington,  1831 ;  perhaps  he  removed  to  New  York.  Anson  Bates  was  in 
Granby  and  East  Granby,  1831-1869.  Chauncey  P.  Holcomb  was  a  law- 
yer in  Granby,  of  which  place  he  was  a  native,  in  1831.  He  removed 
thence  to  Philadelphia,  then  to  Newcastle,  Delaware,  where  he  died 
about  1850. 


THE   BENCH   AND   THE   BAR.  131 

Charles  Chapman,  mentioned  elsewhere,  was  in  Hartford,  1832-1869  ; 
the  latter  being  the  date  of  his  death.  He  was  a  most  successful  crimi- 
nal lawyer  within  and  without  this  State,  and  a  famous  wit.  John  B. 
Watson  was  in  Hartford,  1832-1838;  then  in  East  Hartford,  1839. 
Philo  A.  Goodwin  was  a  Hartford  lawyer,  1833-1840.  Edmond  Holcomb 
practised  in  Granbv,  1833-1872  ;  Hector  F.  Phelps,  in  Simsbury,  1833- 
1818.  Richard  G.  Drake  —  in  Windsor,  1833-1838,  in  Hartford,  1839- 
1858  —  was  associated  with  Charles  Chapman.  He  was  one  of  the  most 
active  grand-jurors  in  Hartford.  A.  A.  Loomis  practised  in  Hartford, 
1834-1837.  James  H.  Holcomb,  a  native  of  Granby,  practised  in  Hart- 
ford from  1834  until  his  removal  to  Nice,  France,  some  years  ago,  where 
he  now  resides.  William  R.  Cone,  a  native  of  East  Haddam,  was  asso- 
ciated with  Mr.  Hungerford,  in  Hartford,  from  1834  until  the  date  of 
Mr.  Hungerford's  death,  and  still  lives  in  Hartford,  president  of  the 
iEtna  National  Bank  and  prominent  in  affairs  in  the  city.  Henry 
Nash,  now  of  New  Britain,  has  practised  in  Hartford,  Berlin,  and  New 
Britain,  successively.  Royal  R.  Hinman,  a  native  of  Southington,  once 
Secretary  of  State,  was  a  Hartford  attorney  in  1849.  He  also  practised 
in  Southington,  1833-1834.  Henry  R.  Buckland  practised  in  Windsor, 
1834-1835. 

Edward  Goodman  practised  in  Hartford  from  1835  until  his  death 
in  1882;  James  Raymond  in  Hartford,  1835.  Benning  Mann  came 
from  Stafford  to  Hartford,  where  he  was  an  attorney,  1835-1863.  As 
a  trial-justice,  many  criminals  were  prosecuted  before  him.  M.  A. 
Nickerson  practised  in  Berlin,  1835-1836;  Henry  A.  Mitchell  (men- 
tioned elsewhere),  in  Hartford  and  Bristol  since  1836.  Frank  G.  Mer- 
riman,  in  Hartford,  1837-1839,  removed  to  Galveston,  Texas,  where  he 
may  be  still  living.  .  He  married  a  Mexican  lady  for  his  second  wife, 
and  became  a  judge,  besides  holding  other  offices. 

James  Dixon,  a  native  of  Enfield,  practised  in  Hartford,  1837-1847, 
when  he  was  elected  a  representative  to  Congress.  After  this  he  re- 
sumed practice,  1850-1857,  when  he  became  United  States  Senator, 
and  so  remained  until  1869.  He  did  not  again  resume  practice  in  his 
profession.  He  was  a  very  adroit  debater,  and  was  accomplished  in 
literature.  Henry  Perkins  practised  in  Hartford,  1838-1862  ;  Giles 
Pettibone,  in  Hartford,  1838-1841,  then  in  Simsbury  until  1852.  Fran- 
cis Fellowes,  born  in  Montville,  came  to  Hartford  about  1838,  where  he 
opened  a  law  office,  and  from  that  date  has  been  one  of  the  most  promi- 
nent and  learned  in  his  profession.  He  is  a  scholar  in  the  classics  and 
modern  languages,  and  has  recently  published  a  manual  of  Astronomy. 
William  N.  Matson  began  practice  in  Hartford  about  1838.  He  became 
Judge  of  Probate,  and  was  a  reporter  of  decisions  of  the  Supreme 
Court.  He  ceased  practice  some  years  before  his  death,  which  was  in 
1876.  William  M.  Durand  practised  in  Hartford,  1839-1841.  Thomas 
H.  Seymour's  name  was  borne  on  the  list  of  Hartford  attorneys  many 
years,  beginning  in  1839.  He  was  never,  however,  active  as  a  lawyer. 
He  was  noted  for  his  courtesy,  and  was  admired  and  loved  by  a  great 
many  friends.  He  was  a  colonel,  by  brevet,  in  the  Mexican  War,  Gov- 
ernor of  the  State,  Minister  to  Russia,  etc.     He  died  in  1868. 

From  1840  to  1849,  inclusive,  the  new  members  of  the  Bar  numbered 
about  thirty-six.     Of  this  number  probably  ten  or  twelve  are  living. 

Chauncey  Howard,  who  came  from  Coventry  to    Hartford   about 


132  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

1840,  was  many  years  Clerk  of  Courts,  and  has  been  Comptroller  of  the 
State.  He  has  retired  from  the  profession.  A.  R.  Park  had  his  office 
in  Hartford,  1840-1841 ;  Silas  Gridlev,  in  Bristol,  1840-1846  ;  Charles 
H.  Tuthill,  Hartford,  1841-1847  ;  John  Brocklesby,  Jr.,  Hartford,  1842. 
He  has  since  been  a  professor  and  acting  president  of  Trinity  College. 
He  is  an  author  of  several  works  relating  to  physics,  astronomy,  etc.  He 
came  from  England  when  about  ten  years  of  age.  James  C.  Walkley, 
of  Haddam,  began  practice  in  Hartford  in  1842,  but  is  now  in  private 
life.  Thomas  M.  Day  (son  of  Thomas,  elsewhere  noticed)  an  attorney 
in  Hartford  since  1841,  has  been  long  out  of  practice.  He  was  for  some 
years  an  editor  of  the  "  Courant."  John  Chenevard  Comstock,of  Hart- 
ford, a  son  of  John  Lee  Comstock,  the  noted  author  of  works  on  natural 
history  and  physics,  was  a  Hartford  lawyer  from  1842  until  the  outbreak 
of  the  Civil  War,  when  he  entered  the  service  as  a  commissioned  officer. 
He  has  since  died.  Thomas  S.  Williams,  2d,  appears  in  Hartford,  1842, 
the  year  of  his  death. 

Aholiab  Johnson,  who  began  in  Enfield,  in  1842,  is  still  living.  John 
Hooker,  of  Farmington,  practised  there,  1842-1851,  since  which  time 
he  has  been  a  Hartford  lawyer.  He  has  been  reporter  of  decisions  in 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State  since  1858.  Frederick  M.  Walker  was 
in  Enfield,  1842-1844  ;  Seymour  N.  Case,  in  Hartford,  1843,  until  his 
death  in  1872  ;  Governor  Richard  Dudley  Hubbard  (noticed  elsewhere), 
in  Hartford,  1843-1884;  William  D.  Ely,  in  Hartford,  1844-1856; 
Samuel  E.  Hartwell,  Suffield,  1844-1845  ;  Henry  T.  Welles,  Hartford, 
1845-1846. 

Charles  De  Wolf  Brownell,  the  artist,  is  registered  as  a  Hartford 
lawyer,  1845-1848  ;  Henry  Howard  Brownell,  Hartford,  1845-1848 ;  East 
Hartford,  1851.  He  was  Admiral  Farragut's  Secretary,  and  the  author 
of  several  stirring  "  War  Lyrics,"  published  during  the  late  Civil  War. 
Elihu  Spencer  practised  in  Hartford,  1846  ;  Horace  Cornwall,  Hartford, 
1846-1850  ;  East  Hartford,  1851,  whence  he  returned  to  Hartford. 

Lucius  F.  Robinson  practised  in  Hartford  from  1846  until  his  death 
in  1861.  He  ranked  very  high  in  his  profession,  though  cut  off  before 
he  had  reached  his  prime.  His  wife  was  the  only  daughter  of  Governor 
Joseph  Trumbull.  The  world  is  indebted  to  him  for  some  fine  literary 
productions,  among  which  are  his  notes  and  translations  from  the  Greek, 
Latin,  and  Hebrew  in  an  edition  of  Mather's  Magnalia.  The  Hon.  Henry 
C.  Robinson  is  his  brother.  Edwin  0.  Goodwin  was  a  Hartford  lawyer 
in  1846  ;  in  Bristol,  1849-1860.  Charles  K.  Atwood,  of  Newington,  was 
in  Hartford,  1847 ;  Eliphalet  Adams  Bulkeley,of  Colchester,  1847-1871, 
the  latter  year  being  the  date  of  his  death.  He  had  practised  in  East 
Haddam  before  coming  to  Hartford.  He  was  the  first  judge  of  the 
Hartford  Police  Court.  He  had  retired  from  practice,  long  before  his 
death,  to  become  president  of  the  JEtna  Life  Insurance  Company. 
Andrew  Miller  was  in  Hartford,  1847.  Dwight  W.  Pardee,  mentioned 
elsewhere,  began  practice  in  Hartford  in  1847.  Hubert  F.  North  was 
an  attorney  in  Berlin,  1847-1850  ;  R.  A.  Erving  was  in  Hartford,  1848- 
1854,  and  was  lost  in  the  steamer  "  Pacific;"  A.  R.  Wadsworth  was  in 
Farmington,  1848-1849.  Calvin  W.  Phileo  was  in  Suffield,  1848-1853  ; 
in  Hartford,  1854-1858.  He  was  the  author  of  "  Twice  Married,"  and 
other  published  works.  He  died  young.  Lewis  J.  Dudley  was  in  Hart- 
ford one  year,  1849.     Samuel  P.  Newell  has  practised  in  Bristol,  his 


THE  BENCH  AND   THE   BAR.  133 

native  town,  since  1849;  Thomas  Cowles,  in  Farmington,  where  he  was 
born,  1849-1884,  the  year  of  his  death ;  Alfred  J.  Works,  in  Thomp- 
sonville,  1849-1850;  Jeffrey  0.  Phelps,  Si\,  of  whom  mention  is  made 
elsewhere,  in  Simsbury,  from  1849  until  his  decease  about  1877.  He 
was  admitted  late  in  life,  upon  an  examination ;  a  wholly  self-taught 
student. 

From  1850  to  1859,  inclusive,  there  were  nearly,  if  not  quite,  seventy 
members  added  to  the  Hartford  County  Bar.  Probably  more  than  one 
fifth  have  since  died.  Among  those  who  have  passed  away  are :  Colo- 
nel Henry  Champion  Deming,  noted  as  a  scholar  and  orator,  of  whom 
a  sketch  appears  elsewhere  ;  Henry  Sherman,  a  native  of  Albany, 
who  came  to  Manchester  from  New  York  City  about  1850,  thence  to 
Hartford,  1852,  where  he  remained  until  about  1863  ;  author  of  a 
Digest  of  the  Law  of  Marine  Insurance  and  of  a  Governmental  His- 
tory of  the  United  States  ;  Heman  Humphrey  Barbour,  a  native  of 
Canton,  a  successful  lawyer,  and  judge  of  the  Hartford  Court  of  Pro- 
bate ;  Jerome  B.  Brown*  in  Hartford  ;  Goodwin  Collier  (died  1885), 
a  native  of  Hartford,  where,  while  a  resident  of  Connecticut,  he  prac- 
tised, was  possessed  of  a  large  amount  of  general  information,  and 
was  an  authority  in  musical  matters.  He  was  judge  of  the  police 
court.  Wait  N.  Hawley  was  in  Thompsonville  and  Hartford  ;  Seth  E. 
Case,  in  New  Britain ;  George  W.  (ridding,  in  Hartford  ;  died  young. 
John  C.  Palmer,  a  native  of  East  Haddam,  practised  a  short  time 
in  Hartford,  when  he  became  president  of  the  Sharps  Rifle  Manufac- 
turing Company.  Julius  L.  Strong,  a  native  of  Bolton,  and  student 
of  Judge  Martin  Welles,  and  died  in  1872,  while  a  member  of  the 
lower  house  of  Congress.1  Henry  Kirke  White  Welch,  a  native  of 
Mansfield  and  former  resident  of  Wethersfield,  though  dying  at  the 
age  of  forty-nine  years,  was  in  the  front  rank  in  his  profession. 

Some  of  the  most  prominent  citizens  and  lawyers  still  living,  who 
joined  or  were  admitted  during  the  decade  ending  in  1859, maybe  men- 
tioned here.  They  include :  the  Hon.  Charles  R.  Chapman,  now  post- 
master of  Hartford  ;  General  Joseph  Roswell  Hawley  ;  ex-Police-Judge 
George  S.  Gilman ;  ex-United  States  Senator  William  W.  Eaton  (born 
in  Tolland)  ;  Francis  Chambers,  from  Rocky  Hill ;  Samuel  Finley  Jones, 
from  Marlborough  ;  Frederick  B.  Perkins,  a  well-known  author  and 
magazine  writer,  now  of  San  Francisco ;  Judge  Nathaniel  Shipman,  of 
the  United  States  District  Court  for  Connecticut;  David  S.  Calhoun, 
now  Judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas ;  Walter  S.  Merrell,  of  South- 
ington,  ex-Judge  of  Probate  ;  Robert  E.  Day,  from  East  Haddam, 
now  president  of  the  Security  Company,  Hartford  ;  James  Nichols, 
ex-Judge  of  Probate  for  Hartford ;  ex-Judge  William  D.  Shipman, 
United  States  District  Court,  now  of  New  York  City ;  George  Griswold 
Sill,  ex-Lieutenant-Governor  of  the  State;  Zalmon  A.  Storrs,  once  judge 
of  the  County  Court  for  Tolland  County,  now  treasurer  of  the  Society 
for  Savings ;  Roger  Welles,  of  Newington,  and  historian  of  that  town- 
ship ;  Charles  H.  Briscoe,  of  Enfield,  ex-Judge  of  the  Common  Pleas 
Court ;  Charles  W.  Johnson,  son  of  General  Nathan  Johnson,  now  clerk 
of  the  Supreme  and  Superior  Courts;  Elisha  Johnson,  ex-Judge  of  the 

1  His  former  law-partner,  the  Hon.  John  R.  Buck,  of  this  city,  now  occupies  the  seat  in 
Congress. 


134  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

City  and  Police  Courts  ;  Henry  C.  Robinson,  who  was  twice  the  candi- 
date of  the  Republican  party  for  governor  of  Connecticut ;  Charles  J. 
Hoadly,  a  noted  historian,  and,  for  many  years  past,  State  Librarian ; 
Charles  E.  Perkins,  a  leading  lawyer,  president  of  the  Bar  Association  ; 
Charles  Whittlesey,  an  officer  in  the  late  Civil  War,  perhaps  deceased  ; 
Austin  Hart,  once  in  Farming-ton,  now  in  New  Britain ;  Major  John  C. 
Parsons,  son  of  the  late  Judge  Francis  Parsons  ;  John  Hurlburt  White, 
Judge  of  Probate  for  Hartford;  William  S.  Goslee,  the  historian  of 
Glastonbury. 

The  decade  ending  in  1869  witnessed  the  advent  of  about  eighty 
additional  members  of  this  Bar.  Probably  one  sixth,  or  more,  of  these 
have  died.  Many  are  in  parts  unknown  to  the  writer.  Among  the 
dead  are:  Captain  Charles  Edwin  Bulkeley,  son  of  the  late  Judge  Eli- 
phalet  A.  Bulkeley,  of  Hartford,  died  in  the  late  war  ;  Francis  Fellowes, 
Jr.,  who  served  in  the  late  war,  died  a  few  years  after  its  close  at  Hart- 
ford ;  Albert  W.  Drake,  who  was  first  lieutenant  of  Captain  Joseph  R. 
Hawley's  company,  organized  April  22,  1801 ;  Henry  L.  Miller,  a  judge 
of  the  City  Court ;  Ezra  Hall,  a  native  of  Marlborough,  a  State  Senator, 
and  president  pro  tern,  of  the  Senate ;  Monroe  E.  Merrill,  from  Bark- 
hnmsted,  Judge  of  the  Hartford  Police  Court.  Loren  Pinckney  Waldo, 
who  came  to  Hartford  from  Tolland,  1863,  was  one  of  the  ablest  and 
most  upright  members  of  the  Bar.  He  was  honored  with  many  minor 
offices  ;  was  State's  attorney  for  Tolland  County,  Judge  of  Probate,  rep- 
resentative to  Congress,  Commissioner  of  Pensions  under  President 
Pierce,  twice  on  the  committee  for  the  revision  of  the  Statutes  of  Con- 
necticut, and  Judge  of  the  Superior  Court.  He  was  also  president  of 
the  Bar  Association  and  author  of  a  History  of  Tolland. 

George  Dennison  Prentice  and  William  Henry  Burleigh,  both  once 
residents  of  Hartford,  were  members  of  the  Bar.  But  they  were  more 
conspicuous  as  poets  and  journalists. 

In  the  last  sixteen  years  many  have  joined  the  ranks  of  the  legal 
fraternity,  some  of  whom  have  already  risen  to  positions  of  honor  and 
trust  or  have  become  prominent  in  their  chosen  profession.  Some  have 
passed  from  earth,  some  have  removed  to  other  places,  some  (a  very 
few)  have  been  expelled,  and  the  standard  of  qualifications  for  admis- 
sion is  higher  than  ever  before.  With  all  the  vacancies  that  have 
occurred,  the  ranks  are  still  over-full ;  and  we  cannot,  with  the  limited 
time  and  space  at  command,  even  mention  many  whose  names  we  would 
gladly  include  in  this  too  long-drawn  sketch  of  members  of  the  Hartford 
County  Bar. 


Note.  The  writer  is  indebted  to  the  Hoii.  Henry  C.  Robinson,  and  to  Charles  J.  Hoadly, 
Esq.,  for  valuable  suggestions  made  by  them  during  the  preparation  of  this  article.  It  is  to 
be  especially  observed  that,  owing  to  the  limited  space  of  this  paper,  no  attempt  is  made  to 
name  the  living  attorneys  admitted  to  the  bar  since  1859.  This  accounts  for  the  absence  of 
the  names  of  some  of  the  leading  lawyers  of  the  present  time. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

THE  MEDICAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD   COUNTY. 
I. 

BY    W.  A.  M.  WAINWKIGHT,    M.D. 

THE  history  of  medicine  in  the  Connecticut  Colony,  for  a  hundred 
years  after  its  first  settlement,  is  meagre  enough.  During  this 
period  very  few  regularly  graduated  practitioners  of  the  old  country 
appear  to  have  been  attracted  by  the  "  opening  "  offered  to  them  in 
the  new.  For  instance,  Judd,  in  his  History  of  Hadley,  Mass.  says, 
that  from  the  year  1667  to  1730  there  was  no  physician  or  surgeon  in 
Northampton,  which  was  "  a  large  and  rich  town." 

Dr.  Samuel  A.  Green,  in  his  "  History  of  Medicine  in  Massachu- 
setts," is  authority  for  the  following  statement :  "  Harvard  College  was 
founded  in  the  year  1638  ;  and  during  the  period  from  this  time  till 
1750  there  were  but  nine  of  its  graduates  who  had  ever  received  a 
medical  degree." 

In  anticipation  of  their  exodus  to  this  country,  many  ministers 
studied  the  medical  art,  so  that  they  might  be  able  in  their  new  habita- 
tion to  care  for  the  bodies  as  well  as  the  souls  of  their  flocks.  Many 
of  them  were  able  physicians  ;  and  some,  after  a  time,  relinquished  their 
ministerial  duties,  and  confined  themselves  to  the  practice  of  medicine 
and  surgery  ;  being  licensed  as  regular  practitioners  by  the  General 
Court  of  the  colony.  The  "  goodwife,"  with  her  knowledge  of  "  sim- 
ples," and  the  horrible  compounds  of  bugs,  animal  secretions  and  ex- 
cretions, and  the  like,  which  were  in  common  use,  was  also  a  medical 
power,  and  held  her  own  in  the  practice  of  the  healing  art.  Each  of 
the  early  settlements  doubtless  had  one  or  more  "  old  women,"  whose 
services  were  usually  called  for  in  cases  of  sickness,  and  whose  opinions 
were  looked  up  to  and  relied  upon.  This  was  particularly  the  case  in 
childbirth,  as  for  many  years  the  practice  of  obstetrics  was  entirely 
in  the  hands  of  the  midwives.  In  the  early  years  of  the  colony,  all 
that  was  necessary  to  become  a  "  respectable  practitioner  "  of  medicine 
was  to  study,  or,  as  it  was  often  called,  "  to  ride,"  with  some  medical 
man  for  a  year  or  two,  seeing  his  patients,  and  getting  from  him  what 
medical  knowledge  he  was  able  to  impart.  Application  was  then  made 
to  the  General  Court  of  the  colony  for  a  license  to  "  practice  Physic 
and  Chirurgery."  If  the  application  was  indorsed  by  a  few  respectable 
names,  the  license  was  granted,  and  the  applicant  became  a  "  Doctor." 
There  were  many,  of  course,  who  practised  medicine  without  this  license, 
as  it  was  not  required  by  law.  Any  one,  after  "  riding  "  with  a  doctor, 
could  go  into  practice  as  soon  as  he  felt  able  to  ride  alone. 


136  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF  HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

The  earliest  medical  name  found  in  the  records  of  the  colony  is  that 
of  Dr.  Bray  (or  Bryan)  Rosseter,  who  was  the  first  physician,  and  one 
of  the  most  prominent  men  among  the  first  settlers  of  Windsor  in 
1036.  He  was  admitted  to  practice  by  the  General  Court  of  Connecti- 
cut shortly  after  his  arrival,  "  being  first  tried  and  approved  by  Rev. 
Mr.  Hooker,  Rev.  Mr.  Stone,  and  old  Mr.  Smith,  of  Wethersfield,  in  the 
face  of  said  Court." 

He  was  also  a  magistrate,  and  served  as  town  clerk  until  1652, 
about  which  time  he  moved  to  Guilford,  where  he  died  in  1672.  In 
January,  1655-6,  the  town  of  Hartford  granted  £10  "towaids  [the 
Kev.]  Mr.  Stone's  charge  of  Phissick  which  he  hath  taken  of  Mr.  Rosse- 
ter." The  next  year  Mr.  Stone  gave,  as  one  reason  of  his  proposed 
removal  from  Hartford,  that  "  we  have  no  Physician  at  Hartford  or 
near  at  hand,"  and  made  it  a  condition  of  his  remaining,  that  the  church 
should  engage  "  to  procure  some  able  phisitian  to  dwell  and  settle  here 
in  Hartford  before  the  next  October  (1657),  if  it  be  possible  that  such 
a  man  may  be  obtayned." 

Stiles,  in  his  History  of  Windsor,  says,  "The  first  post-mortem  ex- 
amination made  in  the  colony  of  Connecticut  was  made  by  Dr.  Rosse- 
ter." "  March  11th  1662-3.  The  Court  allows  unto  Mr.  Rosseter 
twenty  pounds  in  reference  to  opening  Kellies  child,  and  his  paynes  to 
visit  the  Dep.  Governor,  and  his  paynes  in  visiting  and  administering 
to  Mr.  Talcott." 

It  is  not  absolutely  certain  that  this  "  opening  Kellies  child  "  was 
not  some  ante-mortem  surgical  operation ;  but  if  it  was  post-mortem,  as 
is  most  probable,  it  was  the  first  autopsy  made  in  New  England,  of 
which  any  record  has  been  found,  antedating  by  a  dozen  years  the  one 
made  in  Boston  in  1674,  an  account  of  which  is  given  by  Dr.  Green  in 
his  "  History  of  Medicine  in  Massachusetts,"  and  said  by  him  to  have 
been  "  one  of  the  earliest  recorded  instances  of  a  post-mortem  examina- 
tion to  be  found  in  New  England." 

From  1636  to  1652  there  appears  to  have  been  but  one  other  regu- 
larly authorized  practitioner  of  medicine  in  the  colony.  This  was 
Dr.  Jasper  Gunn,  who  came  over  to  this  country  in  1635,  at  the  age 
of  twenty-nine.  In  May,  1636,  he  was  made  a  freeman  of  Massachusetts, 
and  settled  in  Roxburv.  He  removed  to  Milford,  and  afterward,  about 
1646,  to  Hartford.  The  inventory  of  Giles  Whiting,  April,  1656,  men- 
tions his  indebtedness  "  to  Jasper  Gunn  for  physic  and  visits  £2.10." 
In  May,  1657,  the  General  Court  of  Connecticut  freed  him  from  "  train- 
ing, watching,  and  warding  during  his  practice  of  Physic."  Soon  after 
this  he  returned  to  Milford,  where  he  died  in  1670.  In  the  Trinity  Col- 
lege Library  is  a  curious  old  Almanac  published  in  London  in  1652,  by 
Sir  George  Wharton,  which  belonged  to  Dr.  Jasper  Gunn.  It  is  in- 
terleaved, and  was  used  by  him  as  an  account-book,  and  on  its  pages 
are  charges  for  medical  services  and  drugs,  against  many  of  the  promi- 
nent citizens  of  Hartford  of  that  clay.  There  is  also  in  the  library  a 
book  which  belonged  to  Dr.  Rosseter.  It  is  a  large  vellum-bound  folio, 
a  Commentary  on  Hippocrates,  by  Vallesius,  published  in  Cologne  in 
1588.  On  the  titlepage  is  written,  "  Ex  dono  diffii  Hopkins,  Bray 
Rosseter  his  book." 

In  1652  Thomas  Lord  was  licensed  by  the  General  Court  to  practise 
physic  and  surgery  in  Hartford  and  the  neighboring  towns.     His  fees 


MEDICAL   HISTORY.  137 

were  as  follows  :  "  This  Court  doth  grant  that  he  shall  be  paid  by  the 
County  the  sum  of  fifteen  pounds  for  the  said  ensuing  year,  and  they 
do  declare  that  for  every  visit  or  journey  that  he  shall  take  or  make, 
being  sent  for  to  any  house  in  Hartford,  twelve  pence  is  reasonable ;  to 
any  house  in  Windsor,  five  shillings ;  to  any  house  in  Wethersfield, 
three  shillings  ;  to  any  house  in  Farmington,  six  shillings  ;  to  any  house 
in  Mattabeseck  [Middlctown]  eight  shillings  (he  having  promised  that 
he  will  require  no  more)  ;  and  that  he  shall  be  freed  for  the  time  afore- 
said from  watching,  warding,  and  training,  but  not  from  finding  arms 
according  to  law."     Dr.  Lord  died  in  Wethersfield  in. 1662. 

In  1651  Daniel  Porter  of  Farmington  was  licensed  to  practise 
"  Physic  and  Chirurgery,"  and  was  allowed  "six  pounds  a  year  with  six 
shillings  to  each  town  upon  the  river  to  exercise  his  art  of  surgery." 
He  seems  to  have  had  considerable  reputation  as  a  bone-setter.  In 
1670  the  General  Court  raised  his  salary  on  the  condition  that  he  would 
instruct  one  or  more  persons  in  his  art.  Thomas  Hooker,  of  Farming- 
ton,  and  Samuel  Mather,  of  Windsor,  were  the  two  selected,  and  in  clue 
time  were  licensed  to  practise  "  Physick  and  Chyrurgy  in  this  Colonic" 
The  first  really  noted  medical  name  to  appear  in  the  records  of  the 
"  good  old  colony  times  "  is  that  of  Gershom  Bulkeley.  He  was  the 
son  of  the  Rev.  Peter  Bulkeley,  who  came  from  England  and  settled 
in  Concord,  Mass.,  in  1635.  Dr.  Bulkeley  was  born  during  the 
voyage.  He  graduated  at  Harvard  College,  and  after  pursuing  the 
study  of  Divinity  and  Medicine  for  several  years,  removed  to  Connecti- 
cut. For  twenty  years  he  followed  the  ministry,  and  was  pastor  of  the 
churches  in  New  London  and  Wethersfield.  In  one  of  the  Indian  wars 
he  was  chosen  surgeon  to  the  colonial  forces.  He  then  gave  up  the 
ministry,  and  in  1686  the  General  Court,  "  being  acquainted  with  the 
ability,  skill,  and  knowledge  of  Gershom  Bulkeley  in  the  art  of  physic 
and  chirurgery,  did  grant  him  full  and  free  liberty  and  license  to  prac- 
tise as  there  shall  be  occasion  and  he  shall  be  agreeable."  From  this 
it  is  evident  that  during  the  twenty  years  of  his  ministerial  life  he 
practised  as  well  as  preached.  He  finally  removed  to  the  east  side  of 
the  river,  afterward  incorporated  as  Glastonbury,  and  for  thirty  years 
followed  the  practice  of  medicine.  He  died  in  Glastonbury,  in  1713, 
at  the  age  of  seventy -eight  years.  From  the  inscription  upon  his  grave- 
stone in  the  churchyard  in  Wethersfield  it  appears  that  he  was  regarded 
as  a  "  man  of  rare  abilities  and  extraordinary  industry,  excellent  in 
learning,  master  of  many  languages,  exquisite  in  his  skill  in  Divinity, 
Physics,  and  Law,  and  of  a  most  exemplary  and  Christian  life.  In  cer- 
tain spem  beatce  resurrectionis  repositus."  Most  of  his  medical  library 
is  now  in  the  possession  of  Trinity  College. 

Mention  should  be  made  of  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  who  while  Governor 
of  Connecticut  lived  in  Hartford  (1657  to  1676).  He  was  a  noted 
physician  and  an  accomplished  scholar,  and  doubtless  practised  his 
profession  in  the  colony. 

Dr.  Samuel  Mather,  of  Windsor,  was  born  at  Branford  in  1677, 
graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1698,  and  was  licensed  to  practise  by 
the  General  Court  in  1702.  He  was  held  in  high  esteem  both  as  a 
physician  and  a  citizen,  holding  civil  and  military  offices  of  importance. 
He  died  Feb.  6,  1745,  in  the  sixty-eighth  year  of  his  age.  Samuel 
Higlcy,  of  Simsbury,  was  licensed  to  practise  in  1717.     He  kept  school 


138  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

for  three  years,  during  two  of  which  he  studied  medicine  with  Drs. 
Thomas  Hooker  and  Samuel  Mather,  and  was  a  man  of  considerable 
scientific  attainments.  He  discovered  a  process  of  making-  steel,  and 
in  May,  1728,  received  a  patent  for  it  from  the  General  Assembly.  The 
record  reads  as  follows :  "  The  said  Higiey  hath  found  out  and  ob- 
tained a  curious  art  by  which  to  convert,  change,  and  transmute  com- 
mon iron  into  good  steel  sufficient  for  any  use,  and  that  he  was  the 
very  first  that  ever  performed  such  an  operation  in  America  .  .  .  asks 
for  the  privilege  and  license  for  the  sole  practice  of  the  said  art  for  a 
term  of  ten  years.  We,  being  willing  to  give  all  due  encouragement  to 
works  of  this  nature,  are  pleased  to  condescend  to  this  request." 

In  1722,  Dr.  Jonathan  Bull,  who,  Dr.  Sumner  says,  "  was  for  many 
years  the  physician  of  the  county,"  was,  after  studying  with  a  physician 
in  Boston  for  seven  years,  licensed  to  practise  medicine  in  Hartford. 

In  1736,  Dr.  Norman  Morrison,  a  native  of  Scotland,  bearing  a 
medical  diploma  from  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  came  to  this  country 
and  settled  in  Hartford.  He  was  regarded  as  a  learned  physician,  and 
became  the  instructor  of  many  young  men  in  the  colony.  "  He  died 
much  loved  and  lamented,  April  9, 1761,  in  ye  55  year  of  his  age."  Dr. 
Sumner  says  of  him  :  "  He  was  the  first  man  in  the  colony  who  separated 
the  practice  of  medicine  from  pharmacy  and  encouraged  the  establish- 
ment of  an  independent  apothecary  in  this  city  [Hartford],  and  by  so 
doing  he  proved  himself  in  advance  of  the  other  physicians." 1  Dr. 
Joseph  M.  Toner,  of  Washington,  D.  C,  in  his  "  Contributions  to  the 
Annals  of  Medical  Progress  in  the  United  States,"  says  that  Dr.  John 
Morgan  of  Philadelphia  was,  in  1765,  the  first  American  physician  to 
adopt  and  publicly  advocate  the  theory  that  medical  men  should  confine 
themselves  to  prescribing  remedies,  leaving  to  the  apothecary  the  com- 
pounding of  medicines."  Perhaps  Dr.  Morgan  got  his  ideas  on  this 
subject  from  Dr.  Morrison,  who  had,  some  years  before,  advocated  the 
same  theory  in  Hartford. 

Jonathan  Williams  graduated  from  Yale  College  in  1722,  and  prac- 
tised medicine  in  Wethersfield.    He  died  in  1738,  aged  thirty-two  years. 

Samuel  Porter,  of  Farmington,  was  licensed  in  1720,  and  was  a  sur- 
geon of  some  repute.     The  following  certificate  is  in  existence  :  — 

"  This  may  certify  that  I,  the  subscriber,  do  judge  the  abovesaid  Thos.  Thomp- 
son has  a  considerable  insight  in  the  art  of  physic  and  chirurgery,  and  has  for 
many  years  practised  the  said  art  and  with  good  success  in  his  administrations. 

Samuel  Pokter,  allowed  Chirurgeon. 

"  Farmington,  May  the  12th,  1721." 

Among  the  early  physicians  of  Farmington  were  Drs.  Hart,  Judd, 
Stanley,  Thompson,  and  Wadsworth.    Little  is  known  concerning  them. 

1  Two  establishments  for  the  sale  of  drugs  and  medicjnes  were  opened  in  Hartford  in 
1757  :  one  by  Dr.  Sylvanus  Gardiner,  an  eminent  physician  of  Boston,  who  set  up  here  a 
branch  of  his  establishment  in  that  city  for  the  importation  and  sale  of  drugs,  intrusting  the 
business  to  a  junior  partner,  Dr.  William  Jepson,  under  the  firm  name  of  Gardiner  &  Jepson  ; 
the  other  by  Dr.  Daniel  Lothrop,  of  Norwich,  in  connection  with  Solomon  Smith.  Dr.  Lo- 
throp,  "  the  first  druggist  in  Norwich,  and  probably  the  first  in  Connecticut  who  kept  any 
general  assortment  of  medicines  for  sale,"  was  a  graduate  of  Yale  College,  and  had  prosecuted 
his  professional  studies  in  London.  Solomon  Smith  was  one  of  his  apprentices  and  students. 
In  July,  1760,  "  Lothrop  &  Smith,  at  their  store  in  King  [now  Main]  Street,"  advertised  "just 
imported  from  London,  a  large  and  universal  assortment  of  medicines  genuine  and  of  the  best 
kind,  sets  of  surgeon's  instruments,"  etc. 


MEDICAL   HISTORY.  139 

Dr.  Timothy  Hosmer  was  born  in  West  Hartford,  but  began  medical 
practice  in  Farmington,  and  resided  there  many  years.  He  served  in  the 
Revolutionary  War  as  a  surgeon,  and  after  leaving  the  army  returned  to 
Farmington,  where  he  resided  until  1790,  when  he  removed  to  the  State 
of  New  York,  and  was  appointed  the  first  judge  of  Ontario  County. 

Dr.  John  Hart,  a  native  of  Kensington,  was  also  a  surgeon  in  the 
Revolutionary  War.  He  came  to  Farmington  at  some  time  during 
the  war,  and  remained  there  until  about  1798,  when  he  entered  the 
naval  service  of  the  United  States,  and  soon  after  died  at  sea. 

Dr.  James  Hurlburt  was  born  at  Berlin  in  1717,  and  for  many 
years  practised  medicine  in  his  native  town.  He  was  a  noted  character 
of  his  time,  learned,  eccentric,  and  unfortunate.  He  died  penniless,  and 
but  for  the  friendship  of  one  of  the  patrons  of  his  early  days,  would 
have  died  homeless  as  well.  The  last  years  of  his  life  were  spent  in 
Wethersfield,  where  he  died  April  11,  1794,  aged  seventy-seven  years. 

Dr.  Alexander  Wolcott,  a  distinguished  practitioner  of  Windsor, 
was  born  Jan.  7,  1712.  He  was  a  son  of  Governor  Roger  Wolcott, 
and  a  great-grandson  of  Henry  Wolcott,  the  first  ancestor  of  the  family 
in  Connecticut.  He  studied  medicine  with  Dr.  Norman  Morrison,  and 
about  the  year  1740  began  the  practice  of  his  profession  in  his  native 
town,  where  he  lived  honored  and  respected  until  his  death,  in  1795. 

A  word  must  be  said  of  "  Dr.  Primus,"  who  practised  medicine  with 
much  success,  and  gained  considerable  reputation  for  being  a  skilful 
physician.  Primus  was  a  negro  slave,  and  for  many  years  a  faithful 
servant  of  Dr.  Wolcott.  He  accompanied  the  Doctor  on  his  medical 
drives,  and  helped  him  in  compounding  medicines,  etc.  In  his  old  age, 
and  as  a  reward  for  his  faithful  service,  the  Doctor  gave  him  his  liberty. 
Primus  very  soon  went  to  the  other  side  of  the  river,  and,  as  "  Dr. 
Primus,"  obtained  a  considerable  practice,  often  running  across  the 
tracks  of  his  former  master. 

Another  prominent  medical  name  connected  with  Windsor  is  that 
of  Dr.  Elihu  Tudor,  son  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Tudor,  and  born  in  that 
town,  Feb.  8,  1782.  He  graduated  from  Yale  College  in  1750,  and 
studied  medicine  with  Dr.  Benjamin  Gale,  of  Killingworth,  wdio  was  a 
famous  physician  in  his  day.  Dr.  Tudor  went  to  London  in  1762,  and 
pursued  his  medical  studies  there  for  two  years,  after  which  he  returned 
and  settled  in  East  Windsor,  where  he  practised  for  many  years.  His 
reputation  as  a  surgeon  was  at  one  time  equal  if  not  superior  to  that  of 
any  other  in  New  England.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Con- 
necticut Medical  Society,  and  its  second  vice-president.  He  died  in 
1826,  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety-three  years. 

Dr.  Timothy  Mather  also  practised  in  Windsor.  He  died  April  5, 
1788,  aged  thirty-four  years. 

Dr.  Charles  Mather  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1763.  He  prac- 
tised in  East  (now  South)  Windsor  until  about  1795,  when  he  removed 
to  Hartford,  where  he  gained  considerable  reputation,  especially  in  the 
treatment  of  the  diseases  of  women.     He  died  in  1822. 

Dr.  Christopher  Wolcott  also  practised  in  Windsor.  He  was  one  of 
the  founders  of  the  Hartford  County  Medical  Society. 

Dr.  Lemuel  Hopkins,  of  Hartford,  was  in  the  last  quarter  of  the 
eighteenth  century  one  of  the  most  eminent  practitioners  of  the  county, 
and  ranked  among  the  first  physicians  of  the  State,  if  not  at  the  head 


140  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

of  the  profession.  He  was  born  at  Waterbury,  June  19,  1750.  He 
practised  for  some  years  (1776  to  1784)  with  Dr.  Seth  Bird,  of  Litch- 
field, with  whom  he  studied  medicine,  and  then  removed  to  Hartford, 
where  he  continued  in  practice  during  his  life.  He  was  a  learned  man 
outside  of  his  profession,  and  a  poet  and  political  writer  of  much  note 
in  his  clay.  In  1784  he  received  an  honorary  degree  from  Yale  Col- 
lege. He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Connecticut  Medical  Society. 
He  died  April  14,  1801,  in  the  fifty-first  year  of  his  age. 

Josiah  Rose,  a  native  of  Wethersfield,  was  a  leading  physician  and 
surgeon  in  his  day.     He  died  in  1786,  aged  seventy  years. 

Dr.  William  Jepson  was  a  prominent  physician  of  Hartford,  in  the 
last  half  of  the  last  century  (see  note  on  a  previous  page). 

Dr.  Isaac  Mosely,  graduated  from  Yale  in  1762,  was  a  practising 
physician  of  Glastonbury.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution  he  re- 
moved to  England,  his  sympathies  being  with  the  mother  country. 

Dr.  Elizur  Hale  was  also  a  practitioner,  and  a  native  of  Glastonbury. 
He  graduated  from  Yale  College  in  1742.  His  son  Elizur  was  a  practi- 
tioner in  the  same  town.     He  died  Dec.  6,  1796. 

Dr.  Aaron  Roberts,  of  Cromwell,  served  throughout  the  Revolution- 
ary War,  and  settled  in  New  Britain  in  1783.  He  died  in  that  town, 
Nov.  21,  1792,  aged  sixty-two  years. 

Asaph  Coleman,  born  in  Colchester,  began  the  practice  of  medicine 
in  Glastonbury  in  1774.  He  served  throughout  the  Revolution  as  a 
surgeon  of  Connecticut  troops.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
Hartford  County  Medical  Society.  He  died  Nov.  15,  1820,  aged 
seventy-three  years. 

Dr.  Eliakim  Fish,  a  prominent  physician  of  Hartford,  was  born  in 
1741,  and  graduated  from  Yale  College  in  1760.  He  was  the  first  presi- 
dent of  the  Hartford  County  Medical  Society.     He  died  May  7,  1804. 

Dr.  Josiah  Belden  was  born  in  Wethersfield,  March  29,  1768,  and 
graduated  from  Yale  College  in  1787,  at  the  age  of  nineteen  years.  He 
was  a  pupil  of  Dr.  Lemuel  Hopkins,  and  settled  in  his  native  town, 
where  he  was  held  in  great  esteem  both  as  a  physician  and  as  an  up- 
right and  godly  man.  He  died  June  6,  1818,  at  the  age  of  forty,  of 
spotted  fever,  in  the  fatal  epidemic  of  that  disease. 

The  Hartford  County  Medical  Society  was  established  Sept.  25,  1792. 
On  the  19th  of  the  April  preceding,  a  meeting  of  the  physicians  and 
surgeons  of  the  county  had  been  held  at  Hartford,  in  accordance 
with  a  request  from  the  Medical  Society  of  New  Haven  County,  which 
had  been  established  in  1784.  The  object  of  this  meeting  was  to  appoint 
delegates  "to  unite  with  delegates  from  the  several  counties  in  the  State 
(in  a  general  convention  at  Hartford  in  May  next  ensuing)  in  fram- 
ing a  General  Bill  of  Incorporation  of  the  Faculty  thro'out  this  State, 
and  to  present  the  same,  that  it  may  be  passed  into  an  Act  by  the  then 
convened  General  Assembly."  Dr.  Elihu  Tudor  was  chairman  of  this 
meeting,  and  Dr.  Elihu  H.  Smith,  clerk.  The  convention  was  held  at 
the  time  appointed,  and  the  Act  duly  passed  by  the  General  Assembly, 
and  "  agreeable  to  Act,"  etc.,  the  first  meeting  of  the  Hartford  County 
Medical  Society  was  held  at  Hartford,  Sept.  25,  1792.  From  that  time 
to  the  present,  a  period  of  ninety-two  years,  a  meeting  of  this  society 
has  been  held  each  year  at  Hartford.  The  officers  of  this  first  meeting 
were  Dr.   Eliakim  Fish,  moderator ;  Dr.  Elihu  H.  Smith,  clerk  ;  and 


MEDICAL   HISTORY. 


141 


Dr.  John  Indicott,  treasurer.  The  delegates  elected  to  represent  the 
county  at  the  first  meeting  of  the  Connecticut  Medical  Society,  which 
was  held  at  Middletown  on  the  second  Tuesday  of  October,  1792,  were 
Dr.  Eliakim  Fish,  Dr.  Elihu  Tudor,  Dr.  Lemuel  Hopkins,  Dr.  Josiah 
Hart,  and  Dr.  Samuel  Flagg.  The  first  roll  of  membership  had  forty- 
one  names,  comprising  most  if  not  all  of  the  prominent  medical  men  in 
the  county.     They  were  as  follows  :  — 

Howard  Alden.  Josiah  Hart.  George  Olcott. 

John  Bestor.  John  Hart.  Caleb  Perkins. 

Eliphalet  Buck.  Asa  Hillyer.  John  Potter. 

Isaiah  Chapman.  Josiah  Holt.  Josiah  Root. 

Mason  F.  Cogswell.  Lemuel  Hopkins.  John  Skinner. 

Asaph  Coleman.  John  Indicott.  Elihu  H.  Smith. 

Solomon  Everett.  Jason  Jerome.  Adna  Stanley. 

Eliakim  Fish.  Joseph  Jewett.  Eli  Todd. 

Samuel  Flagg.  Charles  Mather.  Elihu  Tudor. 

Samuel  Flagg,  Jr.,  Charles  Mather,  Jr.  Edward  Tudor. 

Amos  Granger.  Titus  Merriman.  Theodore  Wadsworth. 

George  Griswold.  Dwell  Morgan.  .  Sylvester  Wadsworth. 

Joseph  Hale.  Abner  Moseley.  Christopher  Wolcott. 

Timothy  Hall.  Mark  Newell. 

There  are  at  this  date  one  hundred  and  eleven  names  upon  its  roll 
of  membership.  It  would  be  impossible  in  this  article  to  mention  the 
names  of  all  who  have  died  since  the  society  was  founded,  although 
something  could  be  said  of  each  one  who  "  fought  the  good  fight  and 
kept  the  faith."  It  must  suffice  to  mention  some  few  of  the  more 
prominent  medical  names  of  the  county  during  the  present  century. 

Dr.  Elihu  H.  Smith,  the  first  clerk  of  the  County  Society,  was  born 
at  Litchfield,  Sept.  4, 1771,  and  graduated  from  Yale  College  in  1786. 
He  first  settled  in  Hartford,  where  he  practised  medicine  until  1793, 
when  he  removed  to  New  York,  and  in  1796  was  appointed  physician  to 
the  New  York  Hospital.  He  was  a  man  of  considerable  literary  attain- 
ments. In  1797  he  published  an  opera  in  three  acts,  entitled  "  Edwin 
and  Angelina,"  and  was  the  supposed  author,  in  1798,  of  "  Andre," 
a  five-act  tragedy.  He  fell  a  victim  to  the  yellow  fever,  September, 
1798,  at  the  age  of  twenty-seven  years,  in  the  epidemic  of  that  year. 

Dr.  Mason  Fitch  Cogswell  was  born  at  Canterbury,  Sept.  17,  1761, 
and  graduated  from  Yale  College  in  1780.  He  is  said  to  have  been  the 
"  youngest  scholar,  but  the  most  distinguished,  of  his  class."  He  studied 
medicine  with  his  brother,  and  was  associated  with  him  in  practice  in 
Stamford  and  afterward  in  New^  York.  In  1789  he  settled  in  Hartford 
and  became  a  prominent  physician  in  that  city,  and  noted  as  a  skilful 
surgeon.  He  ligated  the  carotid  artery  in  1803,  "  at  a  time  when  it 
had  been  attempted  by  no  other  surgeon  in  America."  It  was  mainly 
by  his  efforts  that  the  Americau  Asylum  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb  was 
established  in  Hartford.  His  daughter,  Alice  Cogswell,  was  a  mute, 
and  the  Asylum  was  the  result  of  his  endeavors  to  ameliorate  her 
unhappy  condition.     He  died  Dec.  17,  1833,  aged  seventy-two  years. 

Dr.  Sylvester  Wells  came  to  Hartford  in  1806.  He  was  a  brilliant 
man,  and  became  noted  for  his  extreme  political  views,  being  a  prominent 
Democrat.  His  religious  and  medical  views  were  also  extreme.  He  had 
many  friends,  and  made  many  enemies.    He  lived  to  an  advanced  age. 


142  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF   HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

Dr.  Eli  Todd,  one  of  the  most  prominent  men  of  his  time,  was  born 
in  New  Haven,  July  22,  1769,  and  graduated  from  Yale  College  in 
1787.  He  began  the  practice  of  medicine  in  Farmington.  At  the  age 
of  fifty  he  removed  to  Hartford,  where  he  remained  until  his  death. 
He  was  the  first  to  call  public  attention  to  the  condition  of  the  insane 
in  this  State,  and  the  necessity  of  an  asylum  for  these  unfortunates,  and 
it  was  owing  mainly  to  his  efforts  that  the  Retreat  for  the  Insane  was 
established  in  Hartford.  He  was  its  first  superintendent,  and  retained 
the  position  until  his  death,  which  occurred  in  November,  1833. 

Dr.  John  L.  Comstock  was  a  surgeon  in  the  War  of  1812.  He 
resided  in  Hartford,  and  was  the  author  of  several  popular  books  on 
natural  philosophy,  chemistry,  geology,  physiology,  etc. 

Dr.  Elijah  F.  Reed  was  for  many  years  a  successful  practitioner  in 
East  Windsor.  In  1848  he  published  a  "  History  of  Febrile  Diseases," 
occurring  in  his  practice  between  the  years  1779  and  1837. 

Dr.  William  Tully,  who,  his  biographer  says,  "  was  doubtless  the 
most  learned  and  scientific  physician  of  New  England,"  was  born  at 
Saybrook  Point,  Feb.  18, 1785,  and  graduated  from  Yale  College  in  1806. 
He  studied  medicine  with  Dr.  Mason  F.  Cogswell,  and  afterward  with 
Dr.  Eli  Ives,  of  New  Haven.  In  October,  1810,  he  was,  after  examina- 
tion, licensed  by  the  Connecticut  Medical  Society  to  practise  medicine 
and  surgery ;  and  in  1819  the  honorary  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine 
was  conferred  upon  him  by  Yale  College.  Early  in  life  he  devoted  him- 
self to  the  study  of  botany,  and  afterward  from  his  writings  and  teach- 
ings became  noted  for  his  knowledge  of  the  Materia  Medica.  He  first 
practised  in  Enfield,  then  in  Milford,  and  afterward  in  Middletown.  In 
June,  1822,  he  removed  to  East  Hartford,  from  which  place  he  was 
called  in  1826  to  fill  the  chair  of  Theory  and  Practice  in  the  Vermont 
Academy  of  Medicine.  In  1829  he  succeeded  Dr.  Eli  Ives  as  Professor 
of  Materia  Medica  and  Therapeutics  in  the  Medical  Department  of  Yale 
College.  He  resigned  his  professorship  in  1841,  and  in  1851  removed  to 
Springfield,  Mass.,  where  he  died  Feb.  28, 1859,  aged  seventy-four  years. 

Dr.  Samuel  B.  Woodward  was  born  at  Torrington,  June  10, 1787, 
and  at  twenty-one  years  of  age  was  licensed  to  practise  medicine  by  the 
Connecticut  Medical  Society.  He  settled  in  Wethersfield,  and  became 
eminent  for  his  professional  abilities.  He  was  one  of  the  most  active 
and  earnest  workers  for  the  establishment  of  the  Retreat  for  the  Insane 
in  Hartford,  and  about  the  year  1830  was  elected  first  superintendent 
of  the  State  Lunatic  Asylum  at  Worcester,  Mass.,  which  office  he  held 
thirteen  years.  He  was  the  first  president  of  the  Association  of  Super- 
intendents of  Insane  Asylums  in  the  United  States,  which  was  founded 
in  1844.  A  few  years  before  his  death,  and  on  account  of  ill  health, 
he  gave  up  his  position  in  the  asylum  at  Worcester,  and  removed  to 
Northampton,  where  he  died  Jan.  3,  1850,  aged  sixty-three  years. 

Dr.  Amariah  Brigham  was  born  at  New  Marlborough,  Mass.,  Dec. 
26,  1798,  and  early  in  life  began  the  study  of  medicine  with  Dr.  E.  C. 
Peet,  of  Marlborough,  and  afterward  with  Dr.  Plumb,  of  Canaan.  He 
began  the  practice  of  medicine  before  he  was  twenty-one  years  of  age, 
in  Enfield,  Mass.,  where  he  remained  two  years,  after  which  he  removed 
to  Greenfield,  Mass.,  where  he  practised  seven  years.  He  then  went 
to  Europe,  remaining  abroad  about  two  years.  In  1831  he  settled  in 
Hartford,  and  in  1840  was   chosen  superintendent  of  the  Retreat  for 


MEDICAL   HISTORY.  143 

the  Insane  in  that  city.  This  position  he  retained  until  the  fall  of 
1842,  when  he  was  chosen  superintendent  of  the  Insane  Asylum  at 
Utica,  New  York,  which  office  he  held  until  his  death,  Sept.  8,  1849. 
He  was  the  author  of  several  books  upon  subjects  connected  with  his 
specialty,  and  was  the  founder  and  editor  of  the  first  journal  in  the 
United  States  devoted  exclusively  to  the  subject  of  insanity. 

Dr.  Edwin  Wells  Carrington,  a  prominent  physician  of  Farmington, 
was  born  at  Woodbridge  (now  Bethany),  July  8,  1805,  and  graduated 
from  the  medical  department  of  Yale  College,  March  4,  1828.  He 
settled  in  Farmington,  where  he  remained  in  active  practice  until  his 
death,  Feb.  8,  1852,  at  the  age  of  fortv-seven  vears. 

Dr.  Archibald  Welch  was  born  in  Mansfield,  March  13,  1794.  In 
September,  1816,  he  was  licensed  to  practise  medicine  by  the  board  of 
medical  censors  of  Windham  County.  In  1832  he  removed  to  Wcth- 
ersfield  to  take  the  place  of  Dr.  S.  B.  Woodward,  upon  the  removal  of 
the  latter  to  Worcester.  He  removed  to  Hartford  in  1848,  and  prac- 
tised there  during  the  remainder  of  his  life.  He  was  killed  May  6, 1853, 
in  the  Norwalk  drawbridge  disaster  on  the  New  York  and  New  Haven 
Kail  road,  while  returning  with  other  delegates  from  the  meeting  of  the 
American  Medical  Association,  which  had  been  held  in  New  York  City. 

Dr.  George  Sumner  was  born  in  Pomfret,  Dec.  13,  1794,  graduated 
from  Yale  College  in  1813,  and  received  his  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medi- 
cine from  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  in  1817.  He  went  to  Hart- 
ford, Jan.  1,  1819,  and  practised  his  profession  in  that  city  until  his 
death,  which  occurred  Feb.  20,  1855.  He  was  a  man  of  more  than 
ordinary  attainments,  and  an  honored  and  successful  practitioner.  He 
was  the  Professor  of  Botany  in  Trinity  College  for  more  than  twenty 
years,  and  was  the  author  of  a  valuable  work  on  that  science.  He  was 
one  of  the  founders  of  the  Retreat  for  the  Insane,  and  a  most  energetic 
and  zealous  worker  in  its  behalf.  At  the  death  of  Dr.  Todd  he  was 
unanimously  elected  to  fill  the  office  of  superintendent ;  but  he  de- 
clined the  offer,  though  he  remained  a  director  and  a  medical  visitor 
until  his  death. 

From  the  year  1855  to  1870  there  were  but  few  deaths  among 
the  medical  practitioners  of  the  county. 

William  S.  Pierson,  M.D.,  of  Windsor,  a  descendant  of  the  Rev. 
Abraham  Pierson,  who  emigrated  from  England  in  1640,  was  born 
at  North  Killingworth,  Nov.  17,  1787,  graduated  from  Yale  College 
in  1808,  and  received  his  medical  degree  from  Dartmouth  College  in 
1813.  After  practising  his  profession  in  his  native  town  for  a  few 
months,  he  removed  to  Durham,  where  he  remained  four  years,  and 
then,  in  1818,  removed  to  Windsor,  where  he  spent  the  remaining 
forty-two  years  of  his  life.  It  was  the  custom  in  those  days  for  the 
people  of  a  town,  when  they  were  in  want  of  a  physician,  to  extend  to 
him  a  formal  invitation  to  settle  among  them  ;  and  it  was  in  answer  to 
such  an  invitation  that  Dr.  Pierson  went  to  Windsor.  He  died  July  16, 
1860,  in  the  seventy -fourth  year  of  his  age. 

Jared  Whitfield  Pardee,  M.D.,  was  born  at  East  Haven,  Jan.  2, 
1792,  graduated  from  Yale  College,  and  received  his  medical  degree 
from  the  same  institution.  He  settled  in  Bristol,  where  he  practised 
for  many  years,  and  where  he  died  Jan.  7,  1867,  aged  seventy-five 
years. 


144  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

During  the  next  decade,  a  number  of  physicians,  prominent  in 
their  profession,  dropped  from  the  ranks ;  among  them  were  the 
following : 

Henry  Holmes,  M.D.,  a  genial  gentleman  of  the  old  school,  was 
born  at  Litchfield,  Feb.  14,  1795,  and  graduated  from  the  medical  de- 
partment of  Yale  College  in  1825.  He  first  practised  in  Durham,  and 
removed  to  Hartford  in  1833,  where  he  remained  until  his  death,  July 
31,  1870,  in  the  seventy-sixth  year  of  his  age. 

Samuel  B.  Beresford,  M.D.,  well  known  throughout  the  State  as  a  suc- 
cessful physician,  a  skilful  surgeon,  and  an  accomplished  gentleman,  was 
born  in  Dutch  Guiana,  July  5,  1806.  In  1826  he  received  a  surgeon's 
diploma  from  the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons  at  Edinburgh,  and  a  degree 
in  medicine  from  the  University  of  Edinburgh.  On  the  3d  of  Novem- 
ber of  the  same  year  he  was  made  a  member  of  the  Royal  College  of 
Surgeons  in  London.  He  came  to  Hartford,  May  12,  1834,  with  his 
father,  Dr.  James  Beresford,  who  was  also  a  member  of  the  Royal  Col- 
lege of  Surgeons  of  London,  and  a  surgeon  in  the  British  army. 
Father  and  son  practised  together  until  the  death  of  the  former,  March 
4,  1843.  Dr.  James  Beresford  was  born  Jan.  8,  1783.  Dr.  Samuel  B. 
Beresford  remained  in  Hartford  in  active  practice  until  1870,  when  he 
was  obliged  to  relinquish  it  on  account  of  ill  health.  He  died  at 
Hartford,  Oct.  13,  1873,  in  the  sixty-eighth  year  of  his  age. 

Dr.  Albert  Morrison,  of  Windsor,  was  born  at  Hebron,  March  13, 
1820,  and  graduated  from  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons, 
New  York  City,  in  1847.  His  death  was  a  very  sad  one.  While  driv- 
ing one  of  his  cows  from  the  railroad  track,  he  was  struck  by  the 
locomotive  of  a  passing  train  and  instantly  killed.  "  He  died  on  the 
18th  of  July,  1873,  and  was  buried  from  the  church  which  he  so 
dearly  loved.  The  attending  crowd  bore  witness  to  the  honor  and 
respect  in  which  he  was  held." 

William  R.  Brownell,  M.D.,  was  born  at  Providence,  March  30, 
1828,  and  graduated  from  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons, 
New  York  City,  in  1851.  He  settled  in  Hartford,  where  he  practised 
until  1861,  when  he  entered  the  service  of  the  United  States  and 
served  as  a  surgeon  in  the  army  throughout  the  Civil  War.  At  the 
close  of  the  Rebellion,  in  1865,  he  returned  to  Hartford  and  resumed 
the  practice  of  his  profession.     He  died  at  Hartford,  Dec.  1,  1873. 

Lucien  S.  Wilcox,  M.D.,  was  born  in  Granby,  July  17,  1826.  He 
graduated  from  Yale  College  in  1850,  and  received  his  medical  de- 
gree from  the  same  institution  in  1855.  In  1857  he  settled  in  Hart- 
ford, where  he  remained  until  his  death.  In  1877  he  was  elected  to 
the  Chair  of  the  Theory  and  Practice  of  Medicine  in  the  medical 
department  of  Yale  College,  which  he  held  at  the  time  of  his  death, 
which  occurred  Nov.  26,  1881. 

James  C.  Jackson,  M.D.,  was  born  at  Cornish,  New  Hampshire, 
Aug.  22,  1818,  graduated  from  Dartmouth  College  in  1844,  and  re- 
ceived his  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine  from  Jefferson  Medical  Col- 
lege, Philadelphia,  in  1847.  He  settled  in  Hartford,  where  he  remained 
in  active  practice  until  his  death.  He  obtained  considerable  reputa- 
tion as  an  obstetrician,  and  his  practice  in  that  branch  of  the  profession 
was  very  large.  He  died  from  pneumonia,  Feb.  7,  1882,  aged  sixty- 
four  years. 


MEDICAL   HISTORY.  145 

George  B.  Hawley,  M.D.,  was  born  at  Bridgeport,  Feb.  13,  1812, 
graduated  from  Yale  College  in  1833,  and  from  the  medical  depart- 
ment of  the  same  college  in  1835.  In  1836  he  became  associated  with 
Dr.  Silas  Fuller,  then  superintendent  of  the  Retreat  for  the  Insane 
at  Hartford.  In  1840  he  commenced  general  practice  in  Hartford. 
Dr.  Hawley  was  the  founder  of  the  Hartford  Hospital,  and  it  is  owing 
chiefly  to  his  untiring  labors  and  keen  oversight  that  this  institution 
is  so  admirably  adapted  for  carrying  out  the  charitable  purposes  for 
which  it  was  established.  He  began  his  work  for  the  Hospital  in  1854, 
and  from  that  time  it  became  the  work  of  his  life,  and  he  was  the  lead- 
ing spirit  in  its  management  until  his  death,  which  took  place  April  18, 

1883,  at  the  age  of  seventy-one  years.  To  Dr.  Hawley  is  also  due  in 
a  large  measure  the  founding  of  the  Old  People's  Home  in  Hartford. 
A  history  of  both  of  these  institutions,  as  well  as  that  of  the  American 
Asylum  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb  and  the  Retreat  for  the  Insane,  will 
be  found  in  another  part  of  this  volume.  It  is  to  be  noted,  however, 
that  the  first  promoters  of  all  of  these  noble  charities  were  members 
of  the  medical  profession.     "  By  their  works  shall  ye  know  them." 

Charles  W.  Chamberlain,  M.D.,  was  born  at  Providence,  July  21, 
1844,  graduated  from  Brown  University  in  1867,  and  from  the  College 
of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  New  York  City,  in  1871.  He  settled  in 
Hartford  soon  after  his  graduation,  and  early  in  his  career  turned  his 
attention  to  sanitary  matters  and  became  an  authority  throughout  the 
State  on  questions  of  public  hygiene.  It  was  in  a  great  measure  due 
to  his  efforts  that  a  State  Board  of  Health  was  established  by  the 
legislature  of  Connecticut.  He  was  appointed  its  first  secretary 
and  did  much  toward  making  it  effective.  He  was  Secretary  of  the 
Connecticut  Medical  Society  from  1876  to  1883.     He  died  Aug.  21, 

1884,  in  the  forty-first  year  of  his  age. 

Harry  Allen  Grant,  M.D.,  was  born  at  St.  Simon's  Island,  Georgia, 
Jan.  23,  1813.  He  graduated  at  Union  College  in  1830,  received  his 
medical  education  at  the  Baltimore  Medical  College,  began  practice 
in  Albany,  New  York,  and  settled  in  Hartford  in  1837.  Here  he  re- 
mained for  twelve  years,  when,  owing  to  ill  health,  he  was  obliged  to 
give  up  the  practice  of  his  profession.  He  died  at  Enfield,  Nov.  30, 
1884,  in  the  seventy-second  year  of  his  age. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  physicians  of  Hartford  County  who 
served  in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion :  — 

Matthew  T.  Newton        May  13,  1861-Feb.  17,  1864. 

Benjamin  N.  Comings Nov.  6,  1861-Jan.  26,  1863. 

George  Clary Nov.  9,  1861-April  25,  1866. 

William  E.  Brownell1 Nov.  9,  1861-Dec.  2,  1864. 

Henry  P.  Stearns        April  18,  1861-July  31,  1861. 

Samuel  W.  Skinner May  22,  1861-Sept.  25,  1865. 

Robert  E.  Ensign        Sept.  2,  1861-Jan.  3,  1862. 

George  A.  Hurlburt 1 Dec.  11,  1861-Aug.  2,  1865. 

Charles  R.  Hart Dec.  27,  1861-Aug.  25,  1865. 

Nathan  Mayer Mar.  10,  1862-June  24,  1865. 

Levi  Jewett July  15,  1862-Jan.  4,  1865. 

1  Died  since  the  war. 
VOL.    I.  —  10. 


146  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

Abner  S.  Warner July  28,  1862-Jan.  28,  1863. 

Edmund  M.  Pease Aug.  16,  1862-Jan.  9,  1864. 

Sabin  Stocking 1 Aug.  29,  1862-July  19,  1865. 

Jonathan  S.  Curtis Sept.  15,  1862-Dec.  11,  1862. 

Wharton  H.  Godard Oct.  2,  1862-Aug.  26,  1863. 

H.  Clinton  Bunce Oct.  10,  1862-Oct.  22,  1863. 

Levi  S.  Pease1 Nov.  21,  1862-Aug.  28,  1863. 

Charles  J.  Tennant Feb.  21,  1863-June  16,  1865. 

William  B.  North March  20,  1863-May  9,  1864. 

Besides  the  Hartford  County  Medical  Society,  of  which  mention 
has  already  been  made,  there  have  been  three  others  established  in  the 
county;  namely,  the  Hopkins  Medical  Society,  the  Hartford  Medical 
Society,  and  the  Medical  Journal  and  Library  Association  (Hartford). 

The  Hopkins  Medical  Society  was  founded  June  14,  1826,  and  took 
its  name  from  Dr.  Lemuel  Hopkins,  of  Hartford.  It  was  composed  of 
the  leading  medical  men  of  this  region,  its  membership  not  being 
confined  to  Hartford  County.  Its  meetings  were  held  quarterly,  usu- 
ally at  Hartford,  and  continued  until  about  1844,  at  which  time  the 
organization  went  out  of  existence. 

The  Hartford  Medical  Society  was  established  Aug.  27, 1846,  in  the 
city  of  Hartford,  and  is  still  in  existence,  holding  its  meetings  on  the 
first  and  third  Mondays  of  each  month. 

The  Medical  Journal  and  Library  Association  of  Hartford  was 
organized  in  January,  1873.     Its  object  was  "to  establish  a  library  of 

medical  books  and  journals,  and  to 
present  and  discuss  topics  of  profes- 
sional and  scientific  interest." 


DK.    HORACE    WELLS. 


tistry   in    Boston,  and    in 
practised  until,  his  death. 


The  honor    of   the 
anaesthesia     belongs 


discovery   of 
to     Hartford 


County,  although  it  does  not  abso- 
lutely belong  to  the  history  of  its 
medical  men.  As  anaesthesia  was, 
however,  of  such  momentous  impor- 
tance to  them,  as  well  as  being  the 
most  inestimable  boon  that  has  ever 
been  vouchsafed  to  suffering  human- 
ity, it  seems  fitting  that  the  history 
of  its  discovery  should  be  recorded 
upon  these  pages. 

Horace  Wells,  the  discoverer  of 
anaesthesia,  was  a  practising  dentist 
residing  in  Hartford.  He  was  born 
at  Hartford,  Windsor  Co.,  Vermont, 
Jan.  21,  18io,  and  died  in  New  York 
City,  Jan.  24,  1848,  in  the  thirty- 
fourth  year  of  his  age.  In  1834- 
1836  he  studied  and  practised  den- 
1836  he  removed  to  Hartford,  where  he 
The  story  of  his  great  discovery  is  told  in 


1  Died  since  the  war. 


MEDICAL   HISTORY.  147 

the  following  letter  from  Dr.  John  M.  Rig'gs,  who  was  a  student  in 
the  office  of  Dr.  Wells,  and  a  practising  dentist  in  Hartford  at  the  time 
of  the  discovery.  He  was  an  eye-witness  of  Dr.  Wells's  first  experi- 
ment, assisted  him  in  working  out  his  great  idea,  and  is  thoroughly 
conversant  with  all  the  facts  connected  with  Dr.  Wells's  practice  and 
his  life. 

Hartford,  March  16,  1885. 
Dr.  W.  A.  M.  Wainwright  : 

Dear  Doctor,  —  You  ask  for  a  concise  statement  of  facts  concerning  the  dis- 
covery of  anaesthesia  ;  it  is  as  follows  :  On  the  evening  of  Dec.  10,  1844,  there  was 
an  exhibition  of  "laughing  gas"  for  amusement  in  Union  Hall,  twenty-five  cents 
admission,  by  Mr.  Gr.  CL).  Colton,  at  which  exhibition  Dr.  Horace  Wells  was  present. 
During  the  exciting  stage  of  the  administration  of  the  gas  one  man  rushed  over 
the  seats  and,  falling,  abraded  the  skin  on  his  leg,  but  was  not  conscious  of  it  till 
some  twelve  or  fifteen  minutes  after,  when  it  began  to  pain  him.  Dr.  Wells  caught 
at  the  length  of  the  period  of  insensibility,  and  remarked,  "  I  can  extract  a  tooth 
from  one  under  its  influence,  without  pain."  At  the  close  of  the  exhibition  Dr. 
Wells  came  to  my  office  and  we  there  canvassed  till  near  midnight  the  whole 
subject  as  to  its  safety  and  the  degree  of  inhalation.  As  we  had  resolved  to  push 
the  inhalation  much  farther  than  for  a  mere  exhibition  for  fun,  we  naturally 
looked  for  a  patient  upon  whom  to  make  the  trial ;  but  the  chances  of  the  death 
of  said  patient  confronting  us,  Dr.  Wells  volunteered  to  be  the  patient  and  to  make 
the  trial  on  himself,  charging  me  to  stand  by  and  care  for  him.  The  next  morn- 
ing, Dec.  11,  1844,  as  per  agreement,  Dr.  Wells  came  into  my  office  and  said,  "  I 
am  ready.''  We  repaired  to  his  office  ;  he  took  a  seat  in  his  operating-chair, 
I  examined  the  tooth,  and  he  took  the  bag  in  his  own  hands  and  inhaled  the 
gas ;  as  he  lost  control  of  the  muscles  of  his  arms  his  elbows  slipped  off  from  the 
arms  of  the  chair,  dragging  the  gas-tube  from  his  mouth ;  his  head  dropped  back 
on  the  head-rest  and  I  slipped  the  forceps  on  the  tooth  (a  left  superior  molar) 
and  extracted  it.  He  soon  came  out  of  its  effects,  blew  out  the  blood  from  his 
mouth,  asked  if  it  was  out,  and  on  seeing  it,  with  a  gesture  of  the  hand,  ex- 
claimed, "  A  new  era  in  tooth-pulling  !  "  No  one  administered  the  gas  to  Wells  ; 
he  assumed  sole  responsibility  of  the  act.  Mr.  G.  Q.  Colton,  the  maker  of  the 
gas,  Mr.  Samuel  Cooley,  and  one  whose  name  has  escaped  me,  were  present,  near 
the  door.  From  that  time  onward  Dr.  Wells  and  myself  gave  the  gas  and 
extracted  teeth  as  patients  presented  themselves.  All  would  not  take  it ;  there 
was  great  fear  lest  it  would  cause  death  ;  only  two  physicians  of  our  city  (young 
men)  approved  of  the  administration  of  the  gas  or  took  any  interest  in  the 
discovery,  and  these  gentlemen  performed  several  painless  surgical  operations 
under  the  influence  of  the  gas  administered  by  Dr.  Wells  himself.  One  or  two 
months  subsequent  to  the  discovery  Wells  went  to  Boston  and  told  his  discov- 
ery to  Dr.  W.  T.  Morton  (a  former  student  of  Wells).  Some  three  years  prior 
to  the  discovery  Drs.  Wells  and  Morton  formed  a  partnership  to  open  a  dental 
office  in  Tremont  Street,  Boston.  Wells  soon  dissolved  the  partnership,  sold  out 
to  Morton,  and  returned  to  Hartford  until  the  events  of  Dec.  10  and  11,  1844. 
In  1846  Dr.  Morton  came  to  Hartford  on  his  summer  vacation  and  requested  Dr. 
Wells  to  show  him  how  to  make  the  gas.  Dr.  Wells  referred  him  to  Dr.  Jack- 
son, a  chemist  of  Boston,  as  he  would  tell  him  all  about  it.  Morton  went  to 
Jackson,  and  he  told  him  to  use  sulphuric  ether,  as  it  was  similar  in  its  effects, 
and  could  be  obtained  with  much  less  trouble.  Morton  testifies  to  this,  and  Dr. 
Jackson,  also.  Morton  procured  some  ether,  tried  it  on  himself  and  on  a  patient, 
and  then  laid  claim  to  the  discovery  of  anaesthesia,  which  Dr.  Wells  had  dis- 
covered twenty-two  months  before  through  the  agency  of  nitrous  oxide  gas,  as 
related  above.  Nor  is  this  all ;  the  gas  was  in  continuous  use  in  Wells's  and  my 
own  office  from  the  date  of  discovery  to  ami  after  the  time  when  Morton  made 


148 


MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 


his  claim.  Morton  quietly  obtained  a  patent  fur  letheon  (a  misnomer),  which 
patent  was  pronounced  unpatentable  (because  of  former  use),  in  a  suit  in  the 
United  States  District  Court  of  New  York.  There  is  much  more  concurrent  and 
corroborative  proof  of  my  statement,  which  will  appear  in  my  unpublished 
"Minute  History  of  the  Discovery  of  Anaesthesia." 

Very  respectfully  yours, 


That  this  is  the  true  history  of  the  discovery  of  anaesthesia  in  the 
opinion  of  the  medical  profession  throughout  the  State  of  Connecticut, 
is  proved  by  the  following  minute,  which  was  adopted  without  a  dis- 
senting voice  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  State  Medical  Society,  held 
at  New  Haven,  May  25,  1876 :  — 

"  In  reference  to  so  much  of  the  president's  address  as  relates  to  the  discov- 
ery of  anaesthesia,  this  convention  deems  it  proper  to  place  upon  its  record  at 
this  time  the  unanimous  conviction  of  its  members  that  to  the  late  Dr.  Horace 
Wells,  of  Hartford,  belongs  all  the  honor  of  this  invaluable  discovery. 

"The  proof  of  this  is  established  by  numerous  irrefragable  facts  now  before 
the  world ;  by  the  published  opinions  of  many  learned  and  distinguished  mem- 
bers of  the  medical  profession,  and  others  both  at  home  and  abroad ;  and  by  the 
unanimous  verdict  of  the  American  Medical  Association." 


c^'v/t^fafd- 


y 


MEDICAL   HISTORY.  149 


II. 

HOM(EOPATHY. 

BY   EDWARD    B.    HOOKER,    M.D. 

The  first  homoeopathic  physician  to  settle  in  Hartford  County  was 
Dr.  Gustavns  M.  Taft,  who  came  to  Hartford  in  1842.  He  was  not, 
however,  the  first  practitioner  in  the  State,  for  in  1837  Dr.  George  Tay- 
lor, of  New  Milford,  who  had  been  for  many  years  an  adherent  of  the 
old  school,  was  converted  to  homoeopathy  by  Dr.  Frederick  Vanderburg, 
of  New  York,  who,  while  on  a  visit  at  New  Milford,  restored  Dr.  Taylor's 
wife  to  health  when  hope  of  her  recovery  had  been  almost  abandoned. 
Homoeopathy  had  been  introduced  into  the  United  States  in  1825  by 
Dr.  Hans  Birch  Gram,  of  Copenhagen,  who  settled  in  New  York. 
Connecticut  was  the  fourth  State  into  which  the  new  system  made  its 
way.  The  first  homoeopathic  medical  society  in  the  State  was  formed 
in  1851  at  Hartford  by  eight  physicians  from  different  parts  of  the  State, 
who  organized  the  Connecticut  Institute  of  Homoeopathy.  The  found- 
ers of  the  society  were  Jeremiah  T.  Denison  of  Fairfield,  Charles  H. 
Skiff  of  New  Haven,  William  W.  Rodman  of  Waterbury,  George  S. 
Green,  C.  A.  Taft,  and  John  Schue,  of  Hartford,  William  C.  Bell  of  Mid- 
dletown,  and  Elial  T.  Foote  of  New  Haven.  Of  the  eight,  but  three  are 
now  living;  namely,  Drs.  Rodman,  Bell,  and  Green.  In  1852  the  name 
of  the  society  was  changed  to  the  Connecticut  Homoeopathic  Society, 
and  in  1864  a  charter  was  obtained  from  the  legislature  incorporating 
the  society  under  its  present  name  of  the  Connecticut  Homoeopathic  Med- 
ical Society,  and  giving  it  an  equal  position  with  the  Connecticut  Medical 
Society. 

While  homoeopathy  was  making  its  way  among  the  people  at  large, 
steadily  gaining  patronage  and  exerting  wider  influence,  it  met  with  a 
hostile  reception  from  the  medical  profession.  A  great  majority  of  the 
practitioners  calling  themselves  regular  physicians  refused  to  recognize 
professionally  the  followers  of  the  new  system.  A  few,  however,  were 
liberal  and  courageous  enough  to  consult  with  the  practitioners  of  the 
new  school,  for  which  conduct  some  of  them,  together  with  several  con- 
verts to  homoeopathy,  were  disciplined.  In  1855  Dr.  Charles  W.  Ensign, 
of  Tariffville,  a  graduate  of  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  and 
a  member  of  the  Connecticut  Medical  Society,  became  convinced  of  the 
truth  and  efficacy  of  the  homoeopathic  principle  and  was  expelled  from 
the  society.  In  1856  Dr.  William  H.  Sage,  of  Unionville,  was  also  ex- 
pelled for  consulting  with  a  homoeopathic  physician,  and  in  1859  Dr.  J.  S. 
Curtis  of  Hartford  received  similar  treatment.  Dr.  Curtis's  expulsion 
created  much  feeling  and  was  widely  discussed  in  the  newspapers  of 
the  State  and  country.  Happily  the  prejudice  against  the  physicians 
of  the  new  school  has  grown  less,  though  slowly,  till  at  the  present 
time  but  little  of  it  remains  ;  and  it  is  probable  that  many  of  the  regu- 
lar physicians  —  especially  the  younger  ones  —  are  willing  to  consult 


150  MEMORIAL   HISTORY    OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

with  them  and  treat  them  with  the  courtesy  due  to  fellow-practitioners, 
although  the  rule  remains  unchanged  in  their  various  societies.  And 
it  is  but  fair  to  acknowledge  that  the  homoeopathic  physicians  have  also 
grown  more  liberal  and  are  broader  in  their  views;  that  they  recognize 
the  great  value  of  the  accumulated  experience  of  the  whole  medical  pro- 
fession, and  are  glad  to  avail  themselves  of  it,  giving  credit  where  credit 
is  due,  and  honoring  for  their  great  achievements  the  patient  investiga- 
tors who  have  labored  to  render  medicine  an  exact  science. 

In  1851  there  were  seven  homoeopathic  physicians  in  the  county, 
in  1860  thirteen,  in  1870  twenty-two,  in  1880  twenty-three,  and  at  the 
present  time  (October,  1885)  there  are  thirty,  seventeen  of  whom  are 
in  Hartford,  no  other  town  having  more  than  two. 

Dr.  Gustavus  M.  Taft,  who,  as  has  been  stated,  introduced  homoeopa- 
thy into  Hartford,  was  born  in  Dedham,  Mass.,  Dec.  20,  1820,  studied 
medicine  with  Dr.  Josiah  Flagg,  of  Boston,  the  second  physician  in  Mas- 
sachusetts to  embrace  the  new  system,  and  also  with  Drs.  John  F.  Gray 
and  Amos  G.  Hull  of  New  York,  graduated  at  the  University  of  New 
York  in  1842,  and  at  once  came  to  Hartford.  Although  but  twenty-one 
years  of  age,  and  remaining  in  the  city  only  three  years,  yet  such  was 
his  ability  and  force  of  character  that  he  rapidly  acquired  a  lucrative 
practice,  gaining  besides,  by  his  qualities  of  mind  and  heart,  a  large 
circle  of  warm  friends.  After  two  years  of  practice  Dr.  Taft's  health 
became  impaired,  and  he  induced  his  friend  and  fellow-student,  Dr.  John 
Scbue,  to  come  to  Hartford  and  form  a  partnership  with  him.  A  year 
later  he  was  compelled  to  seek  a  milder  climate,  and  in  November,  1845, 
removed  to  New  Orleans.  He  had  for  some  time  believed  that  homoe- 
opathy could  successfully  cope  with  yellow  fever,  and  one  reason  for 
choosing  New  Orleans  as  a  place  of  residence  was  that  he  might  have 
the  opportunity  to  test  the  efficacy  of  the  system  in  which  he  so  earn- 
estly believed,  in  the  treatment  of  that  disease.  His  appearance  in  New 
Orleans  gave  a  sudden  and  remarkable  impulse  to  homoeopathy,  and  he 
rapidly  acquired  an  immense  business.  Abundant  opportunity  occurred 
to  test  the  power  of  the  homoeopathic  method  over  yellow  fever,  and 
Dr.  Taft  was  very  successful  in  the  treatment  of  the  disease,  so  much 
so  that  he  was  overrun  with  cases  of  it  and  taxed  beyond  his  strength. 
While  thus  exhausted  from  overwork  he  was  himself  attacked  with  the 
fever,  but  with  calm  confidence  began  to  treat  himself,  using  the  reme- 
dies which,  in  his  hands,  had  proved  so  useful  to  others.  Delirium, 
however,  set  in  and  as  there  was  no  other  homoeopathic  physician  to 
continue  his  line  of  treatment  he  succumbed  to  the  disease  and  died  on 
the  10th  of  August,  1847.  Thus  passed  away  at  the  age  of  twenty-seven 
years  a  man  of  great  enthusiasm  and  rare  ability  in  his  profession,  who 
had  acquired  honorable  reputation  and  large  practice  in  two  cities, 
whose  death  caused  profound  sorrow  and  a  sense  of  public  loss  seldom 
felt  at  the  decease  of  one  of  his  age. 

Dr.  John  Schue  was  the  second  homoeopathic  physician  in  Hartford. 
He  was  born  in  Germany  in  1815,  studied  medicine  with  Drs.  Hull  and 
Gray  in  New  York,  and  graduated  at  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Sur- 
geons in  1842.  In  1844  he  came  to  Hartford  and  formed  a  partnership 
with  Dr.  G.  M.  Taft,  continuing  in  business  alone,  after  Dr.  Taft's  de- 
parture, a  year  later,  until  his  death,  which  occurred  Sept.  25,  1856. 

Dr.  C.  A.  Taft  was  the  third  homoeopathic  physician  in  the  city.    He 


MEDICAL   HISTORY.  151 

was  born  at  Dedham,  Mass.,  in  1822,  and  was  the  brother  of  Dr.  G.  M. 
Taft.  He  graduated  at  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  in  New 
York  in  1846,  came  to  Hartford  the  same  year  and  remained  there  until 
his  death,  nearly  forty  years  afterward.  Attending  strictly  to  business, 
giving  himself  to  his  profession  with  a  devotion  that  left  room  for  noth- 
ing else,  seldom  absent  from  the  city  even  for  a  day,  he  was  not  long  in 
obtaining  the  recognition  which  his  ability  merited.  His  business  rap- 
idly increased,  and  as  the  years  went  on  he  undoubtedly  gained  the 
largest  and  most  profitable  practice  any  physician  ever  had  in  the  city. 
He  was  justly  regarded  as  its  leading  physician.  Dignified  in  manner, 
with  a  rare  beauty  of  countenance  and  elegance  of  figure,  calm  under 
the  most  trying  circumstances,  somewhat  austere  outwardly,  yet  sym- 
pathetic at  heart,  he  possessed  to  the  utmost  the  confidence  of  his  pa- 
tients, which  contributed  not  a  little  to  the  large  measure  of  success 
that  attended  his  efforts.  His  business  became  so  large  that  in  1871 
he  formed  a  partnership  with  Dr.  P.  S.  Starr,  which  existed  for  five 
years  and  was  then  dissolved.  For  several  years  before  Dr.  Taft's  death 
there  were  signs  that  the  unceasing  labor  of  so  many  years  was  begin- 
ning to  impair  his  health ;  yet  he  held  himself  closely  to  his  work,  with 
but  a  brief  respite  in  summer,  until  the  spring  of  1884,  when  absolute 
illness  confined  him  to  the  house.  After  a  sickness  of  several  weeks 
lie  died  June  26,  1884,  literally  worn  out  by  unremitting  labor.  His 
death  caused  widespread  sorrow,  and  it  is  probable  that  the  death  of  no 
other  person  could  have  carried  grief  into  so  many  homes  in  the  city. 

Dr.  Gardner  S.  Browne  was  born  at  Alstead,  New  Hampshire, 
Sept.  12,  1810.  After  graduating  at  Dartmouth  College  in  1834  he 
established  and  conducted  a  classical  school  at  Nashua,  New  Hampshire, 
for  two  years,  when  he  began  to  study  theology,  in  part  privately  and 
in  part  at  the  Yale  Theological  Seminary.  He  was  ordained  pastor 
of  the  Congregational  Church  in  Hinsdale,  New  Hampshire,  in  1838, 
and  labored  there  successfully  until  1844,  when  ill  health  compelled 
him  to  ask  for  his  dismission,  which  was  regretfully  granted.  For 
the  next  three  years  he  conducted  the  New  England  Institute  in 
New  York,  devoting  himself  at  the  same  time  to  the  study  of  medi- 
cine, to  which  he  had  long  been  inclined.  He  graduated  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  New  York  in  1847,  and  for  a  few  years  practised  in  several 
places  before  settling  permanently  in  Hartford  in  1850,  where  he 
continued  in  active  practice  for  more  than  twenty-five  years.  In  1865 
he  was  elected  president  of  the  Connecticut  Homoeopathic  Medical  So- 
ciety, and  held  the  office  for  a  year.  His  death  occurred  Dec.  29,  1876. 
Dr.  Browne  was  an  earnest,  warm-hearted,  generous  man,  and  his  death 
was  felt  with  keen  regret  by  a  large  circle  of  patients  and  friends. 
During  his  residence  in  Hartford  he  trained  fifteen  students,  many  of 
whom  would  have  been  unable  to  enter  the  medical  profession  but  for 
the  aid  he  rendered  them. 

Dr.  Harvey  Cole  was  born  at  Lebanon,  New  York,  in  1816.  He 
obtained  his  medical  education  at  the  Berkshire  Medical  College,  Pitts- 
field,  Mass.,  from  which  he  graduated  in  1846.  He  practised  for  a  few 
years  at  Stephentown  and  then  removed  to  Pittsfield,  where  he  resided 
for  nearly  twenty  years.  He  was  the  first  physician  who  practised 
homoeopathy  in  Berkshire  County.  He  removed  to  Hartford  in  1868, 
where  he  remained  until  his  death  in  1872. 


152  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

Dr.  James  D.  Johnson  was  born  at  Hartford,  Aug.  14,  1847.  He 
was  educated  in  the  public  schools  of  the  city,  graduating  from  the 
High  School  in  18(36.  He  pursued  his  medical  studies  as  a  student  of 
Dr.  Gardner  S.  Browne  and  graduated  at  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical 
College  in  1869.  He  returned  at  once  to  Hartford,  where  he  remained 
in  practice  until  his  death,  which  occurred  Feb.  25, 1884.  He  was  presi- 
dent of  the  Connecticut  Homoeopathic  Medical  Society  during  1878,  and 
enjoyed  the  respect  and  confidence  of  his  brother  practitioners  in  the 
city  and  State,  as  well  as  of  many  friends  and  patients,  who  sincerely 
regretted  his  death. 

Dr.  0.  B.  Taylor  was  the  first  and  has  been  the  only  homoeopathic 
physician  in  Manchester  or  vicinity.  He  settled  there  in  1849,  and  is 
still  in  practice. 

Dr.  Henry  Isham  was  the  first  homoeopathic  physician  to  settle 
in  New  Britain.  He  obtained  his  medical  education  at  the  New  York 
Homoeopathic  Medical  College,  from  which  he  graduated  in  1851.  In 
that  year  he  began  practice  in  New  Britain.  He  invented  a  bank-lock, 
which  still  bears  his  name,  and  became  so  occupied  with  its  manufac- 
ture that  he  practised  little  after  1857,  when  he  formed  a  partnership 
with  Dr.  George  P.  Cooley,  which  lasted  a  year.  Dr.  Cooley  afterward 
continued  in  practice  alone.  Dr.  Isham  died  in  1867.  There  are  now 
two  homoeopathic  physicians  in  New  Britain. 

Dr.  J.  E.  Lucas  introduced  homoeopathy  into  Thompsonville,  prac- 
tising there  from  1851  to  1861.  Although  "not  a  graduate  of  any  medi- 
cal college,  Dr.  Lucas  became,  by  study  and  large  experience,  a  capable 
physician,  and  built  up  an  extensive  practice  in  a  field  at  first  hostile  to 
homoeopathy.  After  leaving  Thompsonville  he  settled  in  Springfield, 
where  he  died  a  few  years  afterward. 

Dr.  E.  L.  Boyle  settled  in  Farmington  in  1852,  but  remained  there 
only  about  two  years,  moving  elsewhere  shortly  before  his  death,  which 
occurred  in  1854  or  1855.  He  was  the  only  homoeopathic  physician 
who  has  ever  resided  in  Farmington  proper.  Unionville,  however,  has 
not  been  without  one  since  1856. 

Dr.  William  H.  Sage  introduced  homoeopathy  into  Unionville.  He 
graduated  at  the  Yale^Medical  School  in  1849,  and  settled  at  once  in 
that  place.  In  1856,  becoming  convinced  of  the  efficacy  of  the  homoe- 
opathic method,  he  adopted  it  and  has  continued  to  employ  it  ever 
since.  In  that  year  he  was  expelled  from  the  Connecticut  Medical 
Society  for  consulting  with  a  homoeopathic  physician.  Dr.  Sage  re- 
moved to  New  Haven  in  1874,  where  he  is  now  engaged  in  practice. 

Dr.  0.  B.  Freeman  introduced  homoeopathy  into  Collinsville,  practis- 
ing according  to  that  system  from  1853  to  1877,  when  he  retired.  He 
was  born  in  Canton  in  1796.  While  pursuing  his  medical  studies  he 
was  a  student  of  Dr.  Solomon  Everest,  of  Canton.  After  practising  as 
an  old-school  physician  for  a  number  of  years  in  his  native  town,  he 
removed  to  Wolcottville  in  1838,  where  he  remained  but  two  years,  when 
he  removed  to  Ohio.  He  returned  to  Collinsville  in  1847,  where  he  con- 
tinued to  practise  until  three  years  before  his  death,  which  occurred  in 
1880,  at  the  age  of  eighty-four  years.  He  represented  Canton  in  the 
State  legislature  in  1862.  Although  never  exclusively  homoeopathic 
in  his  practice,  he  deserves  to  be  noticed  among  the  followers  of  the 
svstem. 


MEDICAL    HISTORY.  153 

Dr.  George  P.  Cooley  introduced  homoeopathy  into  Bristol  in  1854. 
He  studied  medicine  with  Dr.  C.  A.  Taft,  of  Hartford,  and  was  the  only 
student  Dr.  Taft  ever  had.  He  graduated  at  the  Homoeopathic  Medical 
College  of  Pennsylvania  in  1854.  and  at  once  settled  in  Bristol.  He 
removed  to  New  Britain  in  1857,  and  is  now  in  practice  in  that  city. 

Dr.  James  H.  Austin  settled  in  Bristol  in  1848,  having  graduated  at 
the  Berkshire  Medical  College  in  Pittsfield  the  previous  year,  and  prac- 
tised as  an  old-school  physician  until  1858,  when,  becoming  converted 
by  the  success  which  he  saw  attend  the  use  of  homoeopathic  remedies 
in  Dr.  Cooley's  hands,  he  openly  abandoned  the  old  practice  and  took 
up  the  new,  carrying  with  him  in  the  change  many  families  hitherto 
patrons  of  the  regular  system.  He  represented  Bristol  in  the  legisla- 
ture in  1859,  and  during  the  session  made  a  forcible  and  eloquent  plea 
in  behalf  of  homoeopathy  and  the  rights  of  homoeopathic  physicians. 
In  1861  he  removed  to  New  Haven,  but  after  a  year  returned  to  Bristol 
and  remained  there  until  his  death  in  1872.  He  was  president  of  the 
Connecticut  Homoeopathic  Medical  Society  during  the  year  1868. 

Dr.  Charles  W.  Ensign  was  born  in  West  Hartland.  He  graduated 
at  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  New  York,  in  1844,  and 
began  practice  in  Tariffville,  Simsbury,  the  same  year  as  an  old-school 
physician.  He  became  a  fellow  of  the  Connecticut  Medical  Society  and 
enjoyed  the  esteem  of  his  brother  practitioners,  and  was  respected  in  the 
community  in  which  he  lived.  Becoming  convinced  of  the  truth  and 
value  of  the  homoeopathic  system  in  1855,  he  openly  practised  accord- 
ing to  its  principles,  and  in  consequence  was  expelled  from  his  society. 
He  joined  the  Connecticut  Homoeopathic  Society  in  1857,  and  remained 
a  member  until  his  death.  Dr.  N.  W.  Holcombe  settled  in  Simsbury  in 
1860,  and  is  still  in  practice  there.  He  is  the  only  homoeopathic  physi- 
cian who  has  ever  resided  in  the  town. 

Dr.  Ralph  T.  Chaffee  was  the  first  homoeopathic  physician  in 
Windsor  Locks.  He  was  born  in  Wilbraham,  Mass.,  in  1824.  After 
practising  a  short  time  in  Granby  he  removed  to  Windsor  Locks  in  1850, 
but  did  not  make  use  of  the  homoeopathic  method  until  1857.  In  1865 
he  removed  to  Hartford,  but  stayed  there  only  two  years,  returning  to 
Windsor  Locks,  where  he  remained  until  1871,  when  he  again  removed 
to  Hartford.  In  1875  he  sold  his  practice  to  Dr.  P.  D.  Peltier  and  took 
up  his  residence  at  Putnam,  living  there  quietly  and  not  attempting  to 
practise.  Later  he  removed  to  Brooklyn,  New  York,  where  he  practised 
until  his  death,  in  1878. 

Although  there  was  properly  no  homoeopathic  physician  in  South- 
ington  until  1866,  yet  homoeopathy  had  made  its  way  there  in  a  manner 
that  deserves  special  mention.  In  1850  the  Rev.  Henry  J.  Hudson 
became  the  pastor  of  the  Unitarian  Church,  and  so  continued  for  more 
than  three  years.  During  this  time  his  three  sisters  lived  with  him, 
one  of  whom  was  an  intelligent  and  enthusiastic  believer  in  homoeopa- 
thy. Such  was  her  zeal  for  the  system  and  her  desire  to  be  of  use  to 
others,  that  she  began  to  visit  and  prescribe  for  the  sick,  gladly  giving 
her  services  to  the  afflicted  without  charge,  accepting,  however,  occa- 
sional gifts  from  grateful  patients.  "Miss  Doctor  Lucy"  became  widely 
known,  loved,  and  respected  in  the  community,  and  was  looked  upon  as 
a  practitioner  of  ability,  although  without  diploma  or  regular  medical 


154  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

education.    Her  name  will  long  be  held  in  tender  remembrance  by  many 
Southington  families. 

Dr.  T.  D.  Wadsworth  was  the  first  educated  homoeopathic  physician 
to  settle  in  Southington.  He  went  there  in  1866  and  remained  about 
two  years,  when  he  removed  to  St.  Louis. 

It  does  not  fall  within  the  scope  of  this  article  to  notice  any  other 
homoeopathic  physicians  than  those  who  were  pioneers  in  that  practice, 
or  who  have  died. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 


HARTFORD  IN  LITERATURE. 

BY    HENRY    A.    BEERS, 

Professor  of  English  Literature  at  Yale  College. 

HARTFORD'S  first  writer  was  its  founder,  that  notable  man  and 
leader  of  men,  Mr.  Thomas  Hooker,  "  Luther  of  New  England," 
"  Pillar  of  Connecticut  Colony,"  and  "  Light  of  the  Western 
Churches;"  of  whom  it  was  finely  said,  "He  was  a  person  who, 
while  doing  his  Master's  work,  would  put  a  king  in  his  pocket."  1 
His  writings  consist  exclusively  of  sermons,  of  which  nearly  one  hun- 
dred have  been  printed ;  and  of  tracts  and  theological  treatises,  such  as 
"A  Survey  of  the  Sum  of  Church  Discipline,"  and  "  The  Poor  Doubt- 
ing Christian  drawn  to  Christ."  They  display  that  earnestness,  rising 
on  occasion  into  a  sombre  eloquence,  and  relieved  by  a  quaint  and 
homely  fancy,  which  characterized  the  Puritan  divines  of  Old  and  New 
England.  In  Hooker,  Edwards,  and  Buslmell,  Hartford  County  may 
claim  as  its  own,  by  birth  or  adoption,  the  three  greatest  names  in 
three  successive  centuries  of  New  England  Orthodox)7.  Hooker's  writ- 
ings were  first  published  in  England,  and  have  been  only  in  part 
reprinted  in  America.2 

His  associate  in  the  ministry  at  Hartford  was  Samuel  Stone,  who 
was  likewise  the  sponsor  of  the  new  settlement,  being  himself  a  native  of 
English  Hartford.  He  printed  a  single  pamphlet,3  and  left- two  works, 
still  in  manuscript,  one  of  which  is  described  as  a  body  of  divinity,  and 
the  other  as  a  confutation  of  the  Antinomians.  He  had  reputation  as 
a  wit,  and  was  certainly  the  occasion  of  wit  in  others  ;  his  death  calling 
out  a  punning  elegy  attributed  to  Edward  Bulkley,  who  describes  the 
deceased  as  a  "  whet-stone,"  a  "  load-stone,"  and 

"  A  Stone  for  kingly  David's  use  so  fit, 
As  would  not  fail  Goliath's  front  to  Int." 

Hartford's  first  secular  writer  and  earliest  poet  was  Roger  Wolcott 
(born  at  Windsor,  Jan.  4,  1679;  died  at  Windsor,  May  17,  1767),  who 
became  a  major-general,  judge,  and  colonial  governor  of  Connecticut,  and 
founded  a  line  of  statesmen  illustrious  in  New  England  history.  Wol- 
cott's  curious  little  volume  bears  the  following  title :  "  Poetical  Medita- 

1  Life  of  Hooker  in  Mather's  Magnalia. 

2  A  list  of  Hooker's  published  works  is  given  in  an  appendix  (V.)  to  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Walker's  History  of  the  First  Church  in  Hartford. 

3  A  Congregational  Church  is  a  Catholike  Visible  Church.  Or  An  Examination  of  M. 
Hudson,  his  Vindication,  etc.     London:  1652. 


156  .MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

tions,  being  the  Improvement  of  some  Vacant  Hours,  by  Roger  Wolcott, 
Esq. ;  with  a  Preface  by  the  Reverend  Mr.  Bulkley  of  Colchester.  New 
London:  Printed  and  Sold  by  T.  Green,  1725."  In  the  preface  of  fifty -six 
pages  the  painful  Mr.  Bulkley  delivers  himself  on  matters  and  things 
in  general,  but  chiefly  on  the  title  of  the  Indian  aborigines  to  their  lands. 
Then  follow  a  dedication  in  verse  to  the  Rev.  Timothy  Edwards,  a  few 
poetical  meditations  on  Scripture  texts,  and  a  poem  of  sixty  pages,  en- 
titled "A  Brief  Account  of  the  Agency  of  the  Honourable  John  Win- 
throp,  Esq. ;  in  the  Court  of  King  Charles  the  Second,  Anno  Dom.  1662. 
When  he  obtained  for  the  colony  of  Connecticut  His  Majesty's  Gracious 
Charter."  The  volume  closes  with  an  "Advertisement"  by  Joseph 
Dewey,  a  Colchester  cloth-maker,  avIio,  "having  been  something  at 
charge  in  promoting  the  Publishing  the  foregoing  Meditations,"  hereby 
taketh  occasion  to  give  his  country  people  a  few  directions  toward  the 
better  preparation  of  wool  for  the  weaving. 

There  is  nothing  noteworthy  about  the  shorter  pieces  in  the  book ; 
but  the  "  Brief  Account " 1  is  of  historical  interest,  its  subject  being 
the  procuring  of  that  charter,  so  precious  in  Connecticut  tradition, 
which  Wadsworth  afterward  hid  in  the  Charter  Oak.  The  greater  part 
of  the  poem  is  in  the  form  of  episode,  Winthrop  describing  to  the  king 
the  plantation  of  the  colony  and  its  war  with  the  Pequots.  Not  much 
can  be  said  for  its  literary  merits.  The  description  of  Connecticut 
River  and  its  banks  —  a  favorite  theme  with  later  Hartford  poets  —  is 
conventional  and  untrue.  "  Philomel  high  perch't  upon  a  thorn,"  mead- 
ows enamelled  with  roses  and  violets,  elms  embraced  by  fruitful  vines, 
figure  in  the  same  landscape  with  the  beaver  and  the  mink.  The 
pragmatic  style  of  the  narrative  is  heightened  by  the  usual  classical  in- 
sipidities,—  Aurora,  Phoebus,  Cynthia,  Tithon,  Thetis,  and  Lucifer 
carrying  on  their  astronomical  operations  in  laughable  proximity  to 
the  names  of  Uncas,  Sasacus,  and  Miantinomoh.  The  burning  of 
the  Pequot  fort  at  Mystic — which  the  poet  calls  a  "castle"  and  a 
"stately  palace"  —  is  painted  with  an  epic  pomp  that  emulates  Ver- 
gil's picture  of  the  destruction  of  Troy.  In  the  recently  issued  "  Wol- 
cott Memorial " 2  is  an  autobiography  or  private  journal  of  Roger 
Wolcott,  containing  a  few  short  occasional  poems,  together  with  one 
or  two  papers  on  political  and  theological  subjects. 

Roger  Wolcott's  still  more  distinguished  grandson,  Oliver  Wolcott, 
Jr.  (born  at  Litchfield,  Jan.  11, 1760  ;  died  at  New  York,  June  1,  1833) 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  under  Washington  and  Adams,  seems  to  have 
inherited  the  desire  at  least  of  writing  verses.  During  his  residence  at 
Hartford  from  1781  to  1789,  he  became  intimate  with  Trumbull,  Hop- 
kins, Barlow,  and  Noah  Webster ;  and,  seduced  perhaps  by  the  exam- 
ple of  Barlow,  "  achieved,"  to  use  his  biographer's  word,  a  number  of 
poems,  still  in  manuscript,  —  among  which  was  one  on  "  The  Vision  of 
Paris,"  which  "  would  be  much  worse  than  Barlow's  epic,  if  it  were  not 
much  shorter."  The  Hon.  Joseph  Hopkinson,  of  Philadelphia,  reports 
him  as  having  a  good  taste  in  literature,  with  one  exception,  namely, 
"  an  excessive  admiration  of  Dr.  D  wight's  '  Conquest  of  Canaan.' "  His 
letters  and  State  papers,  edited  by  his  grandson,  are  among  the  most 

1  Reprinted  in  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Collections,  vol.  iv.  p.  262. 

2  Memorial  of  Henry  Wolcott  and  some  of  His  Descendants.  By  Samuel  Wolcott. 
Printed  for  private  distribution.     New  York  :  Anson  D.  F.  Randolph  &  Co.,  1881. 


HARTFORD   IN    LITERATURE.  157 

valuable  sources  of  American  history  for  the  period  which  they  cover.1 
He  left  over  fifty  folio  volumes  in  manuscript  (now  deposited  with  the 
Connecticut  Historical  Society),  further  selections  from  which  are 
promised  to  the  public. 

Jonathan  Edwards  (born  at  East  Windsor,  Oct.  5,  1703 ;  died  at 
Princeton,  N.  J.,  March  22, 1758)  ;  the  greatest  of  American  theologians 
and  metaphysicians,  the  author  of  the  famous  "  Essay  on  the  Freedom 
of  the  Will,"  and  the  hardly  less  famous  "  Treatise  on  Religious  Affec- 
tions," Avas  a  native  of  Hartford  County  ;  though  his  literary  work  was 
done  elsewhere,  and  mainly  at  Northampton  and  Stockbridge,  Mass. 
From  his  thirteenth  year,  when  he  entered  Yale,  he  was  almost  con- 
tinuously absent  from  the  home  of  his  boyhood. 

The  Golden  Age  of  literature  in  Hartford  was  during  and  imme- 
diately following  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  when  for  a  brief  period  the 
little  provincial  capital  became  the  intellectual  metropolis  of  the  coun- 
try, and  a  focus  of  political  influence  hardly  less  important  than  Boston, 
New  York,  or  Philadelphia.  This  temporary  eminence  it  owed  to  the 
presence  of  a  society  of  clever  Avriters,  known  as  the  Hartford  Wits, 
who  took  up  their  residence  there  almost  simultaneously.  John  Trum- 
bull came  to  Hartford  in  1781,  Lemuel  Hopkins  in  1784,  and  about  the 
same  time  Richard  Alsop  opened  his  bookstore  and  Joel  Barlow  es- 
tablished his  weekly  gazette,  the  "  American  Mercury."  Colonel  David 
Humphreys  was  much  at  Hartford  in  1786-1787,  and  Dr.  Elilm  H. 
Smith  (who  published  at  Litchfield,  in  1793,  the  first  miscellany  of 
American  poetry)  was  then  resident  at  Wethersfield.  Theodore  Dwight, 
the  elder,  who  became  Alsop's  brother-in-law,  belonged  also  to  this  group. 

None  of  this  company  of  wits  and  poets  was  a  native  of  the  county ; 
nor,  with  the  exception  of  Trumbull  and  Hopkins,  did  any  of  them  re- 
main long  at  Hartford.  But  during  the  few  years  that  they  were  there 
together,  a  club  holding  weekly  meetings  for  social  and  literary  com- 
munion, they  represented  a  concentration  of  talent  such  as  had  not 
hitherto  existed  in  any  American  town. 

John  Trumbull  was  perhaps  more  completely  identified  with  Hart- 
ford than  any  of  the  others.  He  was  born  at  Westbury  (now  Water- 
town),  April  24,  1750,  and  had  made  a  reputation  as  a  wit  by  his 
college  satire,  "  The  Progress  of  Dulness,"  and  by  the  first  part  of  "  Mc- 
Fingal,"  published  at  Philadelphia  in  1775,  and  afterward  made  over 
into  the  first  two  cantos  of  the  poem  as  it  now  stands.  But  it  was  at 
Hartford  that  "  McFingal "  was  finished  ;  and  the  first  edition  was  pub- 
lished there  by  subscription  in  1782.  It  came  so  pat  to  the  occasion, 
and  so  hit  the  humor  of  the  day,  that  it  gained  immediate  popularity, 
and  ran  quickly  through  more  than  thirty  American  editions,2  to  say 

1  Memoirs  of  the  Administrations  of  Washington  and  Adams.  Edited  from  the  papers  of 
Oliver  Wolcott,  by  George  Gibbs.     New  York,  1846. 

-  There  being  at  the  time  no  copyright  law,  "the  poem  remained  the  property  of  news- 
mongers, hawkers,  pedlers,  and  petty  chapmen."  The  pirating  of  "McFingal"  led  to  the 
passage  by  the  General  Assembly  of  Connecticut,  in  1783,  of  an  "Act  for  the  Encouragement 
of  Literature  and  Genius,"  which  secured  to  authors  their  copyright  within  the  State.  The 
personal  exertions  of  Noah  Webster  in  defence  of  his  spelling-book  led  to  the  passage  of  simi- 
lar laws  by  the  legislatures  of  other  States,  and  finally  to  the  passage  of  a  general  law  by  Con- 
gress, modelled  on  the  Connecticut  act  of  1783.  See  a  paper  by  the  Hon.  J.  Hammond 
Trumbull  on  "  The  Origin  of  McFingal,"  contributed  to  the  "  Historical  Magazine  "  for  Janu- 
ary, 1868,  second  series,  vol.  iii. 


158  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

nothing  of  several  impressions  in  England.  "  McFingal "  was  a  mock 
heroic  in  four  cantos,  ridiculing  the  British  and  the  American  tories  in 
smart  Hudibrastic  doggerel.  The  hero,  one  Squire  McFingal,  a  tory 
of  Scotch  descent,  sallies  forth  to  cut  down  an  obnoxious  liberty-pole  ; 
but  is  tarred,  feathered,  and  carted  by  a  mob  of  whigs,  and  finally  takes 
flight  to  the  royal  army  at  Boston.  The  nucleus  of  the  poem  was  a 
burlesque  in  rhyme  of  one  of  Gage's  proclamations,  contributed  by 
Trumbull  to  the  "  Connecticut  Courant"  of  Aug.  7  and  14,  1775.  This 
famous  Revolutionary  epic  is  certainly  the  most  successful  of  the  many 
imitations  of  "  Hudibras."  The  coarse,  vigorous  wit  of  Butler,  his  apt- 
ness in  figure  and  allusion,  and  his  pithy  proverbial  style,  are  cleverly 
reproduced.  Several  current  quotations  from  "  McFingal "  are  often 
mistakenly  credited  to  "Hudibras,"  such  as  the  couplet 

"No  man  e'er  felt  the  halter  draw 
With  good  opinion  of  the  law  ;  " 

and  this, — 

"  But  optics  sharp  it  needs,  I  ween, 
To  see  what  is  not  to  be  seen." 

Time  has  a  little  blunted  the  edge  of  "  McFingal,"  yet  it  remains  the 
best  of  American  political  satires  in  verse,  with  the  possible  exception 
of  the  "  Biglow  Papers."  The  first  edition  of  Trumbull's  collected 
poems 1  was  published  at  Hartford  in  1820,  with  a  memoir  of  the  author, 
an  engraving  from  his  portrait  painted  by  Colonel  John  Trumbull  in 
1793,  and  plates  from  humorous  designs  by  Elkanah  Tisdale,  the  Hart- 
ford miniature-painter.  His  serious  poems  include  several  elegies  and 
Pindaric  odes  in  the  manner  of  Gray,  but  of  no  great  merit.  During 
the  years  1789-1819  Trumbull  took  an  active  part  in  public  life.  He 
was  at  different  times  State  Attorney  for  Hartford  County,  Repre- 
sentative of  Hartford  town  in  the  State  Legislature,  Judge  of  the  Supe- 
rior Court  and  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Errors.  In  1825  he  removed 
to  Detroit,  where  he  died  May  12,  1831. 

Dr.  Lemuel  Hopkins  (born  at  Waterbury,  June  19,  1750 ;  died  at 
Hartford,  April  14, 1801)  was  a  distinguished  physician,  and  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  Connecticut  Medical  Society.  Many  of  his  squibs  and 
occasional  verses,  like  Dr.  Holmes's  "  medicated  novels,"  bespeak  the 
physician.  Such  are,  for  example,  his  "  Epitaph  on  a  Patient  killed  by 
a  Cancer  Quack,"  and  his  lines  on  "  The  Yellow  Fever  in  New  York 
in  1798."  He  was  above  all  things  a  humorist.  "  The  bludgeon  satir- 
ist," he  is  called  by  Goodrich,  who  gives  the  following  sketch  of  him 
from  report :  "  He  left  a  strong  impression  upon  the  public  mind,  as 
well  by  the  eccentricity  of  his  personal  appearance  and  habits,  as  by  his 
learning  and  genius.  He  was  often  described  to  me  as  long  and  lank, 
walking  with  spreading  arms  and  straddling  legs.  His  nose  was  long, 
lean,  and  flexible,  his  eyes  protruding,  and-  his  whole  expression  a 
si  range  mixture  of  solemnity  and  drollery." 

No  edition  of  Dr.  Hopkins's  collected  poems  has  ever  been  published. 
They  consisted  in  great  part  of  contributions  to  the  "  Anarchiad," 
the  "  Political  Green-House,"  and  the  "  Echo,"  which  were  serial 
satires,  in  verse,  by  the  Hartford  wits.     The  first   of    these  was  the 

1  The  Poetical  Works  of  John  Trumbull,  LL.D.  In  two  volumes.  Hartford.  Printed  for 
Samuel  G.  Goodrich  by  Lincoln  and  Stone,  1820. 


HARTFORD   IN   LITERATURE.  159 

" Anarchiad,"  extending  to  twelve  numbers,  and  printed  in  the  "New 
Haven  Gazette  and  Connecticut  Magazine"  during  the  years  1786 
and  1787.  It  was  written  by  Trumbull,  Hopkins,  Humphreys,  and 
Barlow  in  concert.  The  plan  was  suggested  by  Colonel  Humphreys, 
and  was  something  like  that  of  the  English  "  Rolliad."  The  sat- 
irists of  the  "  Anarchiad  "  addressed  themselves  to  rebuke  the  spirit 
of  lawlessness  which  broke  out  during  the  period  of  confusion  that 
followed  the  signing  of  peace  in  1783,  when  Democratic  mobs,  in 
Connecticut  and  elsewhere,  opposed  the  grant  of  five  years'  pay  to 
the  officers  of  the  regular  army.  The  statesmen  of  Connecticut  were 
stanch  Federalists  ;  and  Hartford  now  became,  and  continued  for 
some  twenty  years,  the  literary  headquarters  of  that  Conservative 
party  which  favored  a  strong  general  government  and  opposed  French 
democracy.1 

The  papers  of  the  "  Anarchiad  " —  which  have  been  collected  into 
a  volume2  —  are  imaginary  extracts  from  an  epic  poem  in  twenty- 
four  books,  "  On  the  Restoration  of  Chaos  and  Substantial  Night,"  dug 
out  of  the  ruins  of  an  ancient  Indian  fort,  —  a  relic  of  the  mythical  Welsh 
colony  planted  in  America  by  Madoc.  It  is  not  easy  to  identify  the 
work  of  the  several  authors. 

To  the  series  of  social  and  political  satires  which  passed  under  the 
general  name  of  the  "  Echo,"  Dr.  Hopkins  contributed  the  "  New 
Year's  Verses,"  originally  printed  in  the  "Connecticut  Courant "  of 
Jan.  1,  1795;  the  verses  entitled  "  Guillotina," 3  and  a  part  of  the 
"  Political  Green-House,"  first  issued  in  pamphlet  form,  Jan.  1,  1799. 
A  few  lines  in  this  series  were  written  by  Drs.  Mason  F.  Cogswell  and 
Elihu  H.  Smith.  With  these  exceptions  the  entire  work  was  the  pro- 
duction of  Richard  Alsop  and  Theodore  D wight,  Sr.  The  first  number 
was  written  at  Middletown,  but  printed  at  Hartford,  Aug.  8,  1791,  in 
the  "  American  Mercury,"  —  Barlow's  paper,  which  he  had,  however, 
resigned  the  management  of  in  1787.  In  this  paper  the  greater  part  of 
the  series  appeared  ;  the  last  number  being  of  the  date  March  4,  1805. 
—  a  burlesque  of  President  Jefferson's  Inaugural.  In  1807  the  twenty 
numbers  of  the  "  Echo,"  together  with  the  "  Political  Green-House," 
"  Democracy,"  "  New  Year's  Verses,"  "  Symptoms  of  the  Millennium," 
"  Sketches  of  the  Times,"  etc.,  were  published  at  New  York,  in  a  single 
volume,  with  preface,  index,  and  supplementary  notes,  and  seven  en- 
gravings from  capital  humorous  designs  by  Tisdale.4 

The  "  Echo  "  was  a  sort  of  Yankee  "  Dunciad."  Starting  with 
the  parody  of  a  bombastic  description  of  a  thunder-storm  in  one  of  the 
Boston  papers,  it  caught  up  and  prolonged  the  various  humors  of  the 

1  See  a  parody  in  the  "Echo,"  No.  12,  of  a  Democratic  attack  upon  the  "Federal  Printers 
in  the  Eastern  States,"  published  over  the  signature  of  "Mirabeau,"  in  a  Philadelphia  jour- 
nal, in  1793  :  — 

"  Hartford  !  curst  corner  of  the  spacious  eartli ! 
Where  each  dire  mischief  ripens  into  birth  .  .  . 
Hartford,  detested  more  by  faction's  race 
Than  hardened  sinner  hates  the  call  of  grace,"  etc. 

2  The  Anarchiad.  With  Notes  and  Appendices  by  Luther  G.  Riggs.  New  Haven  : 
T.  H.  Pease,  1861. 

3  Published  as  the  "News-Boy's  Address,"  for  the  "  Courant,"  Jan.  1,  1796,  and  verses 
under  the  same  title,  for  Jan.  1,  1797,  1798,  1799,  are  probably  from  his  pen. 

4  The  titlepage  reads  simply,  "The  Echo.  Printed  at  the  Porcupine  Press,  by  Pasquin 
Petronius." 


160  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

day,  —  now  travestying  a  speech  of  Jefferson  or  Hancock,  now  turning 
into  burlesque  a  Boston  town-meeting,  or  an  article  by  Brackenridge 
on  the  Indian  question.  Its  objects  were  mainly  political,  but  it  some- 
times stooped  at  smaller  prey.  Thus,  one  John  Monier,  having  adver- 
tised a  school  for  boys  at  New  York,  which  was  to  have  "  a  very 
healthy,  desirable  stand,  near  perhaps  to  the  Israelitish  Burying- 
Ground,"   "Echo"  inquires, — 

"  What  air  more  fragrant  to  a  Christian  nose 
Than  from  the  mouldering  Hebrew  daily  flows  ? 
What  scene  more  pleasing  to  a  Christian  eye 
Than  where  the  sons  of  circumcision  lie  ?  " 

Nor  is  there  wanting,  on  occasion,  that  audacious  exaggeration  and  ir- 
reverence said  to  form  the  staple  of  American  humor,  as,  for  example, 
in  this  forcible  equivalent  for  carrying  coals  to  Newcastle  :  — 

"  'T  were  nonsense  all,  —  we  might  expect  as  well 
To  retail  brimstone  from  a  store  in  hell." 

A  local  flavor  is  given  to  many  of  the  papers  by  allusions  to  matters 
famous  in  Connecticut  tradition,  —  Captain  Kidd,  the  Blue  Laws,  the 
Windham  Frogs,  the  Hebron  Pump,  etc.  A  passage  from  the  "  Politi- 
cal Green-House  "  was  quoted  in  Congress,  in  January,  1799,  by  the 
Hon.  John  Nicholas,  of  Virginia,  in  proof  of  Connecticut's  desire  for  a 
war  with  France.1 

One  of  the  "  Echo "  poets,  Theodore  Dwight  the  elder  (born  at 
Northampton,  Mass.,  Dec.  16, 1764;  died  at  New  York,  June  11,  1846), 
established  at  Hartford,  in  1809,  the  "  Connecticut  Mirror,"  which  he 
edited  until  1815.  He  was  secretary  of  the  famous  Hartford  Convention 
in  1814,  a  history  of  which  he  published  in  1833.  He  served  one  term 
in  Congress  in  1806-1807.  From  1817-1835  he  conducted  the  New 
York  "Daily  Advertiser."  In  the  latter  year  he  removed  to  Hartford, 
but  subsequently  returned  to  New  York.  His  publications  include 
"Open  Convents,"  1836;  "Character  of  Thomas  Jefferson,"  1839; 
and  a  "Dictionary  of  Roots  and  Derivations.*1  Some  poems  by 
Dwight  are  included  in  Dr.  Smith's  Litchfield  Collection  of  1793  ;  and 
others,  of  a  satirical  kind,  are  given  by  Goodrich  in  his  "Recollec- 
tions." A  hymn  of  his  composition,  sung  at  Hartford,  Dec.  27,  1799, 
on  the  occasion  of  Washington's  death,  made  a  strong  impression  at  the 
time,  and  has  been  often  reprinted. 

Of  Joel  Barlow's  meteoric  career  but  a  short  arc  belongs  to  the 
history  of  Hartford.  His  fine  version  of  the  137th  Psalm,  "  The  Baby- 
lonian Captivity,"  was  written  at  Hartford,  and  published  in  1785,  in  a 
revised  edition  of  Watts,  undertaken  at  the  request  of  the  General 
Association  of  the  Clergy  of  Connecticut.2  At  Hartford,  too,  was  com- 
pleted and,  in  1787,  published,  the  "  Vision  of  Columbus,"  afterward 
expanded  into  the  "  Columbiad,"  printed  at  Philadelphia  in  1808.  The 
"  Vision  "  was  published  by  subscription,3  and  subsequently  reprinted 
in  London  and  Paris.     Barlow  left  Hartford  in  1788. 

i  Seethe  "Echo/'  pp.  2:.9-266. 

2  Dr.  Watts's  Imitation  of  the  Psalms  of  David.  Corrected  and  enlarged  by  Joel  Barlow. 
Hartford.     Printed  by  Barlow  &  Babcoek,   1785. 

3  The  Vision  of  Columbus.  A  Poem  in  Nine  Books.  By  Joel  Barlow,  Esq.,  Hartford. 
Printed  by  Hudson  &  Goodwin,  for  the  Author,  17S7. 


HARTFORD   IN   LITERATURE.  161 

The  "  Vision  of  Columbus "  was  a  poem  once  greatly  admired. 
Barlow,  and  Timothy  I) wight  in  his  "  Conquest  of  Canaan,"  were 
thought  to  have  domesticated  the  epic  muse  in  America.  But  it  would 
make  a  strong  draft  on  the  reader's  patriotism  to  get  through  either  of 
these  works  to-day.  The  "  Vision "  is  written  in  the  rhymed  heroics 
of  Pope,  and  abounds  in  the  vague,  glittering  imagery,  the  false  sub- 
lime, the  stilted  diction,  and  monotonous  verse  which  marked  the  decay 
of  the  so-called  "  classical "  school  of  English  poetry  in  the  last  cen- 
tury. It  tells  how  an  angel  appeared  to  Columbus  in  prison,  and  led 
him  to  the  top  of  a  hill  of  vision,  whence  he  saw  the  American  continents 
outspread  before  him,  and  the  panorama  of  their  future  history  un- 
rolled ;  the  conquest  of  Mexico  by  Cortez ;  the  rise  and  destruction 
of  the  kingdom  of  the  Incas ;  the  settlement  of  North  America ;  the 
French  and  English  wars  and  the  War  of  the  Revolution  ;  the  future 
progress  of  civilization  in  America  and  over  the  world  ;  ending  with  a 
prophecy  of  universal  peace,  and  a  "  general  council  of  all  nations,"  in 
a  passage  which  will  remind  the  modern  reader  of  Tennyson's  "  Par- 
liament of  Man,  the  Federation  of  the  World."  The  machinery 
of  the  "  Vision  "  is  evidently  borrowed  from  the  eleventh  and  twelfth 
books  of  "  Paradise  Lost."  A  solitary  allusion  to  the  city  of  its  pub- 
lication may  be  quoted  here  :  — 

"  Thy  parent  stream,  fair  Hartford,  met  his  eye, 
Far  lessening  upward  to  the  northern  sky  ; 
No  watery  gleams  through  happier  valleys  shine, 
Nor  drinks  the  sea  a  lovelier  wave  than  thine." 

In  1811  Samuel  Griswold  Goodrich,  "  Peter  Parley  "  (born  at  Ridsre- 
field,  Aug.  19, 1793  ;  died  at  New  York,  May  9, 1860),  came  to  Hartford, 
where  he  carried  on  business  as  a  bookseller  and  publisher  during  the 
years  1816-1822.  His  "  Recollections  " 1  contain  much  interesting  in- 
formation about  the  state  of  literature  and  taste  at  Hartford  during  the 
first  generation  of  this  century.  "  In  my  time,"  he  writes,  "  Hopkins 
was  dead,  Trumbull  had  left  off  poetry  for  a  seat  on  the  bench  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  and  Dwight  was  devoted  to  the  '  Connecticut  Mirror.' 
.  .  .  Hartford  was  then  a  small  commercial  town  of  four  thousand 
inhabitants,  dealing  in  lumber,  and  smelling  of  molasses  and  old  Ja- 
maica, for  it  had  still  some  trade  with  the  West  Indies.  .  .  .  There 
was  a  high  tone  of  general  intelligence  and  social  respectability 
about  the  place;  but  it  had  not  a  single  institution,  a  single  monu- 
ment that  marked  it  as  even  a  provincial  metropolis  of  taste  in  lit- 
erature, art,  or  refinement.  Though  the  semi-capital  of  the  State,  it 
was  strongly  impressed  with  a  plodding,  mercantile,  and  mechanical 
character." 

During  Goodrich's  residence  at  Hartford  he  belonged  to  a  literary 
club,  which  included  among  its  members  Bishop  J.  M.  Wainwright,  the 
Hon.  Isaac  Toucey,  Judge  Samuel  H.  Huntington,  Jonathan  Law,  and 
Colonel  William  L.  Stone.  The  last  mentioned  of  these  (born  at 
Esopus,  New  York,  April  20,  1793 ;  died  at  Saratoga,  Aug.  15,  1844) 
had  succeeded  Dwight,  in  1816,  in  the  management  of  the  "  Connecti- 
cut Mirror."  He  was  afterward  (1821-1844)  editor  of  the  New  York 
"  Commercial  Advertiser,"  and  well  known  as  an  author  by  his  "  Life 

1  Recollections  of  a  Lifetime.     By  S.  G.  Goodrich.     New  York  and  Auburn,  1356. 
VOL.    I.  — 11. 


162 


MEMORIAL   HISTOEY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 


of  Joseph  Brant,"  "  Life  and  Times  of  Red  Jacket,"  "  Poetry  and 
History  of  Wyoming,"  "  Uncas  and  Miantonomoh,"  and  other  works. 
Mr.  Goodrich  issued  three  or  four  numbers  of  the  "  Round  Table," 
composed  of  articles  written  by  members  of  this  club.  Among  his 
publications  were  a  number  of  educational  works  by  Hartford  authors, 
such  as  Woodbridge's  "  School  Geography,"  Dr.  Comstock's  text-books 

in  natural  science,  and  a  "  History  of 
the  United  States,"  by  the  publisher's 
brother,  the  Rev.  Charles  A.  Goodrich. 
He  published  also  a  partial  edition  of 
the  Waverley  Novels,  in  eight  volumes. 
"  American  literature,"  he  says,  "  was 
then  at  a  low  ebb.     It  was  positively 
injurious  to  the  commercial  credit    of 
a   bookseller    to    undertake    American 
works."      He    adds,   incidentally,   that 
one     Hartford     publisher     refused     to 
be  concerned  in  stereotyping  Byron's 
poems    because    of    their    immorality. 
Goodrich   himself   began  to    write   po- 
etry   while    at    Hartford,    though    no 
edition  of  his  poems  was  issued  until 
1836.1     In  1827   Goodrich  removed  to 
Boston,  where   he  established   himself 
as  a  publisher ;    putting  forth,  among 
other  things,   his  very   popular   series 
of  "  Peter  Parley "   books  for  the  in- 
struction    of    the 
young,    and    edit- 
ing the  "Token," 
—  an     annual    in 
which     many     of 
Hawthorne's  tales 
were    first     given 
to  the  world.     He 
was   at   one  time   United    States   Consul    at   Paris. 

First  in  order  of  time  on  the  list  of  Hartford's  female  writers  is 
Mrs.  Willard,  nee  Emma  Hart  (born  at  Berlin,  Feb.  23,  1787  ;  died  at 
Troy,  New  York,  April  15,  1870),  whose  long  and  useful  life  was 
devoted  to  the  improvement  of  women's  education.  Beginning  in  her 
native  town  as  a  school-teacher  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  she  taught  subse- 
quently in  Massachusetts,  Vermont,  and  New  York  States,  but  became 
specially  identified  with  the  city  of  Troy,  where  she  conducted  a  famous 
seminary  for  young  ladies  during  the  years  1821-1838.  In  the  latter 
year  she  resigned  the  charge  of  her  seminary. and  came  to  Hartford  to 
reside.  Her  publications  include  a  large  number  of  text-books  and 
manuals  in  history,  geography,  astronomy,  etc.,  the  total  sales  of  which 
amounted  to  a  million  at  the  time  of  her  death.  Her  most  original 
contribution  to  science  was  a  "  Treatise  on  the  Motive  Powers  which 
produce  the  Circulation  of  the  Blood,"  1846.     In  1830  she  announced 


Oo^^i 


»  The  Outcast,  and  other  Poems.    Boston,  1836. 


HARTFORD   IN   LITERATURE. 


163 


MKS.    EMMA    WILLABD. 


the  publication  at  Hartford  of  a  volume  of  poems  ;  but  the  edition  was 
suppressed  in  consequence  of  unauthorized  alterations  in  the  manu- 
script, and  the  poems  were  reissued  at  New  York  in  1831.  The  best 
known  of  her  poems  is  the  "  Ocean  Hymn,"  —  "  Rocked  in  the  cradle 
of  the  deep."  "  Bride-Stealing,"  re- 
printed m  Everest's  "  Poets  of  Con- 
nect;cut,"  is  an  idyl  of  old  New 
England  life  read  at  an  "  old  folks' 
party  "  in  Farmington  in  1840,  in  cele- 
bration of  the  second  centennial  of  the 
town's  settlement.  Her  "  Journal  and 
Letters  from  France  and  Great  Britain" 
was  published  at  Troy  in  1833. 

In  Mrs.  Sigourney,  nee  Lydia  Hunt- 
ley (born  at  Norwich,  Sept.  1,  1791 ; 
died  at  Hartford,  June  10, 1865),  Hart- 
ford had  a  poetess  of  higher  preten- 
sions, who  enjoyed  in  her  day  a  vogue 
which  the  present  generation  finds  it 
hard  to  account  for.  Educated  in  part 
at  Hartford  schools,  she  came  there  for 
life  in  1814,  and  opened  a  select  semi- 
nary for  young  ladies.  In  1815  she 
published  at  Hartford  her   first  book, 

"  Moral  Pieces  in  Prose  and  Verse,"  which  was  followed  by  nearly 
sixty  volumes  in  as  many  years,  ending  with  "  Letters  of  Life," 
printed  posthumously  in  1866.  Mrs.  Sigourney  was  sometimes  called 
"  the  Hemans  of  America."  She  belonged  to  the  era  of  the  annuals, 
—  that  period  of  our  literary  history  when  a  poet  was  styled  a  "  bard  " 
and  his  poem  an  "  effusion."  Her  "  Moral  Pieces  "  were  addressed 
to  her  pupils,  and  the  atmosphere  of  the  young  ladies'  seminary  al- 
ways continued  to  hang  about  her  writing,  which  has  a  kind  of  prim 
elegance  in  style  and  sentiment.  An  extraordinarily  large  proportion 
of  her  pieces  were  of  the  occasional  order.  "  Death  of  an  Infant," 
"  Consecration  of  a  Church,"  "  Exhibition  of  a  School  of  Young  La- 
dies," "  Baptism  of  an  Infant  at  its  Mother's  Funeral,"  and  similar 
titles  occur  with  almost  ludicrous  frequency.  Indian  subjects  attracted 
her  strongly,  and  her  most  ambitious  poems  were  "  Pocahontas,"  1841, 
and  "  Traits  of  the  Aborigines,"  a  poem  in  4000  lines  of  very  blank 
verse,  published  at  Cambridge,  1822.  "  Past  Meridian,"  a  prose  volume 
inspired  by  a  reading  of  Cicero's  "  De  Senectute,"  is  Mrs.  Sigourney's 
strongest  work,  and  will  form  perhaps  her  best  title  to  remembrance. 
She  had  the  honor  of  republication  in  England,  where  a  volume  of 
selections  from  her  poetry  was  printed  in  1848  under  the  name  of 
"The  Coronal."' 

James  Gates  Percival  (born  at  Berlin,  Sept.    15,  1795 ;    died  at 
Hazelgreen,  Illinois,  May  2,  1856)  may  be  reckoned  among  the  poets  of 


1  Thackeray  seems  to  have  been  acquainted  with  Mr 
this  bit  of  parody  :   "As  Mrs.  Sigourney  sweetly  sings  :  — 


Sigourney's  poetry,  to  judge  from 


'  Oh  the  soul  is  a  soft  and  a  delicate  thing  : 
The  soul  is  a  lute  with  a  thrilling  string, 
A  spirit  that  floats  on  a  gossamer's  wing.'  " 


164  MEMORIAL  HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

Hartford  Count}',  though,  as  between  the  two  capitals  of  the  State,  he 
gravitated  decidedly  toward  New  Haven.  After  1810,  when  he  entered 
college,  he  returned  only  at  intervals  to  his  birthplace,  and  never  to 
make  a  long  stay.  From  1829  until  his  departure  for  Wisconsin  in 
1854,  he  resided  continuously  at  New  Haven.  PercivaPs  biographer, 
Mr.  Ward,  describes  a  visit  which  he  made  to  Hartford  in  1815,1  and  his 
entree  into  the  literary  society  of  the  town.  He  had  prepared  himself, 
it  seems,  to  "  talk  elaborately  on  particular  topics,"  and  "  at  social 
gatherings  he  talked  at  great  length  on  single  subjects  "  in  an  inaudible 
tone,  and  with  results  disastrous  to  his  popularity.  "  He  came  away  in 
disgust,"  and  shortly  after  launched  at  the  ungrateful  city  that  "  Impre- 
cation "  which  so  greatly  amused  Mr.  Lowell :  — 

"Ismir  !  fare  thee  well  forever  ! 
From  thy  walls  with  joy  I  go. 
Every  tie  I  freely  sever, 
Flying  from  thy  den  of  woe." 

The  first  edition  of  PercivaPs  poems  was  printed  at  New  Haven  in 
1821,  and  contained  some  pieces  written  at  Berlin,  —  notably  the 
Byronic  verses  entitled  "  The  Suicide,"  —  which  Hartford  County  may 
therefore  lay  claim  to,  if  so  disposed.  The  genius  of  this  shy,  eccentric 
scholar  is  matter  of  tradition.  His  learning  was  large  but  unfruitful. 
His  poetry,  except  a  few  favorite  pieces,  such  as  "  The  Coral  Grove  "  and 
"  To  Seneca  Lake,"  was  singularly  unsubstantial,  —  abstract  in  theme, 
wearisomely  diffuse  in  diction,  and  without  solidity  or  edge.  Perhaps 
his  most  valuable  work  is  his  "  Report  of  the  Geology  of  the  State  of 
Connecticut,"  of  which  Professor  James  D.  Dana,  our  highest  authority, 
speaks  with  respect. 

From  1822  to  1827  Hartford  had  a  genuine  poet  in  the  person  of 
John  Gardner  Calkins  Brainard  (born  Oct.  21,  1796,  at  New  London  ; 
died  Sept.  26,  1828,  at  New  London).  Brainard  was  a  classmate  of 
Percival  at  Yale.  He  came  to  Hartford  to  take  charge  of  the  "  Mirror," 
which  he  edited  until  about  a  year  and  a  half  before  his  early  death  by 
consumption.  His  poems  were  mostly  thrown  off  in  a  hurry,  under  the 
pressure  of  demands  for  copy,  and  printed  without  revision  in  the  col- 
umns of  his  newspaper.  The  first  edition  of  his  collected  poems  was 
published  at  New  York  in  1825.  A  second  edition,  with  some  fifty 
pieces  added,  appeared  at  Hartford  in  1832.  The  biographical  sketch 
of  the  poet  in  this  edition,  written  by  his  friend  Whittier,  was  warmly 
appreciative  ;  but  the  typographical  appearance  of  the  book  was  shabby, 
and  it  contained  a  number  of  poems  not  written  by  Brainard.2  A  final 
edition  was  published  in  1842.3  Brainard's  work  is  uneven,  but  it  is 
the  work  of  a  born  poet.  The  fragment  on  "  The  Fall  of  Niagara  "  con- 
tains blank  verse  not  unworthy  of  Bryant ;  and  there  is  a  natural  lyrical 

1  The  Life  and  Letters  of  James  Gates  Percival,  by  Julius  H.  Ward.     Boston,  1866. 

2  The  Literary  Remains  of  John  G.  C.  Brainard,  with  a  Sketch  of  his  Life,  by  J.  G. 
Whittier.     Hartford.     Published  by  P.  B.  Goodsell,  1832. 

3  The  Poems  of  John  G.  0.  Brainard.  A  New  and  Authentic  Collection.  Hartford. 
S.  Andrus  &  Son,  1842.  The  editor  was  Edward  Hopkins.  The  memoir  was  contributed  by 
the  Bev.  Royal  Bobbins,  of  Berlin.  The  edition  contained  a  portrait  of  the  poet,  engraved  by 
Yj.  Gallaudet  from  an  unfinished  pencil-sketch  by  Wentworth;  together  with  a  vignette  title 
from  a  delicate  design  by  S.  W.  Cheney,  the  Hartford  artist.  The  little  volume  was 
throughout  the  work  of  "  home  talent,"  and  was  a  credit  to  the  city  in  contents  and  mechanical 
execution. 


HARTFORD   IN   LITERATURE.  165 

impulse  in  some  of  the  songs,  such  as  the  "  Sea-Bird's  Song,"  and  the 
"  Stanzas  "  beginning,  "  The  dead  leaves  strew  the  forest  walk."  What 
is  equally  to  the  purpose,  is  to  notice  that  Brainard  is  the  Hartford  poet, 
or,  rather,  the  poet  of  the  Connecticut  Valley.  The  pieces  entitled 
"  Matchit  Moodus,"  "  The  Shad  Spirit,"  "  Connecticut  River,"  "  The 
Black  Fox  of  Salmon  River,"  and  others,  deal  with  local  legends  and 
associations.  The  lines  on  "  Connecticut  River,"  in  which  Brainard 
alludes  to  Trumbull,  are  quite  as  applicable  to  himself :  — 

"Thou  hadst  a  poet  once,  and  he  could  tell 
Most  tunefulty  whate'er  to  thee  befell  : 
Could  till  each  pastoral  reed  upon  thy  shore."  • 

Theodore  Dwight  the  younger  (born  at  Hartford,  March  3,  1796 ; 
died  at  Brooklyn,  Oct.  16,  1866),  was  a  son  of  the  "Echo  "  poet.  He 
went  to  Brooklyn  in  1833  to  help  his  father  in  conducting  the  New 
York  "  Daily  Advertiser,"  and  his  writings  belong  more  to  the  litera- 
ture of  that  city  than  of  Hartford.  They  include  a  "  History  of  Con- 
necticut," 1811  ;  "  A  Summer  Tour  in  the  Northern  and  Middle 
States,"  1847;  a  "Life  of  Garibaldi,"  1859;  and  other  works  in 
prose,  besides  many  uncollected  poems,  a  few  of  which  are  given  in 
Everest. 

George  Denison  Prentice  (born  at  Preston,  Dec.  18,  1802 ;  died  at 
Louisville,  Kentucky,  Jan.  22,  1870),  the  brilliant  editor  of  the  "  Louis- 
ville Journal,"  and  one  of  the  wittiest  of  American  newspaper  para- 
graphists,  began  his  long  career  as  a  journalist  in  Hartford,  where  he 
conducted  the  "  New  England  Review"  from  the  fall  of  1828  until  the 
summer  of  1830.  In  this  weekly  paper  many  of  his  poems  made  their 
first  appearance  ; 2  and  the  "  Review,"  under  his  management,  gained  a 
wide  reputation.  In  1830  he  went  to  Kentucky  to  write  a  life  of  Henry 
Clay,  for  campaign  use  in  New  England.  This  was  hastily  written,  and 
published  at  Hartford  in  1831.3  The  preface  was  dated  at  Lexington, 
Kentucky,  Nov.  14,  1830.  On  the  24th  of  the  same  month  the  first 
number  of  the  "  Louisville  Journal "  was  issued,  with  Mr.  Prentice  as 
editor. 

By  Mr.  Prentice's  own  recommendation  he  was  succeeded  on  the 
"New  England  Review"  by  John  Greenleaf  Whitticr,  then  a  young  , 
man  of  twenty-two,  who  had  attracted  the  former's  attention  by  the  * 
verses  which  he  had  sent  to  the  "  Review  "  from  Boston.  Mr.  Wh'ittier 
resigned  his  position  in  1831.  His  contributions  to  the  literature  of 
Hartford  consist,  besides  his  work  on  the  "  Review,"  of  the  memoir  of 
Brainard,  already  mentioned,  and  a  small  volume  of  one  hundred  and 
forty-two  pages  in  prose  and  verse  entitled  "Legends  of  New  England."4 
These  first-fruits  of  the  Quaker  poet  hardly  foretoken  the  future  Whit- 
tier,  except  in  a  fondness  for  Indian  and  colonial  legends  and  a  certain 
energy  in  the  verse.     The  influence  of  Brainard  is  quite  marked,  par- 

1  These  lines  were  appropriately  chosen  by  the  Rev.  Charles  W.  Everest  as  the  motto  for 
the  titlepage  of  his  valuable  "  Poets  of  Connecticut,"  published  at  Hartford  in  1843. 

2  A  collection  of  Prentice's  poems  was  published  at  Cincinnati  in  1876,  edited,  with  a 
memoir,  by  John  James  Piatt. 

3  Biography  of  Henry  Clay.  By  George  D.  Prentice,  Esq_.  Hartford.  Hamner  &  Phelps 
publishers,  1831. 

4  Legends  of  New  England.  By  John  G.  Whittier.  Hartford.  Published  by  Hanmer  & 
Phelps,  1831.     The  titlepage  has  a  quotation  from  Brainard's  "Connecticut  River." 


166  MEMORIAL   HISTOEY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

ticularly  in  the  prose  sketch  entitled  "The  Human  Sacrifice,"  and  in 
the  poem  "  The  Black  Fox,"  which  is  identical  in  subject  with  Brain- 
ard's  "  Black  Fox  of  Salmon  River,"  with  the  odds  in  point  of  treatment 
decidedly  in  Brainard's  favor. 

Here  may  be  conveniently  mentioned,  out  of  their  chronological 
order,  a  number  of  other  poets  who  have  adorned  the  annals  of  Hart- 
ford County. 

William  Henry  Bradley  (born  at  Hartford,  July  24,  1802;  died 
in  Cuba  in  1825)  was  a  young  physician  whose  "  Giuseppino,  an 
Occidental  Story,"  published  in  1822,  as  also  his  fugitive  poems  con- 
tributed to  the  newspapers  of  Providence,  Rhode  Island, —  of  which 
city  he  was  for  a  time  a  resident,  —  is  thought  to  have  shown  much 
promise.  "  Giuseppino "  is  one  of  the  countless  imitations  of  "  Don 
Juan ; "  and  the  author's  other  verses  give  equally  strong  evidence  of 
Bvron's  influence. 

"  William  Henry  Burleigh  (born  at  Woodstock,  Feb.  2,  1812 ;  died 
at  Brooklyn,  New  York,  March  18,  1871)  was  a  self-educated  genius, 
Avho  led  a  checkered  career  as  farmer,  printer,  journalist,  lawyer,  and 
public  lecturer  on  slavery  and  other  topics.  He  resided  much  at  Plain- 
field,  and  was  at  one  time  editor  of  the  "  Charter  Oak,"  published  at 
Hartford.  He  printed  a  volume  of  poems  at  Philadelphia  in  1811. 
They  are  fair  specimens  of  the  better  class  of  newspaper  poetry  of 
their  period,  and  in  their  facility  and  sentiment  somewhat  resemble 
the  poems  of  Prentice. 

Mrs.  Shutts,  nee  Mary  Ann  Hanmer  Dodd  (born  at  Hartford,  March 
5,  1813  ;  married  Henry  Shutts,  of  New  York  State,  at  Springfield, 
Mass.,  in  1855 ;  died  at  Greenburg,  New  York,  1878)  was  a  contribu- 
tor to  the  "  Ladies'  Repository,"  a  monthly,  and  the  "  Rose  of  Sharon," 
an  annual,  and  printed  a  volume  of  poems  at  Hartford,  in  1843, 
marked  by  a  gentle  melancholy  and  a  deep  religious  feeling.  She 
was  a  Universalist,  and  published  many  of  her  pieces  in  denomina- 
tional prints. 

James  Dixon  (born  at  Enfield,  Aug.  5,  1814;  died  at  Hartford, 
March  27, 1873)  removed  about  1838  from  his  native  place  to  Hartford, 
where  he  resided  until  his  death.  He  was  eminent  in  professional  and 
political  life,  and  was  Member  of  Congress  from  1845  to  1849,  and  United 
States  Senator  from  1857  to  1869.  Mr.  Dixon  was  a  gentleman  of  elegant 
and  scholarly  tastes,  and  in  early  life  contributed  poetry  to  the  "  New 
England  Magazine,"  the  "  Connecticut  Courant,"  and  other  periodicals. 
His  poems,  especially  the  sonnets  which  are  given  in  Everest's  collec- 
tion, are  musical  and  graceful,  though  rather  amateurish.  They  remind 
the  reader  occasionally  of  Bryant ;  as  in  the  piece  entitled  "  Indian 
Summer." 

Arthur  Cleveland  Coxe  (born  at  Mendham,  New  Jersey,  May  10, 
1818)  now  Bishop  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Diocese  of  western  New 
York,  was  rector  of  St.  John's  Church,  Hartford,  when  he  published 
his  religious  mystery-play,  "  Saul,"  in  1845.  His  poem  "  Athanasion" 
was  delivered  at  Trinity  College  in  1840,  and  his  sermons  on  "  Doc- 
trine and  Duty  "  were  preached  at  St.  John's. 

In  Henry  Howard  Brownell  (born  at  Providence,  Rhode  Island, 
Feb.  6,  1820';  graduated  at  Trinity  College  in  1841  ;  died  at  East  Hart- 


HARTFORD   IN   LITERATURE. 


167 


ford,  Oct.  31, 1872),  Hartford  had  a  poet  worthy  of  the  name.  Unfitted 
by  delicate  health  for  the  active  work  of  a  profession,  Mr.  Brownell 
resided  most  of  his  life  at  East  Hartford,  devoting  himself  to  reading 
and  study.  In  1847  he  published  a  slender  volume  of  poems  which 
gave  token  of  fine  possibilities,  though  as  yet  the  poet  seemed  waiting 
for  his  theme.  It  ca  me 
with  the  bombard- 
ment of  Sumter.  Mr. 
Brownell  obtained  a 
position  on  Farragut's 
staff,  on  whose  flag- 
ship,u  The  Hartford/ ' 
he  was  present  dur- 
ing several  great  na- 
val engagements, such 
as  the  "Bay  Fight" 
at  Mobile,  which  he 
described  in  most  dra- 
matic verse  in  his 
"Lyrics  of  a  Day," 
1864,  and  his  "  War 
Lyrics,"  18G6.  The 
fiery  and  rugged  po- 
etry of  such  pieces  as 
"  The  Bay  Fight," 
"  Annus  Memorabi- 
lis,"  and  many  others, 
entitle  Brownell  to 
rank  equally,  perhaps, 
with  Whittier  as  the 
Korner  of  our  Civil 
War.      He    was    also  henry  howakd  bkowxell. 

the   author  of   "The 

Old  World,"  "The  New  World,"  a  "History  of  the  War  of  1812,"  and 
other  writings  in  prose. 

George  H.  Clark  (born  in  Northampton,  Mass.,  1809 ;  died  in 
Hartford,  August,  1881),  for  many  years  a  merchant  of  Hartford,  was 
a  contributor  of  verses  to  "  Putnam's  Magazine  "  and  the  "  Knicker- 
bocker," and  published  a  volume,  "  Undertow,1'  in  1860.  He  also  wrote 
numerous  poems  for  special  occasions. 

Perhaps  the  man  of  highest  genius  in  the  catalogue  of  Hartford 
authors  was  Horace  Bushnell  (born  at  Litchfield,  April  14,  1802 ; 
died  at  Hartford,  Feb.  17,  1876).  His  connection  with  Hartford  began 
with  his  call  to  the  pastorate  of  the  North  Church  in  1833,  and  he 
remained  until  his  death  one  of  its  most  public  spirited  citizens.  The 
beautiful  city  park  which  his  exertions  did  so  much  to  obtain,  fittingly 
bears  his  name.  His  writings,  though  mainly  theological,  or,  rather, 
religious,  in  subject,  are  often  lifted  by  their  imaginative  quality  and 
beauty  of  style  into  the  region  of  pure  literature.  His  thought  has  some- 
times a  resemblance  to  Emerson's,  though  his  conclusions  were  widely 
different.      His  orthodoxy  was  supported  by  admissions  so  bold  and 


168  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

reasonings  so  original  as  to  lay  him  open  to  charges  of  heresy.  His 
earlier  writings  in  particular,  such  as  "  Christian  Nurture,"  1847,  "  God 
in  Christ,"  1849,  and  "  Christian  Theology,"  1851,  made  him  the  object 
of  what  may  without  exaggeration  be  called  persecution  by  a  party 
among  the  Congregational  churches  of  the  State.  In  consequence  of 
his  peculiar  way  of  holding  the  doctrines  of  the  Atonement  and  the 
Divinity  of  Christ,  he  was  accused  of  a  modified  form  of  Unitarianism. 
In  his  works,  like  "Work  and  Play,"  a  series  of  essays,  published  as 
a  volume  in  18G4,  but  delivered  much  earlier,  "  The  Moral  Uses  of 
Dark  Things,"  1869,  and  his  masterpiece,  "Nature  and  the  Super- 
natural," 1859,  he  addressed  a  public  wider  than  the  limits  of  his 
denomination.  In  these,  and  particularly  in  the  last  mentioned,  Dr. 
Bushneirs  other-worldliness  is  shown  in  an  inclination  to  admit  a 
belief  in  modern  miracles,  the  development  of  spiritual  life,  and  "  de- 
moniacal irruptions."  His  life  and  letters  have  been  edited  by  his 
daughter,  Mrs.  Mary  Bushnell  Cheney.1 

In  this  connection  may  be  mentioned  another  distinguished  divine, 
Robert  Turnbull  (born  at  Whiteburn,  Scotland,  Sept.  10,  1809;  died 
in  1877),  who  was  pastor  of  the  South  Baptist  Church  from  1837  to 
1839,  and  subsequently  of  the  First  Baptist.  Dr.  Turnbull  was  known 
by  his  translation  of  Vinet's  "  Vital  Christianity,"  1846,  and  of  the  same 
author's  "  Miscellanies,"  1852,  as  well  as  by  many  original  works,  in- 
cluding "  The  Genius  of  Scotland,"  1847  ;  "  The  Genius  of  Italy,"  1849  ; 
"  Christ  in  History,"  1856 ;  "  Pulpit  Orators  of  France  and  Switzer- 
land," 1853;  "Life  Pictures,"  1857,  etc.  He  edited  at  one  time  the 
"  Christian  Review." 

In  Isaac  William  Stuart  (born  at  New  Haven  in  1809;  died  at 
Hartford,  Oct.  2,  1861),  Hartford  had  a  graceful  orator  and  accom- 
plished scholar,  as  well  as  an  enthusiastic  student  of  the  history  and 
antiquities  of  the  city.  Mr.  Stuart  came  to  Hartford  in  1838,  and,  ex- 
cepting a  few  years'  absence  at  the  South,  when  he  held  the  Greek 
professorship  in  the  University  of  North  Carolina,  made  it  his  life 
residence.  He  was  the  owner  of  the  Wyllys  estate,  where  the  Charter 
Oak  stood.  In  1853  he  collected  and  issued,  under  the  title  "  Hartford 
in  the  Olden  Time,"  a  pleasant  series  of  papers  first  contributed  to  the 
"Courant."2  In  1856  he  published  his  charmingly  written  "Life  of 
Nathan  Hale," 3  and  in  1859,  at  Boston,  a  "  Life  of  Jonathan  Trumbull." 
He  was  also  the  translator  of  an  "  Essay  on  the  Hieroglyphic  System 
of  Champollion,"  1830,  and  in  1837  edited  "  CEdipus  Tyrannus,"  with 
notes,  etc. 

Henry  Champion  Deming  (born  at  Colchester,  May  23,  1815  ;  died 
at  Hartford,  Oct.  9,1872),  a  forcible  and  finished  orator  and  a  gentle- 
man of  brilliant  social  and  intellectual  gifts,  was  best  known  by  his 
numerous  public  addresses,  lectures,  and  Congressional  speeches.  He 
settled  at  Hartford  in  1847  ;  in  1861  was  appointed  colonel  of  the 
Twelfth  Regiment  of  Connecticut  volunteers;  in  1862-1863  was  mayor 
of  the  captured  city  of  New  Orleans  ;  and  from  1864  to  1868  represented 

1  Life  and  Letters  of  Horace  Bushnell.     New  York:  Harper  &  Bros.,  1880. 

2  Hartford  in  the  Olden  Time :  Its  First  Thirty  Years.  By  Seasva,  Edited  hy  W.  M. 
B.  Hartley.     With  illustrations.     Hartford.     Published  by  F.  A.  Brown,  1853. 

3  Life  of  Captain  Nathan  Hale,  the  Martvr-Spy  of  the  American  Revolution.  By  I.  W. 
Stuart.     With  illustrations.     Hartford.      Published  by  F.  A.  Brown,  1856. 


HARTFORD   IX   LITERATURE. 


169 


the  First  District  of  Connecticut  in  Congress.  When  a  young  man,  and 
resident  in  New  York,  Mr.  Denting  published  translations  of  some  of 
Eugene  Sue's  novels  in  Park  Benjamin's  paper,  "  The  New  World." 
Specially  noteworthy  among  his  orations  were  his  speech  on  "  Recon- 
struction," in  the  National  House  of  Representatives ;  his  "  Eulogy  of 
Abraham  Lincoln,"  delivered  before  the  General  Assembly  of  Connec- 
ticut in  1865  ;  and  his  lyceum  lecture  on  "  The  Passage  of  the  Forts." 
In  1868  he  published  at  Hartford  a  "  Life  of  Grant," 

Azel  Stevens  Roe  (born  at  New  York  in  1798,  died  at  East  Windsor 
Jan.  1,  1886),  retired  to  East  Windsor  about  1848,  where  he  wrote  his 
very  popular  scries  of  stories  for  boys,  —  "  James  Montjoy,"  1850  ; 
'•Time  and  Tide,"  1852 
the  number  of  a  dozen. 


Among  living  authors  now  resident  in  Hartford  County  may  be 
mentioned  the  following :  — 

The  famous  author  of  "  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,"  Mrs.  Harriet  Beecher 
Stowe,  nee  Harriet  Elizabeth  Beecher  (born  at  Litchfield,  June  14, 
1812),  from  her  fifteenth  to 
her  twenty-first  year  was 
associated  with  her  sister 
Catherine  in  the  charge  of  a 
female  seminary  at  Hart- 
ford. Some  of  her  sketches 
of  New  England  life  after- 
ward published  in  her  first 
book,  "The  May-Flower," 
1844,  were  written  at  this 
time.  In  1864  Mrs.  Stowe 
returned  to  Hartford,  where 
she  has  since  made  her 
home.  Many  of  her  later 
works  have  been  written 
there,  including  "  Men  of 
Our  Times,"  Hartford,  1868 ; 
"  The  Chimney  -  Corner," 
1868  ;  "  The  Minister's 
Wooing,"  1868;  "  Oldtown 
Folks,"  1869;  "Pink  and 
White  Tyranny,"  1871 ; 
"  My  Wife  and  I,"  1871 ; 
"Palmetto  Leaves,"  1873; 
"  We  and  Our  Neighbors,"  1875  ;  "  Poganuc  People,"  1878,  etc. 

James  Hammond  Trumbull,  LL.D.  (born  at  Stonington,  Dec.  20, 
1821),  librarian  of  the  Watkinson  Library  and  president  of  the  Con- 
necticut Historical  Society  since  1863,  was  a  member  of  the  class 
of  1842  in  Yale  College,  and  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws 
from  that  institution  in  1871.  He  was  assistant  Secretary  of  the  State 
of  Connecticut  from  1847  to  1852,  and  again  from  1858  to  1861,  and 
Secretary  of  the  State  from  1861  to  1865.  Between  1850  and  1859  he 
edited  and  published  the  first  three  volumes  of  the  "  Connecticut  Colony 
Records."     He  was  one  of  the  active  founders  of  the  American  Philo- 


MES.    HARRIET    BEECHER    STOWE. 


170 


MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF  HARTFORD   COUNTY. 


logical  Association  in  1869,  and  its  president,  1874-1875.  Among  his 
published  writings  are  :  "  The  Origin  of  McFingal,"  "  The  Composition 
of  Indian  Geographical  Names,"  "  The  Best  Method  of  Studying  the 
Indian  Languages,"  "  Mistaken  Notions  of  Algonkin  Grammar,"  "  His- 
torical Notes  on  the  Constitution  of  Connecticut,"  "Notes  on  Forty 


Algonkin  Versions  of  the  Lord's  Prayer, 


CHAS.    DUDLEY    WARNEB. 


(Portrait  used  by  permission  of 


.  Houghton,  Mifflin,  &  Co ) 


which  paper  he  is  still  associated.     Mr 


Notes  on  the  Algonkin 
Verb,"  "The  Defence  of 
Stonington  against  a  Brit- 
ish Squadron  in  1814,"  etc. 

Erastus  Wolcott  Ells- 
worth (born  at  East  Wind- 
sor in  1823),  by  profession 
an  inventor  and  machinist, 
published  a  volume  of  po- 
ems in  1855,1  the  longest 
of  which  had  for  its  subject 
the  story  of  Theseus  and 
Ariadne.  One  of  the  po- 
ems, and  a  remarkably  good 
one,  entitled  "  What  is  the 
Use  ? "  has  been  reprinted 
in  Whittier's  "  Songs  of 
Three  Centuries."  Mr.  Ells- 
worth furnished  many  of 
the  drawings  for  the  su- 
perb "  Wolcott  Memorial," 
recently  published. 

Charles  Dudley  Warner 
(born  at  Plainfield,  Mass., 
Sept.  12,  1829)  came  to 
Hartford  in  1860  as  one  of 
the  editors  of  the  "  Press," 
and  subsequently  became 
one  of  the  owners  and  edi- 
tors of  the  "  Courant,"  with 
Warner  is  widely  known  as  a 


delicate  humorist,  and  the  author  of  charming  sketches,  essays,  and 
travels.  "  My  Summer  in  a  Garden,"  1871  ;  "  Saunterings,"  1872  ; 
"Backlog  Studies,"  1872  ;  "  Baddeck,"  1874  ;  "  My  Winter  on  the  Nile 
amono;  Mummies  and  Moslems,"  1876  ;  "  In  the  Levant,"  1877  ;  "  Being 
a  Boy,"  1878  ;  "  In  the  Wilderness,"  1878  ;  "  Washington  Irving," 
1880;  "Life  of  Captain  John  Smith;"  "A  Roundabout  Journey,"  etc., 
are  among  his  published  writings,  and  were  all  written  at  Hartford. 

Samuel  Langhorne  Clemens  (born  at  Florida,  Monroe  County,  Mo., 
Nov.  30,  1835),  universally  known,  by  his  pen-name  of  "  Mark  Twain," 
as  one  of  the  raciest  and  most  original  of  American  humorists,  has 
lived  at  Hartford  since  1871.  His  later  books  have  been  "The  In- 
nocents Abroad,"  1869  ;  "  Roughing  It,"  1872  ;  "  Mark  Twain's 
Sketches,"  1875 ;  "Adventures  of  Tom  Sawyer,"  1876;  "A  Tramp 
Abroad,"  1880;  "The  Prince  and  the  Pauper;"    "Life  on  the  Missis- 


Poems.     By  Erastus  W.  Ellsworth.     Published  by  F.  A.  Brown.     Hartford,  1855. 


HARTFORD   IN   LITERATURE. 


171 


sippi 
Punch,"  etc. 


The  Adventures  of  Huckleberry  Finn;"  "Punch,  Brothers, 


has 


Among  living  writers  formerly  identified  with  Hartford,  but 
resident  elsewhere,  may  be  named  the  following  :  — 

Frederick  Law  Olmsted  (born  at  Hartford,  Nov.  10,  1822) 
been  since  1848  a  citizen  of  New  York, 
and  his  numerous  valuable  contribu- 
tions to  the  literature  of  travel,  hor- 
ticulture, and  landscape-gardening  date 
from  that  city  ;  the  first  of  his  published 
works,  "  Walks  and  Talks  of  an  Amer- 
ican Farmer  in  England,"  having  ap- 
peared in  1852. 

Mrs.  Rose  Terry  Cooke  (born  at 
Hartford,  Feb.  17,  1827),  who  removed 
to  Winsted  after  her  marriage  in  1873, 
has  been  a  frequent  contributor  of  po- 
etry and  graphic  stories  of  rural  New 
England  life  to  the  columns  of  the  "  At- 
lantic Monthly,"  "  Harper's,"  and  other 
periodicals.  In  1861  she  published  at 
Boston  a  volume  of  poems,  some  of 
which,  such  as  "Trailing  Arbutus,"  SAMUEL  LANGHorne  clemens. 
'Then,"  and  "The  Two  Villages,"  have  ("mark  twain.") 

been  justly  popular. 

Frederic  Beecher  Perkins  (born  at  Hartford,  Sept.  27,  1829)  was 
for  many  years  a  resident  of  the  city,  and  at  different  times  librarian  of 
the  Connecticut  Historical  Society,  and  associate  editor  of  Barnard's 
"  American  Journal  of  Education  "  and  of  the  "  Connecticut  Common 
School  Journal."  He  published  at  New  York,  in  1872,  his  useful  "  The 
Best  Reading,"  which  has  gone  through  many  editions.  He  has  con- 
tributed to  various  periodicals  some  fifty  stories  and  sketches,  the  best 
known  of  which  is,  perhaps, "  The  Steam  Man."  A  volume  of  these  he 
collected  and  published  at  New  York  in  1877,  called  "  Devil  Puzzles,  and 
Other  Stories,"  of  which  the  one  entitled  "  Children  " — in  which  he 
feigns  a  dislike  of  Wethersfield  onions  and  Hartford  "  Election  cake"  — 
is  of  some  local  interest. 

The  Rev.  Henry  Clay  Trumbull  (born  at  Stonington,  June  8,1830), 
a  brother  of  Dr.  J.  H.  Trumbull,  since  1875  editor  of  the  "  Sunday  School 
Times"  in  Philadelphia,  published  :  "The  Knightly  Soldier,"  a  memoir 
of  Major  Henry  W.  Camp,  in  1865  ;  "  The  Captured  Scout  of  the  Army 
of  the  James,"  1867  ;  "  Kadesh-Barnea,"  including  "  Studies  of  the 
Route  of  the  Exodus,"  etc.,  188-4;  "Teaching  and  Teachers,"  1884; 
"  The  Blood  Covenant,"  1885  ;  and  other  writings,  biographical  and 
religious.  Mr.  Trumbull  was  a  resident  of  Hartford  during  the  years 
1851-1875,  serving  as  chaplain  of  the  Tenth  Regiment  Connecticut 
Volunteers  in  the  Union  army,  1862-1865. 

Edmund  Clarence  Stedman  (born  at  Hartford,  Oct.  8,1833),  widely 
and  favorably  known  as  a  poet  and  critic,  belongs  rather  to  New  York 
than  to  the  city  of  his  nativity.  He  went  to  New  York  in  1855,  and 
with  that  city  his  literary  career  is  most  closely  associated. 


172  MEMORIAL   HISTORY  OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

John  Fiske  (born  at  Hartford,  1842),  formerly  assistant  librarian 
and  lecturer  at  Harvard  College,  author  of  "  Myths  and  Myth-Makers," 
1873,  "  Outlines  of  Cosmic  Philosophy,"  1875,  "  The  Unseen  World," 
1876,  "  Excursions  of  an  Evolutionist,"  1884,  "The  Idea  of  God,"  1885, 
etc.,  is  by  birth  a  Hartford  man,  though  his  spurs  have  been  won 
elsewhere. 

Among  natives  or  residents  of  Hartford  County  who  have  been 
prominent  in  scholarship  and  education  may  be  noted  the  following : 
The  distinguished  lexicographer,  Noah  Webster  (born  at  West  Hartford, 
Oct.  16,  1758),  lived  at  Hartford  off  and  on  up  to  1785,  and  published 
there  in  1783  his  famous  spelling-book.1  The  Rev.  Philip  Milledoler 
(born  at  Farmington,  Sept.  22,  1775),  from  1825  to  1841  President 
of  Rutgers  College  and  Professor  of  Moral  Philosophy  and  Christian 
Evidences,  was  the  author  of  numerous  addresses,  essays,  and  lec- 
tures on  theological  subjects.  The  Rev.  Heman  Humphrey  (born 
at  West  Simsbury,  March  26,  1779),  President  of  Amherst  College, 
1823-1845,  published  several  works,  and  in  particular  "Life  and 
Writings  of  T.  H.  Gallaudet,"  1859.  Professor  Ethan  Allen  Andrews 
(born  at  New  Britain  in  1787)  became  in  1822  Professor  of  Ancient 
Languages  in  the  University  of  North  Carolina.  His  Latin  Grammar 
(Andrews  and  Stoddard's)  has  had  an  immense  circulation,  and  he 
is  the  author  of  a  Latin  dictionary  and  other  books  of  Latin  instruc- 
tion. Dr.  John  Lee  Comstock  (born  at  East  Lyme),  long  a  resident 
at  Hartford,  published  numerous  text-books  in  chemistry,  botany, 
natural  history,  physical  geography,  mineralogy,  and  physiology,  which 
had  a  sale,  all  told,  of  nearly  a  million  copies.  He  also  published  a 
"  History  of  the  Greek  Revolution,"  1829.  The  Rev.  Romeo  Elton 
(born  at  Bristol,  1790),  at  one  time  Professor  of  Ancient  Languages  in 
Brown  University,  and  editor  of  the  "  Eclectic  Review,"  published  among 
other  works  a  "  Biographical  Sketch  of  Roger  Williams  "  and  an  edition 
of  "  Callender's  Century  Sermon."  The  Rev.  Charles  Augustus  Good- 
rich (born  at  Ridgefield,  1790),  settled  at  Berlin  from  1820  to  1848,  and 
at  Hartford  from  1848  to  1862,  assisted  his  brother,  S.  G.  Goodrich,  in 
the  preparation  of  books  for  the  young,  and  published  "  The  Lives  of 
the  Signers,"  "  View  of  all  Religions,"  "  Family  Encyclopaedia,"  and 
other  books  of  religion  and  instruction.  Denison  Olmsted  (born  at  East 
Hartford,  1791),  Professor  of  Mathematics,  Natural  Philosophy,  and 
Astronomy,  in  Yale  College,  1825-1859,  published  a  number  of  valuable 
text-books  on  astronomy,  natural  philosophy,  etc.  William  Chanuing 
Woodbridge  (born  at  Medford,  Mass.,  Dec.  18,  1794)  taught  at  the 
Hartford  Asylum  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb  from  1817  to  1820,  and  assisted 
Mrs.  Willard  in  preparing  a  compendium  of  geography.  From  1831  to 
1838  he  edited  the  "  American  Annals  of  Education,"  and  was,  besides, 
the  author  of  several  elementary  text-books.  TheRev.  Edward  Robinson 
(born  at  Southington,  April  10,1794),  Professor  of  Sacred  Literature  at 
Andover  from  1830  to  1837,  and  at  the  Union  Theological  Seminary  in 
New  York  from  1837  to  1863,  was  the  author  of  "  Biblical  Researches 
in  Palestine,"  "Physical  Geography  of  the  Holy  Land,"  and  of  many 
contributions,  original  and  translated,  to   Greek  and  Hebrew  lexicog- 

1  A  Grammatical  Institute  of  the  English  Language.  In  Three  Parts.  Part  I.  By  Noah 
Webster,  A.M.     Hartford,  1783.    Printed  by  Hudson  &  Goodwin,  for  the  Author,  1783. 


HARTFORD   IN   LITERATURE.  173 

raphy.  Ho  was  four  years  editor  of  the  "  Biblical  Repository,"  estab- 
lished the  " Bibliotheca  Sacra"  in  1843,  and  was  one  of  the  most 
distinguished  of  American  scholars.  The  Rev.  Hector  Humphrey  (born 
at  Canton,  June  8, 1787)  was  Professor  of  Ancient  Languages  at  Wash- 
ington (now  Trinity)  College,  and  from  1831  to  1857  President  of  St. 
Johns  College,  Annapolis.  William  Alexander  Alcott  (born  at  Wol- 
cott,  Aug.  6,  1798)  was  at  Hartford  in  1832,  assisting  William  C. 
Woodbridge  in  preparing  geographies  and  in  editing  the  "  American 
Annals."  He  published  over  a  hundred  books  in  the  course  of  his 
life,  mostly  on  education.  Catherine  Esther  Beecher  (born  at  East 
Hampton,  Long  Island,  Sept.  6, 1800)  conducted  a  famous  seminary  at 
Hartford  from  1822  to  1832,  and  published  at  different  times  a  number 
of  books  on  female  education,  domestic  economy,  etc.  The  Rev.  David 
Newton  Sheldon  (born  at  Suffield,  June  26,  1807)  was*  from  1843  to 
1853  President  of  Waterville  College.  He  is  the  author  of  "  Sin  and 
Redemption,"  and  of  published  sermons.  The  Rev.  Alonzo  Bowen 
Chapin  (born  at  Somers,  March  10,  1808),  formerly  editor  of  the 
"  Calendar,"  and  President  of  Beloit  College,  is  the  author  of  "  Puri- 
tanism not  Protestantism,"  and  other  books,  religious  and  educational. 
Professor  Anthony  Dumond  Stanley  (born  at  East  Hartford,  April  2, 
1810),  Professor  of  Mathematics  at  Yale  from  1836  to  1853,  pub- 
lished a  "  Treatise  on  Spherical  Trigonometry,"  "  Tables  of  Loga- 
rithms," and  a  revised  edition  of  Day's  Algebra.  The  Rev.  Noah 
Porter  (born  at  Farmington,  1811),  President  of  Yale  College  since 
1871,  and  for  many  years  Professor  of  Mental  and  Moral  Philosophy  in 
the  same  institution,  has  published  numerous  works,  including  "  The 
Human  Intellect,"  1868  ;  "  Books  and  Reading,"  1870  ;  "  The  American 
Colleges  and  the  American  Public,"  etc.  Elihu  Burritt,  "  the  learned 
blacksmith "  (born  at  New  Britain,  Dec.  8,  1811),  was  a  voluminous 
author  of  tracts,  pamphlets,  translations,  and  contributions  to  the  peri- 
odical press.  Henry  Barnard,  LL.D.  (born  at  Hartford,  Jan.  14, 1811), 
well  known  by  his  life-long  labors  in  the  cause  of  education,  has 
been  editor  of  the  "  Connecticut  Common  School  Journal  "  and  the 
"  American  Journal  of  Education,"  and  has  published  numerous  reports, 
documents,  and  other  writings,  historical  and  biographical,  bearing  on 
the  general  subject  of  education.  The  Rev.  Chester  S.  Lyman  (born  at 
Manchester,  Jan.  13,  1814)  has  been  since  1859  Professor  of  Industrial 
Mechanics  and  Physics  in  the  Sheffield  Scientific  School  of  Yale  College. 
His  published  writings  consist  of  contributions  to  "  Silliman's  Journal  " 
and  the  "  New  Englander,"  an  "  Address  on  Scientific  Education,"  1867, 
etc.  Professor  John  Pitkin  Norton  (born  at  Farmington  in  1822)  was 
the  first  Professor  of  Agricultural  Chemistry  in  Yale  College.  He 
published  "  Elements  of  Scientific  Agriculture,"  and  a  few  other  papers. 
He  died  at  the  age  of  thirty,  leaving  an  impression  of  great  promise. 
William  Graham  Sumner  (born  at  Hartford,  Oct,  30,1840),  since  1872 
Professor  of  Political  and  Social  Science  in  Yale  College,  has  published 
a  "  History  of  American  Currency,"  1874  ;  a  "  History  of  Protection 
in  the  United  States,"  1876  ;  "Life  of  Andrew  Jackson,"  1882  ;  "  What 
Social  Classes  Owe  to  Each  Other,"  1883,  etc.,  and  numerous  contribu- 
tions to  reviews  and  magazines. 

Since  this  chapter  was  written  and  put  into  type  there  have  been 
important  additions  to  the  literature  which  belongs  properly  to  Hartford, 


174 


MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 


and  their  omission  is  to  be  explained  in  that  way ;  while  the  necessary 
limitations  of  so  comprehensive  a  sketch  must  be  accepted  as  the  rea- 
son for  not  attempting  to  describe  the  various  literary  clubs  which 
have  made  and  make  an  interesting  and  important  feature  of  life  in 
Hartford. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


THE  MILITIA   AND  INDEPENDENT  COMPANIES. 

THE   MILITIA. 
BY    SHERMAN    W.    ADAMS. 

A  RMS  AND  ARMOR.  — In  March,  1638,  Hartford,  Windsor, 
j\  Wethersfield,  and  Agawam  were  required,  in  an  order  of  the 
General  Court,  to  provide  corselets  for  their  fighting-men,  to  the 
number  of  twenty-one,  twelve,  ten,  and  seven,  respectively.  These 
armor-coverings  were  neither  of  plate  nor  chain ;  but  were  —  at  least 
in  1642  —  of  heavy  cotton  cloth,  "  basted  with  cotton-wooll,  and  made 
defensiue  ag*  Indean  arrowes."  1  Outside  of  these,  coats  of  the  skins  of 
the  raccoon,  wolf,  or  bear  furnished  additional  protection  against  both 
weather  and  weapon.  Perhaps  we  should  include  under  this  head  the 
"  snow-shoes  and  Indian  shoes  "  required  by  the  Act  of  1704.  In  1722 
Wethersfield  purchased  thirty  pairs  each,  of  snow-shoes  and  "  maugi- 
sons,"  for  military  use.  In  1782  dragoons  were  required  to  wear  "  a 
cap,  made  of  jirk  leather,  sufficient  to  withstand  the  force  of  a  broad- 
sword." In  1638  every  "  military  man  "  was  required  to  keep  "  one 
pound  of  matche,  if  his  peece  be  a  match  locke."  In  1642  two  fathoms 
of  match  were  required  for  each  matchlock  musket.  The  match  (more 
properly  slow-match)  was  of  prepared  rope,  coiled  around  the  stock  of 
the  musket.  Snaphances  (literally,  snap-cocks)  were  supplied  with  a 
cock  and  trigger,  to  the  former  of  which  a  piece  of  match,  or  flint, 
was  attached. 

Firelocks  (later  called  flintlocks)  were  coming  into  use.  In  1673 
the  law  required  that  they  have  six  spare  flints  each ;  and  the  barrel 
might  be  either  of  the  "  bastard  "  or  of  the  "  coliver  "  (culverine)  form 
and  size.  The  firelock  was  not  rejected  by  statute  until  1862.  It 
was  the  fire-arm  principally  in  use  in  the  Mexican  War.  Beginning 
about  1820,  percussion  cap-locks  were  gradually  introduced  ;  but  in  the 
late  Civil  War  these  were  to  some  extent  superseded  by  the  Whitney 
rifled  musket,  and  later  by  breech-loaders  having  a  percussion  tape  or 
cartridge. 

Bandoliers  were  worn,  holding  twelve  or  more  separate  charges. 
About  1700  the  cartouch-box  was  substituted  for  the  bandolier.  In  the 
Revolution  it  was  made  to  contain  sixteen  ball-cartridges ;  but  many 
soldiers  had  to  be  content  with  the  bullet-pouch  and  powder-horn. 

The  rude  pike  or  lance  was  an  efficient  weapon.  In  1642  each  town 
was  required  to  procure  twenty  "  half-pikes,"  to  be  of  "  ten  foote  in 

1   But  plate  armor  —  certainly  the  cuirass  —  was  worn  by  some  officers  nearly  as  late  as 
a.d.  1700. 


176  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

length,  at  least,  in  the  wood."  The  full  pike  was  fourteen  feet  long, 
in  1666,  and  twenty  pikemen  were  required  to  every  hundred  soldiers. 
The  bayonet  succeeded  to  the  pike,  probably  before  1700.  It  was  at 
first  inserted  in  the  muzzle  of  the  piece.  The  ring-bayonet  soon  fol- 
lowed. In  the  early  part  of  the  present  century,  perhaps  as  late  as 
1820,  the  form  of  pike  known  as  the  "  espontoon"  was  much  in  use. 

Swords,  hangers  (sabres),  and  "cutlashes"  were  in  use  from  the 
beginning,  being  in  1650  required  for  all  soldiers.  In  1702  a  "trooper" 
was  required  to  carry  a  sword  or  cutlass  in  addition  to  his  carbine  and 
"  case  of  pistols."     For  his  carbine,  when  firing,  he  carried  a  "  rest." 

Of  cannon,  the  first  and  only  siege  guns  mounted  in  this  county 
were  those  placed  in  the  work  on  Dutch  Point  by  the  Dutch  occupants 
of  1633.1  Two  unmounted  cannon  were  brought  from  Piscataqua  (now 
Kittery,  Maine)  in  1642 ;  but  they  probably  went  to  Saybrook.  Sakers 
and  minions  were  then  in  use ;  and  Robert  Saltonstall,  of  Windsor, 
contracted  to  furnish  two  pieces  in  1642.  It  is  not  probable  that  any 
field  artillery  was  used  in  this  county  before  1792.  In  1822  eighteen 
6-pounders  of  iron  were  received  at  the  Arsenal  at  Hartford,  from  the 
United  States.  At  the  same  place  are  now  two  12-pounder  bronze  field- 
cannon,  and  two  bronze  howitzers  of  the  same  calibre.  Down  to  1840, 
or  later,  most  of  the  artillery  was  drawn  by  men,  with  drag-ropes. 

Uniforms.  —  No  distinctive  uniform  for  soldiery  was  required  before 
or  during  the  Revolution.2  The  cocked  hat  was  worn  by  both  American 
and  British  soldiers ;  but  the  infantry  militia  of  Connecticut,  following 
the  United  States  army,  adopted  the  shako  with  pompon,  in  1813  or 
earlier,  and  retained  it  nearly  fifty  years ;  that  is,  so  far  as  they  wore 
any  uniform  hat  or  cap.  Grenadiers,  after  1782,  wore  the  bearskin 
cap.  "  Troopers "  wore  the  bearskin  or  busby.  The  chapeau-bras 
has  been  worn  by  officers  of  the  Governor's  staff  for  many  years.  In 
the  late  Civil  War  the  McClellan  cap  and  felt  hat  of  the  regular  army 
was  worn  by  our  soldiers.  The  German  pickelhaube  (pike-helmet) 
was  adopted  by  our  First  Regiment  in  1879,  —  the  first,  it  is  said,  in 
the  United  States.  As  to  the  other  outer  garments,  the  cavalry  com- 
panies, as  early  as  1782,  were  allowed  to  choose  the  "  colour  of  their 
cloathing."  In  1783  the  same  privilege  was  accorded  to  the  "  artillery, 
or  matross  companies."  From  1792  to  1811  cavalry-men  and  artillery- 
men were  compelled  to  wear  distinctive  uniforms ;  and  infantry  were  so 
compelled  from  1811  to  1815.  From  1816  to  1847  there  was  no  legal 
obligation  upon  the  infantry  to  wear  a  uniform  ;  but  in  fact  some  compa- 
nies, which  were  made  the  flank-companies,  did  wear  one  ;  while  others, 
the  "  battalion  "  companies,  were  un-uniformed.  Since  1847  a  uniform 
has  been  required  for  all  sections  of  the  militia. 

In  1793  some  if  not  all  the  commissioned  officers  of  infantry  wore 
blue  coats  lined  with  white  and  faced  with  red,  white  vest,  pantaloons, 
buttons,  and  epaulets.  Warrant  officers  wore  a/white  worsted  shoulder- 
knot  in  place  of  the  epaulet.  Musicians  wore  red  coats  lined  with 
white  and  faced  with  blue,  with  blue  livery-lace  trimmings,  white  vest 
and  buttons ;  a  blue  worsted  knot  on  the  shoulder.  Corporals  and 
privates  wore  "  white  frocks  and  overalls,"  a  black  feather  tipped  with 
red  on  the  hat.  In  1812  the  pantaloons  were  changed  to  blue ;  a 
stock,  for  the  neck,  of  black  leather,  velvet,  or  woven  hair  was  pre- 

1  See  editorial  note  1,  p.  188.  2  See  editorial  note  2,  p.  188. 


THE   MILITIA. 


177 


scribed ;  the  rini  of  the  hat  to  be  turned  up  on  the  left  side.  The  coats 
of  the  non-commissioned  officers  and  privates  had  short  skirts,  while 
those  of  the  field  and  commissioned  officers  had  long  skirts.  Field  offi- 
cers wore  breeches  instead  of  pantaloons.  Officers  and  men  alike  wore 
a  cockade  of  black  leather.  In  1813  a  red  welt  was  inserted  in  the 
outer  seams  of  the  pantaloons  of  non-commissioned  officers,  privates, 
and  musicians.  The  hat  was  round  and  black,  having  a  japanned  fron- 
tispiece ornamented  with  a  gilt  spread-eagle ;  the    feather  (described 


wtsm 


■  ■'■     ■  ■■         I  ^K^\MW 


THE    STATE    ARSENAL, A   VIEW    FROM    THE    SOUTH. 

above)  to  be  on  the  left  side  and  to  rise  five  inches  above  the  crown. 
The  commander  of  a  regiment  wore  two  plumes,  —  one  black,  the  other 
red.  A  major  wore  two  black  plumes,  captains  and  staff  officers  one 
red  plume.     Officers  wore  a  crimson  sash. 

A  rifleman  in  1842  was  costumed  as  follows:  "coatee"  of  black 
velveteen,  single-breasted,  with  brass  "bullet-buttons"  in  front  and  on 
the  skirts ;  standing  collar  trimmed  with  yellow  lace ;  pantaloons  of 
the  same  cloth  with  a  stripe  of  yellow  lace  on  the  outer  seams ;  high 
black  cap  with  brass  visor  and  black  "  fountain  plume." 

The  Arsenal  of  the  State  is  at  Hartford.  Land  for  it  (one  acre)  on 
the  east  side  of  Windsor  road  (now  Main  Street)  was  obtained  from 
Ichabod  Lord  Skinner  in  1812,  and  a  three-story  edifice  of  brick,  with 
a  "  guard-house  to  lodge  twelve  men "  annexed  thereto,  was  built  the 
same  year  under  the  supervision  of  Quartermaster-General  John  Mix  and 
Andrew  Kingsbury.  The  cost  of  the  first  building  was  84,000  ;  but  addi- 
tional structures  have  been  built  all  around  the  yard,  and  the  original  one 
has  been  externally  modified.     It  contains  many  interesting  war  relics. 

Organization.  —  The  militia  system  is  the  outgrowth  of  the  posse 
comitatus  or  (armed)  "  power  of  the  county,"  at  whose  head  was  the 
sheriff ;  and  in  the  early  years  of  this  colony  the  highest  military  officer 

VOL.   I.— 12. 


178 


MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 


was  the  sergeant-major  of  the  county.  There  was  really  no  "  tactical 
unit "  prior  to  1739,  when  the  company  of  64  men  was  made  such  a 
unit.  The  earliest  military  order  of  our  General  Court  was  that  of 
Sept.  1,  1636.  It  required  that  "  every  plantacon  shall  traine  once  in 
every  moneth,  &  if  ...  it  appear  that  there  bee  divers  very  unskilfull, 
the  sayde  plantacon  may  appointe  the  officer  to  traine  oftener  the  saide 
unskillfull."  In  1638  Captain  John  Mason,  a  very  competent  officer, 
was  directed  to  "  traine  the  military  men  in  each  plantacon."  But, 
excepting  for  the  purpose  of  "  watch  and  ward,"  there  was  theft  no 
armed  organization  in  any  township.  A  "  band  "  (trainband)  is  first 
mentioned  in  1642.  Its  highest  officer  was  a  "  clerk "  or  inspector. 
In  1643  trainbands  were  made  subject  to  the  orders  of  a  captain  "  or 
other  officer,"  showing  that  such  bodies  were  not  composed  of  a  fixed 
number  of  members.  In  1649  the  officer  commanding  the  Wethersfield 
trainband  was  a  lieutenant,  while  the  officer  at  Farmington  was  a  ser- 
geant. In  the  Code  of  1650  no  number  is  fixed  for  the  "  trained  band," 
but  it  was  to  have  a  captain,  lieutenant,  etc.,  according  to  its  size. 

In  1658  Major  John  Mason,  then  the  highest  military  officer  in  the 
colony,  secured  the  organization  of  a  "troop"  of  horse  for  Hartford 
County.  It  contained  thirty-seven  members.  Below  is  the  roster  of 
this  first  body  of  cavalry  in  Connecticut :  — 

Captain,  Richard  Lord,  of  Hartford ;  Lieutenant,  Daniel  Clark,  of  Windsor  ; 
Cornet,  John  Allyn,  of  Hartford ;  Corporals  (same  as  sergeants  in  infantry), 
Nicholas  Olmstead,  of  Hartford,  Richard  Treat,  of  Wethersfield,  and  Sam.  Mar- 
shall, of  Windsor  ;  Quartermaster,  Tho.  Welles,  Jim.,  of  Hartford ;  privates  : 
(Samuel)  Wyllys,  Jacob  Mygatt,  Jonathan  Gilbert,  John  Stedman,  James  Steele, 
Daniel  Pratt,  Andrew  Warner,  Will.  Edwards,  Rich.  Fellowes,  and  Robert  Reeve, 
of  Hartford  ;  Tho.  Allyn,  John  Bissell,  Geo.  Phelps,  Steph.  Terry,  Will.  Hayden, 
John  Hosford,  John  Williams,  Nath.  Loomis,  Tho.  Loomis,  Aaron  Cooke,  David 
Wilton,  Simon  Wolcott,  Tho.  Strong,  John  Moses,  and  John  Porter,  of  Windsor ; 
John  Latimer,  John  Belden,  John  Chester,  Anthony  Wright,  and  John  Palmer, 
of  Wethersfield. 


Many  of  the  privates  in  the  foregoing  list  afterward  distinguished 
themselves  in  active  service  as  officers.  This  troop  contained  sixty 
members  in  1672.  Its  captains  prior  to  1739,  when  it  became  attached 
to  the  First  Eegiment,  were  commissioned  as  follows  :  — 


Rich.  Lord,  Hartford,  1658. 

Daniel  Clark,        Windsor,  1664. 

Sam.  Talcott,        Wethersfield,  1681. 

Joseph  Whiting,  Hartford,  1692. 

Wm.  Whiting,      Hartford,  1698. 


Sam.  Wolcott, 
James  Steele, 
Daniel  White, 
Robert  Welles, 
John  Whiting, 


Windsor, 

Wethersfield, 

Windsor, 

Wethersfield, 

Hartford, 


1705. 
1710. 
1716. 

1726. 
1730. 


In  1662  the  "  preheminence  "  of  the  trainbands  in  the  several  town- 
ships was  legally  declared  as  follows  :  HartfordfUrst ;  Windsor,  second  ; 
Wethersfield,  third  ;  Farmington,  fourth.  This  was  the  same  as  their 
relative  ratio  of  population. 

A  "troope  of  dragooneers,"  in  1668,  armed  with  half-pikes  and  pistols, 
contained  163  members;  in  1673  Hartford  contributed  44 ;  Windsor, 
38  ;  Wethersfield,  30  ;  Farmington,  22  ;  Middletown,  13  ;  Haddam,  9  ; 
Simsbury,  7.     Benjamin  Newberry,  of  Windsor,  was  in  command. 

The  office  of  Sergeant-Major  was  created  in  1672.     It  was  the  high- 


THE   MILITIA.  179 

est  military  office  in  each  county,  being  what  might  be  called  the 
County  Adjutant.    Major  John  Talcott  was  the  first  in  Hartford  County. 

Trainbands,  in  1673,  contained.  64  men  under  a  captain,  or  32 
under  a  lieutenant,  or  24  under  a  sergeant.  Some  had  more  than  100 
men.  Some  towns  had  one  or  two  rude  cannons  of  small  size.  In 
1680  the  infantry  of  the  county  amounted  to  835  men,  armed  with  mus- 
kets and  pikes.  About  300  were  dragoons  when  in  active  service.  In 
1688  there  were  nine  trainbands  in  the  county  ;  two  in  Hartford,  two 
in  Windsor,  one  each  in  Wethersfield,  Farmington,  Middletown,  Sims- 
bury,  and  Haddam. 

Beginning  in  1691,  one  township  after  another  was  divided  into 
"  precincts,"  each  to  be  assigned  for  one  "  company  "  only.  Hartford 
was  the  first  so  divided,  the  Little  River  being  made  the  divisional  line 
between  the  two  precincts.  These  lines  were  established  (down  to  1698 
at  least)  by  Sergeant-Major  Jonathan  Bull,  of  Hartford.  John  Chester, 
of  Wethersfield,  succeeded  to  this  office  in  1702,  and  the  latter's  succes- 
sor was  Roger  Wolcott,  of  Windsor,  in  1724. 

In  1702  there  were  three  companies  of  infantry  in  Hartford,  one  being- 
east  of  the  river.  Windsor  had  three,  divided  in  the  same  manner.  There 
was  a  North  and  a  South  company  in  Wethersfield  and  in  Middletown. 

Major  Roger  Wolcott' s  command  was  called  a  "regiment"  in  1737  ; 
but  it  was  not,  strictly  speaking,  such.  It  contained  forty-seven  com- 
panies of  infantry  numbering  3,480  men,  and  two  of  horse  numbering 
106  men.  One  of  the  Hartford  "  companies  "  had  173  members.  Below 
is  a  list  of  the  companies  and  of  their  commanding  officers  :  — 

Hartford  :  four  companies  of  infantry,  aggregating  478  men,  under  Captains 
Nath.  Hooker,  Joseph  Cooke,  Wm.  Pitkin,  and  Daniel  Webster. 

Windsor  :  seven  companies,  501  men ;  Captains,  Henry  Allyn,  Pelatiah 
Allen,  Joseph  Phelps,  John  Ellsworth,  and  Tho.  Griswold ;  Lieutenants,  Dan. 
Ellsworth  and  Pelatiah  Mills. 

Wethersfield  :  four  companies,  324  men  ;  Captains,  John  Chester,  Gideon 
Welles,  Jacob  Williams,  and  Martin  Kellogg. 

Middletown  :  seven  companies,  481  men  ;  Captains,  John  Warner,  Joseph 
South niayd,  Daniel  Hall,  Rich.  Hamlin,  and  jSTath.  White  ;  Lieutenants,  Samuel 
Hart  and  Geo.  Hubbard. 

Farmington  :  four  companies,  328  men  ;  Captains,  Josiah  Hart,  Joseph  Wood- 
ruff, Tho.  Curtis,  and  Tho.  Hart. 

Simsbury :  three  companies,  202  men ;  Captains,  James  Cornish,  Benj. 
Adams,  and  John  Lewis. 

Haddam  :  two  companies,  132  men  ;  Captains,  John  Fish  and  Nath.  Sutcliff. 

East  Haddam  :  two  companies,  166  men ;  Captains,  Stephen  Cone  and 
Matthew  Smith. 

Glastonbury:  two  companies,  150  men;  Captains,  Tho.  Welles  and  David 
Hubbard. 

Colchester  :  four  companies,  212  men  ;  Captains,  Nath.  Foote,  Israel  Newton, 
Jonath.  Dunham,  and  John  Holmes. 

Hebron:  two  companies,  174  men;  Captains,  Joseph  Swetland  and  Morris 
Tillotson. 

Tolland  :  one  company,  87  men  ;  Captain,  Sam.  Chapman. 

Bolton  :  one  company,  65  men ;  Captain,  John  Talcott. 

Stafford  :  one  company,  59  men ;  Captain,  Dan.  Blodgett. 

Willington  :  one  company,  56  men  ;  Captain,  Eleazar  Hubbell. 

Litchfield  :  one  company,  65  men  ;  Captain,  Jacob  Griswold  ;  also  one 
company,  Captain  Joseph  Bird,  number  of  men  not  given. 


180 


MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF  HARTFORD   COUNTY. 


Of  the  two  companies  of  horse,  one  was  in  Hartford  and  vicinity, 
Captain  John  Whiting ;  the  other  in  Colchester  (?)  and  vicinity,  Cap- 
tain John  Bulkeley. 

In  1739  regimental  organizations  were  for  the  first  time  established ; 
but  under  the  departmental  system  they  were  of  unequal  size.  The 
tactical  unit  became  the  company,  of  64  men ;  but  many  trainbands 
existed  having  a  fractional  part  of  that  number.  Thirteen  regiments, 
each  commanded  by  a  colonel,  were  constituted.  In  Hartford  County, 
the  First  Regiment  included  Hartford,  Windsor,  Simsbury,  Bolton,  Tol- 
land, Harwinton,  Torrington,  New  Hartford,  Barkhamsted,  Hartland, 
Colebrook,  Winchester,  andthe  First  Society  of  Farmington.  The  Sixth 
included  Wethersfield,  Middletown,  Glastonbury,  and  the  parish  of 
Kensington.  Part  of  the  Tenth  Regiment  (Durham  and  Southington) 
and  the  Twelfth  (Hebron  and  East  Haddam)  also  came  within  Hartford 
County.  Neither  divisions  nor  brigades  were  constituted ;  and,  of 
course,  no  general  officers  were  provided. 

While  it  is  impracticable  to  give  a  list  of  the  field-officers  of  the  regi- 
ments in  this  county,  the  names  of  the  commanding  officers  of  the  First 
Regiment  (including  the  battalion  which  preceded  it)  are  as  follows  : 

1 672-1 G88,  Maj.  &  Lt.-Col.  John  Tal- 

cott. 
1688-1710,  Lt.-Cul.  John  Allyn. 
1710-1724,  Maj.  Joseph  Talcott. 
1724-1741,  Maj.  &  Col.  Eoger  Wolcott. 
1741-1751,  Col.  John  Whiting. 
1751-1762,    "     Joseph  Pitkin. 
1762-1774,    "     George  Wyllys. 
1774-1777,    "     Samuel  Wyllys. 
1777-1785,    "     Eoger  Newherry. 
1785-1792,  Lt.-Col.  Hezekiah  Wyllys. 
1792-1795,       "         Oliver  Mather. 
1795-1800,       "         Timothy  Seymour. 
1800-1803,       "         Job  Allyn. 
1803-1804,       "         Simon  Clark. 
1804-1807,       "         Timothy  Burr. 
1807-1809,       "         Elijah  Terry. 
1809-1812,       "         Moses  Tryon. 
1812-1815,       "         Luther  Fitch. 
1815-1818,  Col.  James  Loomis. 
1818-1822,    "     John  F.  Waters. 


1822-1824,  Col.  Irenus  Brown. 

1824-1829,  "  Eichard  Niles. 

1829-1833,  "  Wm.  Hay  den. 

1833-1836,  "  Thomas  Eoberts. 

1836-1840,  "  Leonard  E.  Welles. 

1840-1842,  "  Sam.  W.  Ellsworth. 

1842-1845,  "  Nathan  M.  Waterman. 

1845-1846,  "  Daniel  S.  Dewey. 

1846-1847,  "  Henry  Kennedy. 

1847-1852,  "  Elihu  Geer. 

1852-1861,  "  Sam.  A.  Cooley. 

1863-1866,  "  Chas.  H.  Prentice. 

1866-1869,  "  John  N.  Bunnell. 

1869-1870,  "  Benj.  F.  Prouty. 

1870-1874,  "  Jas.  E.  Hamilton. 

1874-1875,  "  John  B.  Clapp. 

1875-1877,  "  Philip  W.  Hudson. 

1877-1878,  "  Heman  A.  Tyler. 

1878-1884,  "  Lucius  A.  Barbour. 

1884-  "  Wm.  E.  Cone. 


The  history  of  this  regiment  was  fully  written  and  published  in  the 
Hartford  "  Evening  Post,"  March  17, 1880,  by  the  late  Captain  Levi  H. 
Hotchkiss ;  the  occasion  being  the  dedication  of  the  Armory  of  the  Hart- 
ford battalion  of  the  regiment.     There  is  an  armory  in  New  Britain. 

The  commanders  of  the  Sixth  Regiment,  down  to  1847,  when  the 
militia  were  reduced  to  one  regiment  in  each  county,  were  as  follows:  — 


1739-1756,  Col.  Tho.  Welles  (Glaston- 
bury). 
1756-1771,     "     John  Chester. 
1771-1774,    "     Jabez  Hamlin. 
1774-1775,     "     Elizur  Talcott. 
1775-1776,    "     Sam.  Holden  Parsons. 


1776-1780,  Col.  Thomas  Belden. 
1780-1788,     "     Howell  Woodbridge. 
1788-1793,  Lt.-Col.  Eoger  Welles. 
1793-1794,       "       Isaac  Welles. 
1794-1796,       "       Ezk1  Porter  Belden. 
1796-1801,       "       ElishaHale. 


THE   MILITIA. 


181 


1801-1803,  Lt.-Col.  John  Hale.  1828-1830,  Col.  John  C.  Pratt. 

1803-1809,       "       Levi  Lusk.  1830-1832,  "  Levi  Coe. 

1809-1811,       "       Sam.  Sellew.  1832-1833,  "  Amos  Miller. 

1811-1813,       "       Simeon  North.  1833-1834,  "  Henry  D.  Smith. 

1813-1816,  Lt.-Col.  &  Col.  Martin  Kel-    1834-1836,  "  William  Bulkeley. 

logg,  Jr.  1836-1838,  "  Everlin  Beckley.. 

1817-1818,  Col.  Josiah  Sage.  1838-1841,  "  Wolcott  P.  Stone. 

1818-1822,     "     James  Sellew.  1841-1844,  "  E.  W.  N.  Starr. 

1822-1824,     "     Edmoncl  Bulkeley.  1844-1846,  "  Henry  E.  Robinson. 

1824-1826,     "     Joseph  Camp.  1846-1847,  "  Wm.  H.  Bartlett. 
1826-1828,     "     Ozias  Camp. 

It  should  be  stated  that  the  departmental  lines  of  these  regiments,  as 
will  be  seen  hereafter,  were  changed  from  time  to  time,  so  that  the  town- 
ships respectively  occupied  by  them  were  different  at  different  periods. 

In  1741  a  troop  of  horse  was  authorized  for  each  regiment.  In 
1762  the  thirteen  militia  regiments  averaged  1,558  men  each,  including 
their  respective  troops.  In  1776  five  regiments  of  "  light  horse  "  were 
constituted  out  of  the  twenty-four  militia  regiments  then  existing.  The 
First  was  in  Hartford  County.  An  "  alarm  list "  was  also  constituted, 
the  members  whereof  were  composed  of  those  subject  to  (but  not  organ- 
ized for)  military  duty.  Grenadiers  and  light-infantry  companies  still 
formed  a  part  of  some  regiments. 

The  militia  system  was  radically  changed  in  December,  1776.  Divi- 
sions and  brigades  were  constituted  for  the  first  time.  Until  then,  no 
general  officers  had  been  appointed,  excepting  for  the  army  in  service. 
Two  divisions  and  six  brigades  were  formed  from  the  twenty-four 
regiments.  The  First,  Sixth,  and  parts  of  several  other  regiments,  in 
the  First  Brigade,  came  within  Hartford  County.  Part  of  the  Tenth 
was  in  the  Second  (General  James  Wadsworth's)  Brigade.  In  1782 
there  were  (including  one  for  Westmoreland)  twenty-seven  regiments 
in  the  colony.  Of  these,  Hartford  (west  of  the  river),  Windsor,  Suf- 
field,  and  part  of  Farmington  made  the  First  Regiment ;  Wethersfield 
and  Glastonbury,  the  Sixth  ;  Hebron  and  Marlborough  were  part  of  the 
Twelfth ;  Southington  and  Farmington  (exclusive  of  Wintonburv  par- 
ish) made  the  Fifteenth;  Simsbury,  the  Eighteenth;  East  Windsor, 
Enfield,  Bolton,  and  Hartford,  east  of  the  river,  the  Nineteenth.  Parts 
of  the  Twenty-second,  Twenty-third,  and  Twenty-fifth  were  also  in- 
cluded. The  Hartford  County  brigades  were :  the  First,  containing 
the  1st,  6th,  19th,  and  22d  regiments ;  part  of  the  Second  (the  23d 
regiment)  ;  part  of  the  Third  (the  25th  regiment) ;  part  of  the  Sixth 
(the  15th  and  18th  regiments). 

Many  who  held  a  commission  in  the  militia  held  another  (some- 
times a  higher  one)  in  the  Continental  army.  We  are  unable  to 
present  a  list  of  the  names  of  such. 

In  1782  five  regiments  of  "  light  dragoons  "  were  formed  from  scat- 
tering companies.  The  first  was  in  Hartford  County.  They  were  armed 
with  a  sword,  or  cutlass,  and  a  case  of  pistols,  and  were  the  same  as 
had  been  known  as  the  "  light  horse."  Grenadiers,  at  this  time,  were 
those  who  had  served  as  "  sergeants  of  foot  or  corporals  of  horse." 
They  were  attached  to  their  respective  companies  of  infantry,  and  dis- 
tinguished from  their  comrades  by  wearing  a  cap  of  bearskin.  In 
1789  the  infantry  regiments  averaged  977  men ;  cavalry,  255  men. 


182  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

In  1792  the  companies  of  artillery,  light-infantry,  and  dragoons 
were  attached  to  the  several  regiments  of  infantry.  A  company  of 
artillery  consisted  of  thirty  "  matrosses  "  and  their  officers.  A  troop 
contained  forty  men,  with  their  officers.  If  a  company  of  infantry 
contained  more  than  ten  men  above  the  regular  number  (sixty-four 
"  rank  and  file"),  the  surplus  members  were  organized  into  companies 
of  light-infantry  and  grenadiers.  There  were  now  four  divisions,  eight 
brigades,  and  thirty-five  regiments,  —  the  highest  number  ever  reached 
in  the  State.  No  brigade  was  wholly  in  this  county,  whose  limits  were 
narrower  than  in  1782.  The  1st  regiment  (which  included  Hartford, 
and  parts  of  Windsor  and  Farmington)  ;  the  18th  (Simsbury,  Granby, 
and  parts  of  Windsor  and  Suffield)  ;  the  19th  (East  Hartford,  Bolton, 
East  Windsor,  and  part  of  Ellington)  ;  and  the  31st  (Enfield  and  part 
of  Suffield)  were  in  the  First  Brigade.  The  6th  (Wethersfield,  Glas- 
tonbury, and  part  of  Berlin),  and  the  15th  (Bristol,  Southington,  and 
most  of  Farmington  and  Berlin),  were  in  the  Seventh  Brigade.  Marl- 
borough was  the  only  Hartford  County  town  in  the  Fifth  Brigade  ; 
being  in  the  12th  Regiment.  The  First  and  Seventh  brigades  were  in 
the  First  Division.  The  Second  Brigade,  which  was  now  no  longer  in 
this  county,  had  been  commanded  as  follows  :  — 

Brigadier-Generals  James  Wadsworth,  1776-1777;  Andrew  Ward,  1778- 
1783;  Comfort  Sage,   1783-1792;  William  Hart,  1792-1793. 

In  1815  the  territorial  system  as  to  regiments,  etc.,  was  discon- 
tinued. Three  divisions  of  infantry,  each  having  two  brigades,  and 
each  brigade  having  four  regiments,  were  established.  The  regiments 
contained  ten  companies  each,  including  one  of  grenadiers  or  of  light- 
infantry.  The  company  contained  sixty-four  privates.  Five  regiments 
of  cavalry,  each  annexed  to  a  brigade  of  infantry,  were  formed ;  the 
regiments  to  contain  four  troops,  of  forty-four  privates  each.  A  brigade 
of  artillery  was  also  established,  having  two  regiments  of  light  and 
two  of  heavy  (horse)  artillery.  Each  regiment  of  light  artillery  had 
twelve  companies  of  forty-four  men  each ;  the  heavy  had  four  com- 
panies of  sixty -four  men  each.  There  were  twenty  companies  of  rifle- 
men, each  having  sixty-four  men.  Each  of  these  rifle  companies  was 
attached  to  some  regiment  of  infantry.  Uniforms  were  not  required, 
excepting  for  the  artillery,  cavalry,  grenadier,  riflemen,  and  light- 
infantry  companies.  In  1823  a  uniform  was  required  for  the  "  flank  " 
companies  of  infantry.  The  "  battalion  "  companies  were  un-uniformed, 
and  constituted  the  element  jocularly  denominated  the  "  Rag-toes."  This 
elaborate  militia  system  prevailed  until  1847.  It  would  be  almost  im- 
possible (there  being  no  boundary  lines)  to  determine  what  military 
organizations  existed  at  that  date  in  Hartford  Count3r ;  but  it  may  be 
said  that  the  First  and  part  of  the  Second  Brigade,  both  in  the  First 
Division  (General  James  T.  Pratt's),  were  within  its  limits.  The  First 
Brigade  contained  the  1st,  6th,  14th,  17th,  and  25th  regiments  of  in- 
fantry, and  the  1st  and  4th  regiments  of  cavalry.  There  were  160 
companies  in  the  State ;  40  of  which,  or  more,  were  un-uniformed. 

The  following  lists  of  general  and  field  officers  who  commanded 
organizations  formed  in  this  county  under  the  scheme  of  1815  are 
mostly  compiled  from  official  manuscript  records. 


THE   MILITIA. 


183 


Brigadier-Generals  of  Artillery  (one  Brigade  in  the  State). 


David  Deming, 
Nathan  Johnson, 
Philo  Harrison, 


1816-1820 
1820-1828 
1828-1829 


Ely  A.  Elliott,  1829-1832 

Oliver  Warner,  1832-1836 

Ezra  L.  H.  Chamberlain,        1836-1838 


Commanders  of  the  Second  Light  Artillery  Regiment. 


Col.  Nathan  Johnson,  1816-1 820 

"    Amaziah  Bray,  1820-1821 

"    Giles  Olmstead,  1821-1822 

"    Decius  Humphrey,  1822-1826 

"    Ely  A.  Elliott  1826-1829 

"    Solomon  Olmstead  1829-1834 


Col.  William  Mather,  Jr.,  1834-1838 
"  Ezra  L.  H.  Chamberlain,  1838-1839 
"    Joseph  A.  Welles,  1839-1841 

"    Norman  W.  Spencer,      1841-1842 

Maj.  Asa  Bartholomew,  1842-1844 


Brigadier-Generals  of  Cavalry  (one  Brigade  in  the  State). 
Stephen  H.  Palmer,  1816-1817  |  Daniel  H.  Brinsmade,  1817-1821 

Commanders  of  the  First  Regiment  of  Cavalry. 


Lt.-Col.  Jonath.  Bartlett, 
Col.  Peter  B.  Gleason, 

Epaphras  H.  Phelps, 

John  Collins, 

Sam.  Belcher, 

Miles  Foote, 

Orrin  Holt, 


1815- 

-1817 

1817- 

-1821 

1821- 

-1824 

1824- 

-1825 

1824- 

-1829 

1829- 

-1831 

1831- 

-1833 

Col.  Oliver  C.  Phelps,  Jr.,  1833-1835 

"  James  T.  Pratt,  1835-1836 

"  James  F.  Skinner,  1836-1839 

"  WTilliam  A.  Foster,  1839-1841 

"  Samuel  W.  Thompson,  1841-1843 

"  Jeremiah  A.  Tuller,  1843-1845 

"  Hezekiah  K.  Sears,  1846-1847 


Commanders  of  the  Brigade  of  Riflemen  (one  Brigade  in  the  State). 
Br.-Gen.  Chauncey  Whittlesey,  1816-20  |  Br.-Gen.  Enos  H.  Buell,        1 820-1 82 1 

Commanders  of  the  Second  Regiment  of  Riflemen. 

Col.  John  Buckingham,         1816-1818  |  Col.  Lemuel  G.  Storrs,  1820-1821 

"    Enos  H.  Buell, 


Some  notable  "  general  trainings  "  of  the  First  Brigade  took  place 
in  Hartford,  Wethersfield,  Windsor,  and  East  Hartford.  There  were 
also  military  displays  on  special  occasions.  In  June,  1817,  three  ar- 
tillery companies  (of  Hartford,  East  Hartford,  and  Simsbury),  under 
command  of  Colonel  Nathan  Johnson,  the  First  Regiment  of  infantry 
(Colonel  James  Loomis),  and  a  battalion  of  cavalry  (Colonel  Peter  B. 
Gleason)  were  reviewed  in  Hartford  by  President  James  Monroe.  In 
September,  1824,  artillery,  cavalry,  and  infantry  companies — about 
twelve  hundred  soldiers  in  all,  at  Hartford,  under  command  of  General 
Johnson  —  escorted  Lafayette,  with  credit  to  the  occasion.  In  June, 
1833,  President  Jackson  and  Vice-president  Van  Buren  were  escorted 
in  Hartford  by  eleven  companies. 

In  1837  General  Pratt's  brigade  appeared,  in  a  general  training,  at 
Hartford.  There  were  the  1st,  6th,  14th,  17th,  and  25th  regiments  of 
infantry ;  the  1st  and  14th  of  cavalry ;  and  the  Second  Battalion  (an- 
nexed to  1st  regiment  of  infantry)  of  light  artillery.  The  brigade  made 
a  fine  showing ;  but  it  is  said  that  it  did  not  equal,  in  numbers  and  mili- 
tary bearing,  that  of  its  [last  great  parade,  in  October,  1843 ;  Avhen 
there  were  5,200  men,  in  all  arms,  assembled  in  the  north  meadows 


184  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

of  East  Hartford.  Major-General  Pratt  and  Brigadier-General  George 
C.  Owen  were  in  command ;  and  the  force  was  reviewed  by  Colonel 
Richard  M.  Johnson,  the  reputed  slayer  of  Tecumseh,  and  Ex- Vice- 
President  of  the  United  States. 

In  1846  the  militia  reached  the  highest  number  ever  attained  in 
this  State.  There  were:  of  the  infantry,  53,191 ;  riflemen,  1,704  ;  light 
artillery,  1,575;  "horse  artillery,"  508;  cavalry,  692  men.  The  great 
number  and  efficiency  of  the  uniformed  soldiery  were  largely  due  to  the 
efforts  of  Adjutant-General  Charles  T.  Hillyer,  then  of  East  Granby, 
and  Major-General  James  T.  Pratt,  then  of  Rocky  Hill. 

In  1847  the  militia  was  divided  into  two  classes,  —  the  active,  and 
the  inactive,  or  enrolled.  The  active  was  that  portion  who,  as  volun- 
teers, organized  for  military  duty.  The  inactive  members  were  those 
who,  by  payment  of  a  military  commutation  tax,  became  exempted 
from  such  duty.  The  active  militia  was  formed  into  one  division  of 
two  brigades  ;  each  brigade  having  four  regiments,  one  for  each  county. 
The  first  brigade  included  the  counties  of  Hartford,  New  London,  Tol- 
land, and  Windham.  In  July,  1847,  the  "  uniformed  "  companies  in 
Hartford  County  were  as  follows  :  — 

Infantry  :  Capt.  Jacob  B.  Case,  Simsbury,  47  men ;  Capt.  Henry  B. 
Grosvenor,  Suffield,  32  men;  Capt.  Roswell  G.  Talcott,  Glastonbury,  27  men; 
Capt.  Hial  Grannis,  Southington,  28  men  ;  Capt.  Horace  Hollister,  South  Glas- 
tonbury, 27  men;  Capt.  Levi  0.  Smith,  New  Britain,  22  men;  Capt.  Elisha 
Hopkins,  Broad  Brook,  29  men ;  Capt.  William  Wheeler,  Plainville,  25  men. 

Cavalry:  Capt.  Levi  Prosser,  Bloomfield,  52  men;  Capt.  Franklin  W. 
Adams,  Hartford,  34  men ;  Capt.  Merritt  Doan,  Windsor,  28  men ;  Capt. 
Henry  Luce,  Newington,  21  men;  Capt.  Anson  T.  Clark,  Berlin,  13  men. 

Light  Artillery  :  Capt.  Martin  0.  Hills,  East  Hartford,  40  men ;  Capt. 
Elisha  S.  Olmstead,  Hartford,  28  men. 

Riflemen  :  Capt.  Charles  M.  Collins,  Scitico,  33  men ;  Capt.  Lucius  M. 
Andrews,  Bristol,  19  men. 

There  were  no  general  officers  of  artillery  after  1838,  nor  field 
officers  after  1844 ;  no  general  officers  of  cavalry  after  1821,  nor  field 
officers  after  1847 ;  no  general  nor  field  officers  of  riflemen  after 
1821.  These  several  arms  of  the  service  were  "annexed"  to  brigades 
or  regiments  of  infantry. 

Under  the  new  system  all  the  un-uniformed  and  most  of  the  uni- 
formed companies  were  speedily  disbanded.  In  1848  the  cavalry 
companies  ("dragoons")  of  Bloomfield,  Hartford,  and  Wethersfield 
(Newington)  were  disbanded.  That  at  Enfield  was  disbanded  in  1850, 
and  that  at  Manchester  in  1851.  I  suppose  these  latter  to  have  been  un- 
uniformed.  The  infantry  companies  of  Southington,  South  Glastonbury, 
and  East  Windsor  (Broad  Brook)  were  disbanded  in  1848 ;  those  at 
Plainville  and  New  Britain,  in  1850  ;  that  at  Avon  in  1852.  The  rifle 
companies  of  Burlington,  Collinsville,  and  EastLIartford  were  disbanded 
in  1847  ;  that  at  Enfield  (Scitico),  the  last  one  in  the  county,  in  1851. 
The  artillery  company  at  Simsbury  was  disbanded  in  1850.  There  was 
not  at  this  time  a  company  of  the  old  infantry  in  the  town  of  Hart- 
ford, nor  was  there  any  cavalry  in  the  county.  The  only  remaining 
artillery  companies  (those  at  Hartford  and  East  Hartford)  were 
disbanded  in  1853.  There  still  remained,  in  1850,  of  the  infantry 
uniformed  companies  of  1847,  one  each  at  Simsbury,  Suffield,  Glaston- 


THE  MILITIA. 


185 


bury,  and  Windsor.  This  docs  not  include  "  independent "  companies. 
Manchester,  Canton,  and  Farmington,  whose  companies  were  not 
among  those  reported  as  "  uniformed "  in  1847,  each,  as  I  suppose, 
ceased  to  maintain  its  infantry  company  in  1853,  or  earlier.  To  show 
the  falling  off  in  the  organized  militia  under  the  "  voluntary  "  system, 
it  will  be  sufficient  to  state  that  in  1853  the  number  of  enrolled  (un- 
organized) militia  of  the  county  was  12,997  ;  while  the  organized,  for  the 
four  counties  constituting  the  First  Brigade,  numbered  but  969  in  all. 

A  list  of  the  general  officers  for  this  county  may  well  be  given  here. 
Among  the  major-generals  we  include  two  (the  first  on  the  list),  who, 
while  residing  without  this  county,  held  commands  coextensive  with 
the  limits  of  the  State.     The  others  commanded  the  First  Division. 


Major-Generals. 

David  Wooster,1 

1776-1777 

Walter  Booth, 

1830-1834 

James  Wadsworth, 

1777-1792 

William  Hayden, 

1834-1836 

Samuel  Wyllys, 

1792-1796 

Samuel  L.  Pitkin, 

1836-1838 

Noah  Phelps, 

1796-1799 

James  T.  Pratt, 

1838-1847 

Henry  Champion, 

1799-1801 

Erancis  Bacon, 

1847-1850 

Elijah  Chapman, 

1801-1803 

(But  one  division  after  1847.) 

Shubael  Griswold, 

1803-1807 

William  T.  King, 

1850-1852 

Solomon  Cowles, 

1807-1816 

Thomas  Guyer, 

1852-186K?) 

Levi  Lusk, 

1816-1820 

James  T.  Pratt  (declined) 

1861 

Martin  Kellogg,  Jr., 

1820-1824 

William  H.  Russell, 

1862-1870 

George  Cowles, 

1824-1827 

James  McCord, 

1870 

Dennis  Kimberly, 

1827-1830 

(No  division  after  1870.) 

Brigadier-Generals  of  the  Seventh  Brigade. 

Roger  Welles, 

1793-1795 

Epaphroditus  Champion, 

1799-1802 

George  Phillips, 

1795 

Solomon  Cowles, 

1802-1807 

Henry  Champion,  2d, 

1795-1799 

Seth  Overton, 

1807-1809 

Samuel  W.  Dana, 

1799 

Levi  Lusk, 

1809-1817 

Brigadier-Generals  of  the  First  Brigade. 

Erastus  Wolcott, 

1776-1781 

James  T.  Pratt, 

1836-1838 

Roger  Newberry, 

1781-1788 

Ralph  Watson, 

1839-1840 

John  Chester, 

1788-1789 

Leonard  R,  Welles, 

1840-1842 

Samuel  Wyllys, 

1789-1792 

George  C.  Owen, 

1842-1844 

Noah  Phelps, 

1792-1796 

Jarvis  Case, 

1844-1845 

Elijah  Chapman,  Jr., 

1797-1801 

Nathan  M.  Waterman, 

1845-1846 

Shubael  Griswold, 

1801-1803 

Ezekiel  Horsford, 

1846-1847 

Chauncey  Pettibone, 

1803-1805 

N.  M.  Waterman, 

1847-1848 

John  Phillips, 

1805-1807 

David  Young, 

1848-1850 

Timothy  Burr, 

1807-1809 

Elijah  W.  Smith, 

1850-1852 

Charles  Jenks, 

1809-1812 

Elihu  Geer, 

1852-1861 

Moses  Try  on,  Jr., 

1813-1817 

(No  organization  1861-1865.) 

Martin  Kellogg,  Jr., 

1817-1820 

Charles  H.  Prentice, 

1866-1868 

George  Cowles, 

1820-1824 

John  N.  Bunnell, 

1868-1871 

Ezra  Adams,  Jr., 

1824-1829 

(But  one  brigade  after  1871.) 

Chester  Grannis, 

1829-1832 

Robert  B.  Craufurd, 

1871-1875 

Orrin  Holt, 

1832-1833 

William  Randel  Smith, 

1875-1878 

William  Hayden, 

1833-1835 

Stephen  R.  Smith, 

1878-1885 

Samuel  L.  Pitkin, 

1835-1836 

Charles  P.  Graham, 

1885- 

1  Wooster  was  appointed  "  Senior  Major-General." 


186 


MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD   COUNTY. 


The  light-infantry  company  in  Hartford,  known  as  the  "  Hartford 
Light  Guard,"  has  not  been  heretofore  mentioned,  because  it  was,  to  a 
certain  extent,  "  independent,"  and  classed  as  such.  It  attained  to  a 
high  degree  of  discipline,  and  was  the  pride  of  Hartford.  Organized  in 
1835  as  the  Third  Light  Infantry  company,  it  became  Co.  G  of  tne  First 
Regiment,  in  1853  ;  Co.  A,  in  1859  ;  Co.  B,  in  1862 ;  and  was  disbanded 
in  1863.     Its  commanding  officers  were  :  — 

Capt. 


Eoswell  B.  Ward, 

1835 

Capt.  Joseph  Ritter, 

1853 

Thomas  H.  Seymour, 

1837 

"    George  S.  Burnham, 

1854 

Daniel  S.  Dewey, 

1841 

"    Levi  Wooclhouse, 

1856 

William  S.  Roberts, 

1842 

"    George  S.  Burnham, 

1857 

Thomas  H.  Seymour, 

1843 

"    Levi  Woodhouse, 

1858 

N.  Seymour  Webb, 

1849 

"    John  C.  Comstock, 

1861 

Joseph  D.  Williams, 

1851 

"    James  W.  Gore, 

1862 

Captain  Ward  was  a  graduate  of  Capt.  Alden  Partridge's  Military 
School,  and  a  brother  of  the  late  Capt.  James  H.  Ward,  U.  S.  N.  Capt. 
Thomas  H.  Seymour,  from  the  same  school,  belonged  to  a  family  noted 

for  its  military  training  and 
spirit.  He  afterward  became 
the  commander  of  the  Ninth 
(New  England)  Regiment,  in 
the  war  with  Mexico,  and  was 
a  gallant  and  chivalrous  offi- 
cer. Captain  Comstock  went 
into  service  in  the  War  of  the 
Rebellion,  as  captain  of  Co.  A 
of  the  First  Regiment  of 
Connecticut  Volunteers,  and 
died  in  the  service.  Cap- 
tains Burnham  and  Wood- 
house  became  colonels  in 
the  same  service  ;  and  many 
other  officers  of  this  com- 
pany distinguished  them- 
selves in  the  war.  Captain 
Williams  was  adjutant-gen- 
eral during  the  war  period. 

In  1853  an  Irish-Ameri- 
can company  was  organized 
at  Hartford,  in  place  of  the 
disbanded  Co.  F,  of  Farm- 
ington.  Its  captain  was 
Edward  McManus  ;  it  was 
disbanded  in  1855.  A  com- 
pany of  infantry,  organized 
at  New  Britain  in  1850  (?),  under  Capt.  Joshua  R.  King,  became  Co.  A, 
and  was  known  as  the  "  New  Britain  Grays."  It  was  disbanded  in  1859. 
A  cavalry  company  was  organized  at  Hartford  in  1855,  under  Capt. 
Horace  Ensworth.  It  disbanded,  and  was  succeeded,  in  1856,  by  a  like 
company  at  Ilartland,  under  Capt.  Almon  C.  Banning;  the  latter  com- 
pany disbanding  in  1861.     In  1856  artillery  Company  A,  at  Hartford, 


COLONEL   THOMAS   II.  SETMOUB. 


/ 


THE   MILITIA.  187 

organized  under  Capt.  Joseph  Pratt.  When  it  disbanded,  in  1861,  it 
was  commanded  by  Horace  Ensworth.  It  was  known  as  the  "Seymour 
Light  Artillery."  The  "  Colt  Guard,"  Co.  B,  infantry,  organized  at  Hart- 
ford, in  1858,  under  Capt.  J.  Dcane  Alden,  was  armed  with  the  tw  Colt  " 
rifle.  It  continued  until  1861.  Other  companies  which  lived  until  1861 
were :  Co.  D,  of  Windsor  Locks  (organized  in  1852,  under  Capt.  Daniel 
Porter),  and  Co.  E,  of  Suffield  (organized  in  1855,  under  Capt.  John  M. 
Hathaway).  But  four  companies,  250  officers  and  men,  all  told,  remained 
to  1861.     But  one,  the  Light  Guard,  remained  to  1862. 

In  the  mean  time,  in  1861,  Artillery  Company  A,  known  as  the 
"  Hartford  City  Guard,"  was  organized,  under  the  captaincy  of  Charles 
H.  Prentice.  It  became  the  "  crack  "  company  of  Hartford.  It  was 
changed  to  an  infantry  company  in  1863.  Lieutenants  L.  A.  Dickinson 
and  John  H.  Burnham,  and  others  of  its  officers,  joined  the  Volunteer 
forces  in  the  Civil  War,  and  served  with  distinction.  It  became  Battery 
D,  Light  Artillery,  in  1865,  and  so  remained  until  1871.  During  this 
period  of  six  years  it  was  a  part  of  the  Third  Regiment.  It  began  as 
Company  F  of  the  First,  in  1871,  and  so  remains  to-day.  Its  captains 
have  been :  Charles  H.  Prentice,  1861-1863 ;  Solomon  P.  Conners, 
1863 ;  John  K.  Williams,  1863-1869 ;  John  L.  White,  1869-1880  ; 
Levi  H.  Hotchkiss,  1880-1882 ;  Charles  E.  Thompson,  1882-1881 ; 
Alexander  Allen,  1881- 

Among  the  companies  organized  since  1862  many  have  disappeared, 
and  others  have  taken  their  places,  and  the  letters  by  which  they  were 
designated.  We  give  the  dates  of  the  advent  and  exit  of  the  disbanded 
companies,  with  the  name  of  the  earliest  captain  of  each  respectively : 
Co.  C,  Southington,  Capt.  John  T.  Lee,  1862-1871 ;  Rifle  Co.  A,  Enfield, 
Capt.  Walter  A.  Luce,  1863-1871  (?)  ;  Co.  F,  Wethcrsficld,  Capt. 
Edward  G.  Woodhouse,  1864-1870  ;  Co.  E,  Collinsvillc,  Capt.  W.  H. 
Parmelec,  1865-1871 ;  Co.  G,  Hartford  (Buckingham  Rifles),  Capt. 
Benjamin  F.  Proutv,  1865-1871 ;  Co  H,  Avon,  Capt.  H.  H.  Pierce, 
1865-1870;  Co.  I,  Unionville,  Capt.  J.  X.  Bunnell,  1865-1871;  Co.  K, 
Burlington,  Capt.  F.  W.  Sessions,  1865-1871;  Co.  A,Farmington,  Capt. 
Edward  E.  Warren,  1866-1871;  Battery  E,  New  Britain,  Capt.  George 
Iladley,  1869-1875  ;  Company  I,  Windsor  Locks  (Dexter  Guard),  Capt. 
Joseph  Reed,  1878-1880. 

Since  1865  the  term  "  militia "  has  been  dropped,  by  legislative 
enactment,  and  that  of  the  "  Connecticut  National  Guard  "  substituted 
therefor.  Since  1871  one  regiment,  each  of  ten  companies,  having  not 
more  than  101  men,  rank  and  file,  per  company,  has  been  the  quota  for 
each  Congressional  district.  Two  sections  of  artillery  were  then  au- 
thorized. In  1881  the  latter  branch  was  changed  to  one  battery,  of 
three  platoons,  of  light  artillery,  which  is  now  drawn  by  horses.  A 
"  machine-gun  platoon,"  having  a  Gatling  gun,  is  all  that  represents 
this  latter  branch  of  the  service  in  this  county. 

The  companies  of  the  Connecticut  National  Guard,  now  (1886)  in 
Hartford  County,  are  as  follows:  Co.  A  (the  Gcrmania  Guard),  of 
Hartford,  organized  in  1871,  under  Captain  William  Westphal ;  Co.  B 
(the  Hillyer  Guard),  organized  in  1865,  under  Capt.  H.  F.  Chandler; 
Co.  D  (City  Guard),  New  Britain,  organized  in  1863,  under  Capt.  L.  L. 
Sperry ;  Co.  E  (Jewell  Guard),  New  Britain,  organized  in  1871,  under 
Capt.  C.  B.  Erichson;  Co.  F  (Hartford  City  Guard),  organized  in  1861, 
under  Capt.  Charles  H.  Prentice ;  Co.  G  (Manchester  Rifles),  Manchester. 


188  MEMORIAL  HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

organized  in  1871,  under  Capt.  Philip  W.  Hudson ;  Co.  H  (Hartford 
Light  Guard),  Hartford,  organized  in  1872,  under  Capt.  Charles  O'Neile, 
Jr. ;  Co.  K,  Hartford,  organized  in  1879,  under  Capt.  Thomas  M.  Smith. 
The  foregoing  constitute  the  First  Regiment  of  the  Connecticut  National 
Guard.  There  is  also  a  company  of  colored  men,  being  Co.  B,  of  the 
Fifth  Battalion  Connecticut  National  Guard.  It  was  organized  in  1870, 
under  Capt.  Lloyd  G.  Seymour,  at  Hartford.  Co.  C,  a  Rockville  com- 
pany, annexed  to  the  First  Regiment  in  1871,  was  not  in  this  county. 

The  fife  and  drum  were  for  many  years  the  only  authorized  music 
for  the  militia,  —  if  we  except  the  bugle,  which  sounded  the  "  calls," 
much  as  they  are  sounded  to-day.  But  in  1841  regimental  "bands" 
were  authorized ;  to  consist  of  not  less  than  twelve  nor  more  than 
twenty-live  musicians.  Each  "  captain  "  of  a  band  was  made  a  warrant 
officer.  In  1871  the  maximum  number  of  members  was  fixed  at  twenty, 
and  the  drum-major  and  fife-major  were  made  non-commissioned  officers 
of  the  regimental  staff. 

Discipline.  The  earliest  manual  of  military  instruction  in  use  in 
the  colony  was  that  of  Colonel  Humphrey  Bland,  an  Englishman,  in 
1743.  The  "  Norfolk  Militia  Exercise  "  took  its  place  in  1769.  In  1775 
the  "Manual  Exercise  ordered  by  his  Majesty  in  1764"  was  adopted. 
The  tactics  of  the  Baron  Yon  Steuben  were  adopted  in  1779,  and  were 
the  standard  for  many  years ;  Harrow's  were  adopted  in  1824.  Those 
of  the  Regular  army,  and  of  Scott,  Hardee,  Casey,  and  Upton  have  since 
been  adopted  successively.  At  present  the  tactics  of  the  army  of  the 
United  States  are  the  standard  for  this  State. 

The  changes  which  have  been  made  in  the  manual  of  arms  may  be 
illustrated,  to  some  extent,  by  a  citation  or  two.  In  1813  the  commands 
were  successively  as  follows :  shoulder,  present,  secure,  advance,  sup- 
port, carry,  slope,  and  port  arms.  In  Upton's  Tactics  (edition  of  1867) 
they  are: 'support,  carry,  present,  order,  carry,  etc.  For  loading,  the 
commands,  in  1813,  were  :  load-arms  ;  open-pan  ;  handle-cartridge ; 
open-cartridge  ;  prime  ;  shut-pan  ;  about ;  charge  ;  draw-rammer  ;  ram- 
cartridge  ;  return-rammer;  ready,  etc.  In  Upton,  they  are:  load; 
handle-cartridge  ;  tear-cartridge  ;  charge-cartridge  ;  draw-rammer ; 
ram-cartridge;  return-rammer;  prime;  carry-arms;  ready,  etc.  For 
the  repeating  rifle,  the  commands,  load,  and  ready,  are  all  that  precede 
those  for  firing. 

Army  Regulations  were  first  enacted  in  1775.  Those  governing  our 
militia  to-day  were  prepared  in  1884,  by  a  commission  appointed  by  the 
Commander-in-Chief.    They  are  based  upon  those  of  Massachusetts. 


Note  1  (p.  176).  —  Though  these  probably  were  not  more  effective  or  of  larger  calibre 
than  the  "two  drakes  lent  to  the  plantations  at  Conecticott,  to  fortifie  themselves  withall,"  by 
order  of  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts,  September,  1635,  —  with  six  barrels  of  powder 
and  "  200  shot,  with  other  implements  belonging  to  the  peeces,"  etc.  {Mass.  Accords,  1.  148, 

1  (\f\\    —  T    TT    T1 

Note  2  (p.  176).  —  Capt.  John  Chester,  of  Wethersfield,  who  commanded  a  company  at 
Bunker  Hill,  in  a  letter  giving  an  account  of  the  battle,  wrote  (July,  1775)  that  when  ordered  by 

Gen.  Putnam  to  march  to  the  hill  to  oppose  the  enemy  :  "  I  waited  not We  soon  marched 

with  our  frocks  and  trowsers  on  over  our  other  clothes  (for  our  Company  is  in  uniform  wholly 
Blue  turned  up  with  Red),  for  we  were  loath  to  expose  ourselves  by  our  dress,     etc.  —J.  ±i.  1. 


THE  MILITIA.  189 

HARTFORD'S   INDEPENDENT  MILITARY  COMPANIES. 

BY   VARIOUS   CONTRIBUTORS. 

The  Governor's  Foot  Guard.  —  After  the  French  and  Indian  War 
the  peaceful  condition  of  the  Colony  made  military  duty,  not  enforced 
by  proper  discipline,  largely  a  farce.  There  were  numerous  companies 
without  uniformity  of  dress  or  arms.  It  was  the  duty  of  a  selected 
company  to  attend  upon  the  opening  of  the  General  Assembly  and  to 
escort  the  governor  on  "  Election  Day,"  as  inauguration  day  was  always 
styled.  The  demoralization  had  gone  so  far  that  in  1768  the  Hartford 
company  designated  for  the  purpose  appeared  in  fantastic  dress  and 
turned  the  parade  into  one  of  the  "  antique  and  horrible  "  sort.  The 
proceedings  were  so  disgraceful  that  the  General  Assembly  appointed 
a  committee  "  to  take  notice  of  and  resent  the  disrespect  and  indignity 
shewn  them  by  the  military  company  ordered  to  serve  and  while  serving 
as  a  guard  to  his  Honour  the  Governor,  etc.,  on  the  day  of  the  last 
general  election."  As  a  result  of  the  investigation  which  followed, 
the  officers  and  sergeants  were  mildly  exonerated  from  blame,  and  the 
other  members  of  the  company  signed  an  humble  apology,  confessing 
their  "  great  misconduct  and  aggravated  offense,  and  imploring  the 
forgiveness  of  the  Assembly,"  which  was  granted  upon  their  payment 
of  the  costs  of  the  prosecution.  For  the  next  two  years  an  East  Hart- 
ford company  was  called  out  for  escort  duty  on  Election  Day. 

Meantime  the  leading  young  men  of  Hartford,  desirous  of  retrieving 
the  good  name  of  the  city,  decided  to  organize  a  select  company  for 
the  purpose  of  doing  the  honors  to  the  governor  and  the  General  As- 
sembly in  a  proper  manner.  On  Oct.  2,  1771,  Samuel  Wyllys  and 
forty-three  others  petitioned  the  Assembly,  setting  forth  that :  — 

"It  is  with  Considerable  Expense  and  Trouble  that  the  Standing  Military 
Companies  in  Hartford  Equip  themselves  to  wait  on  the  General  Assembly,  and 
that  their  Turns  come  but  Once  in  many  years,  and  that  it  is  with  Difficulty  they 
are  able  to  perform  said  duty  so  as  to  do  Honour  to  the  Ceremony,  and  that  your 
memorialists  Conceive  it  would  be  for  the  Honour  of  the  Government  that  a  com- 
pany be  Constituted  to  perform  said  Service  and  Ceremony  Constantly,"  etc. 

The  prayer  of  the  memorialists  was  granted,  and  a  military  com- 
pany organized  named  the  "  Governor's  Guard."  The  company  adopted 
for  its  original  uniform  one  copied  from  that  of  the  famous  British 
Grenadiers,  now  known  as  the  "  First  Regiment  of  Foot  Guards,"  of 
England,  and  this  uniform  has  been  maintained  and  worn  on  State 
occasions  to  the  present  day.     The  original  incorporators  were  :  — 

Samuel  Wyllys,  James  Tiley,  Daniel  Cotton,  Eliakim  Fish,  Hezekiah  Wyllys, 
Daniel  Goodwin,  Jr.,  Nathaniel  Goodwin,  Timothy  Ledlie,  James  Jepson,  Caleb 
Bull,  Jr.,  Joseph  Church,  Jr.,  William  Lawrence,  John  Caldwell,  Elihu  Eggleston, 
John  Nevins,  Israel  Seymour,  Ebenezer  Austin,  Stephen  Austin,  Charles  Hopkins, 
Elisha  Burnham,  John  Lawrence,  Jr.,  Edward  Bodge,  Elisha  Lord,  Hezekiah 
Merrells,  Samuel  Burr,  John  Calder,  Nathaniel  Skinner,  James  Bull,  Austin 
Ledyard,  Frederick  Bull,  William  Knox,  Ebenezer  Watson,  Joseph  Reed, 
Epaphras  Bull,  Consider  Burt,  Cotton  Murray,  Benjamin  Morrison,  James  Adams, 


190  MEMORIAL- HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

William  Bull,  Jonathan  Butler,  Jonathan  Bull,  Bevil  Waters,  Aaron  Seymour, 
James  Humphrey,  Isaac  Vaughan,  Lemuel  Steel,  John  Dodd,  Timothy  Steel, 
Elisha  Dodd,  Richard  Skinner,  Jonathan  Steel,  Thomas  Sloan,  Bobert  Sloan, 
James  Bunce,  Jr.,  Samuel  Kilhourn,  Noah  Washburn,  Thomas  Steel,  Moses 
Kellogg,  Thomas  Converse,  Abel  Stone,  Daniel  Skinner,  Jr.,  Edward  Dodd,  Jr., 
Theodore  Skinner,  Ozias  Goodwin,  Jr.,  and  John  Cook.1 

That  the  company  was  regarded  as  a  regular  part  of  the  military 
force  of  the  colony  is  shown  by  the  colonial  records,  by  which  it  appears 
that  the  officers  were  appointed  or  "  established  "  in  precisely  the  same 
form  as  all  other  military  officers  of  the  colony.2  The  company  is  thus 
proven  to  have  been  the  pioneer  of  uniformed  companies  in  this  colony, 
and  its  organization  marks  a  distinct  advance  toward  the  orderly  and 
efficient  military  system  of  to-day. 

Samuel  Wyllys  was  the  first  captain.  The  company's  first  parade 
was  as  escort  for  Governor  Jonathan  Trumbull  and  the  General  Assem- 
bly, on  the  second  Thursday  of  May,  1772.  Six  months  before,  it  had  at 
its  own  expense  secured  a  handsome  uniform,  "  scarlet  coat,  faced  with 
black  with  silver  braid,  buff  knee-breeches,  black  velvet  leggings,  and 
bear-skin  hat."  The  Assembly  was  so  well  pleased  with  this  first  ap- 
pearance of  the  new  command  that  it  placed  on  record  a  complimen- 
tary resolution  to  that  effect.  A  committee  was  also  appointed  to 
procure  "  from  Bristol,  or  such  other  place  in  Great  Britain  where  they 
be  had  on  the  best  terms,"  "  sixty-four  plain,  decent,  and  sizable  stands 
of  arms  to  equip  said  company."  3 

In  1775  a  similar  company  was  organized  in  New  Haven,  and  the 
Hartford  company  was  styled  "  First  Company  Governor's  Guard."  In 
1788  the  name  of  the  original  company  Avas  amended  to  the  form  which 
it  has  ever  since  retained,  "  First  Company  Governor's  Foot  Guard." 

In  May,  1802,  upon  the  petition  of  Captain  Nathaniel  Terry,  it  was 
ordered  that  "  in  future  the  company  shall  consist  of  captain,  two  lieu- 
tenants, an  ensign,  eight  sargeants,  eight  corporals,  a  band  of  music  of 
fourteen  musicians,  six  fifers,  four  drummers,  and  ninety-six  privates." 

In  1809  the  rank  of  the  commanding  officer  was  made  major,  a 
deserved  compliment  to  Captain  Nathaniel  Terry,  the  grandfather  of 
Major-General  Alfred  H.  Terry,  of  the  regular  army. 

In  addition  to  its  other  duties  the  Guard  has  performed  escort  duty 
upon  many  memorable  and  historic  occasions  "  for  the  Honour  of  the 
State,"  and  in  honor  of  the  most  celebrated  characters  in  American 
history.  During  the  war  for  Independence,  and  in  obedience  to  the 
order  of  the  Commander-in-Chief,  Governor  Jonathan  Trumbull,  the 
Guard  twice  performed  escort  duty  for  Washington,  Knox,  Lafayette, 
Admiral  Tiernay,  Rochambeau,  and  their  aides,  upon  the  occasion  of 
their  visits  to  Hartford  and  Wethersfield.  A  little  later  the  Guard 
escorted  the  governor  (Trumbull)  to  Danbury,  to  meet  the  Council  of 
Safety  ;  and  upon  his  final  retirement  from  public  life,  it  accompanied 
him  on  his  way  to  Lebanon. 

1  Captain  Wyllys,  John  Caldwell,  and  other  members  afterward  gained  distinction  in  the 
Revolutionary  War.  Seventeen  years  later  a  number  of  the  same  men,  having  gained  in  age 
and  flesh  and  being  tired  of  marching  on  foot,  became  incorporators  of  the  First  Company  of 
Horse  Guards. 

2  See  page  111  of  the  Manuscript  Public  Records  of  Connecticut,  May,  1772;  also  Colonial 
Records,  vol.  xiii.  p.  581. 

3  Public  Records  Manuscript,  p.  125. 


INDEPENDENT  MILITARY  COMPANIES. 


191 


In  October,  1777,  the  Guard,  for  the  first  and  only  time  in  its  history, 
left  the  State  on  a  hostile  errand,  being  ordered  to  Saratoga  to  re- 
inforce the  Continental  army  under  General  Gates.  Of  this  event  the 
"  Connecticut  Courant "  (Aug.  2,  1831)  contains  an  account. 

This  gives  the  company  the  distinction  of  being  the  only  body  of 
State  troops  (excepting  volunteers  for  Federal  service)  that  ever  was 
ordered  outside  the  limits  of  the  State  against  an  enemy.  It  is  very 
rarely  that  any  of  the  State  troops  are  called  out  to  aid  in  keeping  the 
peace  within  the  State,  and  no  company  has  done  more  service  in  this 
way.  In  1811,  at  the  time  of  the  "  Hartford  Convention,"  it  was  held 
in  readiness  for  several  days  to  quell  an  expected  outbreak  between 
Federal  troops  and  citizens ; *  and  in  1834  it  was  called  out  to  suppress 
a  riot  in  Hartford. 

The  company  has  done  escort  duty  for  every  President  who  has 
visited  Hartford,  including  Washington,  John  Adams,  Monroe,  Jackson, 
Polk,  Johnson,  and  Grant.  It  escorted  Lafayette  twice  during  the  Rev- 
olution, and  again  in  1824.  It  took  part  in  the  Peace  celebration  of 
1815,  in  the  dedication  of  the  Groton  Monument  in  1826,  at  the  Bunker 
Hill  centennial  in  1875,  the  centennial  of  the  battle  of  Saratoga  in  1877, 
the  New  York  Evacuation  Day  centennial  in  1883,  the  Bi-centennial  of 
Worcester,  Mass.,  in  1884,  and  the  dedication  of  the  Washington  Monu- 
ment, in  1885.  It  was  also  a  part  of  the  grand  military  pageant  in  New 
York  at  the  funeral  of  General  Grant,  Aug.  8,  1885. 

It  is  the  boast  of  the  company  that  it  is  the  only  one  in  the  United 
States  that  has  had  an  unbroken  existence  for  one  hundred  and  fifteen 
years,  and  that  has  maintained  its  ancient  uniform. 

The  followino-  have  been  its  commanders  :  — 


Captain  Samuel  Wyllys,  1771-1777. 
Captain  Jonathan  Bull,  1777-1785. 
Captain  Charles  Hopkins,  1785-1795. 
Captain  George  Bull,  1795-1797. 
Captain  Joseph  Day,  1797-1798. 
Captain  Jesse  Root,  1798-1802. 
Captain  Nathaniel  Terry,2  1802-1813. 
Major  Isaac  D.  Bull,  1813-1816. 
Major  Richard  E.  Goodwin,  1816-1819. 
Major  James  M.  Goodwin,  1819-1823. 
Major  Lynde  Olmsted,  1823-1826. 
Major  Charles  Wells,  1826-1828. 
Major  George  Putnam,  1828-1830. 
Major  Jonathan  Goodwin,  1830-1832. 
Major  Edmund  B.  Stedman,  1832-1833. 
Major  Calvin  Day,  1833-1835. 
Major  James  G.  Bolles,  1835-1835. 
Major  Henry  Oakes,  1835-1836. 
Major  Griffin  A.  Stedman,  1836-1838. 


Major  Henry  L.  Miller,  1838-1838. 
Major  Roland  Mather,  1838-1840. 
Major  William  B.  Ely,  1840-1841. 
Major  Henry  P.  Averill,  1841-1843. 
Major  Henry  P.  Sweetser,  1843-1844. 
Major  Leonard  H.  Bacon,  1844-1847. 
Major  William  Conner,  Jr.,  1847-1850. 
Major  Leverett  Seymour,  1850-1861. 
Major  Jonathan  Goodwin,  1861-1862. 
Major  Lucius  E.  Hunt,  1862-1865. 
Major  Henry  C.  Ransom,  1865-1867. 
Major  Henry  P.  Barton,  1867-1871. 
Major  William  H.  Dodd,  1871-1874. 
Major  Charles  Osborne,  1874-1875. 
Major  John  C.  Parsons,  1875-1877. 
Major  William  H.  Talcott,  1877-1879. 
Major  George  B.  Fisher,  1879-1881. 
Major  A.  H.  Embler,  1881-1882. 
Major  John  C.  Kinney,  1882- 


The  present  line  officers  of  the  command  (1886)  arc :  Major,  J.  C. 
Kinney ;    Captain    and    First   Lieutenant,    James   C.    Pratt ;    Second 

1  "  Peter  Parley's  Recollections  of  a  Lifetime,"  vol.  ii.  p.  51.  The  company  was  ordered 
to  be  ready  to  respond  to  an  instant  call,  and,  to  prevent  their  arms  being  seized  in  advance 
by  rioters,  the  guns  and  ball  cartridges  were  locked  up  in  the  Hartford  Bank. 

2  Ranked  as  Major  from  May,  1809. 


192  MEMORIAL   HISTORY  OF    HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

Lieutenant,  Theodore  C.  Noedele ;  Third  Lieutenant  and  Adjutant,  J. 
Robert  Dwyer  ;  Fourth  Lieutenant,  Fayette  C.  Clark ;  Ensign,  Horace 
Lord ;  First  Sergeant,  G.  J.  A.  Nsedele. 

Goveenor's  Horse  Guard.  —  At  the  May  session  of  the  General 
Assembly  in  1788  a  memorial  was  presented  by  John  Caldwell  and 
others,  praying  that :  — 

"  They  may  have  a  separate  military  establishment  and  be  formed  into  a  troop 
of  Volunteer  Horse  or  Light  Dragoons,  to  be  called  by  the  name  of  the  '  Gov- 
ernor's Independent  Volunteer  Troop  of  Horse  Guards,'  whose  particular  duty 
shall  be  to  attend  upon  and  escort  the  Governor  of  this  State  in  times  of  peace 
and  Avar,  etc. 

"Dated  at  Hartford  the  1st  day  of  May,  a.d.  1788  :  — 

John  Caldwell,  Rich'd  Hart,  Caleb  Bull,  Jr., 

Charles  Phelps,  Tim.  Burr,  Chauncey  Goodrich, 

Peter  Colt,  Sam'l  Marsh,  Jr.,  Hez.  Merrell, 

Hez'h  Bull,  John  Chenevard,  Jr.,  Horatio  Wales, 

Asa  Hopkins,  Thos.  Y.  Seymour,  Jas.  Hart, 

Ehod.  Olcott,  John  Morgan,  Rich'd  Goodman, 

Wm.  Lawrence,  Oliver  Wolcott,  Jr.,  Dan'l  Goodman, 

Sam'l  Lawrence,  James  Bull,  Sam'l  Burr, 

Wm.  Knox,  Thos.  Bull,  Ashbell  Wells,  Jr. 

Bar's  Deane,  William  Mosely,  Ephraim  Root,  and 

Sam'l  Pomeroy. 

Several  of  these  signers  were  seventeen  years  before  charter  mem- 
bers of  the  First  Company  Governor's  Foot  Guard.  The  General  As- 
sembly granted  the  prayer,  and  passed  a  bill  constituting  the  company, 
with  the  name  of  the  "  Governor's  Independent  Volunteer  Troop  of 
Horse  Guards,"  to  be  "  subject  to  the  order  of  the  Governor,  and  to 
attend  upon  and  escort  him  in  time  of  peace  and  war,  .  .  .  and  said 
Troop  shall  consist  of  one  captain,  two  lieutenants,  one  cornet,  one 
quartermaster  sergeant,  three  drill  sergeants  and  four  corporals,  and 
sixty  privates."  The  bill  provided  for  the  election  of  officers  on  Mon- 
day, May  19,  1788.  The  records  show  that  the  election  was  presided 
over  by  "  Hez'h  Wyllys,  Lieutenant-Colonel  commanding  1st  Regt,"  and 
the  following  were  selected  the  first  officers  of  the  company :  captain, 
John  Caldwell;  first  lieutenant,  Thomas  Y.  Seymour;  second  lieutenant, 
Charles  Phelps ;  cornet,  Timothy  Burr ;  which  officers  were  duly  "  estab- 
lished "  by  resolution  of  the  General  Assembly  at  the  same  session,  the 
governor  at  the  time  being  Samuel  Huntington.  The  company  seems  to 
have  been  the  first  regularly  uniformed  cavalry  company  in  the  State. 

The  first  notable  parade  in  which  the  Horse  Guard  participated,  as 
far  as  is  known,  was  in  1798,  when  Washington,  then  ex-President,  made 
a  four  days'  visit  to  Hartford.  The  fact  of  the  Horse  Guard  escort  was 
mentioned  by  the  Father  of  his  Country  in  his  diary.  From  that  time 
they  have  taken  part  in  most  of  the  military  pageants  that  Hartford  has 
witnessed,  including  the  receptions  of  the  various  presidents  that  have 
visited  Hartford,  the  welcome  to  Lafayette  in  1824,  to  General  Jackson 
in  1833,  etc.  The  presence  of  the  two  companies  of  Horse  and  Foot 
Guards  has  been  a  part  of  the  inaugural  ceremonies  of  every  governor  of 
the  State,  when  held  in  Hartford,  from  the  time  of  their  organization  to 
the  present.     The  commanding  officers  have  been  as  follows  :  — 


INDEPENDENT   MILITARY   COMPANIES. 


193 


Major.  Date  of  service.  Major.  Date  of  service. 

John  Caldwell .     .     .     .  1788-1792.  James  Goodwin      .     .     .  1829-1832. 

Thomas  Y.  Seymour .     .  1792-1796.  Thomas  H.  Marshall  .     .  1832-1834. 

Joseph  Hart     ....  1796-1800.  William  J.  Denslow    .     .  1834-1835. 

George  Bull      ....  1800-1803.  Lester  Sexton    ....  1835-1838. 

Henry  Seymour    .     .     .  1803-1807.  Levi  T.  Skinner      .     .     .  1838-1839. 

Samuel  Ledlie .     .     .     .  1807-1810.  Allen  C.  Boardman      .     .  1839-1843. 

Michael  Olcott      .     .     .  1810-1811.  Stephen  H.  Marcy .     .     .  1843-1844. 

Joseph  Burnham  .     .     .  1811-1816.  I).  F.  Raphael    ....  1844-1846. 

Joseph  Kees1.     .     .     .  1816-  Henry  Boardman    .     .     .  1846-1861. 

Daniel  Buck    .     .     .     .  1816-1819.  James  Waters     .     .     .     .  1861-1871. 

Barzillai  D.  Buck      .     .  1819-1823.  Chauncey  B.  Boardman    .  1871-1886. 

John  E.  Hart  ....  1823-1826.  Frank  Cowles    ....  1886- 

James  T.  Pratt     .     .     .  1826-1829. 


Major  John  Caldwell,  the  first  commander,  was  a  prominent  Hart- 
ford merchant  engaged  in  the  West  India  trade.  He  was  the  first 
president  of  the  Hartford  Bank,  and  one  of  the  commissioners  that 
built  the  State  House  in  1794-1796.  Major  Thomas  Y.  Seymour,  who 
was  really  the  originator  of  the  company,  was  a  gentleman  by  birth 
and  education,  a  gallant  soldier  of  the  Revolutionary  war.  He  had 
studied  military  science  in  France.  He  married  for  his  first  wife  a 
daughter  of  Colonel  Ledyard,  the  chief  victim  of  the  Groton  massacre. 
He  had  command  of  a  light  horse  company  in  the  Continental  army,  and 
was  an  aide  on  the  staff  of  General  Arnold  at  the  battle  of  Saratoga.  He 
appears  in  Trumbull's  painting  of  the  battle.  General  Burgoyne  pre- 
sented him  his  pistols  and  horse-equipments,  which  he  afterward  used 
while  in  command  of  the  Horse  Guard.  He  was  an  uncle  of  Governor 
Thomas  H.  Seymour. 

Major  Joseph  Hart  was  a  graduate  of  Harvard  College,  a  successful 
merchant,  and  was  at  one  time  candidate  for  governor. 

Major  Henry  Seymour  was  a  brother  of  the  second  commander,  and 
the  father  of  Thomas  H.  Seymour.  He  was  a  well-to-do  broker  and  a 
man  of  liberal  education. 

Major  James  T.  Pratt  is  still  living  at  Wethersfield  (1886).  He  was 
twenty-five  years  old  when  elected  major,  and  subsequently  became  major- 
general  commanding  a  division  of  the  State  militia.  He  has  been  can- 
didate for  governor,  has  held  many  positions  of  honor  and  trust,  has 
been  a  member  of  the  General  Assembly  many  times,  Speaker  of  the 
House,  representative  to  Congress,  etc.  He  commanded  the  Horse 
Guard  on  the  occasion  of  Lafayette's  visit  to  Hartford  in  1824. 

Major  James  Goodwin  was  a  scion  of  one  of  Hartford's  oldest  fam- 
ilies and  one  of  the  leading  citizens  of  the  place.  Major  Allen  C. 
Boardman,  an  excellent  officer,  was  the  father  of  Major  Chauncey  B. 
Boardman,  who,  after  commanding  the  company  for  fifteen  years,  re- 
signed January,  1886. 

The  Putnam  Phalanx.  —  In  August,  1858,  a  number  of  the  promi- 
nent citizens  of  Hartford  and  the  State,  for  the  purpose  of  reviving  the 
old  Continental  uniform,  and  also  to  aid  in  welcoming  home  ex-Governor 
Thomas  H.  Seymour,  when  he  should  return  from  his  mission  as  Min- 
ister to  Russia,  formed  an  organization  to  which  they  gave  the  name 


Died  in  command. 


VOL.    I.  — 13. 


194  MEMORIAL  HISTORY   OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

"  Putnam  Phalanx."  They  adopted  the  uniform  of  Washington's  army 
and  the  drill  of  1776.  The  organization  was  composed  of  two  compa- 
nies, forming  a  battalion,  having  a  major-commandant  and  the  usual 
company  officers.  The  first  major  was  Horace  Goodwin,  and  among 
the  members  were  Colonel  Samuel  Colt,  Isaac  W.  Stuart,  and  Henry  C. 
Deming,  three  of  the  foremost  citizens  of  Hartford,  the  last  two  noted 
orators. 

The  first  parade  was  Dec.  22,  1858,  in  uniforms  borrowed  from  the 
Amoskeag  Veterans  of  Manchester,  New  Hampshire,  to  receive  a  stan- 
dard presented  by  descendants  of  General  Israel  Putnam. 

On  Aug.  30,  1859,  occurred  the  reception  to  ex-Governor  Thomas 
H.  Seymour,  in  which  the  Phalanx  held  the  post  of  honor,  aided  by  the 
Seymour  Light  Artillery  and  the  military  and  civic  organizations  of 
Hartford.  The  following  October  the  Phalanx  visited  Bunker  Hill, 
Boston,  Charlestown,  and  Providence,  being  handsomely  entertained 
and  charming  every  place  with  their  fine  appearance  and  the  magic 
eloquence  of  Stuart  and  Deming.  The  story  of  the  excursion  is  pre- 
served in  a  volume  of  one  hundred  pages.  Since  that  time  many  places 
of  note  have  been  visited,  including  Atlanta,  Richmond,  Newburgh, 
Washington,  Mount  Vernon,  Niagara  Falls,  Montreal,  Portland,  New- 
buryport,  Saratoga,  Albany,  Newport,  and  Block  Island.  The  company 
participated  in  the  centennial  anniversaries  of  Concord,  Bunker  Hill, 
Philadelphia,  Bennington,  Stony  Point,  Portsmouth,  and  Greenwich, — 
the  last-named  occasion  celebrating  the  famous  ride  of  Putnam  down 
the  stone  steps  at  Horse-neck.  They  have  visited  Putnam's  grave, 
taken  part  in  the  dedication  of  the  statue  to  his  memory  which  stands 
in  Bushnell  Park,  and  are  at  present  engaged  in  an  effort  to  have  a 
worthy  monument  erected  to  his  memory. 

In  1877  the  General  Assembly  chartered  the  organization,  but  it  is 
not  a  part  of  the  State  military  force. 

The  commanding  officers  have  been  as  follows,  with  the  dates  of 
their  election :  — 

Horace  Goodwin,  Sept.    1,  1858.  Henry  Kennedy,  April  19,  1869. 

Allyn  S.  Stillman,  April  19,  1862.  H.  L.  Welch,  April  21,  1873. 

James  B.  Shultas,  June  11,  1863.  Henry  Kennedy,  April  20,  1874. 

Timothy  M.  Allyn,  April  19,  1864.  F.  M.  Brown,  Oct.    21,  1875. 

C.  C.  Burt,  May   14,  1867.  Alvin  Squire,  Feb.      7,  1883. 

Seth  E.  Marsh,  April  19,  1868.  Clayton  H.  Case,  Feb.      4,  1885. 

Cambridge  Guard. — This  is  a  company  composed  of  colored  citi- 
zens of  Hartford.  It  was  organized  in  1869,  and  has  maintained  an 
independent  existence  since  that  time.  The  officers  are  :  captain,  I.  L. 
Cambridge  ;  first  lieutenant,  Charles  Seymour  ;  second  lieutenant, 
Edward  Sweirs ;  orderly,  F.  H.  Freeman. 


CHAPTER    X. 


FREEMASONRY  AND   OTHER  SECRET  SOCIETIES  IN  THE 

COUNTY. 

BY   J.  K.  "WHEELER,    STEPHEN    TERRY,    AND    OTHERS. 

Freemasonry  was  introduced  into  the  county  in  1762,  when  a  char- 
ter was  issued  by  the  Right  Worshipful  Jeremy  Gridley,  Esq.,  Provin- 
cial Grand  Master  of  the  Society  of  Free  and  Accepted  Masons  for 
North  America.  This  document  was  dated  March  21,  1762,  and  issued 
to  the  following  members  of  the  fraternity  residing  in  Hartford  :  John 
Townley,  William  Jepson,  Samuel  Olcott,  George  Caldwell,  Abraham 
Beach,  Thomas  Hopkins,  Jonathan  Wadsworth,  John  Ellery,  James 
Church,  Samuel  Flagg,  Eleazur  Pomeroy,  and  Thomas  Pay  son,  who 
were  afterward  known  as  St.  John's  Lodge  No.  4.  Mr.  John  Townley 
was  nominated  in  the  warrant  as  the  first  Worshipful  Master,  and  dele- 
gated with  authority  to  congregate  the  brethren  together,  and  himself 
to  select  two  wardens  and  other  officers  necessary  for  the  transaction  of 
business,  to  hold  office  for  one  year ;  after  which  the  lodge  was  annu- 
ally to  choose  its  officers  agreeably  to  the  custom  of  the  craft. 

The  first  meeting  was  convened  at  the  house  of  Hezekiah  Colyer, 
on  the  19th  of  January,  1763,  when  the  Worshipful  Master  appointed 
William  Jepson  for  his  senior  warden  ;  Samuel  Olcott,  junior  warden ; 
George  Caldwell,  treasurer ;  and  Abraham  Beach,  secretary.  By-laws 
were  at  this  time  adopted  for  the  government  of  the  lodge,  which  are 
noted  for  that  peculiar  quaintness  which  characterized  all  ancient 
masonic  documents,  as  well  as  the  high  tone  of  morality  that  pervaded 
them  ;  profanity  and  intemperance  being  strictly  forbidden,  and  any 
violation  subjecting  the  offender  to  discipline.  The  members  were 
cautioned  in  their  behavior,  and  especially  without  the  lodge,  "  that  no 
unjust  reflection  be  thrown  on  the  royal  art." 

The  meetings  were  continued  for  a  short  time  at  the  house  of  Heze- 
kiah Colyer,  then  at  the  house  of  Mrs.  Sarah  Flagg,  until  a  hall 
was  prepared  for  permanent  use.  This  was  located  at  the  "  Black 
Horse  Tavern,"  and  is  frequently  alluded  to  in  the  early  records  as 
"  the  Black  Horse,"  or  "  the  sign  of  the  black  horse,"  a  public-house 
situated  on  the  corner  of  Main  Street  and  Central  Row,  near  where  the 
Hartford  Trust  Company's  building  is  located.  The  meetings  were 
held  at  this  place  for  upwards  of  six  years,  and  the  lodge  continued  in 
a  very  flourishing  condition.  The  name  of  Israel  Putnam  frequently 
appears  as  a  visiting  brother,  first  recorded  at  the  third  meeting,  and 
occasionally  thereafter,  for  several  years.1 

It  was  the  custom  for  many  years,  and  stipulated  in  the  charter, 

1  This  is  said  to  be  the  first  positive  evidence  found  of  General  Putnam's  membership  in 
the  order. 


196  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

to  observe  the  festival  of  St.  John  the  Baptist  and  St.  John  the  Evan- 
gelist, which  has  now  fallen  into  disuse. 

In  1789  this  lodge  was  one  of  the  number  that  assisted  in  forming 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  Connecticut,  when  its  original  warrant  was  given 
up  and  a  new  charter  received  from  that  body,  dated  May  20,  1795, 
under  which  it  now  holds  its  authority.  At  this  time  it  took  the  name 
of  St.  John's  No.  4,  being  the  fourth  in  rank  in  the  State,  and  has  ever 
since  been  in  a  prosperous  condition.  Among  its  members  are  num- 
bered the  Hons.  Oliver  Wolcott,  Thomas  H.  Seymour,  and  Marshall 
Jewell,  —  ex-governors  of  the  State;  Henry  C.  Deming,  Gideon  Wells, 
Julius  L.  Strong,  John  R.  Buck,  and  William  H.  Bulkeley ;  also  Samuel 
G.  Goodrich,  otherwise  known  as  "  Peter  Parley,"  the  noted  author  and 
publisher,  and  very  many  others  prominent  and  more  or  less  identified 
with  the  interests  of  Hartford  and  vicinity.  Its  present  membership  is 
five  hundred  and  seven. 

Frederick  Lodge  No.  14  was  organized  Sept.  18,  1787,  by  several 
members  of  the  fraternity  residing  in  Farmington,  and  received  its 
charter  from  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Massachusetts,  and  at  its  first  meet- 
ing elected  the  following  officers :  William  Judd,  master ;  Timothy 
Hosmer,  senior  warden  ;  Reuben  Humphrey,  junior  warden  ;  John  Mix, 
treasurer;  Samuel  Richards,  Jr.,  secretary  ;  John  Hart,  senior  deacon  ; 
and  George  Humphrey,  junior  deacon.  Among  the  early  members  of 
this  lodge  are  the  names  of  several  who  had  been  prominently  identi- 
fied with  American  Union  Lodge,  a  military  lodge  attached  to  the  Con- 
necticut line  of  the  Revolutionary  army.  Most  prominent  are  the 
names  of  William  Judd,  Timothy  Hosmer,  Captain  Reuben  Humphrey, 
Lieutenant  John  Mix,  and  Dr.  John  Hart.  William  Judd  was  a  dele- 
gate to  the  convention  that  organized  the  Grand  Lodge  in  1789,  was 
appointed  chairman  of  the  convention  and  elected  first  Grand  Master, 
which  position  he  occupied  for  seven  years,  and  was  then  succeeded  by 
Chief  Justice  Stephen  Titus  Hosmer,  of  Middletown.  John  Mix  was 
elected  Grand  Secretary  in  1791,  and  held  the  position  twenty-nine 
years.  He  was  made  a  mason  in  American  Union  Lodge  while  it  was 
stationed  at  Reading,  Feb.  24,  1779.  This  army  lodge  was  afterward 
located  at  Marietta,  Ohio,  and  is  still  in  existence  there,  being  known 
as  American  Union  Lodge  No.  1.  A  few  years  since  it  came  into  pos- 
session of  the  original  records  of  its  early  meetings  while  attached  to 
the  Revolutionary  army. 

At  the  organization  of  the  Grand  Lodge,  Frederick  Lodge  received  a 
charter  from  that  body  and  was  designated  as  No.  14.  For  many  years 
it  has  been  located  in  Plainville,  and  numbers  seventy-two  members. 

The  records  of  the  Grand  Lodge  show  that  a  lodge  was  in  existence 
in  the  town  of  Berlin  as  early  as  1791.  It  was  represented  that  year 
at  the  May  session  of  the  Grand  Lodge,  but  no  record  has  been  found 
of  its  original  charter.  It  received  a  charter  irom  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
Connecticut,  and  continued  to  work  under  the  name  of  Berlin  Lodge 
No.  20  until  1797,  when  its  name  was  changed  to  Harmony  Lodge  No. 
20,  and  in  1848  it  was  removed  to  New  Britain,  and  has  since  existed 
in  a  flourishing  condition,  numbering  now  two  hundred  and  thirty-three 
members.  From  these  three  lodges  have  sprung  twenty-two  others, 
located  in  the  surrounding  towns  in  the  county,  and  aggregating  a 
membership  of  about  four  thousand. 


FREEMASONRY.  197 

Other  masonic  bodies  have  since  been  organized,  including  Pythag- 
oras Chapter  No.  17  of  Royal  Arch  Masons,  Wolcott  Council  No.  1  of 
Cryptic  Masons,  Washington  Commandery  No.  1  Knights  Templars,  and 
within  a  few  years,  three  bodies  of  the  Ancient  Accepted  Scottish  Rite. 

Washington  Commandery  was  instituted  in  July,  1796,  at  Col- 
chester, by  three  Knights  Templars  hailing  from  three  different  com- 
manderies  (then  known  as  encampments),  at  which  time  five  candidates 
received  the  orders  of  Knighthood.  Eliphalet  Bulkeley  was  at  this 
meeting  chosen  captain  general ;  James  Baxter,  first  captain  ;  Henry 
Champion,  second  captain  ;  Asa  Bigelow,  treasurer ;  John  R.  Watrous, 
secretary ;  Ebenezer  Perkins,  marshal.  Meetings  Avere  held  in  1798, 
1799,  and  1801,  alternating  between  Colchester  and  New  London  ;  and 
in  June,  1801,  a  charter  was  received  from  London,  England,  when  the 
commandery  was  permanently  organized.  No  written  records  of  the 
first  three  meetings  are  in  existence,  and  the  only  evidence  is  a  small 
pamphlet  printed  at  New  London  in  1823,  which  records  the  names  of 
those  who  received  the  orders  of  Knighthood,  with  dates  showing  that 
five  meetings  must  have  been  held  prior  to  1802. 

In  1844  this  commandery  was  removed  to  Hartford,  and  the  first 
meeting  was  held  on  the  3d  of  August,  when  it  was  organized  by  the 
election  of  Sir  Knight  George  Giddings,  grand  commander  ;  Sir  Knight 
Elizur  Goodrich,  Jr.,  generalissimo;  Sir  Knight  James  Ward,  captain 
general ;  Sir  Knight  Elihu  Geer,  prelate ;  Sir  Knight  Nathan  C.  Geer, 
senior  warden.  It  has  since  its  removal  continued  to  flourish,  number- 
ing among  its  members  many  of  the  most  prominent  men  of  Hartford. 
Foremost  among  them  is  the  name  of  ex-Governor  Thomas  H.  Sey- 
mour, who  was  for  a  number  of  years  the  Eminent  Commander,  and 
always  held  the  chivalric  order  in  high  esteem.  In  1881  a  monument 
was  erected  to  his  memory  in  the  Cedar  Hill  cemetery,  and  the  cere- 
monies of  unveiling  were  conducted  by  the  commandery,  assisted  by 
other  bodies  of  the  Templar  order  from  all  parts  of  the  State. 

This  commandery  claims  to  be  the  oldest  of  any  now  existing  in 
this  country,  and  is  without  doubt  the  only  one  that  ever  received 
authority  from  the  Grand  Encampment  of  England,  which  at  the  time 
was  the  only  governing  body  of  the  order  in  the  world.  It  was  organ- 
ized in  June,  1791,  under  patronage  of  His  Royal  Highness,  Edward, 
Duke  of  Kent,  from  which  indirectly  has  evidently  sprung  the  order  of 
Knights  Templars  of  the  United  States,  numbering  about  sixty  thou- 
sand members.  These  early  bodies,  with  the  exception  of  Washington 
Commandery,  received  no  authority  from  the  Grand  Encampment,  and 
were  undoubtedly  organized  by  virtue  of  that  inherent  right  delegated 
by  the  esoteric  portions  of  the  ritual.  The  order  is  the  most  popular 
of  all  now  in  existence,  and  much  stronger  in  this  country  than  in  any 
other. 


198  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

Mr.  Stephen  Terry  furnishes  the  following  sketch  of  the  Odd  Fel- 
lows :  — 

The  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows  was  introduced  into  this 
county  by  the  institution  of  Charter  Oak  Lodge  No.  2,  at  Hartford, 
April  21, 1810.  From  that  time  it  steadily  increased  until  about  1852, 
when  there  were  in  the  county  18  lodges  having  1,148  members  and 
funds  amounting  to  89,479.44,  and  four  encampments.  The  lodges  were 
distributed  as  follows ;  namely,  three  in  Hartford,  and  one  each  in 
Warehouse  Point,  Granby,  Manchester,  Tariffville,  Windsor  Locks, 
Thompsonville,  Bloomfield,  Bristol,  New  Britain,  East  Hartford,  Broad 
Bi-ook,  Farmington,  Collinsville,  Plainville,  and  Southington,  and  were 
established  successively  in  the  several  places  in  the  order  named. 
The  encampments  were  distributed  as  follows :  two  in  Hartford  and 
one  each  in  Warehouse  Point  and  Plainville.  From  1852  it  rapidly 
declined,  but  continued  to  exist  until  1860,  when  the  sole  remaining 
lodge  (the  one  in  Thompsonville)  made  its  last  report.  The  causes 
of  the  decline  were  various,  conspicuous  among  them  being  jealousy 
of  New  Haven,  where  the  Grand  Lodge  then  held  all  its  sessions,  cul- 
minating, in  1853  and  1854,  in  the  expulsion  of  the  two  strongest 
lodges  in  Hartford,  and  distrust  of  the  then  novel  feature  of  dues  and 
benefits. 

The  second  and  present  period  of  the  order  in  this  county  began 
with  the  institution  of  Hartford  Lodge,  No.  82,  at  Hartford,  Feb.  1, 
1867.  There  are  now  eight  lodges,  three  Daughter  of  Rebekah.  lodges, 
two  encampments,  and  one  uniformed  degree  camp.  The  lodges  are 
located  as  follows:  four  in  Hartford,  two  in  New  Britain,  and  one 
each  in  Bristol  and  Plantsville ;  the  Daughter  of  Rebekah  lodges  are 
in  Hartford,  Plantsville,  and  New  Britain ;  the  encampments  are  in 
Hartford  and  New  Britain ;  and  the  uniformed  degree  camp  is  in  Hart- 
ford. On  the  31st  of  December,  1884,  the  lodges  reported  1,009  mem- 
bers, funds  to  the  amount  of  $16,279,  and  $'3,026  expended  during  the 
year  for  the  relief  of  members. 

The  Daughter  of  Rebekah  lodges  are  composed  of  members  of 
lodges  and  the  wives,  widows,  and  unmarried  daughters  and  sisters  of 
lodge  members.  The  lodges  and  Daughter  of  Rebekah  lodges  are  all 
subordinate  to  a  Grand  Lodge  of  Connecticut,  and  the  encampments 
and  uniformed  degree  camp  are  subordinate  to  a  Grand  Encampment 
of  Connecticut ;  and  the  Grand  Lodge  and  Grand  Encampment  are 
subordinate  to  a  Sovereign  Grand  Lodge  of  the  order,  to  which  they 
each  send  representatives. 

This  county  has  furnished  to  the  Grand  Lodge  and  Grand  Encampment 
of  Connecticut  four  grand  masters  and  two  grand  patriarchs,  namely : 

James  B.  Oilman,  of  Hartford,  G.  M.  from  Julv,  1841,  to  July,  1842. 

Henry  L.  Miller,  of  Hartford,  G.  M.  from  July,  1845j;o  July,  1846. 

Freeman  M.  Brown,  of  Windsor  Locks,  G.  M.  from  February,  1853,  to  Feb.,  1854. 

Stephen  Terry,  of  Hartford,  G.  M.  from  May,  1872,  to  May,  1874. 

Calvin  L.  Hubbard,  of  Hartford,  G.  P.  from  February,  1852,  to  February,  1853. 

Oliver  Woodhouse,  of  Hartford,  G.  P.  from  October,  'l 88 2,  to  October,  1883. 

The  following  is  a  tabular  statement  of  the  names  and  numbers  of 
the  several  lodges,  etc.,  with  the  dates  of  their  institution,  dates  of 
their  ceasing  to  exist,  and  reinstitution  :  — 


ODD   FELLOWS.  —  OTHER  SECEET  SOCIETIES. 


199 


Name. 

No. 

Location. 

Instituted. 

Defunct 

Charter  Oak. 

2. 

Hartford. 

April  21,  1840. 

Expelled  1854 

Mercantile. 

8. 

Hartford. 

June  13,  1842. 

Expelled  1853. 

Farmers  and  Mechanics. 

22. 

Warehouse  Point 

.   June  12,  1845. 

1856. 

Acanthus. 

23. 

Granby. 

Aug.  20,  1845. 

About  1853. 

Oakland. 

25. 

Manchester. 

Oct.  9,  1845. 

1852. 

Tunxis. 

38. 

Tariffville. 

Jan.  21,  1847. 

1853. 

Pine  Meadow. 

39. 

Windsor  Locks. 

Feb.  1847. 

1855. 

Hyperion. 

40. 

Hartford. 

Feb.  3,  1847. 

1855. 

Thompsonville. 

45. 

Thompsonville. 

May  11,  1847. 

About  1860. 

Lafayette. 

47. 

Bloom  field. 

June  15,  1847. 

About  1852. 

Pequabock. 

48. 

Bristol. 

Aug.  3,  1847. 

About  1857. 

Phenix. 

52. 

New  Britain. 

Feb.  15,  1848. 

About  1859. 

Elm. 

53. 

East  Hartford. 

Feb.  28,  1848. 

1858. 

Protection. 

54. 

Broad  Brook. 

1848. 

1856. 

Unity. 

56. 

Farming-ton. 

Aug.  2,  1848. 

About  1853. 

Eclectic. 

64. 

Collinsville. 

Feb.  13,  1849. 

1855. 

Sequassen. 

74. 

Plainville. 

Aug.  14,  1851. 

About  1859. 

Eureka. 

75. 

Southington. 

May  16,  1851. 

About  1859. 

American. 

80. 

Hartford. 

June  12,  1855. 

About  1856. 

Hartford. 

82. 

Hartford. 

Feb.  1,  1867. 

Phenix  (reinstituted). 

52. 

New  Britain. 

Feb.  22,  1872. 

Charter  Oak  (reinstituted) 

.     2. 

Hartford. 

March  6,  1872. 

Connecticut. 

93. 

Hartford. 

April  27,  1874. 

Gerstaecker. 

96. 

New  Britain. 

June  3,  1875. 

Beethoven. 

98. 

Hartford. 

April  27,  1876. 

Eureka  (reinstituted). 

75. 

Plantsville. 

Jan.  1,  1878. 

Pequabock  (reinstituted). 

48. 

Bristol. 

Feb.  8,  1883. 

Daughter  of  Eebekah 

Lodges. 

Stella. 

11. 

New  Britain. 

Sept.  5,  1873. 

Union. 

17. 

Plantsville. 

Sept.  30,  1878. 

Miriam. 

18. 

Hartford. 

Encampments. 

Jan.  29,  1879. 

Miilian. 

7. 

Hartford. 

Dec.  24,  1844. 

Expelled  1848. 

Connecticut. 

11. 

Hartford. 

March  4,  1847. 

Nov.  3,  1853. 

Hinman. 

13. 

Warehouse  Point. 

Oct.  29,  1847. 

July,  1852. 

Montevideo.1 

15. 

Bristol. 

March  7,  1848. 

1856. 

Midian  (reinstituted). 

7. 

Hartford. 

Feb.  7,  1873. 

Comstock. 

29. 

New  Britain. 

May  26,  1876. 

Uniformed  Degree  Camps. 

Capitol  City. 

1. 

Hartford. 

Dec.  9,  1882. 

The  first  lodge  of  the  Knights  of  Pythias,  St.  Bernard,  No.  7,  was 
instituted  April  19,  1869.  Its  first  officers  were :  J.  K.  Wheeler,  past 
chancellor ;  L.  E.  Hunt,  chancellor  commander ;  A.  T.  Ashmead,  vice 

1  Removed  to  Plainville  in  1851. 


200  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

chancellor ;  S.  V.  Woodruff,  master  of  exchequer ;  J.  H.  Barnum,  mas- 
ter of  finance  ;  L.  A.  Dickinson,  keeper  of  records  and  seal ;  James 
Watson,  master  at  arms ;  William  Knox,  inside  guard ;  W.  H.  Higgs, 
outside  guard.  The  first  meetings  were  held  in  Stedman's  (now  Bliss's) 
Hall.  In  November,  1885,  the  name  of  the  lodge  was  changed  to  Cres- 
cent, No.  7.  The  membership  (January,  1886)  is  one  hundred  and 
twenty-four. 

Washington  Lodge,  an  offshoot  from  St.  Bernard,  was  instituted 
May  13,  1870.  Its  first  officers  were  :  Scott  J.  Priest,  p.  c.  ;  William 
E.  Cone,  c.  c.  ;  Horace  0.  Case,  v.  c. ;  H.  J.  Case,  m.  of  e. ;  H.  K. 
Barber,  m.  of  f. ;  A.  A.  Hunt,  k.  r.  s.  ;  J.  H.  Brewster,  m.  at  a. ;  E. 
C.  Clark,  i.  g.  ;  B.  N.  Jerome,  o.  g.  The  first  meetings  were  held  in 
Stedman  Hall,  but  since  1872  have  been  held  in  Pythian  Hall.  The 
present  membership  is  one  hundred  and  thirty-eight. 

Hermann  Lodge,  No.  16,  was  instituted  May  13,  1870.  Its  first 
officers  were  :  John  Poll,  M.D.,  p.  c. ;  Robert  H.  Smith,  c.  c. ;  William 
Westphal,  v.  c. ;  R.  Ballerstein,  k.  of  r.  and  s. ;  Charles  Hugendubel, 
m.  of  e. ;  J.  J.  Lehr,  m.  of  f. ;  Jacob  Lehr,  m.  of  a. ;  H.  Spiller,  i.  g. ; 
William  Maxwell,  o.  g.  The  meetings  have  always  been  held  in  Bliss's 
Hall.     The  present  membership  is  eighty-four. 

The  Knights  of  Pvthias  have  lodges  in  Bristol  (Ethan  Lodge,  No.  9), 
New  Britain  (St.  Elmo,  No.  21),  and  Collinsville  (Tioga,  No.  41).1 

Pioneer  Lodge,  No.  315,  Knights  of  Honor,  was  organized  June  28, 
1876,  with  the  following  officers:  J.  H.  Bingham, past  dictator  ;  James 
R.  Sloane,  dictator  ;  Joseph  E.  Marvel,  vice  dictator  ;  J.  A.  Steven,  as- 
sistant dictator  ;   L.  B.  Herrick,  chaplain  ;  Henry  T.  Russell,  guide ; 

A.  W.  North,  reporter  ;  B.  H.  Webb,  financial  reporter.  The  first 
meeting  was  held  in  the  office  of  Webb  Brothers,  Asylum  Street.  Since 
July  10  the  lodge  has  held  its  meetings  in  Odd  Fellows  Hall.  The 
number  of  members  has  grown  from  eight  to  one  hundred  and  sixty- 
nine  (January,  1886).  There  are  lodges  at  Manchester,  Thompson- 
ville,  and  New  Britain. 

Among  other  secret  organizations  are  :  Ararat  Lodge,  No.  13,  U.  O. 

B.  B.,  organized  in  1853  ;  Independent  Order  of  the  Free  Sons  of  Israel, 
Judith  Lodge,  No.  33,  organized  March  26, 1871 ;  Knights  of  St.  Patrick, 
organized  Feb.  8,  1874  ;  Germania  Lodge,  No.  338,  D.  O.  H.,  instituted 
April  4, 1874  ;  Kesher  Shel  Barzel,  Isaac  Leeser  Lodge,  No.  142,  organ- 
ized April  4,  1875  ;  Uhland  Lodge,  No.  2,  Connecticut  Order  Germania, 
organized  May  17, 1875  ;  Hartford  Lodge,  No.  19,  B.  P.  O.  E.,  organized 
Feb.  11,  1883;  Marshall  Jewell  Commandery  No.  250  (United  Order  of 
the  Golden  Cross),  organized  September,  1883  ;  Capitol  Lodge,  No.  131, 
Sons  of  St.  George,  instituted  Nov.  9, 1883 ;  Capitol  City  Council,  No. 
140,  Order  of  United  Friends,  instituted  May  19,  1884  ;  Alpha  Castle, 
No.  1,  Knights  of  the  Golden  Eagle,  instituted  July  15,  1885  ;  Trumbull 
Council,  No.  21,  N.  P.  U.,  instituted  May  7,  1885. 

1  The  titles  given  above  are  the  new  ones  adopted  in  1877. 


CHAPTEE  XL 

EMIGRATION. 

BY    THE    KEV.    INCREASE    N.    TAKBOX,    D.D. 

New  Towns  planted  from:  Harteord  County.  —  Hadley.  —  Vermont.  —  The 
Western  Reserve.  —  The  Genesee  Country. 

THE  beginnings  of  the  Connecticut  Colony  lie  so  far  back  in  the  past, 
and  the  great  dispersion  from  the  Atlantic  States  over  our  broad 
territories  has  been  so  long  going  on,  that  there  is  hardly  a  town 
of  any  considerable  size  along  our  northern  belt,  from  the  Hudson  River 
to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  in  which  persons  may  not  be  found  whose  ancestral 
roots  dip  back  into  Hartford  County,  Connecticut.  But  the  object  of  this 
chapter  is  more  especially  to  bring  into  view  those  movements  from  the 
county  which  have  been  in  clusters  of  families,  associated  bands,  little 
or  larger  colonies,  going  forth  to  plant  new  towns  or  new  districts  of 
country,  near  or  far  away. 

The  earliest  movement  of  this  kind  seems  to  have  been  made  by  Mr. 
Roger  Ludlow  in  1639,  when  he  led  out  a  little  company  of  eight  or  ten 
families  from  Windsor  to  plant  the  town  of  Fairfield  on  the  South  Shore. 
It  is  said  that  this  attractive  spot  was  first  brought  to  the  notice  of  the 
river  towns  in  the  pursuit  of  Sassacus  and  the  flying  Pequots,  after  the 
great  fight  in  1637.  The  town,  as  we  suppose,  took  its  name  from 
the  pleasant  impression  made  by  its  surface  and  soil  upon  the  eye  of 
the  beholder. 

The  town  of  Stamford  was  begun  in  like  manner,  in  1641,  by  a  com- 
pany which  started  out  from  Wethersfield.  The  territory  was  purchased 
for  them  by  Nathaniel  Turner,  agent  for  the  New  Haven  colony,  and 
the  purchasers  agreed  that  they  would  connect  themselves  with  the  New 
Haven  jurisdiction,  and  would  have  twenty  settlers  on  the  ground  before 
the  last  of  November,  1641.  Between  thirty  and  forty  families  were 
there  before  the  end  of  that  year  (1641). 

In  1644  another  colony  went  out  from  Wethersfield  to  plant  the  town 
of  Branford.  This  was  also  within  the  New  Haven  jurisdiction.  Mr. 
William  Swaine,  who  was  one  of  the  eight  commissioners  appointed  in 
the  Massachusetts  Bay  to  govern  the  Connecticut  plantations  for  one 
year,  purchased  this  territory  of  the  New  Haven  government.  Along 
with  this  little  company  moving  from  Wethersfield  to  Branford  was 
Mr.  John  Sherman,  one  of  the  ministers  coming  from  Watertown,  Mass., 
to  Wethersfield,  then  passing  from  Wethersfield  to  Branford,  and  a  few 
years  later  going  back  to  the  ministry  of  Watertown,  Mass.,  where  he 
remained  until  his  death,  in  1685.  He  was  an  eminent  scholar,  and 
took  some  part  in  the  instruction  of  Harvard  College. 


202  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF  HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

The  town  of  Farmington  was  incorporated  in  1645,  chiefly  by  men 
who  went  out  of  Hartford ;  but  as  Farmington  is  a  part  of  Hartford 
County,  upon  this  fact  we  shall  not  dwell. 

Hadley,  Mass.,  was  a  direct  outgrowth  from  Hartford,  aided  by 
Wethersneld.  It  started  with  a  strong  and  able  body  of  men.  They 
were  some  of  Hartford's  chief  citizens,  who  had  become  weary  with  the 
long  debate  and  strife  in  the  First  Church  under  Mr.  Stone's  ministry. 
Mr.  John  Webster,  who  had  been  Governor  of  the  Connecticut  Colony, 
and  Mr.  John  Russell,  minister  at  Wethersneld,  who  had  been  chosen  as 
the  spiritual  head  of  the  movement,  may  be  reckoned  as  the  chief  leaders. 
On  the  written  compact  into  which  they  entered,  April  18,  1659,  the 
names  of  Mr.  Webster  and  (Elder)  William  Goodwin  stand  first,  and  are 
followed  by  about  thirty  more  from  Hartford,  and  by  Mr.  Russell's  and 
about  twenty  others  from  Wethersneld.  The  territory  on  which  they 
planted  themselves  under  the  general  name  of  Hadley  includes  the 
present  towns  of  Hadley,  Amherst,  Granby,  Hatfield,  and  South  Hadley. 
In  this  settlement,  and  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Russell  especially,  the  regicide 
judges  were  concealed  when  they  could  no  longer  be  safely  kept  within 
the  New  Haven  plantations. 

In  1673  a  committee  of  five  chosen  in  the  town  of  Farmington  were 
sent  to  view  the  territory  where  Waterbury  now  stands.  They  came 
back  and  reported  favorably.  (This  place  was  the  ancient  Indian  Mat- 
tatuck.)  Thereupon  a  regular  constitution,  consisting  of  eight  articles, 
was  drawn  up  to  regulate  and  bind  the  associates,  and  it  was  signed  by 
twenty-eight  men.  The  territory  which  they  bought  of  the  Indians  in- 
cludes the  present  Waterbury,  Watertown,  Plymouth,  and  Thomaston, 
and  parts  of  Middlebury,  Wolcott,  Oxford,  Prospect,  and  Naugatuck. 
The  purchasers  of  this  land  first  broke  the  soil  in  1677,  but  it  was  not 
until  1686  that  Waterbury  was  regularly  incorporated  as  a  town. 

The  towns  along  the  eastern  boundary  of  Connecticut  were  chiefly 
settled  by  little  colonies  from  Massachusetts ;  but  the  towns  lying  mid- 
way between  the  Connecticut  River  and  the  eastern  boundary  were,  as 
a  rule,  settled  by  men  who  went  out  from  the  valley.  So  the  town  of 
Hebron  was  started  in  1704,  and  incorporated  in  1707,  by  a  company,  of 
whom  the  leading  men  and  the  greater  number  of  the  whole  were  from 
Windsor.  The  town  of  Tolland  was  purchased  of  the  Indians  by  two 
gentlemen  from  Windsor,  and  the  early  settlers  came  mainly  from  the 
Windsor  plantation.  It  was  incorporated  as  a  town  in  1715.  Hadclam 
was  settled  by  twenty-eight  young  men  from  Windsor,  Hartford,  and 
Wethersneld. *  The  planters  of  the  town  of  Coventry  (1709)  were  chiefly 
from  Northampton  and  Hartford.  Bolton,  which  began  to  be  settled  in 
1716,  received  its  early  inhabitants  from  the  three  original  river  towns, 
Windsor,  Hartford,  and  Wethersneld. 

If  we  turn  now  to  the  old  Connecticut  towns  between  the  river  and 
the  New  York  line,  Ave  shall  find  that  they  were  chiefly  planted  by  the 
people  of  the  valley.  In  1718  the  territory  of  Litchfield  was  purchased 
by  a  company  of  men  from  Hartford,  Windsor,  and  Lebanon,  and  in 
1724  the  town  was  incorporated. 

On  the  division  of  the  "  Western  Lands,"  in  1726,  the  township  of 
Litchfield  and  seven  other  townships  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  territory 
which  now  constitutes  Litchfield  County  were  conceded  to  the  towns 
of   Hartford  and  Windsor;   and  by  mutual  agreement,  in  1732,  the 


EMIGRATION. 


203 


inhabitants  of  Hartford  became  sole  owners  of  Hartland,  Winchester, 
New  Hartford,  and  half  of  Harwinton,  and  the  inhabitants  of  Windsor 
had  Colebrook,  Barkhamsted,  Torrington,  and  the  west  half  of  Har- 
winton. Each  tax-payer  in  Hartford  and  Windsor  became  the  propri- 
etor of  a  share  in  one  or  another  of  the  seven  new  townships. 

The  Windsor  proprietors  of  the  town  of  Torrington,  one  hundred 
and  six  in  number,  held  their  first  business  meeting  in  Windsor,  Sept. 
10,  1733.  The  early  settlers  came  chiefly  from  Windsor  and  Durham, 
and  the  town  was  incorporated  in  1741 ;  and  in  that  same  year  their 
first  minister,  the  Rev.  Nathaniel  Roberts,  was  ordained. 

Winchester  was  first  surveyed  and  laid  out  in  1758,  and  the  owners 
of  the  wild  territory  belonged  in  Hartford,  whence  many  of  the  early 
settlers  came.  It  was  incorporated  in  1771.  New  Hartford  was  settled 
about  1733,  and,  as  its  name  would  signify,  its  early  inhabitants  were 
from  Hartford. 

The  first  settlement  of  Norfolk,  which  began  in  1744,  was  by  men 
from  Windsor  and  Hartford. 


We  have  thus  far  been  occupied  with  early  and  short  emigrations, 
chiefly  within  the  boundaries  of  the  State.  It  was  not  until  near  the 
close  of  the  last  century  and  the  early  years  of  the  present,  that  the 
great  tide  of  emigration  set  in,  which  carried  immense  numbers  of 
the  men  and  women  of  Connecticut  to  distant  fields  and  new  associa- 
tions. In  this  larger  movement  it  would  be  impossible  to  keep  Hart- 
ford County  distinct  from  the  rest  of  the  State.  In  the  formation  of 
colonies  for  the  settlement  of  Vermont,  though  the  western  and  middle 
portions  of  Connecticut  were  perhaps  more  busy  than  the  eastern  parts, 
yet  the  following  names  of  towns  in  Vermont,  given  (certainly  for  the 
most  part)  from  Connecticut,  will,  of  themselves,  tell  the  story,  as  in  a 
glass,  of  her  activity  in  planting  and  peopling  Vermont :  — 


Bethel, 

East  Haven, 

Mansfield, 

Vernon, 

Bolton, 

Fairfield, 

Middletown, 

Wallingford, 

Bristol, 

Fair  Haven, 

New  Haven, 

Warren, 

Brooktield, 

Franklin, 

Norwich, 

Washington. 

Burlington, 

Glastenbury, 

Plainfield, 

Waterbury. 

Canaan, 

Granby, 

Pomfret, 

Weston, 

Colchester, 

Guilford, 

Salem, 

Wethersfield, 

Cornwall, 

Hartford, 

Sharon, 

Windham, 

Coventry, 

Hartland, 

Salisbury, 

Windsor, 

Derby, 

Huntington, 

Stamford, 

Woodstock. 

These  are  not  all  of  the  Vermont  towns  which  repeat  the  Connecticut 
names,  but  they  are  enough  to  show  that  Connecticut  had  a  large 
agency  in  her  beginnings. 

It  is  positively  stated  of  some  of  the  above-named  towns,  that  their 
first  town-meetings  were  held  in  Connecticut,  as  the  first  town-meeting 
of  Torrington  was  held  in  Windsor.  The  proprietors  were  here,  and 
were  organized  and  prepared  to  move,  but  they  must  transact  their  first 
business  where  they  then  happened  to  be.  In  all  this  early  settlement 
of  Vermont  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  Hartford  County  contributed,  by 
reason  of  her  greater  age,  wealth,  and  population,  more  than  any  other 
county  in  the  State.      Covering  the  same  early  period,  but  extending 


204  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

down  further  into  the  present  century,  Connecticut  was  an  immense 
contributor  for  the  settlement  of  the  eastern,  middle,  and  western  por- 
tions of  New  York.  It  is  related  of  a  quiet  old  Dutchman,  who  sat 
by  his  door  in  the  vicinity  of  Albany,  smoked  his  pipe  and  saw  the  emi- 
grant wagons  go  by,  day  after  day  and  month  after  month,  that  he  ac- 
costed one  of  the  drivers,  inquiring  who  was  governor  in  the  country 
where  he  came  from.  When  told  the  name  of  the  Connecticut  governor 
for  that  year,  he  finished  the  conversation  with  the  philosophical  remark 
that  he  must  be  a  great  fool  to  stay  there  when  all  his  people  were  going 
away  and  leaving  him. 

Dr.  Bushnell,  many  years  ago,  stated  that  the  Convention  of  New 
York,  meeting  in  1821,  which  formed  the  present  State  Constitution, 
was  composed  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-seven  members,  and  that  a 
majority  of  those  members,  chosen  freely  and  naturally  out  of  all  the 
tribes,  were  either  native-born  sons  of  Connecticut,  or  were  sons  of 
Connecticut-born  fathers.  Any  fact  like  this  serves  to  show  how  Con- 
necticut has  been  for  a  century  a  hive  overstocked  and  swarming  for 
emigration.  So  late  as  fifty  years  ago  the  little  State  had  no  city  of 
more  than  ten  or  twelve  thousand  inhabitants.  The  great  body  of  her 
people  were  in  the  country  towns,  with  their  fortunes  linked  to  the 
soil,  and  they  were  ready  to  give  inquiring  entertainment  to  every  call 
inviting  them  forth  "  to  fresh  fields  and  pastures  new." 

But  perhaps  the  most  notable  enterprise  of  Connecticut  coloniza- 
tion in  which  Hartford  County  had  a  prominent  part  was  the  settle- 
ment of  the  Western  Reserve,  Ohio,  long  known  as  the  Connecticut 
Reserve,  or,  what  was  a  still  more  familiar  name,  New  Connecticut. 
This  tract  of  territory  embraced  the  eight  northeastern  counties  of  Ohio, 
as  the  boundaries  then  stood.  But  three  of  those  counties  have  since 
been  divided,  so  that  now  there  are  eleven  included  in  the  original  tract. 
There  is  an  impression  on  some  minds  that  this  Western  Reserve  was 
given  to  Connecticut  as  a  compensation  for  her  extra  services  and  ex- 
penses in  the  Revolutionary  struggle.  Connecticut  did  perform  extra 
service  and  bear  more  than  her  average  proportion  of  expense  during 
that  long  war,  but  the  Ohio  lands  were  given  for  a  very  different  reason. 

When  the  charters  were  made  out  in  England,  during  the  seven- 
teenth century,  to  the  various  colonics,  for  the  settlement  of  this  coun- 
try, they  were  given  with  no  clear  conception  how  much  territory  the 
boundaries  would  include,  or  where  the  lines  wrould  run.  The  charter 
of  Connecticut,  like  others,  covered  all  territory  westward  "  to  the  South 
Sea."  But  the  South  Sea  was  an  unknown  quantity.  The  charters 
therefore  interfered  one  with  another,  and,  after  we  became  a  nation, 
the  whole  interest  had  to  be  settled  by  the  general  government  in  a 
kind  of  compromise.  Connecticut  received,  just  at  the  close  of  the  last 
century,  as  her  reward  for  not  holding  to  the  letter  of  her  charter,  the 
eight  northeastern  counties  of  Ohio. 

When  this  gift  came  to  the  State  a  company  was  formed,  embracing 
a  large  number  of  its  wealthy  men,  who  bought  this  whole  territory, 
paying  for  it  what  was  then  deemed  a  reasonable  price.  The  State  had 
decided  that  all  the  moneys  arising  from  the  sale  of  those  lands  should 
be  placed  in  a  school  fund  for  the  education  of  the  children  through 
all  the  years  to  come.  Those  moneys,  with  subsequent  additions,  now 
amount  to  more  than  $2,000,000. 


EMIGRATION.  205 

Dr.  Henry  Barnard,  in  1853,  prepared  a  very  able  chapter,  of  110 
pages,  which  makes  a  portion  of  the  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  the 
School  Fund  to  the  State  Legislature  of  Connecticut  for  that  year.  His 
chapter  is  entitled  "  History  of  the  School  Fund,"  and  the  whole  sub- 
ject is  carefully  traced  from  the  beginning  to  the  end.  The  following 
is  the  offer  which  the  State  concluded  to  accept,  and  so  this  whole 
territory  was  passed  over  to  this  company  of  men. 

Hartford,  12th  of  August,  1795. 
We  the  Subscribers,  for  ourselves  and  our  associates,  will  give  for  the  West- 
ern Reserve,  so  called,  the  sum  of  twelve  hundred  thousand  dollars,  payable  in 
five  years,  with  interest  annually,  after  the  expiration  of  two  years  from  the 
signing  the  deed,  and  give  security  agreeably  to  the  act  of  the  Legislature. 
Oliver  Phelps.  Samuel  Mather,  Jr.     Moses  Cleaveland. 

William  Hart.  Elisha  Hyde.  Gideon  Granger,  Jr. 

Ebenezer  Huntington.         Matthew  Nicoll. 

These  eight  men  represented  an  associated  company,  known,  in 
common  speech,  as  the  Connecticut  Land  Company,  consisting  of 
forty-eight  wealthy  and  prominent  men,  in  different  parts  of  the 
State,  who  paid  in  their  several  sums  of  money,  larger  or  smaller,  and 
so  became  the  owners  of  the  territory.  The  largest  subscriber,  and  the 
chief  manager  of  this  great  interest,  was  Oliver  Phelps,  the  first  signer 
of  the  above  offer,  a  native  of  Windsor,  but  resident  in  Suffield.  He 
took  of  this  stock,  in  his  own  name,  $168,185,  and  he  and  Gideon 
Granger,  Jr.,  of  Suffield,  in  company,  took  $60,000  more.  The  smallest 
sum  paid  in  by  any  one  subscriber  was  less  than  $2,000.  Several  of 
these  men  gave  names  to  towns  on  the  Reserve,  as  Cleveland  from 
Moses  Cleaveland,  etc. 

As  soon  as  this  syndicate  came  into  the  possession  of  this  vast  ter- 
ritory, offices  were  at  once  opened  for  the  sale  of  these  lands  to  emi- 
grants. For  years  this  work  went  on,  and  for  years  the  long  procession 
of  emigrant  wagons  were  making  their  weary  journey  from  Connecticut 
to  Ohio.  These  moving  crowds  were  followed  by  the  Connecticut  Mis- 
sionary Society,  with  religious  teachers  and  preachers,  who  might  form 
churches  and  schools,  and  fix  the  population  on  the  old-fashioned  New 
England  foundations.  Of  course  the  emigration  to  the  Reserve  was  not 
wholly  from  Connecticut.  The  emigrants  came  from  many  quarters ; 
but  the  dominant  stream  flowed  from  this  State,  and  the  older  generation 
used  to  like  the  name  New  Connecticut  better  than  any  other.  The 
years  have  passed  on.  This  Connecticut  Reserve,  then  so  far  off,  is  now 
only  a  gateway  opening  into  the  "  Great  West."  It  is  much  nearer  to 
New  England  than  it  is  to  Kansas,  Nebraska,  Colorado,  and  is  only  the 
beginning^  of  the  journey  from  New  England  to  the  Pacific  Coast. 

But  with  all  this  far-spreading  territory,  and  with  new  forms  and 
movements  of  emigration,  the  story  how  Connecticut,  in  the  early  years 
of  the  present  century,  transplanted  so  many  of  her  children  to  the  far- 
off  fields  of  Ohio,  will  continue  to  be  read  through  years  to  come  with 
living  interest. 

An  earlier  enterprise  in  its  beginnings,  though  not  perhaps  in  its 
full  development,  and  of  almost  equal  magnitude,  in  which  Mr.  Oliver 
Phelps  was  the  prime  mover  and  chief  actor,  was  the  settlement  of  the 
Genesee  Country  in  the  State  of  New  York.     Just  as  Connecticut  had 


206  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

received  the  Connecticut  Reserve  in  Ohio  as  compensation  for  giving 
up  some  of  the  items  and  provisions  of  her  charter,  so  Massachusetts, 
for  the  same  reason,  had  received  a  large  tract  of  country  in  Western 
New  York.  Mr.  Phelps,  associating  himself  with  Nathaniel  Gorham, 
Esq.,  of  Charlestown,  Mass.,  made  a  purchase  of  a  tract  of  country,  now 
embracing  the  whole  of  Monroe,  Ontario,  Livingston,  Yates,  and  Steuben 
Counties,  the  larger  part  of  Wayne  and  Alleghany,  and  smaller  portions 
of  Orleans,  Genesee,  and  Wyoming  Counties,  the  whole  passing  then 
under  the  general  name  of  the  Genesee  Country.  Mr.  Phelps,  as  we 
have  already  said,  was  a  native  of  Windsor,  son  of  Charles  Phelps,  born 
Aug.  11,  1758.  He  remained  in  Windsor  until  early  manhood,  when 
he  settled  in  Suffield.  But  after  he  became  interested  in  these  great 
laud  enterprises,  he  had  a  New  York  home  at  Canandaigua,  and  went 
back  and  forth  between  these  homes  as  occasions  called.  His  chief 
partner,  Mr.  Nathaniel  Gorham,  kept  his  residence  at  Charlestown,  and 
never  visited  the  lands  which  he  had  helped  to  buy.  His  son,  however, 
Nathaniel  Gorham,  Jr.,  removed  to  Canandaigua,  and  became  an  active 
worker  in  the  enterprise.  The  territory  they  had  bought  was  computed 
to  contain  2,200,000  acres,  which  they  had  purchased  partly  from  Mas- 
sachusetts and  partly  from  the  Indian  tribes.  The  amount  of  land  was 
less,  by  more  than  a  million  of  acres,  than  the  Ohio  purchase,  which 
was  reckoned  at  8,300,000  acres. 

When  Messrs.  Phelps  and  Gorham  had  completed  their  purchase, 
they  opened  their  offices  for  the  sale  of  those  lands,  and  were  glad 
of  responsible  customers,  from  whatever  part  of  the  land  or  the  world 
they  might  come.  It  is  stated  that  their  first  sale  was  made  to  a  com- 
pany of  twelve  men  in  Berkshire  County,  Mass.  Of  course,  in  the 
whole  settlement  of  these  lands,  Connecticut  had  but  a  very  small  part, 
and  Hartford  County  only  a  small  part  of  that.  But  it  is  nevertheless 
true  that,  considering  the  size  and  population  of  the  State,  Connecticut 
bore  the  larger  part  both  in  the  number  and  quality  of  her  emigrants. 

Phineas  Bates,  from  Durham,  was  one  of  the  earliest  to  report  him- 
self in  the  country  in  1789.  In  1790  he  returned,  and  removed  his 
family,  attended  by  other  settlers.  Dr.  William  A.  Williams,  a  native 
of  Wallingford,  and  a  graduate  of  Yale,  was  at  Canandaigua  in  1793. 

There  are  many  yet  living  who  will  remember  the  stir  among  the 
families  of  Connecticut  in  all  the  early  years  of  the  present  century, 
preparing  to  leave  for  this  wild  territory,  or  parting  with  friends  who 
were  setting  off  upon  the  weary  journey.  This  stream  of  emigration 
into  New  York,  as  well  as  into  Ohio,  continued  in  force  from  the  closing 
years  of  the  last  century  down  to  the  years  1825  or  1830,  and  in  less 
degrees,  still  later ;  and  the  men  and  women  over  all  our  spreading, 
busy  Western  fields,  who  look  to  Connecticut  as  the  little  State  where 
their  fathers  and  mothers  were  born,  or  (if  they  are  young)  their 
grandfathers  and  grandmothers,  would  number  up  a  mighty  host,  and 
embrace  a  large  measure  of  the  intelligence  and  enterprise  of  that  new 
and  rapidly  growing  world. 


&Ui 


CHAPTER    XII. 

THE  GROWTH  OF  THE  COUNTY. 

BY    CHARLES    HOPKINS    CLARK. 

The   Progress   of  Population.  —  Development  of   Trade,   Manufactures,    and 
Agriculture.  —  Public  Improvements  and  Wealth. 

THE  earliest  census  records  are  those  of  1756,  1774,  and  1782.  At 
the  last  of  those  dates  Hartford  County  comprised  twenty-one 
towns ;  but  eleven  of  these,  with  23,819  population,  were  set  off  in 
1785,  when  Middlesex  and  Tolland  counties  were  established.  Hence 
comparisons  previous  to  1790,  when  the  decennial  census  began,  are 
scarcely  significant,  since  the  size  of  the  county  was  so  radically  altered 
between  1782  and  1790.  In  1756  the  most  populous  town  in  the 
county  was  Middletown.  Windsor  was  second,  Farmington  third,  and 
Hartford  fourth.  In  1774,  and  also  in  1782,  Farmington  was  first  and 
Hartford  second.  Middletown  became  third,  and  then  fourth,  and  Sims- 
bury  took  the  fourth  place,  and  then  the  third.  Since  1790  Hartford  has 
stood  first.  The  fourteen  towns  of  1790  have  now  become  twenty-eight  by 
subdivision  of  territory,  and  twenty-nine  by  the  annexation  of  Hartlancl. 
The  average  population  of  the  towns  in  1790  was  2,724;  in  1880  it  was 
4,323.  This,  however,  includes  those  whose  growth  has  been  excep- 
tionally large.  Leave  out  from  the  calculation  the  largest  three  towns 
of  1790  and  also  of  1880,  and  the  average  population  in  1790  is  found 
to  be  2,656  against  2,388  in  1880.  In  1790  the  largest  three  towns  had 
10,912  out  of  38,129  of  population  in  the  county,  —  somewhat  more 
than  one  quarter.  In  1880  the  largest  three  towns  had  63,285  out  of 
125,382,  or  more  than  one  half.  Six  towns  in  1880  were  each  larger 
in  population  than  the  largest  in  1790.  Hartford  alone,  in  1880,  was 
larger  than  Hartford  County  in  1790  or  1800,  while  the  population  in 
1880  of  Hartford  and  the  towns  created  from  Hartford  almost  equalled 
the  whole  population  of  the  county  up  to  1840.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that, 
leaving  out  Hartford  and  New  Britain  in  1880,  and  Hartford  in  1790 
(there  was  no  New  Britain  then),  the  average  population  of  the  towns 
of  Hartford  County  is  practically  the  same  at  those  dates.  This  may 
perhaps  be  taken  to  indicate  a  tendency  among  people  to  organize  a 
town  when  population  reaches  a  certain  point  in  size.  The  changes  of 
population  are  in  large  part  due  to  the  gathering  of  people  about  manu- 
facturing centres,  and  are  attributable  to  the  use  of  the  steam-engine, 
the  introduction  of  railroads,  and  the  invention  of  other  machinery. 
Yet  some  marked  changes  of  relative  position  among  the  towns  —  as  for 
instance  the  decline  of  Farmington  from  first  to  twelfth  —  are  to  be 
explained  partly  by  the  cutting  off  of  territory  for  the  creation  of  new 
towns.  The  following  carefully  verified  table  will  show  the  population 
of  each  town  in  the  county  at  each  census,  and  its  relative  position  in 
point  of  numbers  :  — 


208 


MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF 

The  small  figures  indicate  the  relative  size  o 


HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

each  town  according  to  population. 


No.  of  towns  in  1 
the  county..  J 

18 

20 

21 

14 

15 

18 

is 

20 

21 

24 

27 

2S 

29 

1756. 

1774. 

1782. 

1790. 

1800. 

1810. 

1S20. 

1S30. 

1S40. 

1850. 

1860. 

1S70. 

1S80. 

Towns. 

x 

t 

Hartford 

3,027 

5,031 

5,495 

4,090 

5,347 

6,003 

6,901 

9,7S9 

12,793 

17,966 

29,152 

37,743 

42,551 

Avon 

1,025 

1,001 

22 
995 

1,Q059 

24 
987 

25 
1,057 

Berlin 

2,465 

2,702 

6 

2,798 

2,877 

3,037 

3,411 

1,869 

16 
2,146 

2I,5436 

2,385 

BloomfieM 

986 

'9 

1,412 

1,401 

12,473 

21 
1,346 

Bristol 

2,462 

2,723 

IS 

1,428 

1,362 

14 
1,707 

2*109 

2,884 

3,436 

6 

3,788 

6 

5,347 

Burlington 

1,467 

1,360 

1,301 

17 
1,201 

1,2161 

24 
1,031 

23 
1,319 

L224 

Canton 

16 
1,374 

16 
1,322 

16 
1,437 

1/736 

16 
1,986 

14 
2,373 

#39 

2,301 

East  Granby... 

■26 

833 

26 
853 

2'754 

East  Hartford. 

3,016 

3,057 

3,240 

3,373 

2,237 

2,389 

14 
2,497 

10 
2,951 

3,9007 

3,500 

East  Windsor.. 

2,999 

3,237 

2,600 

2,766 

3,081 

3,400 

3,536 

3,600 

2,633 

2,580 

2^882 

3,019 

Enfield 

13 

1,050 

3,707 

1,360 

6,069 

16 
1,562 

5,542 

14 
1,800 

2,696 

14 
1,761 

2,809 

1,8,46 

8 

2,748 

2,065 

2,129 
1,901 

2,648 

4,460 

10 
2,630 

4,997 
3,144 

fi> 

3 
6  755 

Farmington.... 

3,042 

2,041 

2T,610 

3/117 

Glastonbury  ... 

l'll5 

2,071 

2,346 

2,732 

10 
2,718 

2,766 

3,114 

2,980 

3,077 

3,390 

3,363 

3,7560 

3?580 

Granby 

2,595 

2,735 

2,696 

3,012 

2,733 

8 

2,611 

2,198 

18 
1,720 

20 
1,517 

1,340 

Hartland 

1,318 

1,284 

1,254 

18 
1,221 

1,060 

23 
848 

25 
846 

2789 

28 
643 

Manchester 

1,576 

16 
1,695 

11 

2,546 

3,294 

4,S223 

6,4462 

Marlborough . . . 

18 
720 

18 
839 

20 
704 

713 

2832 

682 

28 
476 

29 
391 

New  Britain  ... 



3,029 

5,212 

9,480 

13,979 

Newington 

26 
934 

Plain  ville 

122433 

1,930 

Rocky  Hill 

1,2042 

1,2102 

25 
971 

ClOS 

Simsbury 

2,24.3 

3,700 

4,664 

2,576 

2,956 

1,966 

1,954 

2,221 

1*895 

2,737 

2*410 

2r,7051 

19 
1,830 

Southington. ... 

1,'886 

2,110 

1,804 

13 
1,807 

1,Z875 

13 
1,844 

1,J887 

2,L35 

3,315 

4,314 

5,5411 

South  Windsor 

18 
1,638 

1,789 

18 
1,688 

1,902 

Suffield 

1  438 

2  017 

2  686 

2,680 

9  681 

8 

6 

0  069 

6 

3,260 
1,296 

8 

3  977 

3,9225 

20 
1,828 

West  Hartford 

19 
1,533 

Wethersfield . . . 

2,483 

3,489 

3,733 

3,806 

3,992 

3,961 

3,825 

3,853 

3,824 

2,523 

2,705 

2,693 

16 
2,173 

4,220 

2,125 

2,382 

2,714 

6 

2,773 

2,168 

3,008 

3,220 

2,283 

3,294 

2,278 

2,783 

37058 

Windsor  Looks 

10 
1,587 

16 
2.151 

2I4332 

Total  of  towns") 
now  in  count;  ( 

10.2s;. 

28,861 

33,148 

38,129 

42,147 

44,733 

47,264 

51,141 

55.629 

69.967 

.v.».:m;2 

109,007 

125,382 

All  Connecticut- ...  [30,612 

198,010  218,850 

238, 1 1 5 

250,902 

261,042 

275,248 

297.711 

310,015  370,792 

460,147 

537>454 

622,700 

THE   GROWTH   OF   THE   COUNTY 


209 


No.  of  towns  in  the  ) 
county J 

IS 
1756. 

20 
1774. 

1782. 

Towns. 

766 

6 

2,312 

8 

1,978 
1,241 

9 

l,85o 
5,664 

16 

900 

14 

1,000 
917 

iS 

650 

1,001 
2,397 

6 

3,258 

8 

2,808 

14 
1,726 

2,337 

4,87S 

1,027 

1,334 

17 
1,262 

1,001 

1,081 

8 

2,873 
3,365 
2,  /  2o 
1,950 
2,205 
4,612 
1,058 

1,534 

18 
1,361 

1,055 

Chatham 

Colchester 

East  Haddam 

Stafford 

Tolland 

Total  of  towns  not  1 
now  in  county....  1 

Total  of  towns  now  ) 
in   county. I 

17,283 
19,285 

23,029 

28,861 

23,819 
33,148 

Total   population 

36,568 

51,890 

56,967 

All  Connecticut 

130,612 

198,010 

2iS,35o 

From  1790  to  1840  the  population 
of  the  comity  increased  exactly  17,500, 
or  350  a  year ;  practically  one  a  day. 
After  that  date  a  great  change  set  in. 
Between  1840  and  1850  the  increase 
was  over  14,300,  and  in  the  next  dec- 
ade over  20,000.  The  whole  State 
experienced  a  similar  growth.  Its  in- 
crease between  1830  and  1840 2  was 
4.1  per  cent ;  while  in  the  next  decade 
it  was  19.6.  But  Hartford  County  grew 
faster  than  the  whole  State,  as  will  ap- 
pear by  a  comparison  of  the  percent- 
ages for  the  decades  closing  with  each 
date  given :  — 


Decade  ending 1S40    1850     1S60    1870      1SS0 

State,  per  cent  of  increase     4.1     19.6    24      16.8    15.8 

28.5  21        15 


Hartford  County, 

per  cent  of  increase    8. 8    25 


Since  1790  Hartford  County  has  in- 
creased 228  per  cent,  and  the  whole 
State  about  162  per  cent.  In  compari- 
son with  the  other  counties,  Hartford, 
for  a  period  of  fifty  years  from  1800, 
stood  first  in  the  State  in  respect  of 
population  ;  but  various  causes,  espe- 
cially the  great  development  of  manu- 
factures, have  set  New  Haven  before  it  in  the  last  three  censuses.  The 
following  is  a  table  showing  the  position  of  each  county  since  1790, 
Windham,  Middlesex,  and  Tolland  holding  throughout  the  6th,  7th,  and 
8th  places,  respectively  :  — 


1790. 

1800. 

1810. 

1820. 

1S30. 

1840. 

1850. 

I860.         1S70. 

1SS0. 

Hartford 

New  Haven.. 

Fairfield 

Litchfield 

New  London 
Windham .... 
Middlesex.... 
Tolland 

•2 
5 

i 

4 

6 

7 

1 

5 

2 
4 
6 

8 

1 
4 
3 
•2 
5 
6 
7 
S 

1 

4 
2 
3 
5 
6 
7 
8 

1 

3 

2 
4 
5 

6 

7 
8 

1 

3 
2 

5 
4 
6 

7 
8 

1 

3 

4 

6 

7 
S 

2 
1 
3 
5 
4 
6 
7 
8 

2 
1 
3 
5 
4 
6 
7 
8 

1 
3 

4 
6 

7 
8 

To  review  in  detail  the  development  of  the  material  interests  of  the 
county  would  involve  a  considerable  repetition  from  the  town  histories, 
but  the  outlines  may  be  briefly  sketched.  The  first  articles  exported 
from  the  colony  were  probably  the  skins  of  fur-bearing  animals  obtained 
by  trading  with  the  Indians ;  but  as  early  as  1643  tar  and  turpentine 
were  produced  in  sufficient  quantity  to  be  exported  from  Simsbury  and 

1  To  illustrate  the  slow  growth  of  those  days,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  in  1840  only 
twenty-two  "brick  and  stone  houses"  were  built  in  Hartford  County,  — nineteen  in  Hartford, 
and  one  each  in  East  Windsor,  Wethersfield,  and  Windsor.  In  the  same  year  only  seventy- 
seven  wooden  houses  were  built  in  the  county. 

VOL.   I.  — 14. 


210  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY 

Windsor.  Twenty  years  later  Michael  Griffin  received  a  special  grant 
of  land  in  consideration  of  having  so  developed  the  art  of  making  these 
articles.  Mills  for  sawing  logs  and  grinding  grain  were  set  np  beside 
convenient  streams  in  every  settlement,  and  the  water-power  was  early 
called  into  service.  There  are  some  mill-privileges  in  active  use  now 
that  have  been  constantly  employed  for  more  than  two  hundred  years. 
Agriculture  soon  developed  into  something  more  than  mere  growth  for 
home  consumption,  and  hops,  grain,  onions,  and  tobacco  were  among 
the  exports  of  the  early  days  of  the  eighteenth  century.  There  is  a 
record  of  the  exporting  of  tobacco  from  Simsbury  in  1750  ;  and  during 
the  height  of  the  trade  between  Connecticut  and  the  West  Indies  live- 
stock and  other  products  were  shipped  away  in  large  quantities. 

Pipe-staves,  heads,  and  hoops  (for  exportation  to  the  West  Indies,  to 
make  hogsheads  for  sugar,  rum,  and  molasses)  were  among  the  earliest 
articles  sent  away  from  this  county.  In  1641  the  General  Court  "  graunts 
Sam.  Smith,  and  the  rest  of  the  owners  of  the  shipp  at  Wethersfield, 
libberty  to  get  and  make  so  many  pipestaues  as  will  freight  out  the  said 
shipp  the  first  voyage."  Masts  were  exported  for  ships,  to  be  built  in 
England.  Flax,  flaxseed,  and  hemp  were  generally  produced  ;  and  flax- 
seed and  linseed  oil  were  largely  exported.  Beef,  pork,  and  swine  were 
sent  to  the  West  Indies.  Bricks  were  sent  thither  and  to  South  America 
in  the  last  half  of  the  last  century.  Timber  and  lumber  were  so  gener- 
ally exported  that  as  early  as  1687  the  General  Assembly  prohibited 
the  transportation  of  these  articles  from  the  colony  without  the  license 
of  the  town  whence  they  were  taken. 

As  early  as  1710  there  were  iron-works  near  the  line  of  Suffield  and 
Windsor,  making  iron  from  bog-ore ;  and  about  that  period  the  copper- 
mining  excitement  in  Simsbury  was  at  its  height.  In  1728,  in  that 
town,  Samuel  Higley  set  up,  under  protection  of  the  Government,  the 
manufacture  of  steel  by  the  "  transmutation "  of  iron.  In  1722  a 
slitting-mill  was  set  up  by  Ebenezer  Fitch  on  Stony  Brook,  in  Sufneld  ; 
and  in  1747,  at  East  Hartford,  Colonel  Joseph  Pitkin  carried  on  a  mill 
for  iron-slitting  under  an  exclusive  permission  granted  to  him.  It  was 
about  this  time  that  the  manufacture  of  tin-ware  was  begun  in  Berlin, 
and  the  foundations  of  the  trade  of  the  tin-pedler  were  laid.  The  inven- 
tion of  cheap  and  simple  clocks  about  the  beginning  of  the  present  cen- 
tury furnished  added  inducement  to  the  pedler,  and  with  tin  goods  and 
clocks  an  enormous  business  was  built  up  by  people  who  travelled  all 
over  the  country,  and,  sharpening  their  Yankee  wits  by  wide  experience 
in  "bargaining,  came  home  to  make  large  fortunes  in  business.  The 
inventive  skill  and  the  mechanical  gifts  of  the  people  led  them  into 
the  manufacture ;  and  the  search  for  a  market  for  the  goods  thus  pro- 
duced had  a  much  greater  share  in  developing  the  Connecticut  business 
sagacity  than  has  been  accredited  to  it. 

Gunpowder  was  made  in  East  Hartford  before  the  Revolution,  and 
of  course  also  during  and  after  that  war.  It  was  made,  too,  in  Canton 
and  in  Enfield  ;  and  its  manufacture  is  still  extensively  carried  on  in 
the  last-named  town,  at  Hazardville.  The  manufacture  of  glass,  at- 
tempted very  early  in  some  of  the  other  colonies,  was  undertaken  in 
Manchester  in  1783  by  persons  who  were  granted  the  sole  privilege  of 
making  it  in  the  State ;  their  work  is  marked  only  by  the  picturesque 
ruins  of  the  factory.     Paper-making  was  undertaken  in  East  Hartford 


THE   GROWTH   OF   THE   COUNTY. 


211 


Distilleries  in  Hartford  County. 


in  1775.  This  was  the  second  paper-mill  in  Connecticut.  The  indus- 
try has  become  a  very  important  one  in  the  county,  and  there  are  now 
large  mills  in  East  Hartford,  Manchester,  Unionville,  Windsor  Locks, 
and  other  places.  The  first  cotton-mill  in  this  county  was  set  up  in 
East  Hartford,  now  Manchester,  in  1796.  The  manufacture  of  snuff, 
under  a  fourteen  years'  monopoly  which  covered  the  whole  State,  was 
undertaken  in  East  Hartford  after  the  Revolution.  The  first  manufac- 
ture of  modern  axes  —  that  is,  axes  ground  and  polished  and  ready  for 
use  when  sold  —  was  in  Hartford  County,  at  Collinsville,  in  Canton,  in 
1826.  In  1828  carpet-making  began  at  Thompsonville,  in  Enfield,  and 
large  industries  have  grown  out  of  these  beginnings.  In  1836  the 
manufacture  of  safety-fuses  began  in  Simsbury,  and  was  the  first  in  the 
country. 

Apples  were  once  among  the  leading  products  of  the  soil  of  Hartford 
County,  and  at  the  time  of  their  greatest  abundance  cider-brandy 
distilleries  were  astonishingly  plenty.  It  is  worth  a  small  table  to 
see  their  increase  in  a  single  year,  and  abundance  at  a  certain  period. 

Between  1819  and  1828  the  number 
of  distilleries,  starting  at  over  a  hun- 
dred, was  doubled,  and  in  the  single 
year  between  1819  and  1820  the  in- 
crease was  81.  In  1828  only  four 
towns  in  the  county  were  without  at 
least  one,  while  Granby  actually 
reached  52.  In  1810  there  were  168 
distilleries  in  the  State,  of  which  114 
were  in  Hartford  County,  and  as  late 
as  1815  the  county  produced  75,000 
gallons  of  cider  brandy,  and  nearly 
300,000  gallons  of  gin.  In  the  last 
census  only  four  distilleries  were  re- 
ported in  the  county. 

The  first  bridge  across  the  Connect- 
icut River  was  built  at  Enfield  in  1808, 
Hartford  following  in  1809.  Next  after 
the  bridges,  in  the  way  of  public  im- 
provements, came  the  canals.  The 
canal  around  the  Enfield  Falls  was  built  in  1828,  and  in  that  year  the 
Farmington  Canal  was  opened,  which  until  1816  offered  a  line  to  tide- 
water line  from  the  Connecticut  River  at  Northampton,  Mass. 

Railroads  followed  the  canals.  The  first  railroad  in  the  county  was 
from  New  Haven  to  Hartford,  opened  in  1839.  After  that  it  was 
extended  to  Springfield. 

The  evidences  of  wealth  in  the  early  records  are  practically  confined 
to  the  lands,  houses,  live-stock,  and  silver  plate  of  the  people,  with  pos- 
sibly some  such  minor  suggestions  as  the  possession  of  watches  and 
similar  articles  might  afford.  The  tax-list  was  at  its  first  entry,  1796,1 
and  for  a  long  time  after,  made  up  on  a  different  plan  from  those  of 

1  See  records  in  the  office  of  the  Comptroller  of  the  State. 


1819. 

1S20. 

1S2S. 

2 
11 
0 
0 

20 
1 
8 
5 
18 
2 
0 
9 

0 
12 
13 

0 
1 
4 

4 
12 
3 
0 
25 
1 
9 
5 
22 

q 

41 

0 
16 
14 
0 
2 
21 

0 
10 

8 
8 

33 
0 

13 
5 

21 
5 

52 

10 
0 
0 

17 

11 
0 
1 

17 

Bristol 

Burlington 

East  Hartford... 
East  Windsor. . . . 
Enfield  

Farmington 

Glastonbury 

Manchester 

Marlborough .... 

Southington 

Suffield 

Wethersfield 

In  the  County 

106 

187 

213 

In  the  State 

232 

384 

409 

212 


MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 


modern  days.  Real  estate  was  assessed  at  three  per  cent  of  its  value, 
and  was  so  entered,  and  then  the  tax  was  levied  upon  that.  A  tax  of 
ten  per  cent  would  therefore  have  been  only  a  tax  of  three  tenths  of 
one  per  cent.  Personal  property,  for  purposes  of  taxation,  was  entered 
at  six  per  cent  of  its  value.  Thus  the  total  apparent  tax-roll  for  Hart- 
ford County,  in  1796,  was  only  -$964,407.  But  if  the  average  assess- 
ment was  four  per  cent,  this  would  represent  over  $24,000,000  of 
property,  which  is,  in  round  numbers,  half  the  taxable  wealth  of  Hart- 
ford city  alone  to-day.  So  the  State,  in  1796,  shows  only  $5,882,827 
of  taxables,  or,  on  the  same  estimate,  $147,000,000  of  wealth.  Hart- 
ford County  stood  second  in  the  State  in  wealth  in  1796.  Litchfield 
stood  first,*  Fairfield  third,  New  Haven  fourth.  There  was  a  steady 
decline  in  the  list  of  the  State  up  to  about  1830.  At  that  date  the 
total  taxables  were  $3,734,009,  a  falling  off  of  about  $2,150,000,  which 
at  four  per  cent  represents  $53,750,000.  If  the  amount  of  silver  plate 
is  illustrative  of  the  wealth  of  the  people,  these  few  figures  will  be  of 
service :  — 


1796. 

1S00. 

1S10. 

1810. 

18,6-23 

3,453 

817 

846 

17,050 

2,998 

760 

572 

14,680 
2,572 
1,157 

442 

11,635 
1,991 

728 
456 

"      "      "        "     "  Hartford  County 

"       "      "         "     "Hartford 

Wethersfield  began  by  having  more  than  Hartford,  but  a  half  dis- 
appeared in  fourteen  years.  Hartford's  share  fell  off  forty  per  cent 
between  1810  and  1818.  Perhaps  the  hard  times  of  1812  had  to  do 
with  this ;  but  there  are  suggestions,  all  through  the  figures,  that  there 
has  been  a  progressive  skill  in  the  art  of  making  out  one's  tax-list 
which  has  been  an  important  factor  in  the  problem. 

In  1796  there  were  only  47  gold  watches  in  Hartford  County.  There 
was  not  one  in  Bristol,  East  Windsor,  Farmington,  Glastonbury,  Hart- 
land,  or  Simsbury.  There  were  only  173  in  the  whole  State,  so  that 
this  county  had  more  than  a  quarter  of  all.  In  Hartford  alone  there 
were  28,  or  nearly  one  sixth  of  all  in  the  State.  Wethersfield  had  7. 
There  were  524  silver  watches  in  the  county,  of  which  130  were  in 
Hartford,  and  55  in  Wethersfield.  In  1818  there  were  only  93  gold 
watches  in  the  county,  and  only  724  silver,  while  in  1810  the  numbers 
had  been   respectively  369  and  934. 

In  1796  carriages  were  very  scarce,  although  horses  were  more 
abundant  than  they  were  later.  This  county  had  7,608  horses,  or 
"  horse-kind,"  in  1796,  and  6,459  in  1810,  a  decrease  of  more  than 
eleven  hundred  ;  but  during  that  period  vehicles  had  increased  notice- 
ably. At  the  date  first  mentioned  there  was  only  one  carriage  in  the 
State  designated  as  a  "  coach,"  and  taxed  as  worth  $84.  It  was  owned 
in  Hartford,  and  for  several  years  it  remained  the  only  coach.  New 
Haven  had  a  "  chariot "  taxed  at  $67  ;  and,  of  less  pretentious  vehi- 
cles, Hartford  had  two  "  phaetons,"  and  Suffielcl  one.  There  were  also 
"  coaches  at  $17,"  of  which  Hartford  had  twelve,  East  Windsor  three, 
and  Granby  one  ;  these  were  all  in  the  county.  In  1799  Windsor  pos- 
sessed a  "  coach  at  $84,"  sharing  with  Hartford  the  highest  dignity  on 


THE   GROWTH   OF   THE   COUNTY.  213 

wheels.  In  that  year  Hartford  had  ten  coaches,  but  a  year  later  the 
number  was  reduced  to  eight.  In  1806  Hartford  had  advanced  to  the 
honor  of  possessing-  a  coach  taxed  at  $168,  which  was  the  only  one  in 
the  county.  Shortly  after  this,  four-wheeled  vehicles  became  more 
abundant,  and  less  care  is  shown  in  the  record  of  them  ;  but  while  they 
were  so  very  few  their  number  must  have  been  correctly  given,  else  the 
error  would  have  been  noticed.  These  figures  are  cited  to  indicate  the 
primitive  condition  of  things  at  that  period  ; *  and  it  is  of  interest  to 
notice  that  horses  were  then  much  more  numerous  relatively  than  they 
now  are.  In  1796  the  county  had  one  horse  for  each  five  persons  of 
the  population  ;  in  1810  one  for  each  seven  persons.  In  1880  it  had 
but  one  horse  for  each  fourteen  people.  The  increase  and  improvement 
of  vehicles  has  probably  enabled  one  horse  to  do  far  more  work  than  one 
could  at  that  early  time.  Horses,  as  is  said,  have  relatively  decreased, 
and  their  actual  increase  is  only  1,164  in  the  county  since  1796. 
Sheep,  on  the  other  hand,  show  no  actual  increase  whatever,  but  a  very 
marked  decrease.  In  1810,  and  for  years  at  about  that  period,  the 
State  offered  a  bounty  for  sheep-culture,  by  deducting  seventy-five  cents 
from  the  tax  for  each  sheep  raised.  In  that  year  there  were  314,138 
sheep  in  the  State  against  59,431  in  1880  ;  in  Hartford  County,  in  1810, 
there  were  49,711,  but  in  1880  the  number  had  fallen  to  4,961,  or  a 
little  less  than  one  tenth. 

Hartford  County  has  had  no  little  influence  upon  the  live-stock 
interests  of  the  country.  The  sight  of  the  first  woollen  mill  in  New 
England,  which  was  in  this  city,  suggested  to  General  David  Humphreys 
the  value  of  raising  our  own  wool ;  and  in  1802,  when  he  was  Minister 
to  Spain,  he  introduced  in  this  country  a  large  flock  of  the  Spanish 
merino  sheep.  Mr.  John  A.  Taintor,  a  prominent  citizen  of  Hartford, 
is  said  to  have  imported  to  Hartford,  in  1846,  the  first  French  merino 
sheep,  though  another  account  names  Mr.  D.  C.  Collins,  also  of  Hart- 
ford, as  the  first  importer.  Mr.  Taintor  was  influential  in  introducing 
Jersey  cattle  in  this  country,  and  sent  over  to  Hartford  the  first  Jersey 
herd2  ever  brought  to  the  United  States. 

In  1796  Hartford  County  had  55,378  acres  of  "  ploughing  land,"  and 
the  State  had  264,507.  In  1880  the  "improved  land"  in  Hartford 
County  alone  was  264,724  acres.  The  agricultural  products  of  the 
county  have  been  as  follows,  at  five  stated  periods,  in  the  past  forty 
years : 3  — 

1  As  late  as  1820,  Hartford  County  bad  but  655  "  riding  carriages,"  and  there  was  not 
one  in  Burlington  or  Hartland.  Hartford  had  160,  East  Windsor  66,  Berlin  64,  Wethers- 
field  62,  and  Windsor  60. 

2  The  importation  was  the  result  of  a  chance  conversation.  Mr.  Taintor,  when  about  to 
sail  for  England,  was  in  the  office  of  Beach  &  Co.,  in  Hartford,  and  Mr.  Daniel  Buck  suggested 
to  him  that  he  bring  home  some  Jerseys.  He  said  he  would  visit  the  island  if  a  purse  were 
made  up  sufficient  to  make  the  purchase  worth  the  while.  Accordingly  he  was  commissioned 
to  buy  twelve.  Messrs.  Taintor  and  Buck  each  took  three,  and  those  who  took  one  each  were 
Messrs.  George  Beach,  Elisha  Colt,  Austin  Dunham,  and  Lawson  C.  Ives.  The  cattle  came  over 
safely  in  1850  on  the  ship  "Splendid,"  and  founded  the  "Splendid  "  strain  of  Jerseys.  They 
were  not  selected  for  color,  but  were  bought,  regardless  of  cost,  on  their  more  material  qualities. 
Since  that  time  the  county  has  always  been  remarkable  for  its  fine  cattle.  The  herd  of  John 
T.  Norton,  in  Farmington,  was  famous  for  years,  and  now  Bristol,  Glastonbury,  Manchester, 
Wethersfield,  and  in  fact  a  great  many  of  the  towns,  have  more  than  a  local  fame  for  their 
choice  herds  of  Jerseys  and  of  other  valuable  breeds. 

3  The  statistics  of  tobacco  for  this  same  period  are  given  in  the  special  article  on  that 
subject. 


214 


MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD   COUNTY. 


Buckwheat,  bushels. 
Corn,  Indian,     " 
Potatoes,  " 

Oats,  "      , 

Rye,  "      . 

Wheat,  .     "      . 

Hay,  tons 

Wool,  pounds 

Cattle,   heads 

Sheep,  heads 


66,571 
278,863 
517,775 
219,084 
177,516 
13,419 
70,193 
122,365 
35,632 
4S.414 


381, 
49ii. 
210, 
150, 
5, 
80, 
65, 
30, 


33.920 

336,143 

384,103 

176,582 

120,419 

8,523 

87,721 

32,804 

36,194 

12,386 


17,203 

217,502 

450,158 

119,335 

69,3S7 

6,458 

95,615 

25,925 

35,692 

8,000 


20,447 

337,109 

542,522 

83,261 

86,578 

5,233 

104,715 

22,117 

40,166 

4,961 


It  will  be  seen  that  all  the  cereals,  except  Indian  corn,  have  declined 
largely,  —  wheat  and  rye  each  one  half,  oats  three  fifths,  and  buck- 
wheat two  thirds,  —  while  the  product  of  wool  is  not  one  fifth  what  it 
was  in  1840.  Hay  has  steadily  increased,  and  potatoes  are  cultivated 
more  abundantly  than  heretofore. 

Manufacturing  began  early  in  the  county,  and  its  beginnings  and  its 
diversities  have  been  already  spoken  of  in  this  article.  It  struggled 
against  many  obstacles,  and  did  not  assume  large  importance  until 
after  1840.  In  that  year  the  employes  of  manufactories  in  the  county 
numbered  4,040,  and  the  capital  invested  was  a  trifle  over  #3,000,000. 
Twenty  years  later  the  capital  exceeded  111,000,000,  and  after  another 
twenty  years  it  exceeded  $27,500,000,  while  the  number  of  employes 
had  grown  from  4,040  to  20,951.  The  following  table  shows  the  devel- 
opment of  the  manufacturing  industries  of  the  county  :  — 


Establishments. 

Capital. 

Employes. 

Wages. 

Material. 

Product. 

1840 
1860 
1870 
18S0 

405 
1031 

880 

$3,161,369 
11,171,000 
21,260,000 
27,691,000 

4,040 
12,354 
19,103 
20,951 

$3,676,000 
9,316,684 
8,457,000 

$8,157,000 
17,543,000 
18,502,000 

$16,827,000 
35,000,000 
34,609,000 

Besides  the  growth  of  Hartford  itself,  this  period  has  seen  the  devel- 
opment of  New  Britain  into  a  great  producing  centre,  whose  goods  are 
known  around  the  world,  and  has  seen  the  silk-works  of  South  Man- 
chester, the  axe-works  of  Collinsville,  and  the  carpet-works  of  Thomp- 
sonville  come  forward  to  rank  among  the  first  of  their  kind  in  the 
country.  Southington,  too,  and  Windsor  Locks,  with  their  products, 
have  come  into  prominence,  and  the  paper  interests,  long  established, 
have  vastly  increased  in  importance.  The  taxable  property  in  the 
county  is  reported  at  #86,000,000,  or  nearly  one  quarter  the  valuation 
of  the  whole  State,  which  at  the  same  date  is  #350,000,000. 


HARTFORD  COUNTY  TOBACCO.  215 


HARTFORD   COUNTY  TOBACCO. 

BY    FRED.    S.    BROWN. 

Tobacco  has  been  a  product  of  Hartford  County  since  its  settle- 
ment, and  was  a  favorite  crop  of  the  Indians  previous  to  that  time.  In 
the  settlement  of  Virginia,  tobacco  was  one  of  the  first  articles  of  traffic, 
as  its  use  was  general  among  the  early  settlers,  and  it  was  exported  to 
England  and  Holland.  It  was  held  in  higher  esteem  than  that  raised 
in  Connecticut,  as  it  was  adapted  for  snuffs  and  smoking  in  pipes, 
which  constituted  the  general  requirement  at  that  early  period. 

As  early  as  1640  an  act  was  passed  in  Connecticut  restricting  the 
use  of  tobacco  to  that  grown  in  the  colony.  In  1662  a  duty  of  two- 
pence per  pound  was  laid  upon  all  tobacco  brought  into  Connecticut. 
By  1753  it  had  become  an  article  of  export,  and  inspectors  were  ap- 
pointed to  examine  that  which  was  intended  for  shipment.  But  at  no 
period  previous  to  this  century  did  the  yearly  production  of  tobacco  in 
the  Connecticut  Valley  amount  to  any  considerable  quantity.  It  was 
sold  for  from  three  to  four  dollars  per  hundred  pounds.  It  is  within 
the  last  forty  years  that  the  reputation  of  Connecticut  tobacco  for  cigar- 
leaf  has  been  established. 

Its  natural  locality  seems  to  be  in  the  river  towns  of  Hartford 
County.  Previous  to  1830  its  culture  was  general,  but  in  very  small 
quantities  compared  with  the  amount  produced  since  that  time.  It  was 
about  this  period  that  it  began  to  be  raised  in  larger  quantities  at  Ware- 
house Point  by  the  proprietors  of  the  distilleries  there,  who  had  a  surplus 
of  fertilizers  from  their  establishments,  which  they  utilized  in  that  way. 
From  Hartford  County  its  culture  has  extended  into  all  sections  of 
the  State.  It  has  also  been  extensively  produced  in  the  valley  of  the 
Connecticut  River  in  Massachusetts,  Vermont,  and  New  Hampshire,  its 
quality  and  character  changing  in  a  measure  after  passing  the  State 
line. 

The  special  use  of  the  Connecticut  seed-leaf  is  for  wrappers,  —  the  out- 
side covering  of  cigars.  Those  leaves  that  are  not  suitable  for  wrappers 
are,  if  they  have  sufficient  surface,  used  for  inside  wrappers  or  binders 
for  the  filler  of  the  cigar,  and  those  that  will  not  answer  for  this  purpose 
are  called  "  fillers."  But  these  last  do  not  maintain  the  same  superior 
rank  for  their  purpose  that  the  wrappers  and  binders  do  for  the  use 
they  are  put  to.  There  is  no  special  flavor  to  Connecticut  tobacco  ;  and 
so  a  cigar,  filled  with  Havana  tobacco  and  covered  with  a  Connecticut 
wrapper,  will  maintain  nearly  the  same  flavor  and  quality  that  it  would 
have  were  it  all  Havana  tobacco,  except  that  it  may  be  a  trifle  milder, 
which  in  most  cases  is  agreeable  to  the  smoker.  When  the  Havana 
filler  is  deficient  in  burning  quality,  a  Connecticut  wrapper  adds  greatly 
to  its  value. 

The  original  tobacco  of  this  county  is  a  long,  lance-shaped  leaf,  with 
the  veins  running  at  an  acute  angle  to  the  stem.  It  was  known  as  the 
"  shoestring  tobacco,"  from  the  length  and   narrowness  of  the   leaf. 


216 


MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 


This  is  objectionable,  as  the  veins  are  so  close  together  and  run  so 
nearly  parallel  to  the  length  of  the  leaf  that  they  give  a  coarse  appear- 
ance to  the  cigar  which  it  covers.  The  quality  of  the  nat- 
ural tobacco  is  good  ;  it  will  hold  its  elasticity  and  kid-like 
softness  much  longer  than  the  cultivated  sort,  and  will  go 
through  a  "  sweat  "  without  becoming  tender,  and  on  this 
account  will  produce  more  wrappers.  It,  however,  has  been 
superseded  by  a  much  longer  and  broader  leaf  produced 
by  introducing  seed  from  other  States  and  countries. 

The  name  "  Connecticut  seed-leaf  tobacco  "  was  first 
applied  to  the  product  of  the  new  seed  when  it  was  put  on 
the  market,  to  distinguish  it  from 
the  narrow  or  "shoestring"  sort. 
The  increased  demand  for  cigar- 
leaf  has  extended  its  production 
from  the  valleys  of  the  Connecti- 
cut to  New  York,  Pennsylvania, 
Ohio,  Wisconsin,  and  other  West- 
ern States ;  so  that  the  distinct 
kind  from  each  State  has  become 
a  staple  in  the  markets,  each  known  by  its 
peculiarities. 

There  is  no  other  section  of  the  country 
that  can  produce  so  many  pounds  of  tobacco 
to  the  acre  as  some  of  our  Hartford  County 
lands.  An  ordinary  yield  in  a  good  season 
is  from  eighteen  hundred  to  two  thousand 
pounds  to  the  acre ;  and  from  that  to  twenty- 
eight  hundred  pounds,  which  is  sometimes 
secured  in  some  sections  of  the  county,  though 
for  this  the  most  favorable  conditions  are  re- 
quired. 

The  writer  has  before  him  an  abstract  of 
an  account  of  five  crops  of  tobacco  raised  by 
Jones  Brothers,  of  South  Windsor,  which  is  as  follows 


Crop  of 

Acres 

,  rods. 

Pounds. 

i 

'ounds  per  acre. 

Sold  for 

186G 

2 

88 

7,147 

2,802 

$4,200.00 

18G8 

5 

11,870 

2,374 

6,401.10 

18G9 

rj 

120 

13,722 

2,386 

9,743.65 

1871 

7 

80 

19,472 

2,596 

12,387.65 

1873 

12 

20 

30,820 
83,031  @ 

53f 

2,542 

cts.   f*  ft).  = 

11,960.75 

32 

148 

=  $44,693.15 

It  will  be  observed  that  these  are  not  all  consecutive  crops ;  those 
intervening  were  ordinary  in  amount  and  quality.  The  object  in  quot- 
ing this  is  to  show  what  number  of  pounds  the  land  is  capable  of  pro- 
ducing, and  what  has  been  realized  for  the  crops  under  the  most  favorable 
circumstances.  The  writer  was  the  purchaser  of  one  of  these  crops, 
for  which  he  paid  seventy-five  cents  per  pound  for  the  wrappers  ;  and 
the  following  season,  when  they  were  in  condition  to  be  worked,  he 
sold  them  for  one  dollar  per  pound  to  a  manufacturer  of  cigars,  who 


HARTFORD  COUNTY  TOBACCO.  217 

found  that  from  the  extreme  fineness  of  the  leaf,  it  produced  a  thousand 
cigar-wrappers  at  a  less  cost  than  that  of  the  same  number  of  wrappers 
from  ordinary  tobacco  at  ordinary  prices.  Thus  the  extraordinary 
amount  paid  for  the  crop  was  justified  by  the  favorable  results.  The 
prices  paid  for  good  tobacco  in  this  county  at  that  time  were  from 
twenty-five  to  forty  cents  per  pound.  The  same  goods  previous  to  1860 
and  at  dates  subsequent  to  those  just  quoted  have  been  sold  at  much 
lower  prices.  The  amount  of  fertilizer  required  to  produce  a  large 
crop  is  from  eight  to  ten  cords  per  acre.  This  is  frequently  brought 
from  the  stables  of  New  York  and  Boston,  and  delivered  here  on  the 
dock  or  at  stations  at  from  eight  to  twelve  dollars  per  cord. 

Experiments  in  the  use  of  seed  from  Havana  tobacco  x  have  been 
made  from  time  to  time,  since  1840,  with  no  favorable  results  until 
recently.  The  product  for  the  first  two  or  three  years  from  this  seed  is 
a  small  leaf  resembling  Havana  very  much  in  size  and  texture,  but  not 
finding  favor  with  manufacturers,  as  it  would  not  cure  by  the  same 
means  and  as  readily  as  that  raised  from  other  seed.  It  is  now 
demonstrated  that  the  crop  raised  from  seed  of  the  fourth  year  of  plant- 
ing makes  a  very  desirable  leaf,  and  its  culture  is  being  extended  as  it 
grows  in  favor.  The  leaf  is  about  two  thirds  the  size  of  what  is  known 
as  Connecticut  seed-leaf,  and  as  it  grows  more  closely  together  will, 
under  favorable  circumstances,  yield  a  ton  to  the  acre. 

The  census  report  of  1880  gives  the  following  as  the  product  of 
Connecticut  seed-leaf  tobacco  for  the  years  cited :  1840, 471,647  pounds  ; 
1850,  1,267,624  pounds;  1860,  6,000,133  pounds;  1870,  8,328,798 
pounds ;  1880,  14,044,652  pounds. 

The  following  is  the  product  of  the  crop  of  1879  through  the  State 
by  counties :  — 

Acres.  Pounds.        Pounds  per  acre. 

Fairfield 802  973,933  1,214 

Litchfield 1,586  2,211,151  1,394 

Middlesex 573  906,753  1,582 

New  Haven 167  215,195  1,200 

New  London 19  29,622  1,500 

Tolland 405  666,634  1,646 

Windham 2  1,850  925 

Hartford 5,112  9,039,514  1,768 

By  this  it  will  be  seen  that  Hartford  County  produces  sixty-five  per 
cent' of  all  the  tobacco  grown  in  the  State,  and  over  one  hundred  and 
twenty  pounds  more  per  acre  than  any  other  county.  The  average 
product  of  the  State  is  sixteen  hundred  and  twenty-one  pounds  per  acre, 
which  is  a  larger  yield  than  that  of  any  other  State  in  the  Union.  Of 
the  twenty-eight  tobacco-growing  States  in  the  country,  Connecticut 
stands  sixth  in  the  value  of  the  crop  ;  and  there  were  but  nine  States  in 
1879  that  produced  more  tobacco  than  was  raised  in  Hartford  County. 

In  1843  Peruvian  guano  was  first  introduced  as  a  commercial  fertil- 
izer. About  the  first  experiments  with  it  were  on  the  tobacco-fields  of 
Cuba,  at  the  time  when  all  of  the  better  class  of  cigars  manufactured 

1  The  United  States  Government  frequently  distributed  Havana  seed  among  the  farmers, 
and  the  product  is  known  in  the  market  as  "  Havana  seed." 


218  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

in  this  country  were  from  Cuban  tobacco,  which  was  of  most  excellent 
quality.  Its  only  trouble  was  its  deficiency  in  wrappers.  To  increase 
its  size  and  stimulate  its  growth,  guano  was  used.  It  had  the  desired 
effect,  but  at  a  loss  of  the  fine  burning  quality  and  flavor.  From  that 
time  there  has  been  a  gradual  falling  off  in  the  use  of  Spanish  tobacco 
for  wrappers  in  this  country  ;  so  that  at  this  time  they  are  rarely  used, 
successfully,  by  any  of  our  cigar-manufacturers. 

It  was  from  the  introduction  of  the  use  of  guano  on  the  tobacco- 
fields  of  Cuba  that  the  demand  for  Connecticut  tobacco  for  wrappers 
began.  The  German  cigar-manufacturers  were  the  first  to  develop  the 
quality  of  Connecticut  tobacco  for  wrappers,  as  their  first  purchases 
were  packed  in  parcels  of  about  four  hundred  pounds  each.  These 
were  much  larger  than  had  been  the  custom,  and  this  method  proved 
to  be  what  was  requisite  to  enable  the  tobacco  to  pass  through  a  "  sweat- 
ing "  process  during  the  voyage  to  Germany,  which  changed  it,  so  far 
as  its  quality  was  concerned,  into  an  entirely  different  article  from  what 
it  had  been  known  to  be  up  to  that  time.  Previous  to  this,  what  was 
packed  to  be  sent  away  was  in  small  irregular-sized  boxes,  such  as  had 
been  used  for  dry  goods  and  other  merchandise.  In  1830  three  hundred 
bales  of  about  one  hundred  pounds  each  were  shipped  from  Warehouse 
Point.  The  bales  were  made  with  strips  of  boards,  fastened  around 
the  four  sides  with  strops  made  from  hoop-poles.  It  was  thought  neces- 
sary to  pack  it  light,  and  in  such  quantities  that  it  should  not  heat,  or 
sweat;  though  later  it  was  demonstrated  that  this  process  was  just 
what  was  required  to  develop  it.  The  new  method  adopted  by  the 
Germans  of  packing  and  curing  soon  brought  it  into  favor,  and  from 
that  time  the  manufacturers  of  cigars  in  this  country  have  to  a  great 
extent  relied  upon  Connecticut  tobacco  for  wrappers.  Of  late  years  the 
quality  of  that  produced  in  some  sections  of  the  State  has  been  injured 
by  the  growers  who  use  guano  in  part  as  a  fertilizer  ;  and  it  is  for  this 
reason  more  than  any  other  that  they  find  the  trade  looking  for  a  sub- 
stitute for  Connecticut  wrappers  in  some  of  the  new  products  that  have 
lately  appeared  in  the  markets. 

Hartford  County  tobacco  produced  on  proper  soil,  with  natural 
fertilizers,  is  the  best  burning  cigar-leaf  raised,  and  there  is  hardly  a 
limit  to  the  demand  for  it.  When  improper  fertilizers  are  used,  it  is 
done  at  the  loss  of  burning  quality,  which  brings  it  to  the  level  of  any 
low-grade  tobacco.  A  good  burning  wrapper  will  make  a  good  cigar, 
and  a  manufacturer  can  afford  to  pay  an  extra  price  for  that  rather  than 
work  a  wrapper  that  will  not  burn  well,  were  he  to  receive  the  latter  for 
nothing. 

Before  the  demand  developed  for  Connecticut  tobacco,  its  product 
was  confined  to  a  few  towns  in  Hartford  County,  and  most  of  it  was 
worked  into  cigars  by  the  female  members  of  the  family  of  the  grower. 
The  cigars  made  were  known  to  the  trade  as  ""Supers,"  "  Long  Nines," 
and  "  Short  Sixes." 

The  Supers  were  rolled  as  cigars  now  are,  with  the  exception  of  a 
twist  that  would  kink  the  wrapper  at  the  end  and  prevent  it  unrolling, 
which  was  the  method  of  finishing  the  heads  of  all  cigars  up  to  1839, 
when  the  first  specimens  of  "  paste  heads  "  were  imported  from  Havana. 
The  Long  Nines  were  a  long,  thin  cigar,  about  the  size  of  a  new  lead- 
pencil,  looking  something  like  a  Catalpa-bean  pod.     They  were  made 


HARTFOED  COUNTY  TOBACCO.  219 

by  the  wrapper  being  rolled  lengthwise  of  the  filler,  with  the  edges 
pasted  the  whole  length  of  the  cigar,  in  the  same  way  as  the  cheroots 
of  Manila  are  made.  The  Short  Sixes  were  made  in  the  same  way, 
and  were  about  two  thirds  the  length  of  Long  Nines.  They  were 
made  with  more  care  and  of  better  material,  as  they  were  intended  for 
the  home  trade.  They  could  always  be  found  on  the  bar  of  the  country 
tavern,  free  to  the  guests  after  a  meal;  but  to  the  local  frequenter  of 
the  house  they  were  sold  at  two  for  a  cent. 

The  Supers  were  sold  in  bulk  to  the  storekeeper,  in  exchange  for 
store  goods,  for  from  a  dollar  and  a  quarter  to  two  dollars  per  thousand. 
They  would  then  be  packed  into  cigar-boxes,  labelled  and  branded, 
and  again  be  "  traded  "  for  goods  to  some  wholesale  dealer  in  the  city ; 
and  by  him  they  would  be  distributed  into  all  sections  visited  by  the 
sailor  or  trader.  The  Long  Nines  were  always  done  up  in  bundles  of 
twenty-five  or  fifty,  and  held  together  with  three  bands  of  bast,  one  at 
each  end  and  one  in  the  middle  of  the  bunch.  They  were  packed  in 
barrels  which  would  hold  about  five  thousand  each,  and  were  usually 
sent  to  Boston,  and  from  there  found  their  way  into  all  the  fishing  and 
seaport  towns  along  the  coast.  The  storekeepers  usually  paid  the 
farmers  for  this  sort  from  seventy-five  cents  to  a  dollar  and  a  quarter 
per  thousand.  A  good  hand  would  make  from  eight  to  ten  hundred 
per  day  of  the  Supers,  and  a  third  more  of  the  Long  Nines  and  Short 
Sixes.  ' 

As  the  tobacco  was  not  taken  into  the  account  in  calculating  the 
cost  of  these  cigars,  the  day's  wages  would  be  estimated  at  all  they 
received  for  them  when  sold  ;  and,  as  money  was  scarce  in  those  days, 
the  cigars  produced  by  the  families  answered  as  a  good  substitute  for 
currency.  These  were  receivable  in  any  of  the  local  stores  for  whatever 
was  wanted  ;  and  it  was  not  infrequently  the  case  that  all  the  dry  goods 
and  groceries  that  were  necessary  for  a  farmer  and  his  family  were 
purchased  with  the  cigars  rolled  by  the  farmer's  wife  at  such  times  as 
she  would  not  be  employed  by  her  household  duties.  After  the  great 
demand  for  Connecticut  tobacco  had  developed,  the  trade  of  making 
cheap  cigars  by  the  farmers  gradually  lessened ;  and  the  internal- 
revenue  tax  put  an  end  to  the  whole  business. 

In  addition,  there  were  a  few  establishments  that  employed  more 
competent  hands  and  worked  tobacco  that  had  improved  somewhat  by 
age.  Such  cigars  were  handsomely  packed,  and  were  supplied  to  the 
trade  as  "  Half  Spanish."  They  would  be  sold  at  from  four  to  five 
dollars  per  thousand  by  the  box,  and  were  retailed  at  the  stores  for  one 
cent  each.  Many  of  these  were  made  at  Suffield,  where  there  were 
some  firms  that  dealt  largely  in  the  local  furs  of  New  England.  To 
collect  the  skins,  young  men  were  employed  as  pedlers,  who  visited  all 
sections  of  New  England,  New  York,  and  New  Jersey,  with  wagons 
loaded  with  gunpowder,  wooden  clocks,  cotton  yarn,  indigo,  and  cigars. 
The  powder  was  manufactured  at  Enfield  and  the  clocks  were  made  at 
Bristol.  With  such  goods  as  these  the  young  fellows,  who  were  then 
known  as  "  Yankee  pedlers,"  but  w'ould  be  now  known  as  "  drummers," 
would  start  out  ready  for  a  trade  or  "  dicker  "  for  anything  that  offered, 
but  principally  for  furs,  which  were  the  object  of  the  trip. 

As  early  as  1810  Simeon  Viets,  of  West  Suffield,  had  a  large 
establishment  in  that  place,  employing  as  many  as  twelve  or  fifteen 


220  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

females  at  the  work.  About  this  time  he  made  purchases  of  Spanish 
tobacco,  and  then  employed  a  cigar-maker  from  Cuba  to  work  it.  This 
was  the  first  Spanish  tobacco  worked  in  Suffield,  and  the  Cuban  was 
the  first  male  cigar-maker  employed  there.  From  this  beginning  the 
town  obtained  a  great  reputation,  and  became  famous  for  the  number 
of  men  employed  at  cigar-making,  and  the  large  quantities  of  Spanish 
tobacco  that  were  brought  there  to  be  worked  and  sold  to  the  trade 
generally.  For  a  long  time  after  the  development  of  our  seed  tobacco, 
Suffield  was  the  centre  from  which  most  of  it  found  its  way  into  market, 
and  was  visited  by  dealers  from  all  parts  of  the  country  for  their  sup- 
plies. Not  alone  was  domestic  tobacco  sought  for,  but  the  better  grades 
of  Spanish  tobacco  could  be  found  there  in  large  quantities. 

Frequently  Messrs.  Allen  Loomis  and  Parkes  Loomis  would  unite 
with  their  neighbors,  King  and  Birge,  and  go  into  the  market  and  buy  up 
entire  cargoes  of  Yara  tobacco  as  it  arrived,  and  take  it  to  Sumeld, 
where  it  would  be  stored  in  the  cellars  of  quiet,  unbusiness-like  farm- 
houses, which  would  be  visited  by  manufacturers  from  New  York, 
Philadelphia,  and  Baltimore,  who  were  in  want  of  this  particular  kind  of 
tobacco,  that  could  not  be  had  at  that  time  in  any  other  market.  This 
was  not  an  uncommon  occurrence  between  the  years  1845  and  1860. 

After  the  war  and  the  internal-revenue  laws,  that  at  first  seemed  so 
stringent  on  the  manufacturers  of  cigars  and  tobacco,  the  trade  seemed 
less  desirable  to  the  old  dealers  in  Suffield,  and  by  degrees  much  of  it 
left  the  town,  and  has  been  concentrated  in  extensive  establishments  in 
the  large  cities  east  and  west,  some  of  which  are  now  employing  as 
many  as  two  thousand  persons  each.  There  are  still  some  respectable 
establishments  engaged  in  the  trade  in  and  about  Suffield,  but  they  arc 
small  in  comparison  to  what  they  were  previous  to  1860. 

The  old  house  of  Oswyn  Wells,  that  had  its  first  beginning  in  the 
town  of  Glastonbury,  should  be  mentioned  in  any  history  that  gives  an 
account  of  the  development  of  the  tobacco  trade  of  Hartford  County. 
He  was  one  of  the  first  to  engage  in  packing  tobacco  for  the  trade,  and 
for  a  long  time  there  were  many  manufacturers  in  the  county  who  would 
never  purchase  their  supplies  except  when  each  package  bore  his  initials, 
"  0.  W.,"  which  was  a  guarantee  that  it  was  "  Connecticut  seed-leaf 
tobacco,"  grown  in  Hartford  County,  and  of  the  best  quality.  His 
trade  developed  into  such  proportions  that  it  became  necessary  for  him 
to  establish  packing-houses  in  several  towns  in  the  county,  with  his 
principal  store  in  Hartford.  After  his  death  it  was  continued  by  his 
son,  whose  recent  death  leaves  the  trade  without  a  representative  of  the 
name  that  has  done  so  much  for  its  development. 


part  II.  —  f  artforD,  Coton  ana  City* 


CHAPTER    I. 


SECTION   I. 

SETTLEMENT  OF  THE  TOWN. 

BY    SHERMAN   W.    ADAMS. 

The  First  Arrivals.  —  Land  Titles  and  Divisions. — The  Name  of  Hartford,  Etc. 

AN  account  of  the  earliest  English  settlers  of  Hartford  is  included 
in  Dr.  Tarbox's  paper,  "  The  Exodus  and  the  First  Comers " 
(pp.  29-36),  and  in  Miss  Talcott's  notices  of  the  Original  Pro- 
prietors (pp.  227-276),  in  this  volume;  but  we  may  add  here  a  few- 
lines  stating  general  facts.  On  the  9th  of  June,  1634,  as  we  are  told  in 
Winthrop's  "  History  of  New  England,"  "  six  of  Newtown  went  in  the 
Blessing  (being  bound  to  the  Dutch  plantation*),  to  discover  Connecticut 
River,  intending  to  remove  their  town  thither."  So  that  in  1634  there 
was  a  present  intention  of  the  Newtown  people  to  migrate  to  the  place 
afterward  planted  by  them,  now  Hartford. 

A  few  people  from  Newtown  (afterward  called  Cambridge),  reached 
Suckiaug  early  in  1635  ;  and  in  November  about  sixty  are  said  to  have 
arrived.  The  very  earliest  of  these  immigrants  formed  the  company 
thereafter  known  as  "  Adventurers  ; "  and  to  them  belonged  the  section 
known  in  our  records  as  Venturers'  Field.  The  tract  contained  about 
thirty-five  acres,  and  is  situate  on  the  west  side  of  the  present  Albany 
Avenue,  being  nowT  traversed  by  Garden  Street.  The  Adventurers 
were  about  twelve  in  number,  and  their  names,  so  far  as  known,  were 
as  follows :  — 

John  Barnard,  Richard  Goodman,  Stephen  Hart,  Matthew  Marvin,  James 
Olmsted,  William  Pantry,  Thomas  Scott,  Thomas  Stanley,  John  Steele,  John 
Talcott,  Richard  Webb,  William  Westwood. 

Mr.  Talcott  is  generally  supposed  not  to  have  reached  Hartford  until 
1636  ;  but  the  records  strongly  indicate  that,  either  in  person  or  by 
representation,  he  wras  here  as  an  Adventurer.  But  some  of  the  earliest 
comers  of  1636  may  have  been  included  in  that  class. 

More  Newtown  people  arrived  in  the  early  spring  of  1636  ;  and  in 
June  of  the  same  year  came  the  Rev.  Thomas  Hooker,  with  about 
a  hundred  people,  including  women  and  children.  The  Rev.  Samuel 
Stone  was  of  this  party.  About  this  time  a  deed  of  cession  was  obtained 
from  Sunckquasson,  "  Sachem  of  Suckiage."  In  it,  as  is  supposed  (for 
the  original  deed  was  lost),  was  a  reservation  permitting  the  Indians 
to  occupy  a  section  in  the  South  meadows,  near  the  Dutchmen's  land ; 


222  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

substantially  the  same  reservation  that  the  Dutch  had  previously  agreed 
to  allow  to  "  the  Sequeen."  The  tract  conveyed  was  known  as  Suckiaug 
(sometimes  spelled  Sicaogg,  and  by  the  Dutch,  Sickajoeck)  ;  a  name 
which  Dr.  J.  H.  Trumbull  interprets,  "  black  (or  dark-colored)  earth." 
It  was  bounded  northerly  by  the  present  Windsor ;  southerly,  by  Wethers- 
field  ;  the  River,  east ;  and  the  "  Wilderness,"  six  miles  distant,  west. 
The  grantees  were  the  Rev.  Samuel  Stone  and  Mr.  William  Goodwin, 
"  in  the  behalfe  of  the  Proprietors."  Sunckquasson  (or  Sequassen) 
was  a  son  of  Sequin1  (or  Sequeen,  or  "the  Sequeen,"  as  he  was  vari- 
ously called),  and  a  Sachem  under  Miantunnomoh,  the  head  of  the 
Narragansetts.  He  subsequently  —  when  is  not  known  —  extended 
the  western  bounds  "  so  far  as  his  country  went ; "  which  was  to  the 
domain  of  "  Pethus,  the  Sachem,  or  gentleman,  of  Tunxis."  This  latter 
grant  was  "to  the  honoured  John  Haynes,  Esqr.,  and  other  the  first 
magistrates  of  this  place."  Most  of  those  facts  are  recited  in  the  con- 
firmatory deed  of  Masseckup,  and  others,  in  July,  1670. 

The  grant  of  1686  was  not  made  to  the  town,  nor  to  the  plantation ; 
but  to  the  grantees  named,  and  their  associates,  the  "  Proprietors." 
Those  gentlemen  paid  for  the  tract  by  a  special  rate  or  tax,  and  there- 
after they,  and  their  heirs  and  assigns,  constituted  the  body  called  the 
Proprietors.  Until  1640  those  Proprietors  who  dwelt  north  of  Little 
River  held  their  meetings  separately  from  the  meetings  of  those  on  the 
south  side ;  then  the  town,  hy  vote,  refused  to  sanction  such  separate 
meetings.  There  was  a  "  North  Side  "  and  a  "  South  Side  "  book  of 
records  ;  and  afterward  a  general  book,  showing  when,  and  to  whom, 
allotments  of  lands  were  made,  and  what  commons  were  established. 
These  books  are  (probably  irrecoverably)  lost.  The  original  Proprie- 
tors were  ninety-seven  in  number.  The  disposal  of  the  "  common  and 
undivided,"  or  "ungiven"  lands  was  generally  the  subject  of  Proprie- 
tors' meetings ;  but  special  grants,  and  some  general  votes  as  to  the 
rule  for  allotting,  conditions  of  holding  lands,  etc.,  were  made  in  town- 
meetings.  This  was  not  objected  to,  for  the  "  legal  inhabitants,"  who 
alone  could  vote  in  town-meetings,  were,  practically,  identical  with 
those  people  who  were  entitled  to  vote  in  Proprietors'  meetings.  And 
so  the  General  Court,  in  1639,  enacted  that  the  three  river  towns  might 
"  dispose  of  their  ungranted  lands."  An  early  vote  of  Hartford,  passed 
in  1639  or  earlier,  made  it  a  condition  of  the  title  to  lands  held  in  sever- 
alty that  the  owner  thereof  forfeited  them  if  he  removed  within  four 
years.  If  a  "house-lot"  was  granted,  it  must  be  built  upon  within 
twelve  months  ;  if  the  owner  sold  it,  the  first  offer  of  sale  must  be  made 
to  the  town.  In  some  cases  special  grants  were  made  "  by  courtesy,"  or 
for  good  reason,  to  "  admitted  inhabitants,"  who  were  not  Proprietors, 
and  hence  had  no  legal  claim  to  have  land  set  out  to  them. 

The  Hartford  settlers,  who  at  first  considered  themselves  a  part  of 
the  old  Newtown,  were,  for  a  time,  like  the  -tfther  River  plantations, 
under  the  commission  for  government  granted  in  Massachusetts,  March 
3,  1636.  In  September,  1635,  William  Westwood  was  appointed  con- 
stable for  all  the  plantations.  In  April,  1636,  Samuel  Wakeman  was,  by 
the  General  Court  of  Connecticut,  appointed  constable  for  Hartford. 

On  the  21st  of  February,  1636-7,  Newtown  was  given  the  name  of 

1  This  Sequin  is  not  to  be  confounded  with  Sowheag,  Sachem  of  Pyquaug  and  Mattabesett, 
who  was  sometimes  called  Sequin. 


SETTLEMENT  OF  THE   TOWN.  223 

"  Hartford  Townc."  1  Although  the  plantation  had  sometimes  been 
called  a  "  town,"  even  by  the  Massachusetts  government,  its  existence 
as  a  township  must  be  said  to  date  only  from  the  termination  of  the 
commission-government,  in  1037.  The  first  townsmen  (selectmen)  of 
Hartford,  of  whom  there  is  any  record,  were  :  John  Talcott,  Samuel 
Wakeman,  and  William  Wadsworth  (?)  in  1638. 

The  name  Hartford  was  borrowed  from  the  township  of  Hertford, 
on  the  river  Lea,  in  Hertfordshire,  England.  There  the  name  is  pro- 
nounced Hartford,  or,  more  commonly,  Harford.  Bede,  who  died  a.  d. 
735,  sometimes  wrote  the  name  Herudford,  which  has  been  explained  as 
meaning  Red  Ford  ;  but  the  common  Anglo- 
Saxon  equivalent  for  red  was  redd.  Sir  Hen- 
ry Chauncey,  in  1700,  says  that  the  Britons 
called  the  place  Durocobriva  ;  which,  he 
says,  meant  Red  Ford.  Other  writers  have 
claimed  that  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  heort,  or 
heorot,  a  hart,  is  to  be  found  the  origin  of 
the  first  half  of  the  name.  Since  the  year 
1571  the  arms  of  the  borough  have  been, 
argent,  a  hart,  couchant,  in  a  ford ;  both 
proper.  This  emblem  of  a  stag  fording  a 
stream  may  not,  however,  have  indicated  a 
belief  that  the  name  was  due  to  a  similar  SEAl  of  hebtford,  kngland.s 
idea.     Finally,  in  the  latest  edition  of  the 

"  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,"  the  writer  of  the  article  entitled  "  Hert- 
ford "  is  of  the  opinion  that  the  name  is  a  corruption  of  Hereford, 
which  meant  an  army  ford. 

Why  Hartford  (or,  as  they  sometimes  wrote  it,  Hertford)  was  the 
name  selected  by  our  ancestors  is  probably  due  to  the  fact  that  it 
was  the  birthplace  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Stone,  who  was  the  first  grantee 
named  in  the  Indian  deed  of  1636.  Among  the  first  acts  of  the  Pro- 
prietors (if  indeed  the  Adventurers  did  not  anticipate  them)  was, 
naturally,  the  setting  apart  of  a  square  for  the  meeting-house,  and  with 
it,  perhaps,  a  place  of  burial  for  the  dead.  The  former  was  a  tract 
embracing  not  only  the  present  City  Hall  square,  but  a  space  whereof 
the  south  line  was  nearly  as  far  south  as  the  present  Grove  Street; 
the  north  line  being  nearly  coincident  with  the  present  Kinsley  Street. 
In  the  northeast  corner  stood  the  "  house  of  correction,"  erected  in 
1640;  the  size  whereof  was  twenty-four  feet  by  eighteen.  Near  the 
north  centre  were  a  few  graves.  The  meeting-house  stood  near  the 
east  centre  of  the  square,  and  near  it  was  a  "  little  house,"  which  in 
1639  was.  sold  by  the  town.     A  new  meeting-house  was  erected  here 

1  See  page  37,  ct  scq. 

2  This  is  the  seal  now  in  use  in  the  borough  town  of  Hertford,  and  the  arms  it  bears  are 
older  than  the  grant  by  Queen  Elizabeth  above-mentioned.  They  were  certainly  used  under 
the  charter  granted  by  Mary,  in  1554,  and  are  probably  of  much  higher  antiquity.  The  Hart 
is  standing  (not  couchant)  in  the  Ford,  and  bears  between  his  attires  a  cross-passion  :  and  the 
name  of  the  town  is  spelled  "  Hart  Forde."  Turner,  in  his  History  of  Hertford  (p.  73,  note) 
mentioning  the  grant  by  the  charter  of  Elizabeth,  adds  :  "But  as  this  clause  left  it  optional 
with  the  corporation  to  adopt  the  new  coat  of  arms  or  to  continue  their  more  ancient  one,  they 
preferred  the  latter  which  they  have  continued  to  use  until  the  present  day."  John  Worden, 
in  1598,  wrote,  in  his  "Speculum  Britannia;,"  a  "Chorographical  Description  of iZartford- 
shire:"  and  in  Bowen's  Geography,  published  so  late  as  1747,  the  county  is  described  as 
"  Hartford-shire "  and  its  "chief  town  is  Hartford."  —  Ed. 


224  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

the  same  year,  the  old  one  being  given  to  Mr.  Hooker,  who  removed  it 
to  his  residence  on  the  north  side  of  the  present  Arch  Street.  In  the 
southeast  corner  a  public  market  was  established  in  1648. 

The  Palisado  must  have  stood  on  the  north  bank  of  Little  River,  a 
few  rods  west  of  Main  Street  bridge.  It  was  built  before  the  town 
doings  were  recorded,  and  hence  no  record  of  its  construction  exists. 

A  bridge  across  Little  River  was  built  by  the  town  in  1638,  probably 
somewhat  west  of  the  present  Main  Street  bridge.  If  made  as  ordered, 
it  was  "  twelfe  feete  wide  betweene  ye  rayles,  wth  turned  ballesters 
on  ye  top."  This  must  have  been  the  structure  referred  to  by  Win- 
throp,  in  his  "  History  of  New  England,"  wherein  he  says,  under  date 
of  Dec.  10,  1646,  there  was  such  a  sudden  "  thaw  in  the  spring 
(the  snow  lying  very  deep),  and  much  rain  withal,  that  it  bare  down 
the  bridge  at  Hartford."  It  was  rebuilt  in  1647  or  1648 ;  for  the 
"  Great  Bridge  cross  the  riverett  by  the  mill  "  is  mentioned  in  the  town 
records  of  1649.  In  1651  the  alterations  of  this  structure  were  so 
great  that  the  General  Court  excused  Hartford  men  from  "  training  " 
on  October  6th  and  7th,  in  order  that  they  might  assist  in  "  raising  of 
the  worke  prepared  for  the  supporte  of  the  Great  bridge." 

The  "  School "  is  first  mentioned  in  a  town  vote  of  Dec.  6,  1642, 
when  thirty  pounds  per  year,  "  forever,"  was  "  seatled  upon  the 
Scoole  of  the  towne."  It  was  the  usage  to  set  school-houses  in  the 
highway,  and  thus  the  location  was  nut  a  matter  of  record.  There 
was  such  a  building  in  1644  ;  and  in  it  were  stored  "  2  great  gunns  & 
carriages  &  other  things  belonging  to  ym ;"  all  town  property. 

The  earliest  houses  fronted  as  follows :  On  both  sides  of  Main 
Street,  from  the  south  bank  of  Little  River  to  Morgan  Street ;  on  the 
east  side  of  Main,  from  Morgan  to  High  Street;  on  the  south  sides  of 
Sheldon  and  Elm  streets  ;  on  the  south  side  of  the  old  line  of  Bucking- 
ham Street ;  on  the  west  side  of  Lafayette  Street ;  on  the  west  side  of 
Trumbull  Street ;  on  the  west  side  of  Front  Street ;  and  on  the  north 
side  of  Arch  Street.  There  were  some  scattering  houses  on  other 
streets.  The  first  habitations  were  mere  cellars,  and  were  sometimes 
so  called  in  deeds  of  conveyance.  The  cellars  were  lined  with  logs 
set  perpendicularly,  rising  four  or  five  feet  above  ground,  and  well 
banked  up  outside.  The  roofs  were  log-covered  and  thatched,  or 
overlaid  with  turf  and  the  boughs  of  trees. 

The  Little  meadow,  lying  between  Front  Street  and  the  River,  was 
very  early  divided  up  (but  not  fenced),  to  provide  mowing-lots  for  the 
householders.  Here,  and  in  the  present  East  Hartford  meadows,  lots 
were  parcelled  out  before  1640.  Some  of  the  South  meadow,  around 
the  Dutchmen's  land,  and  the  Indians'  land,  was  parcelled  in  a  similar 
manner ;  likewise  a  part  of  the  North  meadow.  Within  the  latter  was 
the  "  Soldiers'  field ; "  a  tract  of  twenty-eight  acres,  the  lots  wherein 
mostly  contained  one  rood  each.  These  had  been  distributed  to  Hart- 
ford soldiers  of  the  Pequot  war  of  1637,  before  the  commencement  of 
any  records  now  in  existence. 

Large  sections  of  "  upland  "  were  laid  out  prior  to  1640,  the  "West 
field,  probably,  being  the  earliest.  It  was  a  region  now  traversed  by 
Ann  and  High  streets.  Lots  in  these  "  fields,"  as  well  as  in  the 
meadows,  were  generally  granted  singly,  and  not  in  a  general  allot- 
ment.     When   an   allotment   was   made,  whether   by    dividing  up  a 


SETTLEMENT   OF   THE   TOWN.  225 

field,  a  "  stated  common,"  or  from  the  "  common  and  undivided  lands  " 
(wilderness),  there  was  a  drawing  by  lot,  or  numbers;  the  sharers 
being  usually  original  Proprietors,  or  their  heirs  or  assigns.  A  field 
contained  one,  or  (more  usually)  two,  "  tiers ;  "  and  each  tier  was  di- 
vided into  "  lots."  Sometimes  allotments  were  made  to  the  "  legal  in- 
habitants," the  Proprietors  assenting  to  the  arrangement.  It  was 
probably  by  allotment  that  Pine  field  (between  Asylum  and  Albany 
avenues)  was  divided  in  severalty.  So  with  Bridge  field  (west  of 
Wood's  River)  ;  Great  Swamp  (between  Wethersfield  road  and  the 
ridge  of  Rocky  Hill)  ;  South  field  (southwest  of  the  Ox  pasture)  ;  Rocky 
Hill,  and  the  sections  west  of  it.  Certainly  the  great  West  Division 
(now  West  Hartford),  being  a  tier  of  lots  each  one  and  a  half  miles 
long,  —  the  tier  extending  from  Windsor  to  Wethersfield,  and  being 
bounded  west  by  Farmington,  —  was  divided  by  allotment  to  Proprie- 
tors in  1673.  And  on  the  east  side  of  the  river  an  allotment  was  made 
to  Proprietors  in  June,  1666,  of  the  whole  tract  between  the  present 
Main  Street  of  East  Hartford  and  the  original  east  line  of  Hartford. 
It  had  been  ordered  laid  out  as  early  as  Feb.  11,  1640-1.  It  made 
but  one  tier,  stretching  from  "  Potuncke  river  to  Pewter  Pot  river ; " 
that  is,  from  Windsor  to  Wethersfield ;  and  the  lots  were  each  about 
three  miles  long. 

Stated  commons,  though  belonging  to  the  Proprietors,  were  cared 
for  and  controlled  by  the  town.  The  latter  appointed  herders  and 
"  cow-keepers  "  for  the  cattle  depastured  therein,  and  shepherds  for  the 
sheep.  The  swine,  of  which  great  numbers  were  raised,  were  turned 
loose  in  the  wilderness.  The  Old  Ox  pasture,  the  Ox  pasture,  and 
the  Cow  pasture  were  laid  out  before  1640.  Their  positions  are 
shown  on  Porter's  map  of  Hartford  in  1640,  a  reduced  copy  of  which 
is  given  in  the  next  section.  Other  commons,  as  the  Little  Ox  pasture, 
Middle  Ox  pasture,  etc.,  appear  to  have  been  divided  up  in  severalty 
prior  to  1640.  The  largest  one  of  all  was  established  in  Proprietors' 
meeting,  in  January,  1672-3.  It  lay  between  the  West  Division  and 
the  Prospect  Hill  range ;  extending  from  Windsor  on  the  north  to 
Wethersfield  on  the  south.  It  was  a  common  of  pasturage  and  of 
shack ;  and  from  its  importance  it  took  the  name  of  The  Commons. 
The  southern  part  of  this  vast  tract  is  largely  uncultivated,  and  is  still 
called  the  Common. 

Sunckquasson  being  dead  (he  was  still  living  in  1657),  and  his  deed 
of  Hartford  having  been  lost,  his  "  successors,"  on  the  5th  of  July,  1670, 
made  a  confirmatory  deed  of  the  land  west  of  the  river  to  "  Mr.  Samuel 
Willys,  Captain  John  Tallcott,  Mr.  James  Richards,  and  Mr.  John 
Allyn,  in  behalfe  of  themselves  and  the  rest  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
towne  of  Hartford  who  are  stated  proprietors  in  the  undivided  lands." 

In  January,  1686,  the  General  Court,  seemingly  to  head  off  any 
sequestration  of  colonial  lands  by  Sir  Edmond  Andros,  donated  such 
territory  as  was  not  included  in  any  township  to  certain  of  the  towns. 
To  Hartford  and  Windsor  were  given  the  lands  "  on  the  north  of  Wood- 
bury and  Matatock  [Waterbury],  and  on  the  west  of  Farmington  and 
Simsbury,  to  the  Massachusetts  line  north,  and  to  run  west  to  Housa- 
tunnuck  River  ...  to  make  a  plantation  or  villages  thereon."  It  was 
not  till  1707  that  Hartford  considered  the  cession  valid  or  important 
enough  to  warrant  the  expense  of  a  survey  of  this  tract.     Litchfield 

VOL.  i.  — 15. 


226  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

was  laid  out  in  1717,  and  Hartford  and  Windsor  disposed  of  their  in- 
terest in  it  to  settlers.  In  1723  the  General  Assembly  began  to  take 
measures  to  recover  possession  of  these  "  Western  Lands."  A  contest 
between  it  on  the  one  hand,  and  Hartford  and  Windsor  on  the  other, 
was  carried  on  until  1726,  when  a  compromise  was  effected,  whereby 
the  colony  received  the  territory  comprising  the  present  townships  of 
Canaan,  North  Canaan,  Norfolk,  Cornwall,  Goshen,  Warren,  and  about 
two  thirds  of  Kent ;  while  Hartford  and  Windsor  received  that  now 
comprising  Litchfield,  Colebrook,  Hartland,  Winchester,  Barkhamsted, 
Torrington,  New  Hartford,  and  Harwinton.  In  1729  the  colony  issued 
a  patent  for  one-half  of  this  tract  to  Hartford,  and  for  the  other  half 
to  Windsor.  In  1732  Hartford  and  Windsor  made  a  partition  of  their 
joint  property ;  Hartford  taking  Hartland,  Winchester,  New  Hartford, 
and  the  east  half  of  Harwinton  ;  and  Windsor  taking  the  residue.  The 
Proprietors  (and  not  the  towns)  of  Hartford  and  Windsor  became  the 
possessors  of  the  great  tracts  of  land,  mostly  wild,  which  had  been  thus 
divided. 

Lands  in  Hartford,  like  those  in  England,  were  held  subject  to  the 
"  paramount  title  "  of  the  Crown  of  England.  In  the  colonial  charter 
this  title  was  recognized,  as  also  in  the  patents  granted  by  the  colony 
to  the  several  towns  in  1685  and  subsequently.  Thus  the  title  was 
feudal ;  that  is,  dependent  upon  fealty  to  the  Crown.  The  tenure  was 
not  a  base  one,  but,  as  expressly  stated,  was  by  "  free  and  common 
socage,"  and  not  by  "  Knight's  service."  The  change  from  a  feudal  to 
the  allodial  system  was  practically  effected  when  we  became  indepen- 
dent of  Great  Britain  ;  but  it  was  not  until  1793  that  the  allodial 
character  was  declared  by  statute. 

The  number  of  freemen  in  Hartford  in  1669  was  118 ;  whereof  51 
were  north  of  the  Little  River,  and  67  south.  The  freeman  of  that  day 
was  not  like  the  freeman  of  to-day.  He  would  be  called  an  elector 
now.  There  were  at  the  same  time  126  freemen  in  Windsor,  and  58 
in  Wethersfield.  In  1676,  the  number  of  "  persons  "  (that  is,  males 
above  the  age  of  sixteen  years)  in  Hartford  was  241;  Windsor  and 
Wethersfield  had  204  and  141  respectively. 

Note.  —  The  writer  has  made  much  use  of  private  memoranda  loaned  to  him  by  the 
Hon.  J.  Hammond  Trumbull.  Other  authorities  consulted  are  :  The  town  and  land  Records  of 
Hartford  ;  Trumbull's  Col.  Records  of  Conn.  ;  Col.  Records  of  Mass.  Bay  ;  Winthrop's  Hist, 
of  New  England  ;  Bradford's  Hist,  of  Plymouth  People  ;  O'Callaghan's  and  Brodhead's  Trans- 
lations of  Dutch  Documents  ;  Porter's  Hist.  Notices  of  Conn.  ;  Stuart's  Hartford  in  the  Olden 
Time  ;  Goodwin's  East  Hartford,  etc. 


s$AA(UaW) 


THE  ORIGINAL  PROPRIETORS.  227 


SECTION  II. 
THE  ORIGINAL  PROPRIETORS. 

BY   MISS   MARY    K.    TALCOTT. 

The  first  part  of  this  section  comprises  an  account  of  those  settlers 
who  came  to  Hartford  before  February,  1640.  The  second  part  gives 
the  record  of  those  who  came  between  1670  and  1700,  and  is  neces- 
sarily more  brief.  The  section  is  based  on  materials  collected  by  Dr. 
J.  Hammond  Trumbull.  The  abbreviations  will  be  easily  understood  : 
b.  for  born,  m.  for  married,  ch.  for  children,  d.  for  died.  The  accom- 
panying map  shows  the  locations  of  the  different  home-lots,  and  was 
drawn  by  the  late  William  S.  Porter,  after  careful  study  of  the  Book  of 
Distributions  and  the  town  votes. 

Jeremy  Adams  was  at  Braintree,  perhaps,  1632,  removed  soon  to  Cambridge ; 
freeman  there,  May  6,  1G35  ;  came  to  Hartford  in  1636,  where  he  was  an 
original  proprietor;  his  home-lot  in  1639  was  on  the  highway  now  Elm  Street ; 
constable  in  1639;  he  married  about  that  time  Eebecca,  widow  of  Samuel 
Greenhill,  it  is  supposed  as  a  second  wife,  and  in  the  Distribution,  p.  217,  he 
is  described  as  in  possession  of  the  house-lot  and  lands  of  Greenhill,  until 
the  two  children  come  of  age  (date  not  given).  He  was  licensed  for  exclusive 
right  to  retail  liquors,  May,  1660;  to  keep  ordinary,  March,  1661-2  ;  this 
tavern  was  on  the  site  of  the  present  Universalist  Church ;  he  bought  the  lot 
of  John  Morrice,  and  mortgaged  it  to  the  Colony  Jan.  26,  1660  ;  his  affairs 
had  evidently  been  in  an  embarrassed  condition  for  some  time,  and  the 
mortgage  was  foreclosed  Jan.  14,  1680-1.  He  was  appointed  custom- 
master,  May,  1663;  freed  from  watching  and  warding,  at  the  age  of  60, 
March  2,  1664-5;  townsman,  1671.  His  wife,  Eebecca,  died  in  1678, 
and  he  married  Eebecca,  widow  of  Andrew  Warner,  Jr.,  and  daughter  of  John 
Fletcher.  He  died  Aug.  11,  1683.  Inventory,  £243.  5.  6.  He  mentions  in 
his  will  his  grandson,  Zachary  Sandford,  children  of  son  John  Adams,  and 
children  of  son  Willett.  His  widow  survived  him  (although  not  mentioned 
in  his  will)  and  died  in  Middletown,  Jan.  25,  1715,  aged  77.  —  Children: 
i.  Ann,  married  Robert  Sandford,  of  Hartford  (q.  v.).  Her  son  Zachary 
redeemed  his  grandfather's  property  in  1685,  and  kept  an  ordinary  in  the 
same  place  for  many  years.  ii.  Hannah,  m.  Nathaniel  Willett,  of  Hartford 
(q.  v.).  iii.  John,  m.  ;  d.  1670;  inv.  Sept.  6,  1670.  iv.  Samuel,  baptized 
"Nov.  23,  1645  ;  prob.  died  young,     v.  Hester,     vi.  Sarah. 

Matthew  Allyx,1  Cambridge,  1632;  he  came  from  Brampton,  Co.  Devon ;  free- 
man, Mass.,  March  4,  1635;  representative  at  March  General  Court,  1636; 
removed  probably  next  year  to  Hartford,  where  he  was  an  original  proprie- 
tor ;  his  house-lot  was  on  the  road  to  the  Neck,  now  Windsor  St.,  and  he 
owned  110  acres  in  that  and  other  lots.  He  was  excommunicated  by  the 
church  in  Hartford,  and  June  3,  1644,  he  appealed  to  the  General  Court 

1  Lechford's  Note-Book,  p.  416  :  "  Matthew  Allen  of  Hartford  upon  the  river  of  Conecti- 
cot  merchant,  otherwise  called  Mathenim  Allen,  nup.  de  Bramton  in  Com.  Devon,  infra 
Eegni  Anglie  summoned  to  answer  Thomas  Harwood  &  James  Galium  of  Barnstable,  Co. 
Devon  ;  his  brothers,  Thomas  Allen  of  Barnstable  in  N.  E.  &  Richard  Allen,  yeoman,  of 
Brampton,  are  mentioned  also."  —  p.  418. 


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THE  ORIGINAL  PROPRIETORS.  229 

south  meadow.  He  died  Dec,  1664;  inv.  Dec.  26,  1664,  £105.  10.  His 
widow,  Susannah,  was  one  of  the  original  rnenihers  of  the  South  Church. 
—  Ch.  :  i.  Josiah,  Hartford,  freeman,  1657.  ii.  Joseph,  freeman,  1658;  one 
of  the  first  settlers  of  Haddam  ;  m.  Elizabeth,  dau.  of  Samuel  Wakeman,  of 
Hartford  ;  d.  Oct,  22,  1691.  iii.  John.  iv.  Daniel,  freeman,  1665  ;  d.  May  10, 
1691,  leaving  wife  and  ch.     v.  Dau.  m.  Buck.     vi.   Dau. 

Andrew  Bacon  was  an  original  proprietor  of  Hartford,  and  in  the  distribution 
of  1639-40,  received  a  lot  on  the  east  side  of  Main  St.,  immediately  south  of 
the  Little  River.  He  was  chosen  townsman,  1641,  1658,  deputy,  1642- 
1656.  In  1642  he,  with  Captain  John  Mason  and  Mr.  Clark,  was  ap- 
pointed by  the  General  Court  to  prepare  carriages  for  the  pieces  (guns)  that 
came  from  Piscataqua.  In  1643  he,  with  Mr.  Talcott,  was  appointed  to  take 
a  record  of  the  debts  of  the  country.  He  was  also  a  committee,  with  Mr. 
Webster,  for  Hartford,  to  join  the  magistrates  in  pressing  men  in  each  town 
for  service,  in  1654.  He  was  exempted  from  training,  watching,  and  ward- 
ing, May,  1656.  He  was  a  committee,  with  Mr.  Steele  and  Mr.  Boosy,  "to 
provide  at  Hartford  for  the  comely  meeting  of  the  Commissioners  of  the 
United  Colonies."  In  1658  a  complaint  was  preferred  in  the  General  Court 
against  him,  Gov.  "Webster,  and  others,  who  were  about  to  withdraw  from  the 
church,  and  from  Hartford.  He  signed  the  contract  to  remove  to  Hadley,  in 
1659  ;  freeman,  Mass.,  March  26,  1661.  He  m.  in  1661,  Elizabeth,  widow  of 
Timothy  Stanley,  of  Hartford ;  prob.  a  2d  wife.  He  d.  in  Hadley,  ( )<t,  4, 
1664,  s.  p.  His  widow  returned  to  Hartford  to  live  with  her  son,  Caleb 
^      Stanley;  d.  Feb.  23,  1679,  aged  about  seventy-six.1 

John  Barnard,  maltster,  came,  probably  in  the  "Francis,"  from  Ipswich,  1634, 
with  wife,  Mary,  aged  thirty-eight  ;  was  perhaps  the  freeman  of  March  4, 
1635  ;  removed,  1636,  from  Cambridge  to  Hartford,  where  he  was  an  original 
proprietor;  he  had  twenty-four  acres  in  the  land  division  of  1639-1640, 
and  his  home-kit  was  on  the  south  side  of  the  highway,  now  Elm  St. 
Chosen  deputy,  1642-3;  townsman,  1644,  1649,  1653,  1657.  Exempted  by 
the  General  Court  from  watching  and  warding,  May,  1656.  He  was  one  of  the 
"  withdrawers,"  and  removed  to  Hadley,  1659.  He  was  buried  there  May  23, 
1664,  leaving  a  widow.  Mary,  but  no  children.  The  widow  d.  Feb.  or  March, 
1664-5.  John  Barnard  mentions  in  his  will  his  kinsman,  Francis  Barnard, 
as  executor,  Morgan  and  Thomas  Bedient,  ch.  of  his  sister,  Mary,  living  in 
Old  England,  and  the  ch,  of  his  kinsman,  Henry  Hayward,  of  Wethersfield. 
His  widow  left  much  of  her  property  to  her  bros.,  Daniel  and  William  Stacy, 
of  Burnham,  near  Maldon,  Co.  Essex. 

Tuomas  Barnes,  Hartford,  1639,  a  "proprietor  by  the  town's  courtesy,"  Feb., 
1639-40,  having  six  acres  allotted  to  him.  He  lived  on  the  corner  of  the 
highways  now  Albany  Avenue  and  High  St.  He  served  in  the  Pequot 
War,  1637  ;  granted  fifty  acres  for  his  services,  1671.  He  removed  to  Farrn- 
ington ;  sergeant  of  the  trainband  there,  1651;  joined  Farmington  church 
about  Jan.  30,  1652-3.  His  wife,  Mary,  was  the  dau.  of  Thomas  Andrus,  or 
Andrews,  of  Farmington.     He  d.  about  1689  ;  will  dated  June  9,  1688. 

Robert  Bartlett,  Cambridge,  1632,  if,  as  probable,  he  came  in  the  "Lion,"1 
Sept.  16  of  that  year.  He  was  an  original  proprietor  of  Hartford,  receiving 
eight  acres  in  the  division  of  1639-40.  He  lived  on  the  west  side  of  a 
highway,  west  of  what  is  now  Lafayette  St.;  freeman,  April  10,  1645; 
chimney-viewer,  1650  ;  removed  to  Northampton  about  1655  ;  killed  by  the 
Indians  March  14,  1675-6. 

John  Baysey,  weaver  (autograph  on  will,  Baisie),  was  an  original  proprietor ; 
his  house-lot  was  on  the  south  side  of  the  road  from  the  mill  to  the  south 
meadow,  now  Elm  St.      He  was  chosen   chimney- viewer,   1649;  surveyor 

1  Gravestone  in  old  burying-ground. 


230  MEMORIAL  HTSTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

of  highways,  1652;  constable,  1656;  fence-viewer,  1667;  townsman,  1669; 
d.  August,  1671  ;  will  dated  Aug.  14  ;  inv.  Aug.  29,  £383.  2.  6.  His  widow, 
Elizabeth,  d.  in  1673;  inv.  Dec.  13.  —  Ch.  :  i.  Mary,  m.  Samuel  Burr,  of 
Hartford  (q.  v.).  ii.  Lydia,  m.  John  Baker  (q.  v.),  who  lived  on  the  highway 
afterw.  called  Baker's  Lane,  in  Hartford;  she  d.  May  16,  1700.  iii.  Elizabeth, 
bapt.  in  Hartford,  Aug.  23,  1645  ;  m.  Paul  Peck,  Jr.,  of  Hartford  (q.  v.).  The 
name  Baysey  was  handed  down  to  the  present  century  as  a  Christian  name  in 
the  Burr  and  Baker  families,  and  the  Welles  family  of  West  Hartford. 

Thomas  Beale,  Cambridge,  1634  ;  freeman,  Mass.,  Dec.  8,  1636.  Had  an 
allotment  of  lands,  but  did  not  remove  to  Hartford,  and  the  lands  sequestered 
for  him  had  been  given  to  John  Marsh  before  Feb.,  1639-40.  He  d.  at 
Cambridge,  Sept.  7,  1661  ;  wife,  Sarah,  but  prob.  no  ch. 

Nathaniel  Bearding  (Bardon)  was  in  Hartford  in  1636,  but  not  an  original 
proprietor,  having  land  only  "  by  the  courtesie  of  the  town."  His  honiedot  in 
1640  was  on  the  brow  of  the  hill,  now  called  Asylum  Hill,  comprising  six  acres. 
He  was  chosen  townsman,  1658;  surveyor  of  highways,  1666.  The  name  of 
his  first  wife  is  unknown,  but  he  m.  (2)  Abigail,  widow  of  William  Andrews, 
of  Hartford  (q.  v.)  ;  d.  in  Sept.,  1674;  will  dated  Jan.  7,  1674  ;  inv.,  Sept. 
14,  £282.  His  widow,  Abigail,  d.  March  20,  1682-3.  Inv.  £19. 10.  —  Ch.  : 
by  first  wife  —  Sarah,  m.  Sept.  11,  1645,  Sergeant  Thomas  Spencer,  of  Hart- 
ford, as  his  second  wife. 

Mary  Betts,  widow,  "  the  School  Dame."  She  owned  land  "  by  the  courtesie 
of  the  town,"  and  received  four  acres  in  the  division  of  1639-40  ;  her  home- 
lot  was  on  the  highway,  on  the  north  side  of  the  Little  River,  near  what  is 
now  the  corner  of  Trumbull  and  Wells  streets.    She  d.  in  1647.  —  Ch.  :    1. 

John,  Wethersfield,  1648  ;  m.  Abigail ;  she  was  tried  for  blasphemy,  in 

1662 ;  he  was  divorced  from  her,  Oct.,  1672,  and  went  to  Huntington,  L.  I. 

John  Bidwell  was  a  proprietor  "by  the  courtesie  of  the  town"  in  1640,  when 
his  hcme-lot  was  south  of  Seth  Grant's  home-lot,  and  on  the  east  side  of  the 
road  from  Seth  Grant's  to  the  Mill.  He  also  owned  a  tan-yard  on  an  island 
in  Little  River,  receiving  four  acres  in  all.  He  m.  Sarah,  dau.  of  John  Wil- 
cocks,  of  Hartford.  Chosen  chimney- viewer,  1655,  1661  ;  freed  from  watch- 
ing, warding,  and  training,  Nov.  9,  1670.  He  and  his  wife,  Sarah,  were 
original  members  of  the  Second,  or  South  Church,  Feb.  12,  1670.  He  d.  in 
1687;  inv.,  June  4,  £419.  10.  6.  — Ch.  :  1.  John,  Hartford  ;  m.  Nov.  7, 
1678,  Sarah,  dau.  of  Thomas  and  Hannah  (Tuttle)  [Pantry]  Welles,  of  H.  ; 
admitted  to  the  South  Church,  Feb.  21,  1685.  He  owned  six  saw  and  grist 
mills,  —  three  at  Hartford,  one  each  at  East  Hartford,  Wethersfield,  and  Mid- 
dletown  ;  d.  July  3,  1692.  Inv.  £1081.  ii.  Joseph,  Wethersfield,  east  side  of 
the  river;  m.,  May  18, 1675,  Mary  Colefax,  dau.  of  Wm.  ;  adm.  to  the  South 
Ch.,  Hfd.,  Feb.  1672  ;  had  a  saw-mill  in  Glastonbury  ;  d.  in  1692.  iii.  Sam- 
uel, b.  1650  ;  Middletown;  m.  (1)  Nov.  14,  1672,  Elizabeth,  dau.  of  Thomas 
Stow,  of  Middletown  ;  (2)  Sarah,  dau.  of  Capt.  Daniel  Harris  ;   (3)  Abigail 

;  he  d.  April  5,  1715.     iv.  Sarah,  m.  William  House,  of  Hartford  ;  adm. 

to  the  South  Church,  March  31,  1678.    v.  Hannah,  m. Waddams.    (John 

Waddams,  of  Wethersfield?)    vi.  Mary,  m.  Lieut.  John  Makin  (Mealuns),  of 

East  Hartford,     vii.  Daniel,  b.  1655;  m.  (1)  Elizabeth ;    (2)  Dorothy 

;  lived  in  East  Hartford,  where  he  was  firsts  constable,  1699,  and  held 

other  offices;  d.  Nov.  29,  1719. 

Richard  Billing,  one  of  those  to  whom  a  lot  was  granted  in  1639-40,  "if  the 
Townsmen  see  no  just  cause  to  the  contrary  ;"  chimney-viewer,  1654,  1658; 
removed,  1661,  to  Hadley,  where  he  d.  March  13, 1679  ;  his  widow,  Margery, 
d.  Dec.  5,  1679.  —  Ch. :  Samuel,  Hatfield  ;  m.  Sarah,  dau.  of  Richard  Fellows. 

Thomas  Birchwood  (Birchard)  embarked  for  New  England  in  the  "  True- 
love,"  London,  Sept.  20,  1635,  with  wife  Mary,  aged  38,  and  six  ch. ; 
freeman  at  Roxbury,  May  17,  1637.     An  original  proprietor  at  Hartford,  and 


THE  ORIGINAL  PROPRIETORS.  231 

his  home-lot,  in  1640,  lay  on  the  west  side  of  the  road  from  Seth  Grant's  to 
Centinel  Hill  (Trumbull  St.).  He  remained  but  a  few  years  in  Hartford,  and 
his  homedot  was  sold  to  Isaac  Graves  before  1652.  Removed  to  Saybrook; 
deputy  from  there,  1651  ;  d.  1684. 

Peter  Blachford  (Blatchford,  Blackfield)  was  prob.  at  Hartford  in  1639  ; 
for  he  had  served  in  the  Pequot  War,  and  his  heirs  received  a  grant  from  the 
General  Court,  Oct.  12,  1671,  of  fifty  acres  for  pay  as  a  Pequot  soldier;  free- 
man, May,  1658;  prob.  removed  to  New  London  before  that  time;  removed 
to  Haddam  about  1669;  deputy  from  Haddam  1669-70.  He  m.  Hannah, 
widow  of  Thomas  Hungerford,  and  dau.  of  Isaac  Willey,  of  New  London ; 
d.  in  Haddam,  Sept.  1,  1671. 

Tiiomas  Blackley  (Blatchley,  Blacksley)  embarked  for  New  England  in  the 
"  Hopewell,"  July  28,  1635,  a3.  20  ;  was  granted  a  lot  in  Hartford  conditionally, 
Jan.  7,  1639-40  ;  removed  to  New  Haven,  1643  ;  was  at  Branford  in  1645  ; 
signed  the  "  fundamental  agreement "  of  the  settlers  of  Newark,  in  Oct.,  1666, 
but  remained  in  Connecticut ;  in  his  latter  days  he  was  at  Guilford,  and  d.  in 
Boston,  prob.  on  a  trading  visit,  about  1674.  His  widow,  Susanna,  after- 
wards m.  Richard  Bristow,  of  Guilford. 

Thomas  Bliss,  St.,  was  born  (according  to  the  Bliss  Genealogy)  in  Okehampton, 
in  the  village  of  Belstone,  Co.  Devon,  son  of  Thomas  Bliss,  of  Belstone.  He 
settled  first  at  the  "  Mount,"  afterward  Braintree,  now  Quincy ;  rem.  to  Hart- 
ford, where  he  was  one  of  the  proprietors  "by  courtesie  of  the  town"  in 
1639-40  ;  his  housedot  was  on  a  highway  west  of  the  present  Lafayette  Street, 
and  he  possessed  fifty-eight  acres.  He  d.  in  1650  ;  inv.  Feb.  14,  1650,  £86. 
12.  8.  His  widow,  Margaret,  removed  to  Springfield  after  a  time  with  the 
larger  part  of  her  family  ;  d.  there  Aug.  28,  1684. 

Thomas  Bliss,  Jr.,  came  with  his  father  to  Hartford,  and  was  allotted  a  piece  of 
land  south  of  and  adjoining  his  father's  lot.     He  removed  to  Saybrook,  where 

he  m.,  Oct.,  1644,  Elizabeth ;  from  thence  he  removed  to  Norwich,  about 

1660;  freeman  at  Norwich,  1663  ;  d.  there  April  15,  1688. 

William  Blumfield  prob.  came  in  the  "  Elizabeth  "  from  Ipswich,  in  Suffolk, 
in  1634,  aged  30,  with  wife,  Sarah,  aged  25,  and  dau.  Sarah,  aged  1  ;  free- 
man, Mass.,  Sept.  2,  1635.  He  fought  in  the  Pequot  War,  1637.  An  origi- 
nal proprietor  at  H.,  and  his  house-lot  in  1639-40  was  on  a  portion  of  Avhat 
is  now  Bushnell  Park;  in  1641  he  was  given  "the  ground  whereon  the 
pound  standeth,  and  to  be  made  up  of  ground  about  it  fower  acres  "  over  and 
above  his  share  in  the  division.  (In  the  map  of  1640  the  pound  is  on  Cen- 
tinel Hill.)  He  was  freed  from  training,  March  11,  1657-8.  He  removed 
prob.  ab.  1650  to  New  London,  and  in  1663  to  Newtown,  L.  I. 

James  Bridgemax,  a  landholder  in  Hartford  in  1640,  but  not  an  original  propri- 
etor;  removed  to  Springfield  in  1645,  and  to  Northampton  in  1654.  His 
wife,  Martha,  d.  Aug.  31,  1668  ;  he  d.  March,  1676. 

John  Broxsox  (Browxsox,  Bruxsox),  Hartford,  1639,  a  proprietor  "  by  cour- 
tesie of  the  town  ;"  his  house-lot  was  on  the  road  to  the  Neck,  now  Windsor 
St.  He  served  in  the  Pequot  War.  He  removed  to  Tunxis  about  1641  ; 
deputy  from  Farmington,  May,  1651 ;  one  of  the  original  members  of  the 
Farmington  church,  Oct.  13,  1652  ;  d.  1680;  inv.  Nov.  28,  £312.  1.  6. 

Richard  Broxsox,  supposed  to  have  been  at  Hartford,  with  his  brother,  John, 
removed  to  Farmington,  1653;  joined  the  church  there,  1654;  d.  1687. 
Inv.,  Sept.,  1687,  £405.  8.  His  first  wife  was  a  sister  of  the  wife  of  William 
Pantry,  of  Hartford,  who  mentions  in  her  will,  Sept  12,  1651,  "two  children 
of  Richard  Branson,  that  he  had  by  my  sister,  John  and  Abigail ; "  his  wife 
when  he  died  was  Elizabeth,  widow  of  George  Orvis,  of  Farmington,  and  before 
him,  of  David  Carpenter.     She  d.  in  1694. 

Capt.  Thomas  Bull,  born  ab.  1605,  according  to  his  testimony,  April,  1681,  that 
he  was  then  aged  ab.  75  ;  he  was  first  at  Boston  or  Cambridge ;  accompanied 


232  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

Hooker  to  Hartford  in  1636  ;  served  in  the  Pequot  War,  1637.  He  became 
familiar  with  the  Indian  habits  and  language,  and  was  therefore  peculiarly  use- 
ful to  the  early  settlers.  He  was  an  original  proprietor,  and  in  1640  his  home- 
lot  was  on  the  south  side  of  the  road  from  George  Steele's  to  the  South  Meadow, 
his  lot  being  bounded  1ST.  by  that  road,  E.  by  Richard  Lyman's  land,  S.  by 
Stephen  Post,  W.  by  Philip  Davis,  or  Ward's  lot.  He  was  master  of  a 
vessel  at  Curagoa,  1647-8;  juror,  Hfd.,  1648-9;  Winthrop  calls  him  "a 
godly  and  discreet  man."  He  received,  with  others,  grants  of  land  from 
the  General  Court,  at  Nihantecutt,  in  1650,  and  in  March,  1651-2,  the  Court 
granted  to  him,  and  the  rest  of  the  five  soldiers  of  Capt.  Mason,  200  acres  of 
upland,  which  lay  northward,  and  adjoining  to  the  remainder  of  the  land  before 
laid  out  to  them.  He  was  appointed  Lieut,  of  a  company  raised  in  1653,  by 
order  of  the  Commissioners  of  the  United  Colonies,  to  fight  the  Dutch.  In 
May,  1662,  he  was  appointed  one  of  the  Grand  Jurors  of  the  colony  ;  chosen 
List  and  Rate  Maker,  1668;  Townsman,  1663.  He  was  in  command  of  the 
fort  at  Saybrook,  when  Sir  Edmund  Andros  attempted  to  gain  the  place  for 
his  master,  the  Duke  of  York,  in  1675.  The  bravery  and  wisdom  which  he 
displayed  in  his  resistance  to  Andros  greatly  endeared  Capt.  Bull  to  the  people 
of  the  colony  as  a  gallant  and  intrepid  officer.  He  and  his  wife,  Susanna, 
were  original  members  of  the  South  Church,  Feb.  12,  1670.  His  wife  d. 
1680,  aged  70.  He  d.  1684  ;  will  dated  April  19  ;  inv.  Oct.  24,  £1,248.  11. 
—  Ch. :  i.  Thomas,  b.  1646,  m.  (1)  Aug.  29,  1669,  Esther,  dau.  of  John 
Cowles,  of  Farmington  ;  (2)  Jan.  13,  1692,  Mary,  or  Hannah,  Lewis;  deacon 
Farmington  ch. ;  d.  1708.  ii.  Jonathan,  bapt.  March  25,  1649;  in.  March 
19,  1684-5,  Sarah,  dau.  of  Rev.  John  Whiting,  of  Hfd. ;  was  a  brave  soldier 
in  the  French  and  Indian  wars.  Was  also  engaged  in  trade,  owning  a  num- 
ber of  vessels.  Capt.  of  the  troop  of  Hartford  County.  He  and  his  wife 
were  admitted  to  the  South  Ch.,  Feb.  3,  1694-5.  He  d.  Aug.  17,  1702. 
Major  Jonathan  had  a  son,  Dr.  Jonathan,  one  of  the  first  highly  educated 
physicians  in  Hartford,  and  his  son,  Judge  Jonathan,  was  a  distinguished 
lawyer,  and  held  many  responsible  offices  ;  d.  1783.  iii.  David,  bapt.  Feb.  9, 
1650-1;  settled  at  Saybrook;  m.  Dec.  27,  1677,  Hannah,  dau.  of  Robert 
Chapman,  of  Saybrook.  iv.  Joseph,  Hartford,  m.  (1)  April  11,  1671,  Sarah 
Manning,  of  Cambridge  ;  (2)  Hannah,  dau.  of  Michael  Humphreys,  of  Wind- 
sor;  d.  March  22,  1711-12.  His  widow  m.  (2)  Joseph  Collier.  His  grand- 
son, Caleb  Bull,  was  the  father  of  nine  sons,  who  lived  to  mature  age,  and 
were  all  prominent  citizens  of  Hartford.  These  sons  were  —  Caleb,  Samuel, 
William  ("Beau  Bill  "),  James,  a  prominent  merchant  here;  Frederick,  who 
also  kept  a  tavern  here;  Hezekiah,  removed  to  Ohio;  George,  a  merchant  ; 
Michael  a  merchant,  father  of  John  W.  Bull;  Thomas,  v.  Ruth,  m.  Oct.  15, 
1669,  Andrew  Bordman,  of  Cambridge,     vi.  Susanna,  m.  Thomas  Bunce,  Jr., 

of  Hartford,     vii.  Abigail,  m. Buck.     David  Bull,  grandson  of  Deacon 

Thomas,  of  Farmington,  was  the  landlord  of  the  famous  tavern  "  the  Bunch 
of  Grapes." 
Thomas  Bunce,  Hartford,  1639,  a  proprietor  "by  courtesie  of  the  town."  His 
home-lot  in  1639-40  was  near  the  site  of  the  present  Capitol.  He  served  in 
the  Pequot  War,  and  was  granted  60  acres  for  good  service,  in  1671,  and  50 
more  in  1672.  He  was  chosen  chimney-viewer^/1646 ;  constable,  1648; 
juror,  1649;  townsman,  1653,  1661,  1665;  rate  and  list  maker,  1669; 
chimney-viewer,  1670;  list-maker,  1671,  1672,  1673;  freed  from  training, 
etc.,  Sept.  1672,  being  then  60  years  of  age.  He  and  his  wife  Sarah 
were  original  members  of  the  South  Church,  Feb.  12,  1670.  He  d.  be- 
fore Aug.  1683;  appoints  "beloved  brethren,  Ensign  Nathaniel  Standly 
and  Steven  Hosmore"  overseers.  Inv.  July  and  Aug.,  1683,  £1,024.  He 
names  in  his  will  wife  Sarah,  "cousin  Elizabeth  White,"  and  "sister 
Katherine  Clark."     His  widow  d.  Jan.  1693-4.  — Ch.  :  1.  John,  Hartford; 


THE   ORIGINAL   PROPRIETORS.  233 

received  from  his  father  the  house,  barn,  and  home-lot,  wh.  he  purchased  of 
Thomas  Gridley,  besides  other  property  ;  he  was  admitted  to  the  South  Church 
in  1686,  with  his  wife,  Mary;  townsman,  1701,  1711,  1715;  d.  before  1734. 
ii.  Elizabeth,  m.  Jacob  White,  of  Hatfield,  iii.  Thomas,  m.  Susannah,  dau. 
of  Capt.  Thomas  Bull;  admitted  to  the  South  Church,  with  his  wife,  1677  ; 
townsman,  1679,  1680,  1684,  1689,  1693,  1698,  1703;  he  owned  a  large  es- 
tate in  land  in  Hartford,  on  Rocky  Hill,  Wethersfield,  etc.  Will  dated  April 
25,  1709  ;  proved  April  25,  1712.  iv.  Sarah,  m.  (1)  John  White,  Jr.,  of  Hat- 
field ;  (2)  ab.  1668,  Nicholas  Worthington,  of  Hatfield;  d.  June  20,  1676. 
v.  Mary,  b.  Sept.  17,  1645;  m.  (1)  Thomas  Meakins,  of  Hatfield,  who  was 
killed  by  the  Indians,  Oct.  19,  1675  ;  (2)  John  Downing,  of  Hatfield.  The 
late  Deacon  Russell  Bunce  and  his  sons,  John  L.  Bunce,  President  of  the 
Phoenix  Bank,  and  James  M.  Bunce,  were  descended  from  John  Bunce,  son 
of  Thomas. 

Benjamin  Burr  was  one  of  the  proprietors  "  by  courtesie  of  the  town,"  receiving 
six  acres  in  the  distribution  of  1639-40;  his  home-lot  was  on  the  east  side 
of  the  road  to  the  Cow  Pasture,  afterward  called  Burr  St.,  now  North 
Main  St.  He  served  in  the  PequotWar;  freeman,  May,  1658;  chimney- 
viewer,  1670;  d.  March  31,  1681.  Inv.  £232.  12.  10.  In  his  will,  dated 
1677,  he  names  wife  Anne,  who  d.  Aug.  31,  1683.  —  Ch. :  i.  Samuel,  free- 
man, May,  1658;  m.  Mary,  dau.  of  John  Baysey,  chimney-viewer,  1665; 
d.  in  Hfd.,  Sept.  29,  1682.  Inv.  £521.  13.  ii.  Thomas,  born  Jan.  26, 
1645-6,  in  Hartford;  m.  Sarah,  living  in  1731.  [See  Speck.]  iii.  Mary,  m. 
(1)  Christopher  Crow,  Jan.  15,  1657  ;  (2)  Josiah  Clarke,  of  Windsor,  before 
1682.  iv.  Hannah,  m.  Sept.  1681,  Andrew  Hillyer,  of  Simsbury,  d.  Sept., 
1684.  The  Burrs  have  been  prominent  in  Hartford;  Messrs.  A.  E.  Burr 
and  F.  L.  Burr,  editors  of  the  Hartford  "  Times,"  are  descendants  of  Thomas 
Burr,  above. 

Deacon  Richard  Butler,  Cambridge,  1632;  freeman,  Mass.,  May  14,  1634; 
removed  to  Hartford,  an  original  proprietor,  in  1639-40,  when  16  acres  were 
allotted  to  him.  His  house-lot  was  on  the  corner  where  the  road  from  George 
Steele's  to  the  South  Meadow  intersected  the  road  from  the  Mill  to  the 
Country.  He  was  a  juror,  1643-4-7-8;  townsman,  1649,  1654,  1658; 
one  of  the  committee  for  the  mill,  1661  ;  grand  juror,  1660,  1662  ;  deputy, 
1656-1660;  one  of  the  deacons  of  the  1st  Church;  d.  Aug.  6,  1684  ;  inv. 
£564.  15.  His  1st  wife's  name  is  unknown,  but  his  2d  was  Elizabeth. 
Hinman  says  that  he  m.  Elizabeth  Bigelow  before  he  came  to  Hartford.  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  Butler  d.  Sept.  11,  1691.  —  Ch.  :  i.  Sergeant  Thomas,  freeman, 
Feb.  26,  1656-7;  chimney-viewer,  1667,  1668;  townsman,  1682,  1683;  m. 
Sarah,  dau.  of  Rev.  Samuel  Stone  ;  d.  Aug.  29,  1688,  leaving  4  sons  and  8  daurs. 
ii.  Deacon  Samuel;  freeman, Oct.  12,  1665  ;  m.  Elizabeth  Olmsted (1) ;  settled 
in  Wethersfield ;  d.  Dec.  31,  1692.  iii.  Nathaniel,  b.  prob.  ab.  1641 ;  freeman, 
May,  1668  ;  d.  in  Wethersfield,  Feb.  9, 1697,  aged  56.  iv.  Joseph,  b.  ab.  1647  ; 
freeman,  May,  1668;  m.  1667,  Mary,  dau.  of  William  Goodrich,  of  Wethers- 
field ;  d.  in  Wethersfield,  Dec.  10,  1732,  in  the  85th  year  of  Ids  age.  v.  Ser- 
geant Daniel ;  received  his  father's  home-lot  in  Hartford ;  m.  Mabel,  dau.  of 
Nicholas  Olmsted,  of  Hartford;  townsman,  1685;  d.  March  28,  1692.  Inv. 
£391.  1.  vi.  Mary,  m.  Sept.  29,  1659,  Samuel  Wright,  of  Wethersfield. 
vii.  Elizabeth,  m.  Deacon  Joseph  Olmsted,  of  Hartford,  viii.  Hannah,  m. 
Greene. 

William  Butler,  Cambridge,  1634;  freeman,  Mass.,  May  6,  1635;  was  an 
original  proprietor  at  Hartford,  and  received  28  acres  in  the  distribution  of 
1639-40  ;  his  house-lot  was  on  the  road  from  the  Little  River  to  the  North 
Meadow  (now  Front  St.),  bounded  W.  by  John  Talcott's  land.  He  m. 
Eunice,  sister  of  Tristram  Coffin,  of  Nantucket;  d.  1648,  without  wife  or  ch., 
leaving  by  his  will,  dated   May  11,  the  greater  portion  of  his  estate  to  his 


234  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

brother,  Deacon  Richard  Butler.  He  mentions  children  of  his  sister  West, 
and  his  sister  Winter,  "living  in  Old  England,"  and  gives  "three-skore 
pounds"  to  the  Church  of  Hartford.     Inv.  £429.   3 

Clement  Chaplin  (Chaplain),  b.  ab.  1587  ;  son  of  William  Chaplin,  of  Semer, 
Co.  Essex ;  was  a  chandler  in  Bury  St.  Edmunds,  Co.  Suffolk ;  embarked  in 
the  "Elizabeth  &  Ann,"  from  London,  April,  1635,  aged  48  ;  freeman,  Mass., 
March  3,  1635-6;  deputy,  May,  1636.  An  original  proprietor  at  Hartford, 
and  his  home-lot,  in  1639-40,  was  on  the  east  side  of  the  main  street,  south 
of  the  Meeting-House  Yard,  now  Central  Row.  He  did  not  settle  here,  and 
his  allotment  of  land  was  declared  forfeited,  Jan.  10,  1639-40,  and  Mr.  Hop- 
kins, Mr.  Wells,  Mr.  Talcott,  and  Wm.  Spencer  were  desired  to  deal  with  Mr. 
Chaplin  about  his  lands.  He  had  been  treasurer  of  the  colony  in  1638,  set- 
tled in  Wethersfield ;  deputy  from  there,  1643-4.  His  wife  was  Sarah 
Hinds,  dau.  of  a  goldsmith  in  Bury  St.  Edmunds.  He  returned  to  Eng- 
land after  1646,  and  his  will  is  in  the  Registry  of  Probate,  London.  There, 
he  is  called  of  Thetford,  Co.  Norfolk,  clerk  ;  gives  to  his  wife,  Sarah,  "  Houses 
and  lands  lying  and  being  in  Harford  and  Wethersfield,  in  New  England  ; " 
mentions  his  brother,  "Mr.  William  Chaplaine,  of  Bury  St.  Edmunds,  and 
"  his  kinsman,  Mr.  William  Clarke,  of  Rocksbury,  in  New  England  ; "  proved 
1656.     His  widow  sold  land  in  Hartford  to  Mr.  Henry  Wolcott. 

Mrs.  Dorothy  Chester,   widow  of  John  Chester  of  Blaby,  Co.  Leicester,  Esq., 

twas  an  original  proprietor  at  Hartford  in  1639;  her 
home-lot  was  on  the  west  side  of  Main  St.  near  Cen- 
tinel  Hill.  She  d.  1662  ;  inv.  taken  May  27,  1662, 
£33.  11.8.  Edward  Stebbing  appointed  to  administer 
the  estate  (personal),  and  to  pay  the  debts,  the  remain- 
der to  be  at  his  dispose.  She  was  a  dau.  of  Thomas 
Hooker,  of  Marfield,  Co,  Leicester,  and  a  sister  of 
Rev.  Thomas  Hooker.  —  Ch.  :  i.  Leonard,  b.  July  15, 
1610,  at  Blaby;  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Wethers- 
field ;  he  m.  Mary  Wade,  widow,  dau.  of.  Mr.  Nicholas 
Sharpe;  d.  Dec.  11,  1648,  lost  on  Mount  Lamentation. 
the  Chester  arms.  H  Elizabeth,  b.  Feb.  6,  1624-5. 
Richard  Church,  Hartford,  1637,  was  an  original  proprietor,  and  received,  in 
1639-40,  a  home-lot  on  the  east  side  of  the  road  to  the  Cow  Pasture  (North 
Main  St.)  ;  freed  from  watching  and  warding,  etc.  March,  1655  ;  chosen 
chimney-viewer,  1648;  surveyor  of  highways,  1655.  Removed  to  Hadley 
with  "the  withdrawers,"  in  1659;  d.  there,  Dec.  16,  1667.  His  widow, 
Anne,  d.  March  10,  1684,  aged  83.  — Ch:  i.  Edward,  b.  1628,  Hatfield, 
ii.  John,  Hartford;  b.  ab.  1636  ;  freeman,  1658;  m.  Oct.  27, 1657,  Sarah,  dau. 
of  Richard  Beckley,  of  New  Haven;  died  1691 ;  inv.  Nov.  9.  He  was  the 
progenitor  of  those  of  the  name  in  Hartford,  iii.  Samuel,  Hadley. 
John  Clarke,  prob.  came  in  the  "  Elizabeth,"  from  Ipswich,  Co.  Suffolk,  April, 
1634;  he  was  a  soldier  in  the  Pequot  War,  and  was  one  of  the  owners  of 
that  tract  of  land  in  Hartford  known  as  the  "  Soldier's  Field."  An  original 
proprietor;  his  home-lot  in  1639-40  was  on  the  west  side  of  the  highway 
from  Seth  Grant's  to  Centinel  Hill  (now  Trumbull  St.),  near  the  present 
Allyn  St.  "He  probably  removed  from  Hartfojd  previously  to  1655,  for 
his  name  does  not  appear  in  the  list  of  tax-payers  in  the  '  mill-rates,'  for  the 
years  1655,  1656,  or  1657,  which  are  preserved.  His  name  is,  however, 
found  in  the  lists  of  '  the  proprietors  of  undivided  lands  in  Hartford,  with 
such  of  their  proportions  in  one  division  as  followeth,  according  to  which  pro- 
portions they  paid  for  the  purchase  of  said  lands  in  the  years  1665,  1666, 
1671,  and  1672.'  These  divisions  of  the  'undivided  lands'  were,  however, 
made  to  non-residents,  and  even  to  the  heirs  of  deceased  proprietors."1     John 

1  Gay's  Clark  Genealogy,  pp.  8,  10. 


THE   ORIGINAL   PROPRIETORS.  235 

Clark  was  juror  at  Hartford,  Sept.,  1641  and  Oct.,  1642  ;  deputy,  May,  1649. 
Dr.  Trumbull  thinks  that  this  John,  Clark  is  the  one  who  was  at  Saybrook 
later ;  but  there  is  an  inextricable  confusion  between  the  three  John 
Clarks,  at  Hartford,  Saybrook,  and  Farmington.  John  Clark  was  directed 
by  the  General  Court  "  to  carry  on  the  building  of  the  fort"  with  Capt.  Mason. 
The  will  of  John  Clark,  of  Saybrook,  is  recorded  at  New  Haven,  and  is  dated 
Feb.  17,  1672,  at  the  beginning,  and  Jan.  19,  1673,  at  the  end.  Inv.  Feb. 
28,  1673. 

Nicholas  Clarke,  Cambridge,  1632,  arrived  at  Boston  in  the  "  Lion,"  Sept. 
16,  1632  ;  was  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  of  Hartford.  Lt.  Col.  John  Talcott 
states  in  his  memorandum-book  that  his  father's  house  was  the  first  built  in 
Hartford,  "and  was  done  by  Nicholas  Clark,  the  first  winter  any  Englishmen 
rought  or  built  in  Hartford,  which  was  the  year  1635."  An  original  pro- 
prietor, his  home-lot  in  1639  was  bounded  on  the  N.  E.  by  the  road  to 
the  Soldier's  Field,  and  on  the  S.  W.  by  the  road  to  the  Neck.  He  served  in 
the  Pequot  War;  d.  July  2,  1680.  —  Ch. :  i.  Thomas,  Hartford;  freeman, 
1658;  d.  1695.  Inv.  £456.  15.  9.  ii.  A  dau.,  m.  Alexander  Douglass,  of 
Hartford ;   iii.  A  dau.,  m.  Leister,  of  New  London. 

William  Clarke,  Hartford,  1639,  servant  of  John  Crow ;  the  town  granted  to 
him  half  of  John  Pearce's  allotment  in  1642.  He  removed  to  Haddam,  where 
he  d.  July  22,  1681. 

James  Cole,  a  cooper,  an  original  proprietor,  Hartford,  1639,  when  his  house-lot 
was  on  the  east  side  of  Main  Street,  near  the  South  Green,  running  back  to 
the  street  afterwards  called  Cole  St.;  he  had  another  house-lot  in  1639,  on 
the  east  side  of  Meeting-House  Yard.  He  m.  in  England,  Ann  Edwards, 
widow,  the  mother  of  William  Edwards ;  and  he  came  to  New  England  with 
his  wife,  her  son  William,  and  his  dau.,  Abigail,  by  a  former  wife.  He  d.  in 
1652;  inv.  £116.  3.  4.  Widow  Ann  Cole,  d.  Feb.  20,  1679-80.— Ch.  : 
i.  Abigail,  m.  Daniel  Sullavane,  or  Sillivane,  of  New  Haven,  before  1652. 
Sullivane  m.  Elizabeth,  dau.  of  George  Lamberton,  of  New  Haven,  1654. 

Sergt.  William  Corxwell,  Roxbury,  1634;  Hartford,  1639,  one  of  the  proprie- 
tors to  whom  land  was  granted  "  by  the  courtesie  of  the  town."  He  removed 
to  Middletown  about  1650 ;  deputy  from  there,  1654,  1664,  1665  ;  d.  Feb. 
21,  1677-8,  leaving  wife,  Mary. 

Johx  Crow  was  born  in  1606;  came  to  New  England  in  1634.  He  became 
possessed,  by  vote  of  the  town,  of  the  original  right  of  Bartholomew  Greene, 
forfeited  by  death.  He  m.  Elizabeth,  only  child  of  Elder  William  Goodwin. 
Chosen  surveyor  of  highways,  1656.  He  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  on  the 
east  side  of  the  river,  and  the  largest  landholder  in  Hartford.  "  He  owned  a 
tract  of  land  [in  East  Hartford]  extending  from  near  the  present  Hockanum 
bridge,  north  to  the  neighborhood  of  '  Smith's  Lane,'  and  running  eastward  to 
the  end  of  the  three-mile  lots.  (Bolton.)  Crow  Hill  in  the  river  swamp 
still  retains  his  name."  1  He  went  with  his  father-in-law  to  Hadley  in  1659  ; 
freeman,  Mass.,  1666  ;  he  returned  to  Hartford  about  1675,  and  he  and  his 
wife  were  admitted  to  the  South  Church,  March  31,  1678  ;  d.  Jan.  16,  1686. 
—  Ch.  :  i.  Esther,  b.  1628;  m.  1655,  Giles  Hamlin,  Esq.,  of  Middletown; 
d.  Aug.  25,  1.700,  aged  72.  ii.  John,  lived  in  Fairfield ;  was  a  merchant  in 
the  West  India  trade;  d.  at  sea,  1667,  s.  p.  iii.  Mary,  m.  (1)  Dec.  27,  1666, 
Noah  Coleman,  of  Hatfield  ;  (2)  Sept.  16,  1680,  Peter  Montague,  of  Hadley  ; 
she  d.  Oct.  12,  1720.  iv.  Nathaniel,  lived  in  East  Hartford;  m.  Deborah 
;  d.  July  30,  1695  ;  his  widow  m.  Andrew  Warner,  of  Hartford,  after- 
ward of  Windham.  v.  Elizabeth,  b.  1644;  m.  (1)  William  Warren,  of 
Hartford ;  (2)  Phineas  Wilson,  of  Hartford,  a  wealthy  merchant  from  Dub- 
lin;  he  d.  May  22,  1692,  and  after  his  death  she  continued  his  business,  and 

1  Goodwin's  East  Hartford,  p.  49. 


236  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

became  the  most  extensive  banker  in  the  Colony.  She  was  accustomed  to 
loan  money  on  mortgage  not  only  to  citizens  of  Hartford,  but  in  the  adjacent 
towns,  and  she  managed  her  affairs  with  wisdom  and  judgment.  She  d.  July 
9  or  19,  1727,  aged  86(1),  leaving  a  large  property  and  many  legacies, 
vi.  Sarah,  b.  March  1,  1646-7,  in  Hartford  ;  m.  Nov.  1,  1661,  Daniel  White,  of 
Hatfield;  d.  June  29,  1719,  aged  72.  vii.  Anna,  or  Hannah,  b.  July  13,  1649  ; 
m.  March  7,  1667-8,  Thomas  Dickinson;  he  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  of 
Hadley,  but  removed  to  Wethersfield  in  1679  ;  d.  there,  1716.  viii.  Mehita- 
bel,  b.  ab.  1652;  m.  Sept.  24,  1668,  Colonel  Samuel  Partridge,  of  Hadley 
and  Hatfield;  d.  Dec.  8,  1730,  aged  78.  ix.  Ruth,  m.  (1)  Dec.  21,  1671, 
William  Gaylord,  of  Hadley;  (2)  ab.  1681,  John  Haley,  of  Hadley.  x. 
Samuel,  m.  May  17,  1671,  Hannah,  dau.  of  Capt.  William  Lewis,  of  Farming- 
ton  ;  slain  at  Fall's  fight,  May  18,  1676.  xi.  Daniel,  b.  ab.  1656;  lived  in 
Hartford;  d.  Aug.  12,  1693,  aged  37,  s.  p. 

Captain  John  Cullick  came  from  Felstead,  Co.  Essex.  He  was  an  original 
proprietor,  Hartford,  1639,  and  received  from  the  town  the  land  assigned  to 
Jonathan  Ince  ;  his  home-lot  in  1639  was  on  what  is  now  the  East  Park, 
lying  between  the  river  and  Elm  St.  He  also  was  granted  a  lot  in  the 
Soldier's  Field,  for  services  in  the  Pequot  War.  Chosen  townsman,  1644; 
deputy,  1644,  1646,  1647;  Magistrate  and  Secretary  of  the  Colony,  1648, 
which  offices  he  filled  until  1658.  His  first  wife  d.  in  1647,  and  he  m.  (2) 
May  20,  1648,  Elizabeth  Fenwick,  sister  of  Sir  George  Fenwick.  He  served 
as  Commissioner  of  the  United  Colonies  for  Connecticut,  1652-1654.  Re- 
moved to  Boston,  and  was  received  into  the  church  there,  Nov.  27,  1659, 
with  his  wife  and  elder  children,  Mary  and  John ;  d.  in  Boston,  Jan.  23, 
1662-3.  His  widow  m.  (2)  Richard  Ely,  of  Boston,  afterward  of  Say  brook  ; 
d.  Nov.  12,  1683. 

Philip  Davis,  tailor,  held  land  here  in  1639-40,  on  the  south  side  of  the  road 
from  George  Steele's  to  the  South  Meadow.  Chosen  chimney-viewer,  1653  ; 
freeman,  1656;  constable,  1660;  townsman,  1667,  1671,  1675,  1680,  1684; 
fence-viewer,  1668,  1669,  1673.  He  m.  Esther,  dau.  of  Thomas  Coleman, 
of  Wethersfield  ;  d.  in  1689  ;  inv.  Oct.  22,  £375.  13.  2.  —  Ch.  :  i.  Lydia,  m. 
Nov.,  1676,  Nathaniel  Cole,  of  Hartford ;  d.  Jan.  25,  1683-4.  ii.  Hannah, 
m.  John  Grave,  of  Hartford,  1690,  as  his  second  wife. 

Fulke  Davy  sold  his  house  and  lot  to  Nathaniel  Ward  before  Jan.,  1639-40, 
and  probably  removed  from  Hartford  ;  he  witnessed  a  grant  from  Jas.  Fassett 
to  Lion  Gardner,  of  Isle  of  Wight,  March  10,  1639-40  ;  signed  the  petition 
from  Jamaica,  Middleborough,  and  Hempsted,  L.  I.,  to  be  taken  under  Conn, 
government. 

Robert  Day  came  in  the  "  Elizabeth,"  from  Ipswich,  Co.  Suffolk,  to  Boston, 
in  April,  1634,  aged  30,  with  wife,  Mary,  aged  28  ;  freeman,  Mass.,  May  6, 
1635.  An  original  proprietor  at  Hartford  ;  his  home-lot  in  1639  was  on  the 
road  from  Centinel  Hill  to  the  North  Meadow,  near  the  junction  of  the  streets 
now  Main  and  Village  streets.  He  was  chosen  viewer  of  chimneys  and  ladders, 
1643.  His  first  wife  is  supposed  to  have  died  before  his  removal  to  Hartford, 
and  hem.  (2)  Editha,  sister  of  Deacon  Edward  Stebbins.  He  d.  in  1648; 
will  dated  May  20;  inv.  Oct.  14,  £142.  13.  6.  His  widow,  Editha,  m.  (2) 
John  Maynard,  of  Hartford  ;  (3)  1658,  Elizur  JLalyoke,  of  Springfield. — 
Ch. :  1.  Thomas,  removed  to  Springfield,  1658;  m.  Oct.  27,  1659,  Sarah, 
dau.  of  Lieut.  Thomas  Cooper;  freeman,  1668;  d.  Dec.  27,  1711.  ii.  John, 
Hartford  ;  received  the  property  of  his  stepfather,  John  Maynard,  by  his  will ; 
m.1  Sarah,  dau.  of  Thomas  Butler,  of  Hartford  ;  in  the  distribution  of  Thomas 
Butler's  estate,  1697,  John  Day's  wife  was  one  of  the  heirs  ;  freeman,  May, 
1680  ;  d.  in  Hartford  ab.  1730.     iii.   Sarah ;  m.  (1)  Nov.  17,  1658,  Nathaniel 

says  he  m.  Sarah  Maynard,  but  he  is  probably  mistaken. — See  Hinman,  p.  456. 


THE   ORIGINAL   PROPRIETORS.  237 

Gunn,  of  Hartford;  (2)  Nov.  24,  1664,  Samuel  Kellogg,  of  Hatfield,  and  was 
killed  with  her  son,  Joseph,  by  the  Indians,  Sept.  19,  1677.  iv.  Mary,  b.  ab, 
1641  ;  in.  (1.)  Oct.  28,  1659,  Samuel  Ely,  of  Springfield  ;  (2)  April  12,  1694. 
Thomas  Stebbins,  of  Springfield ;  (3)  Dec.  11,  1696.  Deacon  John  Coleman, 
of  Hatfield;  d.  Oct.  17,  1725,  aged  84.  The  Hon.  Thomas  Day,  Secretary 
of  State,  and  president  of  the  Conn.  Historical  Society,  was  a  descendant  of 
Thomas,  of  Springfield,  as  also  was  the  late  Hon.  Calvin  Day. 

Nicholas  Desborough  (Disbro,  Desbrough,  Disborow,  Desbrow),  Hartford, 
1639,  a  proprietor  "by  courtesie  of  the  town";  his  home-lot  was  on  the  east 
side  of  road  to  the  Cow  Pasture  (North  Main  St.),  not  far  from  the  pres- 
ent tunnel.  He  served  in  the  Pequot  War  ;  received  a  grant  of  fifty  acres  for 
his  services,  May  11,  1671.  He  m.  1640,  Mary  Brunson,  prob.  sister  of 
John.  Chosen  chimney-viewer,  1647,  1655,  1663,  1669;  surveyor  of  high- 
ways, 1665  ;  freed  from  training,  etc.,  March  6,  1672-3,  when  sixty  years  old. 
He  m.  (2),  after  1669,  Elizabeth,  widow  of  Thwaite  Strickland.1  Cotton 
Mather  (Magnalia,  vi.  69)  tells  a  marvellous  story  of  molestations  in  Des- 
borough's  house  by  invisible  bauds,  in  1683.  He  d.  in  1683  ;  inv.  Aug.  31, 
£81.  15.  — Ch.:  i.  Mary,  m.  Obadiah  Spencer,  of  Hartford,  ii.  Sarah,  m. 
Samuel  Eggleston,  of  Middletown  ;  d.  1683,  aged  71.  iii.  Phebe,  bapt.  Dec. 
20,  1646  ;  m.  John  Kelsey,  of  Hartford,  who  removed  to  Killingworth.  iv. 
Abigail,  b.  Feb.  1,  1648-9;  m.  (1)  Robert  Flood,  of  Wethersfield ;  (2) 
Matthew  Barry. 

Deacon-  Joseph  Easton,  born  ab.  1602,  Cambridge;  freeman,  March  4,  1635; 
an  original  proprietor  at  Hartford  ;  his  home-lot,  in  1639,  was  on  the  south 
side  of  the  highway,  now  Elm  St.,  near  the  west  end.  Chosen  chimney- 
viewer,  1649;  surveyor  of  highways,  1652,  1656,  1666;  constable,  1658. 
He  m.  Hannah,  dau.  of  James  Ensign,  of  Hartford.  He  bought  land  on  the 
east  side  of  the  river,  of  Richard  Goodbman,  and  was  one  of  the  committee  on 
fencing  the  meadow  in  L683  ;  d.  Aug.  19,  1688,  aged  86. —Ch.  :  i.  Joseph, 
settled  in  East  Hartford;  lived  in  the  North  Meadow  ab.  1700;  chimney- 
viewer,  1669;  townsman,  1704;  deacon;  d.  Dec.  30,  1711.  ii.  John,  Hart- 
ford ;  admitted  to  the  South  Church,  Aug.  28,  1670  ;  surveyor  of  highways, 

1671;  townsman,  L693;  m.  Elizabeth ,  who  d.  June  10,  1710.     He  d. 

Nov.  2,  1716.  iii.  Mary,  m.  John  Skinner,  of  Hartford  ;  d.  June  18,  1695. 
iv.  Sarah,  m.  Robert  Shirley,  of  Hartford.  Colonel  James  Easton,  of  Hartford, 
afterward  of  Pittsfield,  who  was  associated  with  Colonel  Ethan  Allen  in  the 
taking  of  Ticonderoga,  was  a  great-grandson  of  Joseph  Easton,  of  East  Hartford. 

William  Edwards,  Hartford,  1639,  came  with  his  mother  and  stepfather,  Mr. 
James  Cole;  m.  ab.  1645,  Agnes,  widow  of  William  Spencer,  of  Hartford  ;  free- 
man, May,  1658;  chimney-viewer,  1668;  d.  before  1672.  — Ch.  :  1.  Richard, 
b.  May,  1647  ;  m.  Nov.  19,  1667,  Elizabeth,  dau.  of  William  Turtle,  of  New 
Haven;  divorced  from  her  in  1691  ;  m.  (2)  ab.  1692,  Mary,  dau.  of  Lt.-Col. 
John  Talcott,  of  Hartford.  He  was  an  attorney  at  law,  and  a  very  prominent 
man  in  his  day.  He  d.  April  20,  1718.  His  widow,  Mary.  d.  April  19,  1723. 
His  eldest  son,  the  Rev.  Timothy  Edwards,  of  East  Windsor,  was  the  father 
of  the  great  theologian,  Jonathan  Edwards,  and  through  him  Richard  Edwards 
was  the  ancestor  of  many  distinguished  men,  scholars,  divines,  and  statesmen. 

Edward  Elmer,  Cambridge,  came  in  the  "Lion,"  arriving  Sept.  16,  1632,  with 
Talcott,  Goodwin,  Olmsted,  and  others ;  one  of  the  original  proprietors  of 
Hartford  ;  his  home-lot,  in  1639,  was  on  the  east  side  of  Main  Street,  next 
north  of  John  Talcott.  Chosen  chimney- viewer,  1651  ;  removed  to  North- 
ampton about  1656  ;  went  from  there  to  Windsor,  on  the  east  side  of  the 

1  Elizabeth,  dau.  of  Edward  Shepard  of  Cambridge,  prob.  m.  (1)  Thwaite  Strickland,  of 
Hfd. ;  (2)  Nicholas  Disboro,  Gregory  Wilterton  gave  her  land  in  Hfd.  by  deed,  with  reversion 
to  her  dau.  by  her  first  husband,  Thwaite  Strickland,  and  her  sons,  John,  Joseph,  Jonathan, 
and  Ephraim  Strickland.     The  dau.  m.  John  Andrews.  —  Gen.  Reg.  xxxix.  192  ;  xxxiii.  356. 


238  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

river  ;  freed  from  watching  and  warding,  March  5,  1667-8  ;  killed  by  the  In- 
dians in  King  Philip's  war,  in  1676,  leaving  a  widow,1  Mary,  who  m.  Thomas 
Catlin,  of  Hartford,  as  2d  wife.  Inv.  £471.  15.  3.  —  Ch.  :  i.  John,  b.  ab. 
1646  ;  m.  ab.  1669,  Rosamond  Ginivare,  of  Hartford,  Mr.  Eliezer  "Way's  maid  ; 
d.  in  Windsor,  Dec.  21,  1711.  ii.  Samuel,  bapt.  Hartford,  March  21,  1646-7; 
settled  in  East  Windsor ;  m.  and  had  descendants,  iii.  Elizabeth,  bapt. 
Hartford,  July  15,   1649;   died  before  her  father,      iv.    Edward,  b.   1654; 

m.  Rebecca  before  March,   1685-6,  of  Windsor  ;   of  Northampton  in 

1729.  v.  Joseph,  b.  1656,  Northampton;  d.  July,  1657.  vi.  6.  Mary,  b. 
Northampton,  1658;  m.  Joseph  Garrett,  or  Garrard,  of  Hartford,  1696, 
afterward  of  Glastonbury,  1729.  vii.  Sarah,  b.  1664,  in  East  Windsor;  m. 
Thomas  Long,  of  Hfd.  (q.  v.). 

Nathaniel  Ely,  Cambridge,  1632;  freeman,  Mass.,  May  6,  1635;  an  original 
proprietor  at  Hartford  ;  his  house-lot  was  next  north  of  Edward  Elmer,  where 
Music  Hall  now  stands  ;  constable,  1640;  townsman,  1644,1650;  one  of  the 
signers  of  the  agreement  for  planting  Norwalk,  June  19,  1650,  and  probably 
removed  there  soon  after;  he  sold  land  to  John  Talcott,  Sept.,  1650,  and 
to  Richard  Butler,  1652.  He  was  deputy  from  Norwalk,  1657  ;  removed  to 
Springfield  in  1660,  where  he  d.  Dec.  25,  1675.  His  widow,  Martha,  d. 
Oct.  23,  1688. 

James  Ensign  (Ensing),  Cambridge,  1634;  freeman,  Mass.,  March  4,  1635;  an 
original  proprietor  at  Hartford,  1639  ;  his  home-lot  was  on  the  south  side  of 
the  highway  now  Elm  St.;  chosen  constable,  1649,  1662;  chimney-viewer, 
1655  ;  townsman,  1656.  He  and  his  wife,  Sarah,  were  original  members  of 
the  South  Church,  Feb.  12,  1670.  He  d.  1670;  will  dated  Nov.  23;  inv. 
Dec.  23,  £729.  2.  9.  His  widow,  Sarah,  d.  in  1676;  inv.  taken  May  29, 
1676. —Ch.  :  i.  Sarah,  m.  May  6,  1651,  John  Rockwell,  of  Windsor;  d. 
June  23,  1659.  ii.  David,  b.  ab.  1644,  Hartford;  m.  Oct.  22, 1663,  Mehitabel, 
dau.  of  Thomas  Gunn,  of  Windsor  ;  she  obtained  a  divorce  from  him,  October, 
1682;  chimney-viewer,  1666;  surveyor  of  highways,  1669.  iii.  Mary,  m. 
ab.  1662,  Samuel  Smith,  of  Northampton,  afterward  of  Hadley.  iv.  Hannah, 
m.  Joseph  Easton  (q.  v.).     v.  Lydia,  bapt.  Aug.  19,  1649. 

Zachary  Field  was  an  original  proprietor.  Hartford,  1639.  His  home-lot  was 
on  the  east  side  of  the  road  to  the  Cow  Pasture  ;  chosen  chimney -viewer,  1 650 ; 
constable,  1652  ;  removed  to  Northampton  about  1659,  thence  to  Hatfield, 
1663  ;  d.  June  28,  1666.     His  wife's  name  was  Mary. 

Thomas  Fisher,  freeman,  Mass.,  March  4,  1634-5  ;  owned  a  house  in  Newtown, 
Feb.  8,  1635-6  ;  bought  Win.  Kelsey's  lot  there,  April  19,  1636.  The  home- 
lot  reserved  for  him  in  Hartford  was  settled  on  Thomas  Spencer.  Porter 
says  John  Holloway  had  it. 

John  Friend,  Salem,  1637,  was  at  the  River's  mouth  (Saybrook),  with  John 
Winthrop  ;  he  owned  a  lot  in  Hartford,  on  the  east  side  of  the  river,  eight 
acres,  which  he  sold  to  William  Gibbons  before  Jan.  7,  1639-40,  and  he  sold 
part  of  his  house-lot  to  George  Wyllys  before  that  time.  Savage  says  that  he 
was  an  inhabitant  of  Boston  in  1640.  In  1651,  May  14,  he  was  plaintiff  in 
an  action  for  debt  at  Hartford,  Thomas  Bull  being  his  attorney  ;  d.  1656. 

Samuel  Gardiner  (Gardner)  was  one  of  several  persons  to  whom  lots  were 
granted  in  1640,  "  if  the  Townsmen  see  noe  just/Cause  to  the  contrary,  and 
they  will  accept  of  them  vppon  such  tearmes  as  the  Townsmen  shall  see  cause 
to  propose."  He  is  said  to  have  been  at  Wethersfield  ;  removed,  1663,  to 
Hadley.     His  wife's  name  was  Elizabeth.     He  d.  June  21,  1676. 

Daniel  Garret  (Garrard,  Garwood)  was  a  proprietor  "  by  courtesie  of  the 
town;"  his  home-lot,  in  1639,  was  on  the  east  side  of  the  road  to  the  Cow 
Pasture,  near  the  north  end ;    freeman,  April  9,  1 640  ;    appointed  master  of 

1  See  County  Court  Records,  iv.  25,  39  ;   Colonial  Records,  vol.  iii.  Book  D.  ;  Windsor 
Land  Records,  i.  242. 


THE   ORIGINAL   PROPRIETORS.  239 

the  prison,  July  11,  1654  ;  chimney-viewer,  1G56.  Hinman  says  he  was  the 
first  that  kept  the  new  jail,  and  he  continued  the  prison-keeper  for  many 
years;  living  in  1687,  aged  75. — Ch.  :  i.  Daniel,  bapt.  in  Hartford,  Jan. 
24,  1646-7.  ii.  Joseph;  m.  Mary,  dau.  of  Edward  Elmer,  ab.  1678;  living 
in  Hartford  in  1696,  afterward  in  Windsor  and  Wethersfield,  and  in  Glas- 
tonbury in  1729. 

John  Gennings  (Ginnings)  was  a  proprietor  "  by  courtesie  of  the  town,"  and 
his  home-lot,  in  1639,  was  on  the  brow  of  the  hill  now  Asylum  Hill,  abut- 
ting on  the  highway  on  the  west,  on  the  west  field  on  the  east,  on  Richard 
Lord's  land  on  the  north,  and  on  Nathaniel  Bearding's  land  on  the  south.  He 
probably  d.  not  long  after  1640.1  —  Ch.  :  i.  Nicholas,  came  in  the  "Francis," 
from  Ipswich,  1634,  aged  22;  he  also  was  a  proprietor  at  Hartford,  "by 
courtesie  of  the  town,"  in  1639,  and  his  home-lot  was  on  the  east  side  of  the 
road  to  the  Cow  Pasture  ;  the  town  voted,  Jan.  13,  1639-40,  "that  Nicho- 
las Genings  shall  be  sent  vnto  to  come  vnto  the  Towne  in  a  certeine  tyme 
lymited  and  to  take  up  his  habitacon  heer,  or  else  his  lotts  to  returne  vnto 
the  Townes  handes,  paying  him  for  the  worth  of  the  labour  done  vppon  it." 
Oct.  28,  1640,  his  house-lot  "  and  y*  in  the  Pyne  field  "  were  given  to  Thomas 
Porter;  but  he  was  here  shortly  after,  and  owned  a  house-lot,  which  he  bought 
of  William  Adams,  of  Farmington,  "abutting  on  the  highway  leading  from 
Thomas  Stanton's  to  the  Pound  hill,"  on  the  east.  He  m.  Mary  Bedford. 
He  appears  to  have  left  Hartford  sometime  between  1650  and  1660.  Mat- 
thew Beck  with  bought  three  parcels  of  land  of  him  in  1650,  apparently  all 
he  owned.  Oct.  16,  1673,  administration  was  granted  to  John  Ginnings  on 
the  estate  of  his  father,  Nicholas  Ginings,  "  sometime  of  Saybrook."  ii. 
Joshua  (prob.  a  son  of  John)  bought  land  of  Thomas  Allcock  (Olcott),  being 
the  western  portion  of  Olcott's  home-lot ;  and  he  owned  also  another  parcel 
of  land  with  tenement,  part  of  which  he  received  from  the  town,  and  part 
of  which  he  bought  of  Olcott,  "abutting  on  the  meeting-house  lott  on  the 
east,  on  a  highway  on  the  south,  and  on  Thomas  Olcott's  land  on  the  west 
and  north."  He  m.  Dec.  23,  1647,  Mary  Williams;  removed  to  Fairfield 
ab.  1656;  d.  there,  1676. 

William  Gibbons  was  Mr.  Wyllys's  steward,  and  came  to  Hartford  in  1636,  with 
twenty  men,  to  build  a  house  and  prepare  a  garden  for  his  employer.  He  was 
an  original  proprietor  of  Hartford,  and  in  the  distribution  of  1639  received  a 
home-lot  on  the  east  side  of  the  highway  now  Governor  St.,  south  of  Char- 
ter Oak  St.  Chosen  juror,  1643;  townsman,  1643,  1652;  constable,  1647; 
surveyor  of  highways,  1648.  He  d.  in  1655;  will  dated  Feb.  28,  1654-5  ; 
inv.  Dec.  2,  1655,  £1499.  14.  5.  He  mentions  his  wife,  Ursula;  daus. 
Mary  and  Sarah ;  brothers,  Richard,  Jonathan  or  John,  and  Thomas  G.  in 
England ;  sister  Hidgcoke,  brother  Hidgcoke,  and  their  son,  John ;  gave  land 
at  Pennywise  "  towards  ye  maintenance  of  a  Lattin  schoole  at  Hartford  " ; 
40 p.  to  the  Artillery  in  Hartford.  —  Ch.  :  i.  William,  b.  ab.  1639  (aged  ab. 
54,  March,  1693)  ;  not  named  in  his  father's  will.  ii.  Mary.  iii.  Sarah,  b. 
Aug.  17,  1645  ;  m.  (1)  Hon.  James  Richards,  of  Hartford  (q.  v.);  (2)  as  his 
second  or  third  wife,  Humphrey  Davie,  Esq.,  of  Boston,  son  of  Sir  John 
Davie,  Bart.,  of  Greedy,  Co.  Devon  ;  (3)  May  30,  1706,  Col.  Jonathan  Tyng, 
of  Dunstable,  Mass.  ;  d.  Feb.  8,  1714.  One  of  her  daughters,  Jerusha 
Richards,  was  the  wife  of  Gov.  Gurdon  Saltonstall ;  and  another,  Elizabeth 
Richards,  m.  John  Davie,  Harvard  Coll.,  1681  ;  he  settled  in  Pequonnock, 
now  Groton,  in  1693  ;  in  1707  he  received  the  news  of  his  accession  to  the 
Baronetcy,  and  went  to  England  to  take  possession  of  his  inheritance,  Greedy, 
near  Exeter,  Co.  Devon.  Elizabeth,  Lady  Davie,  d.  at  Greedy,  1713;  Sir 
John  d.  1727. 

1  Savage  says  that  John  Jennings  removed  from  Hartford  to  Southampton,  in  1641,  where 
he  was  in  1664. 


240  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

Deacon  Richard  Goodman,  Cambridge,  1632,  perhaps  the  freeman  of  May  14, 
1634;  an  original  proprietor  at  Hartford,  1639,  when  his  home-lot  was  on  Main 
St.,  directly  north  of  the  Meeting-House  Yard;  chosen  townsman,  1642, 1647, 
1652;  surveyor  of  common  lands  and  fences,  1648;  fence-viewer,  1650; 
juror,  1643,  1645;  sergeant  of  the  trainband,  1650;  constable,  1656.  He 
m.  Dec.  8,  1659,  Mary,  dau.  of  Stephen  Terry,  of  Windsor ;  was  one  of  the 
first  settlers  of  Hadley  ;  slain  by  the  Indians,  April  1,  1676,  aged  ab.  67. 
His  widow  died  in  Deerfield,  1692.  — Ch.  :  i.  John,  b.  Oct.  13,  1661  ;  Had- 
ley. ii.  Richard,  b.  March  23,  1663;  removed  to  Hartford  after  1678;  m. 
Abigail,  dau.  of  John  Pantry,  of  Hartford;  she  d.  Jan.  26,  1708,  aged  29  ; 
he  d.  May  4  or  14,  1730.  His  son,  Richard  Goodman,  and  his  grandson, 
Lieut.  Richard  Goodman,  ob.  1845,  were  both  wealthy  and  prominent  citizens 
of  Hartford,  iii.  Stephen ;  d.  early,  iv.  Mary.  v.  Elizabeth,  vi.  Thomas, 
Hadley.     vii.  Samuel,  b.  May  5,  1675. 

Elder  William  Goodwin  sailed  from  London  in  the  ship  "Lion,"  June  22, 
1632,  with  Olmstead,  Talcott,  etc. ;  arrived  in  New  England,  Sept.  16, 
1632;  freeman,  Mass.,  Nov.  6,  1632;  deputy  from  Newtown,  May  14, 
1634;  came  to  Hartford  prob.  in  1636,  and  was  an  original  proprietor; 
his  home-lot  was  on  Main  St.,  extending  from  the  present  Wadsworth  St. 
to  Arch  St.  He  was  a  man  of  great  influence  in  Church  and  State,  and 
prominent  in  all  the  early  transactions  of  the  Hartford  settlement ;  he  pur- 
chased large  tracts  of  land  up  the  river,  and  Avas  one  of  the  agents  of  the 
town  employed  to  purchase  Farmington  from  the  Indians.  Gov.  Hopkins 
appointed  him  one  of  the  trustees  of  his  will,  and  he  therefore  was  one  of 
those  who  had  charge  of  establishing  the  Hopkins  Grammar  School.  He 
was  an  ardent  friend  of  Hooker,  but  after  his  death  was  deeply  involved  in 
the  great  dissension  in  the  church  at  Hartford,  and  after  several  years  of 
controversy  "  the  Withdrawers,"  as  they  were  called,  under  the  leadership 
of  Goodwin  and  Gov.  John  Webster,  removed  to  Hadley  in  1659.  He  was 
Ruling  Elder  of  the  church  there,  and  remained  there  about  ten  years,  then 
removed  to  Farmington,  where  he  d.  March  11,  1673.  His  widow,  Susanna, 
d.  in  Farmington,  May  17,  1676.  —  Ch.  :  i.  Elizabeth,  m.  John  Crow,  of 
Hartford  and  Hadley  (q.  v.). 

Ozias  Goodwin  was  born  ab.  1596  (he  testified  that  his  age  was  78,  in  1674)  ; 
a  brother  of  Elder  William  Goodwin ;  he  m.  Mary,  dau.  of  Robert  Woodward, 
of  Braintree,  Co.  Essex,  and  very  prob.  came  from  that  region  himself.  He 
was  one  of  the  proprietors  "  by  courtesie  of  the  town,"  and  his  home-lot  was 
on  the  west  side  of  the  highway  leading  from  Seth  Grant's  to  Centinel  Hill, 
now  Trumbull  St.,  containing  four  acres.  He  signed  the  agreement  to 
remove  to  Hadley  in  1659,  but  did  not  go.  A  home-lot  of  eight  acres  was 
assigned  to  him  at  Hadley,  and  Dec.  19,  1661,  the  grant  was  renewed,  pro- 
vided that  he  should  take  up  his  residence  by  the  middle  of  May ;  "and  Mr. 
Goodwin  (Wm.)  engages  for  his  Brother."     He  d.  prior  to  April,  1683.     Inv. 

April  3,  £129.  4.  — Ch. :   i.  William,  b.  ab.  1629;  in.  Susanna ;  who 

she  was  is  unknown,  excepting  the  fact  that  she  had  a  sister,  Sarah  Fruen, 
who  was  betrothed  to  Thomas  Greenhill ;  freeman,  May  21,  1657  ;  chimney- 
viewer,  1672  ;  d.  in  Hartford,  Oct.  15,  1689.  In  his  will,  dated  June  25, 
1689,  he  gives  to  his  son,  William,  land  "formerly  belonging  to  my  uncle, 
John  Morris,  of  Hartford,"  but  just  what  the  relationship  was  is  unknown. 
His  widow,  Susanna,  m.  ab.  Aug.,  1691,  John  Shepard,  Sr.,  of  Hartford,  as  his 
second  wife.  ii.  Nathaniel,  b.  ab.  1637;  freeman,  Oct.,  1662;  m.  (1)  Sarah 
dau.  of  John  and  Hannah  Cowles,  of  Hatfield,  Mass.,  afterward  of  Farming- 
ton  ;  d.  May  8,  1 676,  aged  29  ;  he  m.  (2)  Elizabeth,  dau.  of  Daniel  Pratt. 
Chosen  townsman,  1670,  1677,  1682,  1695,  1706  ;  his  will  is  dated  Aug.  21, 
1712;  inv.  Jan.  29,  1713-14.  iii.  Hannah,  b.  ab.  1639;  m.  ab.  1660-1, 
William  Pitkin,  of  Hartford';  d.  Feb.  12,  1723-4,  in  her  eighty-fifth  year. 


THE   ORIGINAL  PROPRIETORS.  241 

Ozias  Goodwin  has  a  numerous  posterity,  and  Lis  descendants  have  been 
prominent  among  our  best  citizens.  The  late  Judge  Nathaniel  Goodwin, 
the  distinguished  antiquarian  and  genealogist,  was  a  great-great-grandson  of 
Nathaniel,  above.  In  the  line  of  Nathaniel,  by  his  second  wife,  were  his 
great-grandson,  George  Goodwin,  of  the  firm  of  Hudson  &  Goodwin,  for  many 
years  publisher  of  the  "  Connecticut  Courant,"  and  also  the  late  Major  James 
Goodwin. 

Seth  Grant  came  to  New  England  in  the  "Lion,"  Sept.  16,  1632,  with  Good- 
win, Olmsted,  etc.  ;  he  was  an  original  proprietor  of  Hartford,  and  his  home- 
lot,  in  1639,  was  on  the  southeast  corner  of  the  highways  now  Pearl  and 
Trumbull  streets.  He  d.  prob.  in  1646-7;  inv.  March  4,  1646-7,  £141.  10.  8. 
His  children  are  mentioned  several  times  in  the  Book  of  Distribution.  Paul 
Peck  bought  land  of  the  estate  ;  June  10,  1651,  Bartholomew  Barnard  owned 
land  "in  the  Neck,"  bounded  N.  by  land  belonging  to  Seth  Grant's  children. 
The  name  of  only  one  is  known  :  Elizabeth  ;  m.  Feb.,  1655,  Eobert  Warner, 
of  Middletown. 

George  Grave,1  weaver ;  an  original  proprietor ;  his  home-lot  was  on  the  high- 
way now  known  as  Elm  St.,  near  the  Little  River;  chosen  townsman, 
1650,  1668;  deputy,  1657,  1658;  fence-viewer,  1666;  against  the  "  With- 
drawers"  from  the  First  Church,  1658,  but  afterward  an  original  member  of 
the  Second  Church,  with  his  wife,  Sarah,  Feb.  12,  1670,  and  deacon:  d.  in 
Sept.,  1673;  inv.  Sept.  30,  <£278.  13.  2.  His  wife,  Sarah,  was  probably  sec- 
ond wife,  as  she  was  the  "  mother-in-law  "  of  his  son,  George.  Win.  Andrews, 
in  his  will,  calls  him  "Brother."  —  Ch.  :  i.  George,  b.  ab.  1629  (aged  58, 
April,  1687);  m.  April  2,  1651,  Elizabeth  Ventris ;  townsman,  1672;  re- 
moved to  Middletown ;  for  some  years  Marshal  of  the  Colony  ;  d.  Dec.  3, 
1692.  ii.  John,  m.  (1)  Nov.  26,  1657,  Elizabeth,  dau.  of  Jasper  Stilwell,  of 
Guilford  ;  rem.  to  Guilford  ;  deputy,  1670  and  1676  ;  m.  (2)  1690,  Hannah, 
dau.  of  Philip  Davis,  of  Hartford,  iii.  Sarah,  m.  Nov.  21,  1660,  Jonathan 
Deming,  of  Wethersfield  ;  d.  June  5,  1668.  iv.  Mary,  m.  Dec.  12,  1665, 
Samuel  Dow,  of  Hartford,  a  sailor.  v.  Priscilla,  m.  William  Markham,  of 
Hartford,  afterward  of  Hadley  ;  d.  ab.  1688.  (Thomas  Thornton  owned,  in 
1699,  the  messuage,  tenement,  etc.,  which  had  belonged  to  "Marshal  George 
Graves,"  containing  "  five  roods  more  or  less,  and  whereof  my  said  Brother 
Died  Seized."     Did  he  marry  another  dau.  of  George  Grave,  Sr.  1) 

Bartholomew  Greene,  Cambridge,  freeman,  May  14,  1634  ;  came  from  England 
the  year  before,  and  died  the  year  following,  while  making  preparations  to 
remove  with  the  major  part  of  his  neighbors  to  Conn.,  as  is  said ;  his  land 
in  Hartford  was  forfeited,  and  allotted  to  John  Crow.  His  widow  and  ch. 
remained  in  Cambridge,  where  the  widow,  Elizabeth,  d.  Oct.  28,  1677, 
aged  88. 

Samuel  Greenhill  came  from  Staplehurst,  Co.  Kent,  to  N.  E.,  May,  1634,  in 
the  same  ship  with  William  Pantry,  Timothy  Stanley  and  wife,  Mr.  Simon 
Willard,  and  others;  freeman,  Mass.,  March  4,  1634-5.  An  original  propri- 
etor of  Hartford  ;  his  home-lot  was  on  the  west  side  of  Main  St.,  stretch- 
ing from  the  highway  on  the  bank  of  the  Little  River  to  the  road  from  George 
Steele's  to  the  South  Meadow  (Buckingham  St.).  He  d.  soon  after  his 
removal  to  Hartford,  and  his  widow,  Rebecca,  m.  Jeremy  Adams  (q.  v.). — 
Ch.  :  i.  Thomas,  bapt.  Jan.  20,  1632-3,  at  Staplehurst,  Co.  Kent;  betrothed 
to  Sarah  Fruen ;  d.  1653,  in  Hartford,  unm. ;  will  dated  July  16,  1653.2 
ii.  Rebecca,  b.  ab.  1634  ;  m.  Oct.  1,  1649,  John  Shepard,  of  Cambridge,  who 
removed  to  Hartford  ab.  1666;  d.  in  Hartford,  Dec.  22,  1689,  aged  ab.  55. 
(Judd  says  she  d.  Dec.  26,  1690.) 

Thomas  Gridley,  Hartford,  1639,  a  proprietor  "  by  courtesie  of  the  town  ;"  his 

1  "  George  Graue,  freeholder  in  the  Borough  of  Hertford,  1621."  —  Cussan's  Hertfordshire. 

2  His  will  is  referred  to,  Priv.  Contr.  ii.  2. 


242  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

home-lot  was  on  the  south  side  of  the  road  from  George  Steele's  to  the  South 
Meadow;  was  of  Windsor,  Sept.  5,  1639  ;  had  been  one  of  the  thirty  men 
sent  from  Windsor  to  the  "  Pequot  fight "  under  Capt.  Mason,  and  his  heirs 
received  a  grant  of  fifty  acres,  Oct.  12,  1671.  He  m.  Sept.  29,  1644,  in  Hart- 
ford, Mary  Semmor,  perhaps  Seymour,  and  she  may  have  been  sister  of 
Richard  Seymour.  He  appears  to  have  been  interested  in  the  settlement 
of  Nonotuck  (Northampton),  as  he  was  present  at  a  meeting  of  the  propri- 
etors held  in  Springfield,  Oct.  3,  1653.  But  he  d.  in  Hartford;  inv.  June 
12,  1655,  £282.  12.  6.  His  widow,  Mary,  m.  (2)  Deacon  John  Langdon, 
of  Farniington. 

Samuel  Hale  (Hales)  was  an  original  proprietor  at  Hartford,  and  his  home-lot 
in  1639  was  on  the  east  side  of  the  road  to  the  Cow  Pasture  ;  he  had  been  a 
soldier  in  the  Pequot  War,  1637,  receiving  a  lot  for  this  service  in  the  "  soldier's 
field."  He  was  juror  twice  in  1643;  removed  to  Wethersfield,  but  in  1655 
his  name  appears  on  the  Records  of  Norwalk,  in  a  table  of"  Estates  of  land," 
etc.  He  sold  his  land  there  to  John  Piatt,  in  1669.  He  was  deputy  for 
Norwalk,  1656,  1657,  1658,  1660.  He  lived  on  the  east  side  of  the  river  in 
Glastonbury,  having  bought  land  of  the  Eev.  Henry  Smith  before  1668. 
He  d.  Nov.  9,  1693,  leaving  a  wife,  Mary.  Chapin  says  he  returned  to 
Wethersfield,  in  1660,  when  he  sold  four  acres  near  "the  Commoning,"  in 
Norwalk,  to  Robert  Stewart. 

Thomas  Hale,  Roxbury,  freeman,  "Mass.,  May  14,  1634:  a  single  man,  says  the 
church  record  ;  an  original  proprietor  at  Hartford ;  his  home-lot  was  on  the 
west  side  of  the  road  from  Seth  Grant's  to  Centinel  Hill ;  had  served  in 
the  Pequot  War;  granted  fifty  acres,  Oct.  12,  1671,  fur  his  services  ;  signed 
the  agreement  for  planting  Norwalk,  June,  1650,  and  was  there  in  Feb., 
1651  ;  his  name  occurs  in  a  list  of  inhabitants  there,  1655.  He  m.  in 
Feb.,  1640,  Jane  Lord,  of  Roxbury.  Savage  suggests  that  he  perhaps  died 
in  Charlestown. 

John  Hall,  born  in  the  Co.  of  Kent,  1584  ;  freeman,  Boston,  1635  ;  went  with 
John  Oldham  to  view  the  lands  in  Connecticut,  in  1633  j1  Hartford,  1639, 
was  a  proprietor  "  by  courtesie  of  the  town ; "  his  home-lot  was  on  the 
brow  of  "  the  Hill,"  about  where  the  Catlin  place  now  is ;  this  lot  he  sold  to 
William  Spencer ;  removed  to  Middletown,  where  his  land  is  recorded,  June 
10,  1654;  collector  of  customs  there,  1659;  m.  (1)  Esther,  who  prob.  died 
bef.  he  left  England ;  (2)  Ann,  dau.  of  John  Willcock,  of  Hartford  ;  he 
d.  May  26,  1673,  "in  the  89th  year  of  his  age,  and  the  40th  of  his  being  in 
N.  E."     His  widow,  Ann,  d.  July  20,  1673,  aged  ab.  57. 

Stephen  Hart,  Cambridge,  1632  ;  freeman,  Mass.,  May  14,  1634  ;  an  original 
proprietor  at  Hartford,  his  home-lot  in  1639  was  on  the  west  side  of  the 
road  to  the  Neck,  now  Front  St.,  near  where  Morgan  St.  crosses  it.  He  re- 
moved to  Farmington  ;  one  of  the  original  members  of  Farniington  church, 
Oct.  13,  1652,  and  Deacon;  deputy  from  Farmington,  May,  1647  to  1655, 
and  again  in  1660  ;  one  of  the  eighty-four  proprietors  of-  Farmington  in  1672  ; 
m.  (1)  name  unknown;  (2)  Margaret,  widow  of  Joseph  Nash,  and  before 
him,  of  Arthur  Smith;  d.  March,  1682-3,  aged  77;  will  dated  March  16; 
inv.  March  31,  £340.  4.  His  widow  survived  him,  and  d.  March  1, 
1693-4. 

William  Hayden,  Dorchester,  came  prob.  in  the  "  Mary  and  John,"  1630;  re- 
moved to  Connecticut ;  served  in  the  Pequot  War ;  land  granted  to  his  heirs, 
1671,  for  his  services;  an  original  proprietor  at  Hartford;  his  home-lot,  in 
1639,  was  on  the  road  to  the  Neck  ;  he  sold  this  lot  Feb.  9,  1642-3,  at  about 
which  time  he  bought  lands  in  Windsor,  "  towards  Pine  Meadow."  He  re- 
mained in  Windsor  until  1664,  when  he  removed  to  Fairfield,  and  from  there 
to  Killingworth,  in  1665  ;  deputy  from  K.  1667.  His  first  wife  d.  in  Wind- 
1  Hall  Family  Records,  p.  1. 


THE  ORIGINAL  PROPRIETORS. 


243 


sor,  in  1655,  and  he  in.  (2)  Margaret,  widow  of  William  Wilcockson,  in  Fair- 
field. He  d.  in  Killingworth,  Sept.  27,  1669. 
Hon.  John  Haynes  born  1594  was  the  eldest  son  of  John  Haynes,  of  Coddicot,  in 
the  County  of  Hertford,1  also  owner  of  Old  Holt,  in  Essex.  John  Haynes,  Sr., 
in  his  will,  dated  Oct.  20,  1605,  calls  himself  "of  Coddicot  in  the  County  of 
Hartford,  Esquier,"  mentions  his  lands  in  the  parishes  of  muche  Haddam  and 
Widford,  and  the  manor  of  Haynes  at  Mill,  in  the  county  of  Hartford,  also 
lands    in   the   parishes 

of  Birche,  much  Birche,  /?  ^__^      ^j        ^\ 

Copford,  and  Laiermar-  /J  f~Z-—4 

ney  in  Essex.2    He  m.  if?  '       ~J<*\$y?/'7b 

MaryMichell;  "Thorn- 


"Mb 


as  Michell,  of  Tvinge, 
in  the  county  of  Hart- 
ford, gent.,"  was  one  ot 
the  overseers  of  his 
will,  perhaps  a  brother- 
in-law.  He  had  another  son,  Emanuel,  and  nine  daughters.  Gov.  John 
Haynes  m.  (1)  Mary,  dau.  and  coheir  of  Robert  Thornton,  of  Hingham,  Co. 
Norfolk ;  purchased  the  estate  of  Copford  Hall,  Co.  Essex,  of  Allen  Mount- 
joy,  before  162-4.  This  property  is  still  (1884)  in  possession  of  his  descend- 
ants in  the  female  line.  He  came  to  New  England  in 
the  "Griffin,"  arriving  Sept.  3,  1633,  with  Rev.  Thomas 
Hooker;  freeman,  Mass.,  May  14,  1634;  chosen  Assist- 
ant and  Governor  next  year;  again  Assistant,  1636; 
removed  in  May,  1637,  to  Hartford.  He  m.  (2)  Mabel, 
dau.  of  Richard  Harlakenden,  of  Earl's  Colne  Priory, 
Co.  Essex  ;  bapt.  at  Earl's  Colne,  Dec.  27,  1614.  He 
was  an  original  proprietor,  and  his  first  lot  in  Hartford 
was  on  Main  St.,  opposite  the  Meeting-House  Yard  ;  but 
he  sold  that  and  purchased  the  lot  of  Richard  "Webb, 
before  Feb.,  1639-40,  on  the  corner  of  the  highways 
now  Front  and  Arch  streets.  He  presided  over  the  de- 
liberations of  the  General  Court,  Nov.,  1637,  and  con- 
tinued to  do  so  until  he  was  chosen  the  first  governor 
of  Connecticut,  April  11,  1639.  He  was  elected  gov- 
the  hay.nks  arms.  emor  alternate  years  until  his  death  ;  and  chosen  deputy- 
governor,  1640-44-46-50,  and  52,  interchanging  with 
Edward  Hopkins.  He  made  a  voyage  to  England  in  1646.  His  son,  General 
Hezekiah  Haynes,  wrote  June  27,  1675:  "It  is  sufficiently  knowne  how 
chargeable  the  government  was  to  the  magistrates  in  that  first  planting 
wherein  my  father  bore  a  considerable  part  to  the  almost  ruine  of  his  family 
in  England,  for  by  a  clear  ace*  it  may  be  made  evident  that  he  had  transmitted 
him  into  these  parts  out  of  his  estate  in  England,  between  7  &  8000  £,  besides 
what  he  had  of  my  Mother-in-Law's  portion,  which  was  a  thousand  pounds,  & 
by  reason  thereof  we  that  were  the  children  by  his  first  wife  suffered  exceed- 
ingly." He  d.  in  Hartford,  March  1,  1653-4.  Will  dated  in  1646,  "being 
called  to  the  undertaking  of  a  voyage  into  my  native  country  of  England." 
Inv.  £1540.  6.  3.  He  mentions  wife  Mabell ;  John  eldest  son  by  wife  Mabel ; 
Roger,  second  son  ;  Joseph,  youngest  son  ;  "  my  Sonn,  Mr  Nathaniel  Eldred;" 
dau™  Ruth  and  Mabell.  His  widow  m.  (2)  Nov.  17,  1654,  Samuel  Eaton, 
of  New  Haven,  son  of  Gov.  Eaton  ;  d.  in  July,  1655.  —  Ch.  by  his  first  wife  : 


1  May  not  the  fact  that  Governor  Haynes's  ancestors  lived  in  Hertfordshire  have  had  some- 
thing to  do  with  the  name  given  to  the  settlement  of  which  he  was  such  a  prominent  founder  ? 

gentleman,  was  one  of  a  number  of  individuals 


lg  to  do  with  the  name  given  to  the  settlement  of  which  he  was  such  a  prominent  fou: 
2  "John  Haynes,  of  Haddam  Magna,  gentleman,  was  one  of  a  number  of  indivi 
assessed  £20  for  the  defence  of  the  country  in  1590."  —  Cussan's  Hertfordshire. 


244  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF  HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

i.  Robert,  left  by  his  father  at  Copford  Hall  ;  espoused  the  Royalist  side  in 
the  Civil  Wars;  during  Cromwell's  time  imprisoned  in  the  Tower;  d.,  s.  p., 
Aug.  1657.  ii.  Major-General  Hezekiah,  b.  1619,  took  the  side  of  the  Par- 
liament ;  he  was  one  of  Cromwell's  trusted  generals  ;  military  governor  of 
the  Eastern  Counties  during  the  Civil  War  ;  upon  the  accession  of  Charles  II. 
he  was  imprisoned  in  the  Tower;  pardoned  Nov.  17,  1660,  but  again  im- 
prisoned, Oct.,  1661 ;  set  at  liberty,  April,  1662.  He  made  one  or  two  visits 
to  New  England,  having  some  interest  in  a  grant  of  Indian  lands.  He  m. 
Anne,  dau.  of  Sir  Thomas  Smithsby,  of  London,  Hackney,  and  widow  of 

Bushel,  a  Turkey  merchant.     He  entered  his  pedigree  at  the  Visitation 

of  Essex,  Anno  1664;  aged  ab.  68,  Anno  1687.  His  gr.s.,  Hezekiah  Haynes, 
d.  at  Copford  Hall,  Nov.  15,  1763,  as.  80,  and  the  estate  passed  into  the 
possession  of  his  cousin,  Rev.  John  Harrison,  and  is  now  (1884)  owned  by 
Thomas  Haynes  Harrison,  Esq.  iii.  A  dau.,  m.  Nathaniel  Eldred,  of  London. 
By  second  wife  :  iv.  John,  Harvard  College,  1656  ;  freeman,  Conn.,  Feb., 
1656-7;  soon  afterward  went  to  England,  and  in  1660  took  the  degree  of 
M.A.  at  Pembroke  Hall,  University  of  Cambridge.  Feb.  3,  1665-6,  he  de- 
scribes himself  in  a  deed  to  his  brother,  Joseph,  as  "of  Hemmington  in  the 
County  of  Suffolk,  Clerk  ;"  instituted,  May  28,  1668,  rector  of  Swansey,  near 
Copford  Hall ;  remained  there  until  his  death,  which  occurred  before  April 
25,  1671.  v.  Roger,  was  a  student  at  Harvard  ab.  1656  or  57,  but  did  not 
graduate ;  he  sailed  for  England,  but  d.  early,  perhaps  on  the  voyage,  vi. 
Joseph,  b.  1641;  Harvard  College,  1658;  supplied  the  pulpit  in  Wethers- 
field,  1663  and  64;  succeeded  Mr.  Stone  as  pastor  of  the  First  Church,  Hart- 
ford, in  1664;  m.  ab.  1668,  Sarah,  dau.  of  Capt.  Richard  Lord,  of  Hartford; 
d.  May  14,  1679,  aged  38.  His  only  son,  John,  grad.  H.  C.  1689  ;  m.  Mary 
Glover,  of  Springfield,  1693;  chosen  magistrate,  1708,  and  held  the  office 
until  his  death,  1713;  also  Judge  of  the  Superior  Court.  His  dau.  Mary,  b. 
1704,  was  the  sole  survivor  and  heir  of  the  Haynes  family.  She  m.  (1)  May 
2,  1723,  Elisha  Lord,  of  Hartford;  he  d.  April  15,  1725,  aged  24.  Their 
only  child,  John  Haynes  Lord,  b.  Jan.  13,  1725,  Yale  Coll.,  1745,  perpet- 
uated the  name  of  his  distinguished  ancestor,  having  a  son  and  grandson  of 
the  same  name.  Mrs.  Mary  (Haynes)  Lord,  m.  (2)  April  6,  1727,  Roswell 
Saltonstall,  of  Branford,  son  of  Gov.  Saltonstall ;  had  four  ch.  After  his 
death  she  m.  Feb.  5,  1741,  Rev.  Thomas  Clap,  President  of  Yale  College. 
vii.  Mary,  b.  1643  ;  m.  Joseph  Cooke;  d.  1702,  aged  58.  viii.  Ruth,  m.  ab. 
1654,  Samuel  Wyllys,  of  Hartford  (q.  v.).  9.  Mabel,  b.  in  Hartford,  March 
19,  1645-6;  m.  James  Russell,  of  Charlestown  ;  d.  before  1680. 

Rev.  John  Higginson,  son  of  Rev.  Francis  Higginson,  b.  Aug.  6, 1616,  at  Clay- 
brook,  Co.  Leicester ;  came  with  his  father,  in  the  "  Talbot,"  1629,  to  Salem ; 
freeman,  Mass.,  May  25,  1636  ;  chaplain  at  the  Fort  at  Saybrook,  1637-8. 
Porter  says  he  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Hartford,  "  although  he  appears 
not  to  have  had  a  house-lot."  He  was  a  schoolmaster  in  Hartford,  and  may 
have  occasionally  "  stepped  into  the  pulpit."  Mrs.  Higginson  sold  land  to 
Thomas  Olcott,  before  Jan.  1639-40 ;  he  was  at  Guilford  in  1641 ;  col- 
league with  Rev.  Henry  Whitefield,  whose  dau.,  Sarah,  he  m.  He  returned  in 
1659  to  Salem,  and  remained  there  until  his  death,  Dec.  9,  1708.  He  m. 
(2)  ab.  1677,  Mary,  widow  of  Joshua  Atwater^and  dau.  of  Rev.  Adam 
Blakeman,  of  Stratford. 

William  Hills,  an  original  proprietor;  his  home-lot  in  1639  was  on  the  corner 
of  the  highways  now  Front  and  Sheldon  streets.  He  is  supposed  to  have 
been  the  William  Hills  who  came  in  the  "Lion"  in  1632;  freeman,  Mass., 
May  14,  1634  ;  m.  (1)  Phillis,  dau.  of  Richard  Lyman  ;  removed  to  Hartford  ; 
chosen  constable,  1644;  removed  early  to  Hockanuni,  where  it  is  a  well- 
accepted  tradition  that  he  was  one  of  the  first  settlers.  He  was  captain  of 
the  first  trainband  on  the  east  side  of  the  river,  in  1653  ;  made  freeman  1669  ; 


THE  ORIGINAL  PROPRIETORS.  245 

he  was  shot  by  the  Indians1  in  the  beginning  of  King  Philip's  War,  1675  ; 
he  m.  (2)  Mary,  widow  of  John  Steele,  Jr.,  of  Farmington,  and  dau.  of  An- 
drew Warner,  of  Hartford ;  but  he  in.,  for  2d  or  3d  wife,  the  widow  of  Rich- 
ard Risley.2  Died  July,  1683;  inv.  £274.  3;  will,  dated  Feb.  25,  1681-2, 
names  wife  Mary  and  children  ;  mentions  lands  in  Farmington  that  he  has  a 
right  unto  by  right  of  his  wife.  —  Ch.  :  i.  Mary.  ii.  Hannah,  m.  Sergt. 
Thomas  Kilbourn,  of  East  Hartford,  iii.  William,  proposed  freeman,  May, 
1668  ;  buried  at  Hartford,  Aug.  15,  1693  ;  left  seven  ch.  iv.  John,  buried  at 
Hartford,  April  5,  1692,  leaving  wife  and  2  dau™.  v.  Joseph  ;  his  descendants 
reside  in  Glastonbury,  vi.  Benjamin,  m.  Jan.  11,  1688,  Mary,  dau.  of  John 
Bronson.  vii.  Sarah,  ni.  William  Ward,  of  Middletown  ;  d.  before  1660.  viii. 
Susannah,  b.  1651  ;  m.  March  4,  1674,  John  Kilbourn,  of  Glastonbury;  d. 
Oct.  1701,  aged  50.  ix.  Lieut.  Jonathan;  m.  (1)  Dorothy,  dau.  of  Samuel 
Hale,  of  Glastonbury;  (2)  Mary,  dau.  of  Robert  Reeve,  widow  of  Asa  Mer- 
rills; a  prominent  man  in  East  Hartford  ;  townsman,  1698,  1706,  1712. 

John  Holloway  came  to  Boston  in  the  "Elizabeth,"  from  London,  1635,  aged 
21,  in  the  same  ship  with  Clement  Chaplin,  William  Ruscoe,  and  others.  He 
served  in  the  Pequot  War  ;  granted  50  acres  for  his  services  in  1671.  He  was 
a  proprietor  "  by  the  town's  courtesie  "  in  1639  ;  his  home-lot  was  on  the  east 
side  of  the  road  to  the  Cow  Pasture,  on  the  point  made  by  the  junction  of  the 
two  highways  now  Main  and  Village  streets,  near  the  Pound  ;  signed  the 
agreement  for  planting  Norwalk,  June  19,  1650,  but  did  not  go;  he  m. 

Mary ab.  1663.     Freed  from  watching  and  warding  March  2,  1670-1  ; 

died,  s.  p.,  Oct.  13,  1684  ;  inv.  £41.  3.  Left  all  his  property  to  the  First 
Church  in  Hartford. 

William  Holton  (Houghton,  Holten)  came  in  the  "Francis,"  from  Ipswich, 
1634,  aged  23.  An  original  proprietor  at  Hartford;  his  home-lot  in  1639 
was  on  "  the  road  from  George  Steel's  to  the  Great  Swamp,"  now  Washington 
St.  Removed  to  Northampton  in  1654  ;  was  the  first  deacon  there  ;  member 
of  first  Board  of  Magistrates  ;  deputy  several  years ;  d.  in  Northampton,  Aug. 
12,  1691  ;  his  widow,  Mary,  d.  Nov.  16,  1691. 

Rev.  Thomas  Hooker,  b.  at  Marfield,  Co.  Leicester,  1586  ;  son  of  Thomas  Hooker, 
or  Hoker,  of  Marfield,  in  the  parish  of  Tilton,  grandson  of  Kenelm  Hooker, 
of  Blaston,  who  was  the  only  son  of  Thomas  Hooker  or  Hoker  of  Blaston, 
Co.  Leicester,  whose  will,  dated  Sept.  2,  1559,  was  proved  Jan.  27,  1561-2, 
by  Cecelia  Hooker,  his  relict  and  executrix.  It  is  supposed  that  this 
Thomas  Hooker  held  some  stewardship,  or  like  office,  under  the  Digby 
family,  who  possessed  estates  in  that  part  of  Leicestershire.  "  Kenellime 
Digby,"  Esq.,  is  a  witness,  and  named  as  "supervisor"  of  the  will,  and  the 
son  Kenelm,  or  Kenellyme,  Hooker  undoubtedly  received  his  name 
from  Kenelm  Digby,  who  was  the  grandfather  of  Sir  Everard  Digby, 
executed  in  1606  for  his  complicity  in  the  "gunpowder-plot,"  and  great- 
grandfather of  the  learned  Sir  Kenelm  Digby.  Thomas  Hooker,  father 
of  the  Rev.  Thomas  Hooker,  occupied  in  1586  land  in  Frisbye  and  Gaddes- 
by,  Co.  Leicester.  The  parish  register  of  Tilton  records  the  burial  of 
"  Thomas  Hooker,  of  Marfield,  July  24,  1635,"  and  administration  on  his 
estate  was  granted  to  his  eldest  son,  John  Hooker,  in  the  Archdeacon's 
Court  at  Leicester,  Jan.  11,  1636-7,  and  he  is  there  described  as  "Thomas 
Hooker  of  Marefield,  in  the  parish  of  Tilton,  gentleman."  The  Tilton  Register, 
under  date  of  April,  1631,  gives  the  burial  of  Mrs.  Hooker,  wife  to  Mr.  Hooker, 
of  Marfield ;  probably  the  wife  of  Thomas.     Rev.  Thomas  Hooker  married  in 

1  "The  enemie  having  come  to  Hockanum  and  shott  at  William  Hill  and  sorely  wounded 
him,  the  Councill  sent  forth  a  party  of  soldiers  to  make  search  for  the  enemie." — Col.  Rec.  ii. 
410.     Feb.  18,  1675. 

2  See  Dist.  219.  Thos.  Bunce  bought  land,  Feb.  26,  1680,  of  Wm.  Hill,  in  Podunk 
Swamp,  wh.  formerly  belonged  to  Richard  Eisley,  and  came  to  sd.  Hill  by  right  of  his  wife, 
relict  of  sd.  Risley. 


246  MEMORIAL   HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

England ;  and  the  only  clew  to  his  wife's  family  is  obtained  from  a  little  book 
called  "  Trodden  down  Strength  by  the  God  of  Strength  ;  or,  Mrs.  Drake  re- 
vived." This  Mrs.  Joan  Drake,  wife  of  Francis  Drake,  Esq.,  was  a  daughter 
of  William  Tothill,  Esq.,  of  Shardeloes,  one  of  the  six  clerks  in  Chancery. 
She  lived  at  Esher,  in  Surrey  and  Mr.  Hooker  received,  about  1620,  from 
her  husband,  the  cure  of  Esher,  "  having  his  diet  and  lodging  "  in  Mr.  Drake's 
house.  Here  he  married  Mrs.  Drake's  "waiting-gentlewoman,"  Susan,  who, 
according  to  the  custom  of  the  times,  was  probably  a  relative  of  the  family. 
Francis  Drake,  of  Esher,  bequeaths  in  his  will,  May  13,  1633-4,  £30  to 
Johanna  Hooker,  "  now  in  New  England,  to  be  paid  to  her  on  the  day  of  her 
marriage."  Mr.  Hooker  was  an  original  proprietor  of  Hartford,  and  his  home- 
lot  was  on  the  highway  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Little  River,  now  Arch  St.  ; 
Samuel  Stone,  the  teacher,  and  William  Goodwin,  the  ruling  elder,  having  lots 
between  his  and  the  Main  St.  Mr.  Hooker's  children  were  :  i.  Johanna ;  m. 
Rev.  Thomas  Shepard,  of  Cambridge;  died  April  28,  1646.  ii.  Mary,  m. 
Rev.  Roger  Newton,  the  first  minister  at  Farmington,  afterward  of  Milford  ; 
died  Feb.  4,  1676,  at  Milford.  iii.  Anne,  "  dau.  of  Thomas  Hooker,  clerk, 
and  Susan  his  wife  ;"  bapt.  at  Great  Baddow,  Essex,  Jan.  5,  1626.  iv.  Sarah, 
bapt.  at  Chelmsford,  Essex,  April  9,  1628;  buried  there  Aug.  26,  1629. 
v.  John,  under  age  at  the  time  of  his  father's  death,  1647  ;  in  his  father's  will 
he  was  "not  forbidden  from  seeking  and  taking  a  wife  in  England,''  but  he 
"  was  forbidden  from  tarrying  there."  He  is  mentioned  in  the  will  of  his 
uncle,  John  Hooker,  Esq.,  of  Marfield,  gentleman,  in  1655,  as  a  student  at 
Oxford.  In  1660  he  became  vicar  of  Marsworth,  in  Buckinghamshire,  and 
in  1669  he  was  presented  by  Sir  Edward  Pye,  Bart.,  to  be  rector  of  Le- 
champsted,  in  the  same  county.  He  died  in  1684;  buried  at  Marsworth. 
vi.  Samuel,  grad.  Harvard  Coll.,  1653;  he  preached  at  Plymouth,  Mass.,  for 
a  time,  and  m.  there,  Sept.  22,  1658,  Mary,  dau.  of  Capt.  Thomas  Willet, 
afterward  first  mayor  of  the  City  of  New  York.  He  was  ordained  at  Farm- 
ington, July,  1661  ;  he  was  appointed  one  of  a  committee  of  four  persons  to 
go  to  New  Haven  and  arrange  for  an  amicable  union  of  the  two  colonies,  in 
1662.  He  died  at  Farmington,  Nov.  5  or  6,  1697 ;  his  widow  m.  (2)  Aug.  10, 
1703,  Rev.  Thomas  Buckingham,  of  Saybrook.  vii.  Sarah,  m.  Rev.  John 
Wilson,  of  Medfield,  Mass.  He  had  a  numerous  family,  and  is  the  ancestor 
of  all  of  the  name  in  Hartford  County. 
Governor  Edward  Hopkins  was  born  at  Shrewsbury,  Co.  Salop,  in  England,  in 
1600;  son  of  Edward,  or  Edmund,  Hopkins  and  Katherine,  sister  of  Sir 
Henry  Lello,  Knight,  Warden  of  the  Fleet,  and  Keeper  of  the  Palace  of 
Westminster;1  a  Turkey  merchant;  arrived  in  Boston,  June  26,  1637;  came 
to  Hartford,  perhaps,  the  same  year ;  he  was  an  original  proprietor,  and  in 
1639  owned  a  home-lot  opposite  the  Meeting-House  Yard  on  Main  St.,  and  he 
also  owned  a  large  tract  of  land  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Little  River,  east  of 
the  present  Front  St.  Chosen  Assistant,  1639  ;  Governor  the  next  year,  and 
thereafter  in  alternate  years  with  John  Haynes  until  lie  went  home  in  1652. 
His  brother,  Henry  Hopkins,  who  had  received  the  office  of  Warden  of  the 
Fleet  from  his  uncle,  Sir  Henry  Lello,  d.  in  1654-5,  and  by  his  will  consti- 
tuted Governor  Hopkins  Warden  of  the  Fleet,  and  Keeper  of  the  Palace  of 
Westminster.  His  wife  was  Ann,  dau.  of  David  Y^ale,  of  Denbighshire.  He 
d.  in  London,  1657;  will  dated  March  7,  proved  April  30,  1657,  by  Henry 
Dalley,  nephew  and  sole  executor.  He  remembered  the  plantations  in  Con- 
necticut, leaving  money  in  trust  to  his  friends,  Theophilus  Eaton,  Esq ,  Mr. 
John  Davenport,  Mr.  John  Cullick,  and  Mr.  Goodwyn,  "for  the  breeding 
up  of  hopeful  youths  in  a  way  of  learning,  both  at  the  Grammar  School 
and  College;"  and  the  Hopkins  Grammar  Schools  in  Hartford  and  New 
Haven  still  perpetuate  his  memory. 

1  His  seal  is  in  the  Winthrop  Papers  impaling  the  arms  of  Lello,  of  Herefordshire. 


THE   ORIGINAL   PROPRIETORS.  247 

John  Hopkins,  Cambridge,  1634;  freeman,  Mass.,  March  4,  1635;  removed  to 
Hartford,  where  he  was  an  original  proprietor ;  his  home-lot  was  on  what  is 
now  the  East  Park;  chosen  townsman,  1640;  juror,  1643;  d.  in  1654; 
inv.  April  14,  1654,  ,£236.  8.  ;  left  a  widow,  Jane,  who  married  (2)  Nathan- 
iel Ward,  of  Hartford,  afterward  of  Hadley  (q.  v.).  —  Ch.  :  i.  Stephen,  b.  ab. 
1634  ;  Hartford  ;  freeman,  1657  ;  m.  Dorcas,  dau.  of  John  Bronson,  of  Farm- 
ington  ;  chosen  townsman,  1668,  1672;  d.  Oct.  1689.  The  great  theolo- 
gian, Eev.  Samuel  Hopkins,  of  Great  Barrington  and  Newport,  was  his  great- 
grandson,  ii.  Bethia,  b.  ab.  1635;  m.  (1)  May  27,  1652,  Deacon  Samuel 
Stocking,  of  Middletown ;  (2)  James  Steele,  of  Hartford. 

Thomas  Hosmer,  son  of  Stephen  and  Dorothy  Hosmer,  was  born  in  Hawkhurst, 
Co.  Kent,  Jan.  2,  1603.  Stephen  Hosmer  d.  in  Hawkhurst,  May  24,  1633. 
Thomas  Hosmer  was  in  Cambridge,  1632;  freeman,  Mass.,  May  6,  1635; 
removed  to  Hartford  in  June,  1636;  he  received  60  acres  in  the  distribu- 
tion of  1639,  and  his  home-lot  was  on  the  edge  of  the  South  Meadow,  near 
the  south  end  of  Governor  St.  He  was  chosen  constable,  1639,  1663  ;  towns- 
man, 1643,  1647  ;  also  deputy  several  times.  His  first  wife,  Frances,  d.  Feb. 
15,  1675,  aged  73.  He  m.  (2)  May  6,  1679,  Katherine,  widow  of  David  Wil- 
ton, of  Northampton  ;  removed  to  Northampton,  where  he  d.  April  12,  1687, 
aged  83.  (Tomb-stone.)1  —  Ch.  :  i.  Stephen,  b.  1645;  Hartford;  m.  Hannah, 
dau.  of  Deacon  Francis  Bushnell,  of  Saybrook ;  appointed  townsman,  1673, 
1676,  1677,  1689;  chosen  deacon  of  the  First  Church,  1686;  d.  Nov.  4,  1693; 
he  had  a  large  family  ;  the  late  James  B.  Hosmer  was  his  great-great-grandson.2 
ii.  Clemence,  m.  (1)  Sept.  3,  1662,  Deacon  Jonathan  Hunt,  of  Northamp- 
ton; (2)  1694,  John  Smith,  of  Milford.  iii.  Hannah;  m.  (1)  March  20, 
1657,  Josiah  Willard,  of  Wethersheld ;  (2)  Maltby.  iv.  Hester;  m.  Sept. 
20,  1666,  Rev.  Thomas  Buckingham,  of  Saybrook. 

George  Hubbard,  son  of  George  Hubbard,  of  Milford  and  Guilford,  born  1601 ; 
said  to  have  been  at  Hartford  as  early  as  1639,  although  he  had  no  house- 
lot  then.  He  m.  Elizabeth,  dau.  of  Richard  Watts,  of  Hartford ;  removed 
to  Middletown  ab.  1651  ;  he  sold  his  house-lot  in  Hartford,  and  land  on  the 
east  side  of  the  Great  River,  in  or  before  1650 ;  freeman,  Middletown,  1654 ; 
d.  in  Middletown,  March  18,  1684-5  ;  his  son  Samuel  settled  in  Hartford. 

Thomas  Hungerford  (Hungerfoot),  a  proprietor  "  by  courtesie  of  the  town  ; " 
his  home-lot  was  on  the  west  side  of  the  road  to  the  Cow  Pasture  ;  removed 
to  New  London  ab.  1650,  where  he  d.  1663.  He  m.  as  his  2d  wife,  Hannah, 
dau.  of  Isaac  Willey,  of  New  London,  ab.  1658  ;  she  survived  him,  and  m. 
(2)  Peter  Blachford,  of  New  London  and  Haddam  (q.  v.) ;  (3)  1673,  Samuel 
Spencer,  of  Haddam. 

William  Hyde,  an  original  proprietor;  his  house-lot,  in  1639,  was  on  the  south 
side  of  "  the  road  from  George  Steel's  to  the  South  Meadow "  (old  Buck- 
ingham St.)  ;  chosen  surveyor  of  highways,  1641 ;  he  removed  to  Saybrook, 
and  thence  in  1659  or  '60  to  Norwich  ;  cl.  1681. 

Jonathan  Ince,  an  original  proprietor;  received  a  lot  in  1639,  on  what  is  now 
the  East  Park,  but  it  was  forfeited,  and  given  to  Mr.  John  Cullick,  July  28, 
1640.     He  probably  lived  in  Boston. 

Nathaniel  Kellogg,  Hartford,  1639,  one  of  those  who  received  land  "by  the 
town's  courtesie  ; "  his  lot  lay  west  of  the  road  to  the  Cow  Pasture,  near  the 
road  from  the  Cow  Pasture  to  Mr.  Allyn's  land.  He  removed  to  Farmington 
in  1653;  joined  the  Farmington  church,  with  his  wife  Elizabeth,  about  Jan. 
30,  1652  or  '53.  He  d.  in  Farmington,  1657  ;  his  will,  dated  June  4,  1657  ; 
inv.  Dec.  21.  His  will  mentions  wife  Elizabeth  ;  brother  John,  sister  Jane 
Hallisun,  and  sister  Rachel  Cave,   "  all  dwelling  in  old  England  ; "  cousin 

1  He  gave  by  will  £5  towards  a  free  school  in  Hartford  "to  be  paid  when  there  is  any- 
such  settled  effectually." 

2  Also  Chief  Justice  Stephen  Titus  Hosmer,  of  Middletown. 


248  MEMORIAL  HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

Joseph  Kellogg's1  three  children;  adopted  dau'rs  Susan  Newton  (perhaps 
dau.  of  Rev.  Roger  and  Mary  (Hooker)  Newton)  and  Rebecca  Mervel. 
Ralph  Keeler,  Hartford,  1639,  "granted  a  lot  at  the  town's  courtesie;"  his 
home-lot  was  on  what  is  now  the  West  Park,  north  of  the  present  site  of  the 
Capitol;  he  was  chimney-viewer,  1645  ;  one  of  the  signers  of  the  agreement 
for  planting  Norwalk,  June,  1650,  and  there  1652  ;  freeman,  1668  ;  d.  1672, 
between  Aug.  20  and  Sept.  10. 
William  Kelsey,  born  ab.  1600;  Cambridge,  1632;  freeman,  Mass.,  March  4, 
1635  ;  removed  to  Hartford,  where  he  was  an  original  proprietor  ;  his  home- 
lot  in  the  distribution  of  1639  was  on  the  road  from  Centinel  Hill  to  the 
North  Meadow  (now  Village  St.) ;  removed  to  Killingworth,  ab.  1663  ;  rep. 
in  1671  from  K.  ;  he  was  living  in  June,  1674.  —  Ch.  :  i.  John;  Killing- 
worth,  ii.  Abigail,  b.  April  19,  1645.  iii.  Stephen,  bapt.  Nov.  7,  1647; 
m.  Nov.  15,  1672,  Hannah,  dau.  of  John  Ingersoll ;  his  father  gave  him  his 
dwelling-house,  and  he  remained  in  Hartford  ;  d.  Nov.  30,  1710.  iv.  Daniel, 
b.  July,  1650. 
Edward  Lay  received  a  lot  in  the  distribution  of  1639,  on  the  west  side  of  "the 
road  from  George  Steel's  to  the  Great  Swamp."  On  Feb.  18,  1640,  Edward 
Lay,  having  forfeited  his  lot  by  not  building  upon  it,  the  town  ordered  that 
it  be  given  him  again,  and  "  to  have  the  like  liberty  of  lots  that  be  new 
given."  Savage  says  that  he  removed  to  Saybrook,  1648,  on  the  east  side,  or 
Lyme  ;  d.  before  1657,  or  perhaps  removed  to  Portsmouth,  R.  I.  He  is  men- 
tioned in  Colonial  Records  (vol.  i.  p.  302),  when,  Aug.  1 2, 1657,  the  court  consid- 
ered the  engagement  of  Eel  ward  Lay  to  this  jurisdiction,  several  years  before, 
at  Hartford,  that  he  would  answer  for  his  abusive  carriage  and  expressions 
at  Saybrook ;  and  as  he  had  not  attended,  and  Robert  Codnam  having  given 
bonds  for  him,  Codnam  was  ordered  to  pay  £5,  and  they  judge  that  Lay's 
estate  would  reimburse  Codnam. 
William  Lewis,  Sex.,  Cambridge,  1632;  came  in  the  "Lion,"  with  Wads- 
worth,  Talcott,  Goodwin,  and  others.  He  belonged  to  the  Braintree  com- 
pany which  in  August,  1632,  removed  from  Braintree  to  Cambridge;  adm. 
freeman  Nov.  6,  1632;  removed  to  Hartford,  one  of  the  original  proprie- 
tors here;  his  home-lot  in  1639  was  on  Main  St.,  next  south  of  John  Tal- 
cott's;  he  was  juror  in  1642;  townsman,  1641;  removed  about  1659  to 
Hadley;  rep.  for  Hadley,  1662,  and  for  Northampton,  1664.  His  wife, 
Felix,  d.  in  Hadley,  April  17,  1671.  Prior  to  Nov.  29,  1677,  he  had 
removed  to  Farmington,  where  he  d.  Aug.  2,  1683. 
Thomas  Lord,  smith,  embarked  April  19,  1635,  in  the  "  Elizabeth  and  Ann,"  at 
London,  aged  50,  with  wife  Dorothy,  aged  46.  —  Ch. :  Thomas  (16),  Ann  (14), 
William  (12),  John  (10),  Robert  (9),  Aymie  (6),  Dorothy  (4),  in  same  ship 
with  Clement  Chaplin,  William  Swayne,  and  others. 
He  was  an  original  proprietor  at  Hartford,  and  his  home- 
lot  in  1639  was  on  the  highway  on  the  bank  of  the 
Little  River,  now  Wells  St.  He  m.  ab.  1610,  Dorothy. 
The  time  of  his  death  is  unknown.  Mrs.  Dorothy  Lord 
d.  in  1676,  a.  87.  Her  will,  executed  Feb.  8,  1669- 
70,  is  sealed  with  the  above  coat  of  arms.2  —  Ch.  :  i. 
Richard,  b.  ab.  1611.  ii.  Thomas,  b.  1619.  iii.  Ann, 
b.  1621  ;  m.  Thomas  Stanton,  of  Hartford,  afterward 
the  lord  arms.  of  Stonington,  ab.  1637;  d.  in  1688.  iv.  William, 
b.  1623;  removed  to  that  part  of  ancient  Saybrook 
now   called   Lyme;    married;   d.  May  17,   1678.      v.   John,    b.  1625;   m. 

(1)  Rebecca,  dau.   of  Francis  Bushnell,  of  Guilford,  who  d.  before  1647  ; 

(2)  May  15,  1648,  Adrean  Basey,  of  Hartford,  prob.  a  sister  of  John  Baysey; 

1  Joseph  Kellogg,  of  Hadley,  ancestor  of  many  of  the  name. 

2  These  arms  correspond  exactly  with  those  of  Laward,  alias  Lord,  given  in  Burke's  Armory. 


THE  ORIGINAL  PROPRIETORS.  249 

he  abandoned  bis  wife,  and  in  September,  1651,  the  General  Court  ordered 
the  Townsmen  of  Hartford  to  require  of  John  Lord  the  wearing  apparel  of 
his  wife  and  a  bed  "for  her  to  lodge  on."  He  probably  had  fled  to  Virginia ; 
Porter  (p.  11)  prints  a  letter,  dated  at  Apomatixe  (Appomattox),  Feb.  20, 
1663-4,  from  him  to  his  nephew,  Richard  Lord,  promising  to  pay  his  debts 
if  the  next  season  was  favorable  to  tobacco.  Oct.  17,  1648,  John  Lord, 
Taylor,  was  bound  over  to  good  behavior,  his  brother,  Thomas  Lord,  giving 
bonds  for  him.  vi.  Robert,  b.  1627  ;  he  was  a  sea-captain,  supposed  to  have 
been  living  in  1670,  and  to  have  d.  abroad  after  that  year  unm.  vii.  Amy, 
b.  1629  ;  m.  May  6,  1647,  John  Gilbert  (q.  v.),  of  Hartford  ;  d.  Jan.  8,  1691. 
viii.  Dorothy,  b.  1631 ;  m.  ab.  1651,  John  Ingersoll,  of  Hartford,  afterward 
of  Northampton,  where  she  d.  January,  1657. 
Captain  Richard  Lord,  Cambridge,  1632  ;  freeman,  Mass.,  March  4,  1635  ; 
came  to  Hartford  in  1636,  an  original  proprietor;  his  homedot  in  1639  was 

next  west  of  his  father's.     He  m.  ab.  1635,  Sarah .     He  was  one  of  the 

most  energetic  and  efficient  men  in  the  colony ;  when  the  first  troop  of  horse 
was  organized,  he  was  chosen  commander,  March  11,  1658,  and  distinguished 
himself  in  the  Indian  wars.  He  was  constable,  1642  ;  townsman,  1645  ; 
represented  Hartford  in  the  General  Court  from  1656  until  his  death.  He 
was  the  captain  relied  on,  in  conjunction  with  John  Pynchon,  for  securing 
the  persons  of  the  regicides  Goffe  and  Whalley.  He  d.  in  New  London, 
May  17,  1662,  in  the  51st  year  of  his  age,  and  his  gravestone  may  still  be 
seen  there,  with  the  following  epitaph  :  — 

"The  bright  Starre  of  our  Oavallrie  lyes  here  : 
Unto  the  State,  a  Counselour  full  Deare 
And  to  ye  Truth  a  Friend  of  Sweet  Content, 
To  Hartford  Towne  a  silver  Ornament. 
Who  can  deny  to  Poore  he  was  Reliefe, 
And  in  composing  Paroxysmes  was  Chiefe. 
To  Marchantes  as  a  Patterne  he  might  stand, 
Adveutring  Dangers  new  by  Sea  and  Land." 

His  inv.  taken  May  10,  1662  ;  amount,  £1,539.  9.  5.  His  widow,  Sarah,  d. 
in  1676. — Cli.:  i.  Richard,  b.  1636;  m.  April  15,  1665,  Mary,  dau.  of 
Henry  and  Ann  (Pynchon)  Smith,  of  Springfield  ;  deputy,  1669,  and  often 
afterward  ;  he  was  one  of  the  wealthiest  merchants  of  his  time,  made  many 
trading-voyages,  and  was  lost  at  sea,  Nov.  5,  1685,  aged  49,  leaving  a  large 
estate  to  his  widow  and  his  only  child  ;  the  inv.  of  his  property  amounted  to 
£5,786,  and  was  with  one  exception  the  greatest  up  to  that  time  in  Hartford. 
His  widow  m.  (2)  ab.  1686,  Dr.  Thomas  Hooker,  of  Hartford,  son  of  Rev. 
Samuel  Hooker,  of  Fannington,  died  May  1 7,  1 702,  as.  58.  His  only  child, 
Richard,  b.  1669,  m.  Jan.  14,  1692,  Abigail,  dau.  of  William  Warren  and 
his  wife,  Elizabeth  Crow,  afterward  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Wilson.  She,  too, 
inherited  a  large  property,  and  together  they  were  one  of  the  wealthiest 
couples  of  that  period.  Richard  Lord  was  Treasurer  of  the  Colony  at  the 
time  of  his  death,  Jan.  29,  1712,  and  the  heaviest  and  costliest  monu- 
mental table  in  the  old  burial  ground  is  his.  His  widow  m.  (2)  Rev.  Tim- 
othy Woodbridge,  pastor  of  the  First  Church.  Seven  of  Lord's  ten  children 
lived  and  married  into  prominent  families.  Asylum  Hill  was  formerly  called 
Lord's  Hill,  as  a  large  portion  of  it  was  owned  by  the  descendants  of  Elisha 
Lord,  the  oldest  surviving  son  of  Richard  and  Abigail.  Their  son  Richard 
m.  Ruth,  dau.  of  Hezekiah  Wyllis,  Esq.,  —  apparently  removed  to  Wethers- 
field,  and  d.  there  ab.  1740.  The  youngest  sons,  Epaphras  and  Ichabod, 
removed  to  Colchester,  iii.  Sarah,  b.  1638  (dau.  of  Capt.  Richard,  who  d. 
1662);  m.  ab.  1668,  Rev.  Joseph  Haynes,  of  Hartford;  d.  Nov.  15,  1705, 
aged  67.  iv.  Dorothy,  b.  1640. 
Thomas  Lord,  Jr.,  was  one  of  those  who  owned  land  "  by  the  town's  courtesie;" 


250  MEMORIAL   HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

his  home-lot  was  on  what  is  now  Wells  St.,  next  west  of  his  brother,  Capt. 
Richard  Lord.  Thomas  Lord  m.  at  Boston,  Sept.  28,  1652,  Hannah  Thurs- 
ton, perhaps  this  Thomas,  but  his  wife  is  supposed  to  have  been  related  to 
Gregory  Wolterton,  as  the  latter  bequeaths  in  his  will,  July  14,  1674,  to 
Dorothy,  Hannah,  and  Mary  Lord,  dau'rs  of  Thomas  Lord,  dec'd,  things 
"in  the  trunk,  that  was  their  mother's."  In  1652  he  was  engaged  by  the 
General  Court  "  to  continue  his  aboade  in  Hartford  for  the  next  ensuing  year, 
and  to  improve  his  best  skill  amongst  the  inhabitants  of  the  Townes  uppon 
the  Eiver  within  this  jurisdiction,  both  for  setting  of  bones  and  otherwise." 
He  was  to  be  paid  a  salary  of  £15  ;  in  addition  to  receive  for  visiting  at  any 
house  in  Hartford,  \2d.,  in  Windsor,  5s.,  and  in  Mattabeset  (Middletown), 
8s.,  Farmington,  6s.,  Wethersfield,  3s.  He  d.  in  1662  ;  called  of  "  Wethers- 
field"  in  will  dated  Oct.  28,  1661  ;  he  names  wife  Hannah,  and  eldest  dau. 
Dorothy ;  leaves  house  and  land  in  Hartford  as  well  as  in  Wethersfield ;  inv. 
April  5,  1662;  amount,  £202.  18.  His  widow,  whom  Porter  (8)  calls  Mary, 
m.  Nehemiah  Olmsted.  —  Ch. :  i.  Dorothy,  b.  Aug.  17,  1653.  Thomas  Lord, 
in  his  will  dated  Oct.  28,  1661,  leaves  his  house  and  land  in  Hartford  to 
"eldest  dau.  Dorothy,  incapable  of  caring  for  herself."  ii.  Hannah,  b.  1656. x 
iii.  Mary,  b.  1659  (all  mentioned  in  Gregory  Wolterton's  will),  iv.  Sarah, 
b.  1648.  Hannah  and  Mary  Lord,  dau'rs  of  Thomas  Lord,  sometime  of 
Wethersfield,  dec'd,  wards  of  George  Gardner,  of  H.,  convey,  May  21,  1677, 
to  Phineas  Wilson,  a  lot  of  land,  which  was  evidently  their  gr.f.  Thomas 
Lord's  home-lot. 

Richard  Lyman,  b.  and  bapt.  at  High  Ongar,  Co.  Essex,  Oct.  30,  1580;  son 
of  Henry  Lyman  and  his  wife,  Phillis  —  this  Henry  was  buried  at  Nav- 
istoke,  in  Essex,  April  15,  1587.  Richard  Lyman  sold,  in  1629,  to  John 
Gower,  two  messuages,  a  garden,  orchard,  and  divers  lands  arable,  also  a 
meadow  and  pasture  at  Norton  Mandeville,  in  the  parish  of  Ongar.  His 
wife  was  Sarah,  dau.  of  Roger  Osborne,  of  Halstead,  Co.  Kent ;  came  with 
Eliot  in  the  "Lion,"  1631  ;  settled  at  Roxbury  ;2  freeman,  Mass.,  June  11, 
1633  ;  the  Church  record  at  Roxbury  tells  how  he  went  to  Conn,  "when  the 
great  removal  was  made,"  and  suffered  greatly  in  the  loss  of  his  cattle.  He 
was  one  of  the  original  proprietors  of  Hartford,  and  in  1639  his  home-lot 
was  on  the  south  side  of  the  "  road  from  George  Steel's  to  the  South 
Meadow."  He  d.  in  1641,  will  dated  April  22,  1640;  inv.  Sept.  6,  1641, 
£83.  16.  2. ;  the  will  mentions  his  wife,  but  she  d.  before  Jan.  27,  1642-3.— 
Ch.  :  i.  Phillis,  bapt.  at  High  Ongar,  Sept.  12,  1611;  mentioned  in  her 
father's  will,  as  the  wife  of  William  Hill.  ii.  Richard,  bapt.  at  High  Ongar, 
Feb.  24,  1618;  settled  in  Windsor;  m.  Hepzibah,  dau.  of  Thomas  Ford; 
removed  to  Northampton  in  1655;  he  d.  June  3,  1662  ;  his  widow  m.  John 
Marsh,  of  Northampton,  who  soon  after  removed  to  Hartford,  iii.  Sarah, 
bapt.  Feb.  8,  1621 ;  mentioned  in  her  father's  will.  iv.  John,  b.  Sept., 
1623.  Savage  says  his  wife  Dorcas  was  a  dau.  of  John  Plum,  of  Wethers- 
field ;  m.  Jan.,  1655  ;  removed  soon  after  to  Northampton  ;  d.  there  Aug.  20, 
1690.  v.  Robert,  b.  Sept.,  1629,  at  High  Ongar;  m.  Nov.  5,  1662,  Hepzi- 
bah, dau.  of  Thomas  Bascom ;  settled  in  Northampton,  where  he  died. 

John  Marsh  was  one  of  the  original  proprietors  of  Hartford  ;  his  home-lot  in 
the  distribution  of  1639  was  on  what  is  now  Front  St.,  then  the  road  from 
the  Little  River  to  the  North  Meadow.  Chosen  chimney -viewer,  1658; 
removed  the  next  year  to  Hadley  with  the  "  withdrawers,"  under  the  lead 
of  his  father-in-law,  Gov.  Webster.  He  went  from  there  to  Northampton, 
and  united  with  the  church  there,  June  18,  1661.     He  m.  in  Hartford,  ab. 

1  Savage  says  (vol.  iv.  p.  166)  that  Joseph  Stanton,  b.  1648,  son  of  Thomas  and  Ann 
(Lord)  Stanton,  m.  Hannah  Lord,  possibly  this  Hannah. 

2  Charlestown,  according  to  the  family  genealogy.     See  Genealogy  of  Lyman  Family, 
pp.   13-33. 


THE  ORIGINAL  PROPRIETORS.  251 

1640,  Anne,  dau.  of  Gov.  John  Webster;  she  d.  in  Northampton,  June  9, 
1662  ;  and  he  m.  (2)  Oct.  7,  1664,  Hepzibah,  widow  of  Richard  Lyman,  and 
dau.  of  Thomas  Ford,  of  Windsor;  she  d.  April  11,  1683,  and  he  d.  in  1688, 
in  Hartford.  He  had  a  brother  Joseph,  who  was  a  clothier,  in  Braintree,  Co. 
Essex,  England,  where  he  made  his  will,  May  22,  1676,  in  which  he  men- 
tions several  of  the  children  of  John  Marsh.  —  Ch.  :  i.  John.  b.  ab.  1643  ; 
m.  in  Northampton,  Nov.  28,  1666,  Sarah,  dau.  of  Richard  and  Hepzibah 
Lyman  ;  he  returned  to  Hartford;  freeman,  1669  ;  lived  upon  the  old  home- 
stead ;  d.  1727.  His  eldest  son,  John,  was  much  concerned  in  the  settlement 
of  the  "  western  lands,"  and  explored  Litchfield,  where  he  was  one  of  the 
first  settlers.  Descendants  of  this  family  are  still  living  in  Hartford, 
ii.  Samuel,  b.  ab.  1645;  Hatfield,  where  he  was  made  freeman,  1690;  m. 
May  6,  1667,  Mary  Allison;  d.  Sept.  7,  1728,  se.  83.  iii.  Joseph,  bapt. 
Jan.  24,  1647-8;  d.  young,  iv.  Joseph,  bapt.  July  15,  1649;  d.  young. 
v.  Jonathan,  b.  ab.  1650,  Hadley;  freeman,  1690;  m.  1676,  Dorcas,  dau. 
of  Azariah  Dickinson;  d.  July  3,  1730,  a.  80;  vi.  Daniel,  b.  ab.  1653; 
Hadley;  freeman,  1690;  m.  Nov.  5,  1676,  Hannah,  widow  of  Samuel 
Crow,  of  Hadley,  and  dau.  of  William  Lewis,  of  Farmington  ;  d.  Feb.  24, 
1725,  se.  72.  vii.  Hannah,  m.  Jan.  28,  1675,  Joseph  Loomis,  of  Windsor, 
viii.  Grace,  m.  Jan.  26,  1672-3,  Timothy  Baker,  of  Northampton;  d.  May 
31,  1676.  ix.  Lydia,  b.  Oct.  9,  1667;  m.  Dec.  8,  1692,  David  Loomis, 
of  Windsor. 

Matthew  Marvin  came  to  New  England,  1634,  in  the  "  Increase,"  a.  35  ;  with 
wife  Elizabeth,  a.  31  ;  children,  Elizabeth,  a.  31  [?  prob.  11];  Matthew,  8; 
Mary,  6  ;  Sarah,  3 ;  and  Hannah,  6  mos.  He  was  an  original  proprietor  at 
Hartford,  and  his  home-lot  in  1639  was  on  what  is  now  on  the  corner  of 
Front  and  Pleasant  Sts. ;  he  was  surveyor  of  highways  in  1639,  1647;  he 
was  one  of  the  signers  of  the  agreement  for  planting  Norwalk,  June  19, 
1650  ;  his  name  is  among  those  of  the  planters  who  received  a  deed  from 
Runckinheage,  Feb.  15,  1651,  and  he  was  one  of  the  original  proprietors  of 
the  town;  he  m.  (2)  Mrs.  Alice  Kellogg;1  he  was  deputy,  1654,  and  d. 
1687.  — Ch.  :  i.  Elizabeth,  m.  (1)  Thomas  Gregory  ;  (2)  John  Olmsted  (q.  v.). 
ii.  Matthew,  b.  ab.  1626  ;  freeman,  1664  ;  m.  Mary ;  deputy  from  Nor- 
walk, 1694,  1697  ;  his  name  is  among  those  who  proposed  to  "begin  a  plan- 
tation near  the  back-side  of  Norwalke,"  and  were  authorized  to  do  so  by 
the  General  Court,  May  9,  1672.  iii.  Mary,  b.  ab.  1628,  m.  (1)  Oct.  11, 
1648,  Richard  Bushnell,  of  Saybrook;  (2)  Dea.  Thomas  Adgate,  of  Say- 
brook,  who  removed  to  Norwich  ab.  1660;  d.  March  29,  1713,  se.  84.  iv. 
Sarah,  b.  ab.  1630  ;  m.  Oct.  4,  1648,  Ensign  William  Goodrich,  of  Wethers- 
field  ;  he  d.  in  1676;  (2)  Capt.  William  Curtis,  of  Stratford;  she  d.  at 
Stratford,  1702.  v.  Hannah,  b.  ab.  1632;  m.  Jan.,  1653-4,  Thomas  Sey- 
mour, of  Norwalk.  vi.  Abigail,  m.  Jan.  1,  1657,  John  Bouton,  of  Norwalk. 
vii.  Samuel,  bapt.  Hartford,  Feb.  6,  1648-9.  viii.  Rachel,  bapt.  Hartford, 
Dec.  30,  1649  ;  m.  Samuel  Smith,  oT  Norwalk. 

Reinold  Marvin,  called  a  brother  of  Matthew  Marvin  ;  an  original  settler,  but 
removed  to  Saybrook  before  1639;  Savage  says  lie  removed  to  Farmington, 
and  soon  after  to  Sivbrook;  freeman,  1658;  d.  1662  ;  will  dated  May  13; 
inv.  Oct.  28,  over  £800. —  Ch.  :  i.  Reinold,  freeman,  1658;  Lyme;  was 
deacon;  deputy,  1670,  1672,  1673,  1674,  and  1676,  in  which  year  he  died. 
His  wife  was  Sarah,  dau.  of  George  Clark,  ii.  Mary  ;  m.  William  Waller, 
of  Lyme. 

John  Maynard,  Cambridge,  1634,  an  original  proprietor  at  Hartford  ;  his  home- 
lot  in  1639  was  on  the  west  side  of  Main  St.,  about  where  Christ  Church  now 
is ;  surveyor  of  highways,  1641,  1648  ;  freed  from  watching,  etc.,  Sept.,  1646  ; 

1  Marvin  Genealogy,  p.  37. 


252  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

in.  after  May,  1648,  Editlia,  widow  of  Robert  Day,  and  sister  of  Deacon  Ed- 
ward Stebbins.  He  d.  1657-8;  will  dated  Jan.  23,  1657-8;  inv.  Feb.  24, 
same  year,  £450.  4.  He  names  wife  Editha,  her  eldest  son  Thomas  Day, 
youngest  son  John  Day,  dau™.  Sarah  and  Mary  Day.  John  Day  received 
the  property  of  Maynard,  and  it  is  probably  in  remembrance  of  him  that  he 
named  a  son  Maynard  Day.  He  gives  his  dwelling-house  and  lands  in  Hart- 
ford to  liis  wife,  and  after  her  decease  to  go  to  her  youngest  son,  John  Day. 

John  Moody,  second  son  of  George  Moody,  of  Moulton,  Co.  Suffolk,  avIio  "  was 
famous  for  his  good  housekeeping  and  plain  dealing,"  by  his  wife,  Lydia,1 
came  in  1633  to  Roxbury,  says  the  Church  record  ;  freeman,  Mass.,  Nov.  5, 
1633;  was  an  original  proprietor,  Hartford,  1639,  and  his  home-lot  was  on 
Main  St.,  opposite  to  George  Wyllys's  lot ;  townsman  1639,  1640  ;  Lieut,  in 
1640  ;  he  d.  prob.  in  1655  ;  will  dated  July  23,  1655  ;  inv.  Dec.  6,  1655  ; 
£300.  14  :  mentions  wife  Sarah,  son  Samuel,  and  leaves  £25  to  Elizabeth 
Pepper.     Mrs.  Sarah  Moody  d.  in   Hadley  in  1671.  —  Ch.  :   i.  Samuel;  he 

removed  to  Hadley  in  1659  ;  m.  (1)  Hannah ;  (2)  Sarah,  dau.  of  John 

Deming,  of  Wethersfield.  He  d.  in  Hadley,  Sept.  22,  1689.  His  widow  d. 
Sept.  29,  171 7.2  His  eldest  son,  John,  returned  to  Hartford,  m.  Sarah 
Evetts,  Apr.  3,  1700,  and  had  descendants  in  West  Hartford  and  New 
Hartford. 

John  Morris  (Morrice)  was  one  of  the  settlers  to  whom  land  was  granted  "  by 
the  town's  courtesie."  His  lot  was  next  south  of  Nathaniel  Barding's  in  the 
West  Field  (on  the  brow  of  Asylum  Hill).  Very  little  is  known  of  him.3 
He  d.  in  1668,  will  dated  Nov.  13-22  ;  inv.  Jan.  15,  1668-9  ;  will  names 
his  wife,  sons  Joshua,  John  not  yet  21  ;  dau.  Mary;  brother  Robert.  His 
widow,  Martha,  m.  (2)  Roger  Jepson,  of  Saybrook,  and  (3)  Thomas  Allyn, 
of  Middletown.  Joshua  Morrice,  se.  about  14,  was  killed  by  the  fall  of  a  log 
from  a  wood-pile,  Dec.  2,  1681.  Mary,  m.  Nov.  25,  1680,  John  Tillotson,  of 
Saybrook.  Robert  Morris  of  H.,  his  brother,  died  Nov.  19,  1684,  leaving  no 
children,  but  mentions  a  number  of  people  in  his  will,  Stanleys,  Andrews, 
Spencers,  and  Diggins,  who  may  have  been  relatives. 

Benjamin  Munn  served  in  the  Pequot  War,  1637  ;  was  one  of  those  who  re- 
ceived land  in  1639  "by  the  town's  courtesie,"  and  his  lot  was  on  the  east 
side  of  the  "  road  to  the  Cow  Pasture  "  (North  Main  St.),  between  Samuel 
Hale  and  Thomas  Root.  He  was  viewer  of  chimneys  and  ladders  in  1647  ; 
removed  to  Springfield  in  1649  ;  m.  that  same  year,  Abigail,  widow  of  Francis 
Ball,  and  dau.  of  Henry  Burt,  of  Springfield.  He  d.  Nov.,  1675,  and  his 
widow  m.  Dec.  14,  1676,  Thomas  Stebbins. 

Thomas  Munson.  His  land  was  forfeited,  sold  to  John  Marsh,  Nathaniel  Kel- 
logg, and  Zachary  Field,  before  Feb.,  1639-40.  He  removed  to  New  Haven, 
was  a  signer  of  the  fundamental  agreement  there  June  4,  1639  ;  was  a  man 
of  position  in  the  plantation  and  colony. 

Joseph  Mygatt  came  in  the  "  Griffin,"  in  1633,  with  Cotton  and  Hooker;  set- 
tled in  Cambridge ;  freeman,  Mass.,  May  6,  1635  ;  one  of  the  original  pro- 
prietors of  Hartford;  his  home-lot  in  1639  was  near  the  junction  of  what 
are  now  Washington  and  Lafayette  Sts.  He  was  townsman  1642,  1647, 
1652,  1660,  and  held  other  offices,  deputy,  1658;  also  deacon  of  the  First 
Church  ;  he  was  licensed  to  "sell  strong  liquors  by  retail,"  May,  1656.  His 
wife's  name  was  Ann  ;  she  was  b.  about  1602,  aged  about  65  in  Oct.  1667, 
and  her  husband  testified  in  Oct.,  1666,  that  he  was  a.  70,  so  b.  about  1596. 
He  d.  Dec.  7, 1680;  inv.  £368. 11.  6.  His  widow  d.  in  1686.  — Ch. :  i.  Jacob, 
b.  1633 4;  m.  about  1654  or  '55,  Sarah,  dau.  of  William  Whiting,  of  Hart- 

1  See  pedigree  in  Gen.  Keg.  xxxix.  69.  2  Sarage  says,  1714. 

8  William  Goodwin,  son  of  Ozias,  gives  in  his  will,  June  25,  1689,  to  his  son  William, 
land  "formerly  belonging  to  mv  unele,  John  Morris,  in  Hartford." 
4  a.  about  31,  Oct.,  1667,  Priv.  Contr.  i.  38. 


THE  ORIGINAL  PROPRIETORS.  253 

ford  ;  the  time  of  his  death  is  unknown ;  his  wife  m.  (2)  John  King,  of 
Northampton;  d.  about  1704.  His  only  son,  Joseph,  m.  Sarah,  dau.  of 
Lieut.  Eobert  Webster,  15  Nov.,  1677  ;  they  had  9  children,  and  after  that 
time  the  name  is  frequently  met  with  on  the  Hartford  records,  ii.  Mary, 
b.  1637  ;  m.  Sept.  20,1  1657,  John  Deming,  Jun.,  of  Wethersfield. 

Thomas  Olcott,  an  original  proprietor  of  Hartford  ;  his  home-lot  in  the  distri- 
bution of  1639  fronted  on  Meeting  House  Square;  this  was  land  which  he 
had  bought  of  Edward  Hopkins,  his  first  location  having  been  directly  east 
of  the  Square.  This  lot  comprised  the  square,  fronting  on  Main  St.,  now 
bounded  by  Pearl,  Trumbull,  and  Asylum  Sts.  On  the  southeast  corner  he 
erected  a  dwelling  for  his  own  occupation,  which  continued  in  possession  of 
his  family  for  several  generations.  Mr.  Goodwin,  in  his  "  Descendants  of 
Thomas  Olcott,"  p.  v.,  says  that  this  dwelling  was  demolished  in  1824,  to 
make  room  for  the  large  block  called  Union  Hall,  which  was  in  its  turn  re- 
moved when  the  great  pile  of  the  Connecticut  Mutual  building  was  erected. 
He  was  a  merchant,  and  carried  on  trade  with  parties  in  Virginia,  for  tobacco  ; 
constable,  1641  ;  he  died  in  1654  ;  his  will  is  dated  Nov.  20,  1653  ;  in  it  he 
mentions  his  "  beloved  mother  Mrs.  Margrett  Charlfount,  sister  Mrs.  Mary 
Hardey(l),  mother  Hoare,  Brother  Will.  Wadsworth,  Brother  Will.  Lewis, 
Senr.,  deare  Brethren  and  friends,  John  Talcott  and  Edward  Stebbin,  Over- 
seers ;"  inv.  Feb.  13,  1653-4,  £1,466.  8.  5.  Mrs.  Abigail  Olcott  carried  on 
her  husband's  business  after  his  death.  She  bought,  let,  and  sold  lands, 
loaned  money  on  mortgage  security,  "  made  contracts  for  delivering  goods, 
etc."  She  d.  May  26,  1693,  a?.  78.  —  Ch. :  i.  Thomas,  freeman,  May,  1658  ; 
m.  Mary ;  he  was  living  in  1719,  prob.  d.  soon  after,  ii.  Samuel,  free- 
man, May,  1664;  m.  Sarah,  dau.  of  George  Stocking;  d.  in  Hartford,  1704. 
iii.  John,  b.  about  Feb.  3,  1650-1  ;  m.  in  1695,  Mary,  widow  of  Thomas 
Welles,  and  dau.  of  John  Blackleach  ;  he  d.  in  1712.  iv.  Elizabeth,  bapt. 
Dec.  7,  1645  ;  m.  Timothy  Hyde,  of  Wethersfield.  The  Olcott  family  were 
prominent  and  influential  in  Hartford  for  many  generations. 

James  Olmsted  (Holmsted),  arrived  in  Boston,  Sept.  16,  1632,  in  the  "Lion," 
from  London,  with  Goodwin,  Wadsworth,  and  others  ;  there  came  also  with 
him  his  two  sons,  two  nephews,  Richard  and  John,  and  a  niece,  Rebecca. 
He  was  made  a  freeman,  Mass.  Nov.  6,  1632  ;  and  was  constable  1634-5,  at 
Cambridge;  removed  to  Hartford  in  June,  1636;  an  original  proprietor.  He 
received  70  acres  in  the  distribution  of  1639;  his  home-lot  was  on  the 
highway  now  Front  St.  He  d.  before  Nov.,  1640  ;  will  dated  Sept.  28  ;  inv. 
£397.  19.  2.  Mr.  Hooker  mentions  his  death  in  a  letter,  "  slept  sweetly  in  the 
Lord,  having  carried  himself  gratiously  in  his  sickness."  —  Ch.  :  i.  Nicholas, 
b.  about  1619  ;  served  in  the  Pequot  War,  1637  ;  m.  before  1640,  Sarah,  dau. 
of  Joseph  Loomis,  of  Windsor ;  surveyor  of  highways,  1647  ;  townsman,  1654, 
1658,  1667;  list  and  rate  maker,  1669;  freeman,  1669;  deputy,  1672-3; 
Lieut.,  1673;  townsman,  1671,  1679,  1683;  appointed  Capt.  of  a  com- 
pany sent  to  New  London  in  1675;  was  in  active  service  in  King  Philip's 
War.  His  second  wife  was  Mary,  widow  of  Dr.  Thomas  Lord.  He  d.  Aug. 
31,  1684.  ii.  Nehemiah,  probably  under  age  when  his  father  died  ;  he  re- 
moved to  Fairfield  in  1649  ;  was  a  sergeant  in  1657  ;  he  m.  Elizabeth ; 

he  d.  in  1658,  leaving  one  child;  his  widow  m.  Obadiah  Gilbert.  Deacon 
Joseph  Olmsted,  son  of  Nicholas,  settled  in  East  Hartford,  and  his  descend- 
ants have  been  among  its  most  influential  citizens.  Prof.  Denison  Olmsted, 
of  Yale  College,  and  the  late  John  Olmsted  belonged  to  this  branch. 

Dr.  John  Olmsted,  nephew  of  James,  came  to  New  England  in  1632,  with  his 
uncle  ;  one  of  the  proprietors  "by  courtesie  of  the  town,"  in  1639,  when  his 
home-lot  was  on  the  west  side  of  the  "  road  from -George  Steel's  to  the  Great 

1  Savage  says  "  by  ano.  acct.  12  Dec." 


254  MEMORIAL  HISTORY   OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

Swamp  ; "  he  removed  from  Hartford  to  Say  brook,  and  from  there,  about  1660, 
to  Norwich.  He  served  in  King  Philip's  War  as  surgeon,  and  was  the  first 
physician  at  Norwich  ;  he  m.  Elizabeth,  dau.  of  Matthew  Marvin,  and  widow 
of  Thomas  Gregory,  of  Norwalk;  d.  Aug.  2,  1686,  s.  p.  His  widow  d.  in 
1689. 

Capt.  Richard  Olmsted,  came  with  his  uncle  James  in  the  "  Lion ; "  one 
of  the  original  proprietors  of  Hartford;  his  home-lot  in  1639  was  on  the 
west  side  of  Main  St.,  about  where  the  Centre  Ch.  now  stands,  and  the 
buildings  north  of  it.  This  lot  was  taken  by  the  town,  Jan.  11,  1640-1,  for 
the  burying  place,  and  Olmsted  received  instead  an  acre  and  a  half  of  ground 
"  lying  at  the  north  meadow  gate,"  and  part  of  the  lot  of  John  Skinner,  which 
adjoined  his  on  the  west,  and  the  town  agreed  to  remove  his  house  on  to 
Skinner's  lot,  Skinner  having  another  portion  given  him.  He  served  in  the 
Pequot  War,  and  was  in  the  Sasco  fight ;  constable,  1647  ;  fence-viewer,  1650. 
One  of  the  signers  of  the  agreement  for  planting  Norwalk,  June  19,  1650  ; 
he  removed  in  1651,  and  was  the  leading  man  there  ;  was  authorized  "to  ex- 
ercise the  soldiers,"  May,  1653  ;  Lieut.,  1659  ;  muster-master  for  Fairfield  Co., 
1673  ;  deputy,  May,  1653,  and  many  times  after,  until  May,  1671  ;  was  one 
of  the  petitioners,  in  1672,  for  a  new  plantation  "neare  the  back  side  of 
Norwalk."  Aged  about  76,  Sept.,  1683,  according  to  his  testimony  in 
the  Trumbull  Papers,  vol.  xxii.  p.  142.  He  d.  about  1684  ;  will  signed 
Sept.  5. 

William  Pantry  (Peyntre),  Cambridge,  1634 ;  came  to  New  England  in  the 
same  ship  with  Sam'l  Greenhill,  Timo.  Stanley,  Simon  Willard,  etc. ;  a  lot 
was  granted  to  him  in  Newtown,  Aug.  4,  1634 ;  freed  from  training,  Nov.  7, 
1634  ;  freeman,  Mass.,  March  4, 1635  ;  removed  next  year  to  Hartford,  where 
he  was  one  of  the  wealthiest  of  the  original  proprietors.  His  home-lot  in 
1639  was  on  the  street  now  Front  St.,  James  Olmsted's  lot  being  on  the 
south,  and  Thomas  Scott's  on  the  north  ;  townsman,  1641,  1645  ;  constable, 
1649  ;  he  d.  Nov.,  1649  ;  inv.,  Nov.  29,  £1,011.  10.  (debts,  £160).    William's 

.  wife,  Margaret,  survived  him,  and  in  her  will,  dated  Sept.  12,  1651,  she  men- 
tions dau.  Mary  Bryan,  sister  Brunson,  and  "  two  children  of  Richard  Bran- 
son, that  he  had  by  my  sister,  viz.,  John  and  Abigail  Brunson  ;"  son  John 
Pantry.  —  Ch.  :  i.  Mary,  m.  before  Nov.  29,  1649,  Richard  Bryan,  of  Mil- 
ford,  ii.  John;  freeman,  1650  ;  m.  Hannah,  dau.  of  Wrilliam  and  Elizabeth 
Tuttle,  of  New  Haven;  d.  in  1653;  will  dated  Sept.  1  ;  inv.  Nov.  25, 
£1,242.  1.  His  widow  ra.  (2)  June  23,  1654,  Thomas  Welles,  son  of  Gov. 
Welles;  d.  Aug.  9,  1683,  oe.  50.  By  her  first  marriage  to  John  Pantry  she 
had  one  son,  John,  bapt.  March  17,  1649-50;  and  two  daughters,  Hannah, 
d.  unm.,  and  Mary,  m.  Nathaniel  Mix.  John  m.  Abigail,  dau.  of  Thomas 
Mix,  of  New  Haven  ;  he  was  one  of  the  richest  men  in  Hartford,  left  to  his 
children  and  grandchildren  a  large  estate,  including  a  pasture  of  25  acres,  on 
the  east  side  of  Front  St.  He  d.  April  4,  1736,  ae.  86,  very  feeble,  his  estate 
having  been  placed  under  the  care  of  a  conservator.  His  only  son,  John,  d. 
in  1713,  and  was  the  last  of  the  name,  but  the  blood  was  transmitted  through 
female  lines  in  the  Goodman,  Goodwin,  Jones,  and  Whitman  families,  and 
descendants  bore  the  name,  John  Pantry  Goodwin,  John  Pantry  Jones,  John 
Pantry  Whitman,  into  the  present  century.  y 

William  Parker,  an  original  proprietor  of  Hartford,  1636;  his  home-lot  in 
1639  was  on  the  west  side  of  the  "road  from  Seth  Grant's  to  Centinel  Hill," 
now  Trumbull  St.  He  removed  to  Saybrook,  probably  within  ten  years  ; 
was  deputy,  1672  ;  his  wife,  Margery,  d.  Dec.  6,  1680.     He  d.  Dec.  21,  1686. 

Deacon  Paul  Peck,  b.  about  1622  (depos.  on  will  of  Widow  Barding).  A  pro- 
prietor "  by  courtesie  of  the  town  "in  1639  ;  his  home-lot  was  on  "  the  road 
from  George  Steel's  to  the  Great  Swamp."  He  was  surveyor  of  highwaye, 
1658,  1665;  townsman,  1661,  1668;  chimney -viewer,  1667;  deacon  of  the 


THE  ORIGINAL  PROPRIETORS.  255 

First  Ch.,  April,  1691.  He  d.  Dec.  23,  1695,  a.  87;  inv.  £536.  5.  ;  named 
wife  Martha  in  his  will.  Ch.  :  i.  Paul,  b.  1639  ;  m.  Elizabeth,  dau.  of 
John  Baysey ;  lived  in  the  West  Division;  d.  1725.  ii.  Martha,  b.  1641  ; 
rn.  Jane  8,   1665,  John  Cornwell,  of  Middletown ;  d.    March   1,    1708-9. 

iii.  Elizabeth,  b.   1643  ;  m. Howe,  of  Wallingford.     iv.  John,  b.  Dec. 

22,   1645;    Hartford,  West  Division ;  m.  and  had  children,     v.  Samuel,  b. 

1647  ;  lived  in  the  West  Division;  m.  Elizabeth ;  d.  Jan.   10,   1696. 

vi.  Joseph,  bapt.  Dec.  22,  1650;  m.  Ruth ;  settled  in  Windsor,  where 

he  d.  June  26,  1698.  vii.  Sarah,  b.  1653;  m.  Thomas  Clark,  of  Hartford, 
viii.  Hannah,  b.  1656;  m.  May  12,  1680,  John  Shepherd,  of  Hartford. 
ix.  Mary,  b.  1662;   m.  John  Andrews,  of  Hartford;  d.  1752.     x.  Another 

dau.,  m.  Joseph  Benton,  of  Hartford,     xi.  Another  dau.,  m. Beach,  of 

Wallingford. 

John  Pierce  was  a  landholder  in  1639  "by  courtesie  of  the  town."  His 
home-lot  was  on  the  east  side  of  the  road  to  the  Cow  Pasture,  but  it  was 
given  to  Robert  Wade,  before  Feb.  1639-40.  He  evidently  did  not  remain 
long  in  Hartford,  but  where  he  settled  is  unknown.  It  is  thought  that  he 
may  have  served  in  the  Pequot  War,  as  he  owned  a  lot  in  the  Soldier's  Field, 
which  he  sold  to  Richard  Goodman.  Dec.  1642,  "  It  was  agreed  by  the  town 
that  William  Clarke  shall  hafe  John  Pearces  allotment." 

William  Phillips,  Hartford,  1639,  one  of  the  inhabitants  to  whom  land  was 
granted  "  by  courtesie  of  the  town."  He  served  in  the  Pequot  War  ;  towns- 
man, 1650;  surveyor  of  highways,  1653;  chimney-viewer,  1643.  He  d.  in 
1655;  inv.  Dec.  4,  1655,  £314.  4.  6.  His  widow  and  executrix,  Ann  Phil- 
lips, d.  at  Hadley,  1669;  inv.  Nov.  13.  She  left  a  legacy  to  her  brother, 
which  was  receipted  by  him,  in  1671,  as  "Samuel  Young,  of  Staplehurst,  Co. 
Kent,  husbandman."  She  also  left  legacies  to  her  brother,  John  Rogers,  in 
England,  to  Mr.  John  Hooker,  living  in  Old  England,  £10,  if  he  come  to 
live  in  New  England,  to  Mr.  Samuel  Hooker,  £10,  and  to  his  sister,  wife  of 
Rev.  John  Wilson,  of  Medfield  (all  children  of  Rev.  Thos.  Hooker),  £10. 

Thomas  Porter  was  not  one  of  the  original  proprietors  of  Hartford,  but  a  lot 
was  granted  to  him  conditionally,  in  Jan.  1639-40,  and  his  name  appears 
on  W.  S.  Porter's  map  of  Hartford,  1640,  when  his  lot  was  on  what  is  now 
Albany  Ave.  He  m.  Nov.  20,  1644,  Sarah,  dau.  of  Stephen  Hart;  removed 
to  Farmington,  where  he  and  his  wife  joined  the  church,  July  19,  1653  ;  d. 
1697. 

Stephen  Post,  Cambridge,  1634  ;  removed,  1636,  to  Hartford,  where  he  was  an 
original  proprietor;  his  home-lot  in  the  distribution  of  1639  was  on  the 
south  side  of  "the  road  from  George  Steel's  to  the  South  Meadow  ;"  he  sold 
this  lot  to  Thomas  Gridley,  ab.  1649,  and  removed  to  Saybrook  ;  he  was 
constable,  1642  ;  d.  in  Saybrook,  Aug.  16,  1659;  inv.  £442.  3.  6. 

John  Pratt,  an  original  proprietor  of  Hartford;  his  home-lot  in  1639  was  on 
the  west  side  of  Main  St.,  and  he  purchased  a  lot  belonging  to  Gov.  Haynes, 
adjoining  his  own,  so  that  his  possessions  extended  from  what  is  now  the 
north  corner  of  Asylum  St.  to  the  Melodeon  building,  and  Pratt  St.  received 
its  name  because  it  was  opened  through  land  belonging  to  his  descendants  ; 
townsman,  1654.  He  d.  1655  ;  will,  dated  Oct.  20,  1654,  names  wife  Eliza- 
beth, and  sons  John  and  Daniel ;  inv.  July  15,  1655,  £515.  2.  6.  —  Ch.  :  i. 
John,  m.  Hannah,  dau.  of  James  Boosy,  of  Wethersfield  ;  freeman,  1657  ; 
constable,  1670  ;  he  had  a  second  wife,  Hepzibah,  who  m.  (2)  John  Sadd,  of 
Hartford.  His  will  is  dated  April  9,  1687  ;  d.  Nov.  23,  1687  ;  names  wife,r 
sons  Joseph  and  Jonathan,  and  5  dau'rs.  ii.  Daniel,  Hartford  ;  freeman, 
1656-7  ;  m.  and  had  8  children  ;  will,  dated  April  19,  1690,  names  7  dau'rs 
and  son  Daniel.     He  was  buried  April  24,  1691. 

William  Pratt,  an  original  proprietor  and  settler,  supposed  to  have  been  brother 
of  John  ;  his  home  Jot  in  1639  was  on  the  east  side  of  the  road  to  the  Cow 


256  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

Pasture.  Served  in  the  Pequot  War;  in  1645  sold  his  land  to  Matthew 
Beckwith,  and  removed  to  Saybrook  ;  he  was  deputy  from  there  1666-1676; 
Lieut,  in  1661.     He  m.  Elizabeth,  dau.  of  John  Clark,  of  Saybrook. 

John  Purchas  (Purkas),  Hartford,  1639,  one  of  the  inhabitants  to  whom  the 
land  was  granted  "  by  courtesie  of  the  town  ;  "  his  home-lot  was  on  the  west 
side  of  the  road  to  the  Cow  Pasture,  near  the  Pound.  He  probably  served 
in  the  Pequot  War,  as  he  owned  land  in  the  Soldier's  Field,  in  1639.  He 
d.  in  Oct.  1645;  will  dated  Oct.  15  ;  inv.  £30.  15.  His  widow,  Jane,  or 
Joan,  m.  (2)  Oct.  29,  1646,  Nicholas  Palmer,  of  Windsor  ;  d.  Apr.  16,  1683. 
—  Ch.  :  i.  Mary,  m.  Gerard  Speck,  or  Spicke  (q.  v.),  before  Nov.  26,  1663. 
ii.  Elizabeth,  m.  before  Dec.  17,  1663,  Richard  Case  (q.  v.),  who  calls  him- 
self of  Windsor,  Dec.  17,  1663,  afterward  of  East  Hartford. 

Nathaniel  Richards  came  in  the  "Lion,"  Sept.  16,  1632;  freeman,  Mass., 
Nov.  6,  1632;  one  of  the  proprietors  at  Cambridge,  1633;  removed  to  Hart- 
ford, 1636  ;  an  original  proprietor;  his  home-lot  in  1639  was  near  the  north 
bank  of  the  Little  River,  about  where  the  west  part  of  Pearl  St.  now  is. 
He  was  constable,  1642,  1650;  townsman,  1645  ;  one  of  the  signers  of  the 
agreement  for  planting  Norwalk,  June  19,  1650,  and  removed  there  soon 
after ;  sold  his  dwelling-house  and  land  in  Hartford,  to  William  Phillips, 
May  29,  1651.  He  was  deputy  from  Norwalk,  Oct.,  1658;  selectman, 
1670  ;  third  in  the  list  of  estates,  in  1673  ;  £268.  He  d.  Jan.  22,  1681-2.1 
Savage  says  (vol.  iii.  p.  584)  that  he  left  all  his  estate  to  the  husbands  of 
four  dau'rs  of  his  wife,  Rosamond,  by  her  former  husband,  Henry  Lindall. 
"  Rozimon  Richards,  the  Rellique  of  Nathaniel  Richards,  deceased  Nov.  25, 
1683."  2 

Thomas  Richards,  Hartford,  1639,  a  proprietor  "by  the  town's  courtesie;"  his 
lot  in  1639  was  west  of  the  present  Lafayette  St.  He  d.  before  Feb.  1639- 
40  ;  when  the  distribution  was  made  to  "  ye  widow  Richards,  ye  late  wife  of 
Thomas  Richards,  deceased."  She  d.  in  1671  ;  inv.  June  12.  — Ch.  :  i.  John, 
b.  1631;  m.  Lydia,  dau.  of  George  Stocking;  freeman,  1669;  chimney- 
looker,  1657  ;  living  in  1712.  ii.  Mary,  m.  Peck,  of  Milford  ;  —  Savage  says 
that  Joseph  Peck,  of  Milford,  m.  Mary,  dau.  of  a  widow  Richards,  in  1669. 
iii.  Thomas  was  one  of  a  company  from  Conn.,  who  purchased,  July  11, 
1667,  a  tract  on  the  Passaic  River,  in  New  Jersey,  including  the  present  site 
of  Newark.  He  was  a  deacon  in  the  church,  and  a  prominent  citizen  ;  will 
dated  Oct.  2,  1708,  proved  Apr.  20,  1715;  names  wife,  Hannah;  leaves 
most  of  his  property  to  his  nephew  John,  son  of  his  brother  John.  iv. 
Obadiah,  an  early  settler  of  Farmington  ;  freeman,  May,  1669  ;  signed  the 
agreement  for  planting  Mattatuck,  1674,  and  joined  the  settlement  early;  m. 
(1)  Hannah,  dau.  of  John  Andrews,  of  Farmington  ;  (2)  Esther;  he  d.  Nov. 
11,  1702.  v.  Samuel;  freeman,  May,  1658;  settled  in  New  Haven  as  a 
cordwainer,  where  he  d.  1662,  unm. 

Richard  Risley  (Wrisley),  an  original  proprietor  of  Hartford  ;  his  home-lot 
in  1639  was  on  the  west  side  of  the  road  from  George  Steel's  to  the  Great 
Swamp.  He  afterward  went  to  Hockanum,  and  settled  near  Willow  Brook. 
He  d.  about  1648;  inv.  £135.  5.  10.  His  widow  m.  William  Hills,  who 
agreed  to  bring  up  the  children  to  read  and  write,  and  to  give  them  their  sev- 
eral portions. — Ch.:  i.  Sarah,  b.  about  1641.  ii^Samuel,  bapt.  Nov.  1,  1646  ; 
freeman,  May  20, 1668  ;  d.  July  8,  1670,  as.  23  yrs.  8  mos.  iii.  Richard,  bapt. 
Aug.  21,  1648;  freeman,  1669;  lived  in  Hockanum,  married  and  had  seven 
children,  and  through  them  had  numerous  descendants  in  East  Hartford. 

Thomas  Root,3  Salem,  1637,  was  an  original  proprietor  at  Hartford,  in  1639, 
when  his  home-lot  was  on  the  east  side  of  the  road  to  the  Cow  Pasture  (North 

1  Norwalk  Records,  ii.  fol.  74.  2  Ibid. 

8  Believed  to  be  the  son  of  John  Eoot  and  Ann  Russell,  his  wife,  of  Badby,  Co.  North- 
ampton ;  b.  Jan.  16,  1605.     Root  Genealogy,  93-107. 


THE   ORIGINAL   PROPRIETORS.  257 

Main  St.).  He  was  a  weaver;  served  in  the  Pequot  War;  removed,  May, 
1654,  to  Northampton,  where  he  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  church;  he 
d.  there,  July  17,  1694,  at  a  great  age. 

William  Eusooe  (Reskoe,  Rescue),  Cambridge,  came  in  the  "  Increase,"  April, 
1635,  aged  51,  with  wife  Rebecca,  aged  40,  ch.  Sarah  (9),  Marie  (7),  Sam- 
uel (6),  and  William  (1),  bringing  a  certificate  from  the  parish  minister  of 
Rillerica,  Co.  Essex ;  his  wife  died  early,  perhaps  on  the  voyage,  and  he  m. 
(2)  in  Feb.  or  March,  1635-6,  Hester  Musse  or  Must,  widow,  of  Cambridge. 
He  was  appointed  to  "make  a  pound"  at  Newtown,  April  23,  1636.  An 
original  proprietor  at  Hartford;  bis  home-lot  in  1639  was  on  the  west  side  of 
the  road  from  Seth  Grant's  to  Centinel  Hill.  Chosen  surveyor  of  highways, 
1641  ;  employed  by  the  General  Court  to  keep  the  house  of  correction  at  a 
salary  of  £10  per  year,  Feb.,  1649-50.  May  1,  1667,  by  a  writing  he  "  past 
over  "  to  Nathaniel  Ruscoe,  and  his  son,  all  his  lands  in  Hartford  that  were 
undisposed  of.  Before  that  date,  March  27,  1665,  Will.  Ruscoe's  home-lot  is 
mentioned  on  the  Norwalk  records,  so  he  prob.  removed  there.  —  Ch.  :  i.  Na- 
thaniel (q.  v.).     ii.  Sarah,  b.  ab.  1626;  m.  (1)  Dec.  10,  1646,  Henry  Cole, 

who  removed  to  Middletown  ;  (2)  Nov.  1679, Bull,  of  Say  brook  ;  d. 

Jan.,  1688.  iii.  Mary,  b.  ab.  1628;  m.  Aug.  19,  1647,  Hugh  WeUs,  of 
Wethersfield.  iv.  Samuel,  b.  ab.  1629;  d.  young,  v.  William,  b.  1634. 
vi.  John;  m.  Jan.  2,  1650-51,  Rebecca,  sister  of  Nathaniel  Beebe,  of  Ston- 
ington  ;  signed  the  agreement  for  planting  Norwalk,  June  19,  1650  ;  freeman 
there,  1669  ;  had  an  estate  of  £250  in  1687.  vii.  Samuel,  b.  in  H.  March 
12,  1648-9. 

Nathaniel  Ruscoe,  an  original  proprietor  in  1639-40;  his  home-lot  was  appar- 
ently the  lot  he  bought  of  Josua  Ginnings,  on  the  highway,  now  Trumbull 
St.;  m.  Nov.  11,  1645,  Johanna  Corlet ;  signed  the  agreement  for  planting 
Norwalk,  June  19,  1650,  but  no  lot  there  was  assigned  to  him,  and  he  did 
not  go  ;  chosen  chimney-viewer  in  H.  1652  ;  surveyor  of  highways,  1661  ; 
townsman,  1665,  1669;  d.  at  Haddam,  1673  (while  away  from  home);  inv. 
Aug.  18,  £304;  he  names  his  wife  Joanna,  and  son  Nathaniel,  kinswoman, 
Mary  Browne,  and  gives  to  Benjamin  or  Benoni  Newton,  a  young  heifer  and 
a  sucking  pig.  —  Ch. :  i.  Nathaniel,  of  Southampton,  L.  I.,  in  1698. 

John  Sable  (Savell,  Sables),  a  proprietor  "by  courtesie  of  the  town  ;"  his  home- 
lot  in  1639  was  west  of  what  is  now  Lafayette  St.  The  use  of  half  his  home-lot, 
and  planting  lot,  was  granted  to  Thomas  Bliss,  Dec,  1642.  He  was  made  free- 
man May,  1658,  and  prob.  before  that  date  had  settled  in  some  other  place. 

Thomas  Scott,  embarked  about  "  the  last  of  April,"  1634,  in  the  "Elizabeth," 
of  (and  at)  Ipswich,  a.  40,  with  wife  Elizabeth  (40),  ch.,  Elizabeth  (a.  9), 
Abigail  (a.  7),  Thomas  (a.  6)  ;  with  him  were  Thomas  Kilbourne,  Robert 
Day,  etc.  He  was  admitted  freeman,  Mass.,  March  4,  1634-5.  Removed  to 
Hartford  with  the  first  settlers,  and  was  an  original  proprietor ;  his  home-lot 
in  1639  was  on  the  road  from  the  Meeting  House  to  the  Landing,  now  State 
St.,  and  also  extended  some  distance  on  Front  St.  Hinman  says  that  in 
1635-6  he  kept  a  bridge  over  brick-hill  brook,  at  five  shillings  per  annum. 
He  was  one  of  those  appointed  by  the  General  Court,  Jan.  16,  1639,  "  to  view 
those  parts  by  '  Vnxis  Sepus  '  (Farmington),  which  may  be  suitable  for  a  plan- 
tation." He  d.  Nov.  6,  1643,  by  accident,  "John  Ewe  by  misadventure  was 
the  cause,"  and  he  was  sentenced  to  pay  £10  to  the  widow,  and  £5  to  the 
county.  Inv.  £174.  12.  4.  His  widow,  Ann,  m.  Nov.  7,  1644,  Thomas  Ford, 
of  Windsor,  and  d.  at  Northampton,  May  5,  1675.  —  Ch. :  i.  Elizabeth,  b. 
about  1625;  m.  Feb.  6,  1648,  Dea.  John  Loomis,  of  Windsor;  d.  May  7, 
1696.  ii.  Abigail,  b.  about  1627.  iii.  Thomas,  b.  about  1628;  settled  at 
Stamford  ;  m.  at  Ipswich,  Mass.,  Margaret,  dau.  of  William  Hubbard  ;  d.  1657. 
iv.  Mary,  m.  Nov.  7,  1644,  Robert  Porter,  of  Farmington.  v.  Sarah,  m.  Dec. 
15,  1645,  John  Stanley  (q.  v.),  of  Farmington ;  d.  June  26,  1661. 


258  MEMORIAL  HTSTORY  OF   HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

Thomas  Selden,  Hartford,  1639,  an  original  proprietor;  his  home-lot  was  near 
the  present  junction  of  Washington  and  Lafayette  Sts.  ;  freeman,  April,  1640  ; 
constable,  1650 ;  be  d.  in  1655  ;  will  dated  Aug.  14 ;  inv.  Dec.  19,  £292.  3.  4. 
He  names  in  his  will  bis  wife,  Hester,  his  "brother,  Mr.  John  Wakeman,"  and 
his  "  cousin  Thomas  Hosmer."  His  wife,  who  was  probably  Hester  Wake- 
man,  m.  (2)  Andrew  Warner,  who  went  from  Hartford  to  Hadley,  where  she 
d.  in  1693.  —  Ch.  :  i.  Thomas,  bapt.  in  Hartford,  Aug.  30,  1645  ;  m.  Felix, 
dau.  of  Capt.  William  Lewis,  of  Farmington ;  removed  to  Hadley ;  d.  there, 
Nov.  24,  1734.  ii.  John,  bapt.  March  3,  1649-50  ;  d.  May,  1650.  hi.  Mary, 
bapt.  March  26,  1648-9.  iv.  Esther,  bapt.  March  3,  1649-50  ;  d.  May,  1651. 
v.  Joseph,  bapt.  Nov.  2,  1651;  he  m.  Feb.  11,  1677,  Rebecca,  dau.  of  Dea- 
con Edward  Church,  of  Hatfield ;  settled  in  Hadley  about  1678  ;  moved  from 
there  to  Deerfield,  in  1684,  and  prior  to  1700  he  removed  to  Lyme,  Ct., 
where  he  d.  July  14,  1724. 
Richard  Seymour,  Hartford,  1639  ;  one  of  those  settlers  who  received  land  "  by 
the  courtesie  of  the  town  ; "  his  home-lot  was  on  the  east  side  of  the  road 
to  the  Cow  Pasture  (North  Main  St.),  and  was  bounded  on  the  north  by  the 
Cow  Pasture  itself;  chosen  chimney-viewer,  1647  ;  he  was  one  of  the  signers 
of  the  agreement  for  planting  Norwalk,  June  19,  1650,  and  was  there  soon 
after,  with  the  first  planters;  townsman  at  Norwalk,  1655; 
d.  in  1655  ;  will  dated  July  29,  proved  Oct.  25,  1655  ;  inv., 
Oct.  10,  1655,  £225.  9.  He  mentions  his  wife,  Mercy,  eldest 
son,  Thomas,  "  three  other  sons,"  John,  Zachary,  and  Richard, 
the  latter  three  being  under  age,  and  left  to  their  mother's 
guardianship.  She  m.  (2)  Nov.  25,  1655,  John  Steele,  of 
Farmington.  —  Ch.  :  i.  Thomas,  one  of  the  early  settlers  of 
xhomas  setmouh's  Norwalk ;  in.  (1)  Jan,  1653-4  Hannah,  dau.  of  Matthew 
seal.  Marvin,  of  Norwalk ;  freeman,  lbbb  ;  deputy  from  Norwalk, 

1690  ;  one  of  the  patentees  of  1686 ;  and  in  1687  had  an  es- 
tate of  £184.  He  m.  (2)  Elizabeth,  named  in  his  will.  He  d.  in  1712  ;  will 
dated  Sept.  22  ;  proved  Nov.  7,  1712,  sealed  with  the  above  coat  of  arms.1  ii. 
John,  was  in  Hartford  as  early  as  1664,  and  m.,  probably  not  long  after,  Mary, 
dau.  of  John  Watson,  of  Hartford  ;  freeman,  1667.  He  was  a  member,  though 
not  in  full  communion,  of  the  South  Church,  when  it  -was  formed,  Feb.  12, 1670. 
He  d.  1713;  will  dated  Dec.  10,  1712;  proved,  Aug.  3,  1713;  inv.  £1158. 
14.  01.  hi.  Zachariah,  b.  1642  ;  freeman,  Farmington,  1669  ;  from  the  record  of 
law-suits  in  the  County  Court  proceedings  it  is  evident  that  he  was  engaged  in 
trade  with  Barbadoes  ;  he  removed  to  Wethersfield  and  m.  there,  Feb.  9,  1688, 
Mary,  dau.  of  widow  Mary  Gritt ;  d.  in  Wethersfield,  Aug.  1702,  a.  60 ;  inv. 
£200.  4.  3.  iv.  Richard,  freeman,  Farmington,  1669;  one  of  the  84  proprie- 
tors of  1672;  the  leader  of  the  Great  Swamp  settlement  in  1686  (Kensing- 
ton), and  captain  of  the  fort.  He  m.  Hannah,  dau.  of  Matthew  Woodruff,  of 
Farmington.2  He  was  killed  by  the  fall  of  a  tree  in  1710;  inv.  presented 
Nov.  29,  1710,  £416.  15.  3.  — Ex-Gov.  Horatio  Seymour,  of  New  York,  the 
Hon.  Origen  S.  Seymour,  of  Litchfield,  and  Gov.  Thomas  H.  Seymour,  of 
Hartford,  were  descendants  of  John  Seymour,  of  H.,  who  is  the  ancestor  of 
nearly  all  of  the  name  in  this  vicinity. 
John  Skinner,  an  original  proprietor  ;  his  home-loMn  1639  was  on  the  west  side 
of  Main  St.,  a  little  below  the  present  corner  of  Pearl  St.  ;  but  this  was  given 
to  Richard  Olmsted  (q.  v.),  he  receiving  in  exchange  a  lot  on  the  highway, 

1  A  "Bishop's  Bible,"  printed  in  1584,  now  in  the  possession  of  one  of  Richard  Seymour's 
descendants,  has  on  one  of  the  fly-leaves  a  drawing  of  the  arms  of  the  Seymours  of  Berry 
Pomeroy,  the  same  as  those  given  above  with  the  quarterings  granted  by  Henry  VIII.,  and  his 
name  written  below,  "Richard  Seymor,  Bery  Pomery,  heytor  bund.,  in  ye  com.  Devon,  his 
Book.      Hartford  ye  collony  of  Conecticot  in  New  England.      Annoque  Domini,  1640." 

2  Savage  says  (iv.  58)  that  he  m.  Hannah,  dau.  of  Anthony  Hawkins,  but  I  have  found 
no  other  authority  for  his  statement  as  yet. 


THE   ORIGINAL   PROPRIETORS.  259 

now  Trumbull  St. ;  juror,  1639  ;  m.  Mary,  dau.  of  Joseph  Loomis,  of  Wind- 
sor; d.  in  1650,  and  his  widow  ni.  (2)  Nov.  13,  1651,  Owen  Tudor,  of 
Windsor.  —  Ch.  :  i.  Mary,  b.  1637;  m.  Robert  Reeve,  of  Hartford,  ii.  Ann, 
b.  1639  ;  m.  John  Colt.  iii.  John,  b.  1641 ;  m.  Mary,  dau.  of  Joseph  Easton  ; 
d.  in  Hartford,  Sept.  15,  1690.  John  Talcott,  in  his  will,  Aug.  12,  1659, 
mentions  his  kinsman,  John  Skinner,  as  "living  in  his  service,"  and  as  John 
Talcott's  mother  was  Anne,  dau.  of  William  Skinner,  it  is  probable  that  John 
Skinner,  Sr.,  came  from  Braintree,  Co.  Essex,  iv.  Joseph,  b.  1613  ;  m.  April 
5,  1666,  Mary  Filley,  of  Windsor;  settled  in  Windsor,  v.  Richard,  b.  1616  ; 
m.  and  lived  in  Hartford,  but  his  descendants  removed  to  Colchester. 

Arthur  Smith,  an  original  proprietor  ;  his  home-lot  in  1639  was  on  the  highway 
now  Elm  St.;  fence-viewer,  1639;  constable,  1612.  He  was  allowed,  Feb. 
16,  1639-40,  to  have  half  of  Thomas  Alcock's  lot,  which  had  been  forfeited. 
Appointed  with  Thomas  Woodford  to  attend  upon  the  townsmen,  and  to  do 
any  special  services  required  by  them,  Feb.  1639-40.  He  d.  1655 ;  inv.  Nov. 
29,  £380.  2.  6.  His  widow,  Margaret,  m.  (2)  Sergt.  Joseph  Nash,  of  Hartford ; 
(3)  Stephen  Hart;  d.  in  Farmington,  March  1,  1693.  —  Ch. :  i.  John,  b.  ab. 
1043.  ii.  Mary,  b.  Feb.,  1644-5.  iii.  Hannah,  b.  1649.  iv.  Arthur,  bapt. 
April  20,  1651;  m.  Sarah,  dau.  of  Thomas  Newell,  of  Farmington;  d.  in 
Hartford  about  1712.  v.  Elizabeth,  b.  ab.  1653;  m.  Thomas  Thomson,  of 
Farmington.  Hinman  says  (p.  73)  that  Arthur  Smith  was  a  soldier  in  the 
bloody  battle  with  the  Pequots  at  Mystic  Fort,  in  1637,  where  he  was 
severely  wounded,  and  was  rescued  from  the  flames  of  the  fort  by  his  brother 
soldiers. 

Giles  Smith,  an  inhabitant  who  received  land  "  by  the  courtesie  of  the  town ; " 
his  home-lot  in  1639  was  on  Main  St.,  on  the  corner  of  what  is  now  Charter 
Oak  St.,  a  small  lot  cut  off  from  the  square  occupied  by  George  Wyllys.  He 
sold  20  acres  to  Thomas  Hosmer,  March  6,  1642;  Philip  Davis  bought  his 
land  and  tenement.  He  was  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  at  New  London,  but 
removed  from  there  to  Fairfield,  where  he  was  in  1651  ;  d.  there,  1669  ;  he 
left  a  second  wife,  Eunice,  not  the  mother  of  his  children,  who  had  been  widow 
of  Jonathan  Porter,  of  Huntington,  L.  I. 

Sergeant  Thomas  Spencer,  Cambridge;  freeman,  May  14,  1634;  removed  in 
1637  to  Hartford,  where  he  was  one  of  the  original  proprietors  ;  his  home-lot 
in  1639  was  on  the  east  side  of  Main  St.,  near  what  is  now  the  junction  of 
Main  and  Windsor  Sts. ;  he  served  in  the  Pequot  War;  chimney-viewer, 
1650;  constable,  north  side,  1658;  surveyor  of  highways,  1672;  he  was 
sergeant  of  the  trainband  in  1650,  and  received  in  1671  a  grant  of  60  acres, 

"for  his  good    service  in  the  country."      He  m.  (1)  ;   (2)   Sept.   11, 

1645,  Sarah,  only  child  of  Nathaniel  Bearding,  of  Hartford.  He  d.  Sept. 
11,  1687.  —Ch.  of  1st  wife  :  i.  Obadiah,  Hartford;  freeman,  1658  ;  m.  Mary, 
dau.  of  Nicholas  Disborough  ;  d.  1712.  ii.  Thomas;  freeman,  1658;  m. 
Esther,  dau.  of  William  Andrews,  of  Hartford ;  removed  to  Suffield.  iii. 
Samuel.  Ch.  of  2d  wife:  iv.  Gerard,  Hartford;  m.  Dec.  22,  1680,  Hannah, 
dau.  of  John  Pratt,  Jr.,  of  Hartford  ;  d.  1712.  v.  Sarah,  m.  Thomas  Huxley, 
of  Suffield;  d.  Oct.  24,  1712.  vi.  Elizabeth,  bapt.  March  26,  1648;  in. 
Samuel  Andrews,  of  Hartford,  vii.  Hannah,  b.  April  15,  1653.  viii.  Mary, 
b.  May  18,  1655.     ix.  Martha,  b.  March  19,  1657-8;  m. Benton. 

William  Spexcer,  Cambridge,  1631,  brother  of  Thomas;  freeman,  Mass.,  March 
4,  1632-3  ;  deputy  for  Newtown,  Mav,  1632  ;  May,  1634;  March,  1634-5  ; 
March,  1635-6;  Sept.,  1636;  May,  1637;  Sept.,  1637;  March,  1637-8 ; 
chosen  Lieut,  for  Newtown,  March,  1636-7  ;  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
Ancient  and  Honorable  Artillery  Co.,  and  had  other  evidences  of  the  public 
favor  bestowed  on  him.  Removed  to  Hartford,  1639,  where  his  home-lot 
was  about  where  the  Union  depot  now  stands.  He  was  deputy  in  August 
and  September,  1639,  and  appointed  with  Wyllys  and  Webster  to  revise  the 


260  MEMORIAL  HISTORY   OF  HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

laws  of  the  colony  ;  townsman,  1640  ;  d.  in  1640,  leaving  a  widow,  Agnes, 
whom  he  m.  about  1633,  who  became  afterward  the  wife  of  William  Edwards  ; 
inv.  <£291.  12.  2.  He  appoints  "my  cosin  Matthew  Allyn,  my  brother  John 
Pratt,"  and  John  Talcott  to  be  overseers  of  this  estate.  Will  dated  March  4, 
1640,  presented  May  4.  —  Ch.  :  i.  Elizabeth,  m.  (1)  William  Wellman,  of 
Gloucester,  New  London,  and  Killingworth.  (2)  May  23,  1672,  Jacob  Joy, 
of  Killingworth.  ii.  Sarah,  b.  1636  ;  m.  about  1657,  John  Case,  of  Windsor, 
afterward  of  Simsbury ;  d.  Nov.  3,  1691.  iii.  Samuel,  b.  about  1639;  m. 
Sarah,  prob.  dau.  of  John  Meakins.  (John  M.  names  dau.  Sarah  Spencer  in 
his  will,  Nov.  22,  1702.)     He  d.  about  1716,  in  Hartford. 

Thomas  Stanley,  probably  came  to  New  England  with  his  brothers,  John  and 
Timothy;  freeman,  Mass.,  March  4,  1634-5  ;  settled  in  Lynn  ;  deputy,  Sept.  2, 
1635;  constable  in  1636,  in  which  year  he  probably  removed  to  Hartford  ;  he 
was  an  original  proprietor,  and  his  homedot  in  1639  was  on  Main  St.,  just 
north  of  the  Little  River,  extending  to  the  present  Centre  Church ;  he  was 
constable,  1644,  1648,  1653.  Removed  to  Hadley  in  1659 ;  townsman  there, 
1659;  d.  in  Hadley,  buried  Jan.  31,  1663.  His  widow,  Benet,  m.  (2) 
Gregory  Wolterton,  of  Hartford;  d.  in  Hartford,  Jan.,  1664-5. — Ch.  :  i. 
Mary,  m.  John  Porter,  Jr.,  of  Windsor;  d.  Sept.  13,  1688.  ii.  Sarah,  m. 
John  Wadsworth,  of  Farmington.  iii.  Nathaniel,  b.  1638,  removed  to  Had- 
ley with  his  father;  was  townsman  there,  1665,  returned  to  Hartford,  1669; 
m.  June  2,  1659,  Sarah,  dau.  of  James  Boosey,  of  Wethersfield ;  chosen 
townsman  in  Hartford,  Feb.  16,  1665-6  ;  again,  Dec,  1676,  1680,  1685,  and 
May  21,  1688  ;  constable,  Feb.,  1672-3;  ensign  of  the  trainband  ;  deputy, 
1678-1679;  Assistant,  1690-1712;  judge  of  County  Court,  and  Court  of 
Probate,  1698-1702;  on  Council  of  Safety,  1689,  1707,  1708;  on  Commit- 
tee of  War  for  Hartford  Co.  ;  a  man  of  much  wealth  and  influence.  He  d. 
Nov.  14,  1712.  His  dau.  Mary  m.  (1)  Nathaniel  Hooker,  son  of  the  Bev. 
Samuel  H. ;  (2)  John  Austin,  a  wealthy  merchant;  and  his  son,  Nathaniel 
Stanley,  was  a  man  of  wealth,  energy,  and  distinction;  Assistant,  1725-1749, 
and  Treasurer  of  the  colony  from  1749  until  his  death  in  1  755.  His  youngest 
son,  William,  who  d.  in  1786,  left  the  greater  portion  of  his  large  estate  to 
the  Second  Church,  iv.  Hannah,  m.  about  1659,  Samuel  Porter,  of  Hadley ; 
d.  Dec.  18,  1708. 

John  Stanley,  brother  of  Thomas  and  Timothy,  "  died  in  the  way  to' New  Eng- 
land," prob.  in  April  or  May,  1634,  leaving  three  children,  the  youngest  of 
whom  d.  before  March  3,  1634-5;  when  Thomas  Stanley  agreed  to  bring  up 
the  son,  John,  and  provide  for  him,  and  Timothy  took  the  daughter,  Ruth ; 
John,  adopted  son  of  Thomas,  b.  Jan.,  1624  ;  m.  (1)  Dec.  5,  1645,  Sarah, 
dau.  of  Thomas  Scott,  of  Hartford;  she  d.  June  26,  1661.  He  settled  in 
Farmington  ;  m.  (2)  April  20,  1663,  Sarah,  dau.  of  John  Fletcher,  of  Milford. 
He  was  deputy,  1659-1696,  and  fought  in  the  Indian  War,  1676;  d.  Dec. 
19,  1706. 

Timothy  Stanley,  b.  March,  1603,  came  to  New  England  in  May,  1634,  in  the 
same  ship  with  William  Pantry,  Sam'l  Greenhill,  Simon  AVillard,  etc. ;  his 
wife,  Elizabeth,  and  son,  Timothy,  came  with  him,  and  perhaps  one  or  two 
older  children.  Settled  in  Cambridge;  freeman,  March  4,  1634-5.  Removed 
to  Hartford  in  1636  ;  an  original  proprietor;  his  home  lot  in  1639  was  on  the 
west  side  of  Front  St.,  near  the  road  to  the  landing,  the  second  lot  north  of 
the  present  State  St.;  juror,  1641  ;  townsman,  1643;  he  d.  April,  1648,  a3. 
45;  inv.  £332.  18.  10.  His  widow,  Elizabeth,  m.,  in  1661,  Andrew  Bacon, 
who  removed  to  Hadley.  She  returned  to  Hartford  after  his  death  in  1669, 
and  lived  with  her  son,  Caleb  ;  d.  in  Hartford,  Feb.  23,  1679,  se.  about  76.  — 
Ch.  :  i.  Timothy,  b.  Jan.  1633:  d.  young,  ii.  Elizabeth,  m.  Mark  Sension 
(St.  John),  of  Norwalk.  iii.  Abigail,  m.  Samuel  Cowles,  of  Farmington.  iv. 
Caleb,  b.  March,  1642;  lived  on  his  father's  homestead ;  m.  (1)  ab.  1665, 


THE  ORIGINAL  PROPRIETORS.  261 

Hannah,  dan.  of  John  Cowles;  she  d.  Feh.,  1G90,  and  he  m.  (2)  Sarah, 
widow  of  Zechary  Long,  of  Charlestown  ;  she  d.  Aug.  30,  1698;  m.  (3)  1G99, 
Lydia  Wilson,  who  survived  him;  constable,  16G7,  1675;  townsman,  1671, 
1678, 1682,  1687,  1690;  deputy,  live  or  six  times;  Assistant,  1691-1700;  in 
1694,  a  Commissioner  to  Albany,  with  Col.  Allyn,  on  negotiations  with  the 
Indians;  in  1689,  Capt.  Caleb  Stanley,  Mr.  Ciprian  Niccolls,  Ensign  Nathan- 
iel Stanley,  Capt.  John  Stanley,  and  Mr.  James  Treat  were  appointed  a  Council 
of  Safety  with  the  Governor  and  Assistants.  He  d.  May  5,  1718.  His 
son,  Caleb,  was  "  Mr.  Secretary  Stanley ; "  and  also  "  the  first  regular  sur- 
veyor with  a  compass  that  resided  in  any  town  upon  the  Connecticut."  v. 
Lois,  b.  Aug.  23,  1645  ;  m.  Dea.  Thomas  Porter,  of  Farmington.    vi.    Isaac,  b. 

March  10,  1647-8;  settled  in  Hadley  ;    m.  Mary ;    d.  (s.  p.)   Sept.  23, 

1671.  Ruth  Stanley,  Timothy's  adopted  daur,  m.  Dec.  5,  1645,  Isaac  Moore, 
of  Hartford,  Xorwalk,  and  Farmington;  d.  in  Farmington,  May  26,  1691. 

Thomas  Stanton  came  from  Virginia,  whither  in  1635  he  had  gone  from  Lon- 
don, a.  20  ;  an  original  proprietor  of  Hartford  ;  his  home-lot,  in  1639,  was  on 
the  north  bank  of  the  Little  River,  about  where  the  Jewell  Belting  Works  now 
are.  He  served  in  the  Pequot  War;  in  1638  he  was  appointed  by  the  Gen- 
eral Court  a  public  officer,  or  county  marshal,  to  attend  the  Court  upon  all 
occasions,  either  general  or  particular,  and  also  meetings  of  the  magistrates 
to  interpret  between  them  and  the  Indians,  with  a  salary  of  £10  per  an- 
num. In  1646  he  was  absent  and  his  place  was  filled  by  Jonathan  Gilbert ; 
but  in  1648  he  was  reappointed  to  attend  the  Court,  or  magistrates  in  any 
of  the  three  towns,  Hartford,  Windsor,  and  Wethersfield,  as  an  interpreter, 
and  to  have  £5  yearly.  He  was  a  merchant,  made  trading  voyages  to 
Virginia,  and,  in  1649,  the  General  Court  granted  him  liberty  to  build  a 
trading-house  at  Pawcatuck  ;  appointed  Commissioner  at  Mystic  and  Paw- 
catuck,  Oct.  13,  16(34.  He  removed  to  Stonington,  perhaps,  1658;  he  was 
deputy,  from  Stonington,  1666;  d.  1678.  He  m.,  about  1637,  Ann,  dau.  of 
Thomas  Lord,  of  Hartford,  who  d.  1688. 

Deacon  Edward  Stebbins  (Stebbin),  Cambridge,  1633;  freeman,  Mass.,  May 
14,  1634;  on  Committee  to  consider  Endicott's  "defacing  the  colors,"  May, 
1635;  an  original  proprietor  of  Hartford:  his  home-lot  in  1639  extended 
from  the  Meeting-House  Square  to  the  street  now  Front  St.  He  was  con- 
stable, 1638;  deputy  various  times  from  1639  to  1656;  leather  sealer, 
1659.  His  will  is  dated  Aug.  24,  1663;  inv.  Aug.  19,  1668,  £669.  2.  His 
widow  Mrs.  Frances  Stebbins  will  is  dated  May  20,  1670,  and  Nov.  12  1673  ; 
inv.  Dec.  23,  1673  ;  both  wills  name  "son,  Mr.  John  Chester,  now  living  in 
or  near  London."  —  Ch.  :  i.  daughter;  m.  John  Chester  in  England,  ii.  Mary, 
m.  April  29,  1648,  Walter  Gaylord,  of  Windsor;  d.  June  29,  1657.  iii. 
Elizabeth,  m.  (1)  Robert  Wilson,  of  Farmington,  who  died  in  1656  ;  (2)  1658, 
Thomas  Cad  well  (g.  v.),  of  Hartford,  iv.  Lydia ;  m.  Deacon  John  Wilson, 
of  Hartford. 

John  Steele,  Cambridge,  1632  ;  freeman,  May  14,  1634  ;  deputy,  March,  1634  ; 
May,  1635;  Sept.,  1635  ;  "  appointed  with  Ludlow,  Pynchon,  and  others  to 
administer  government  over  the  great  Exodus  to  Conn."  He  was  one  of  the 
original  proprietors  of  Hartford,  and  his  home-lot  in  1639  was  on  Main  St., 
just  north  of  the  present  Athenaeum.  He  was  Secretary  of  the  Colony,  1636- 
1639;  deputy  many  times  from  1639  to  1657;  was  town  clerk  of  Hart- 
ford until  he  removed  to  Farmington  in  1645,  where  he  was  also  town  clerk. 
Hem.  (1)  Rachel,  who  d.  1653;  (2)  Nov.  25,  1655,  Mercy,  widow  of  Rich- 
ard Seymour,  of  Norwalk.  He  d.  in  Farmington,  Nov.  25,  1665  ;  will  dated 
Jan.  30,  1663-4  ;  inv.  £182  ;  mentions  his  wife,  Mercy.  Samuel  Steele,  son 
of  John,  requests  his  "much  esteemed  kinsman,  Mr.  John  Wadsworth,  of 
Farmington,  and  Capt.  Sam  :  Talcott  of  Wethersfield,"  to  be  the  overseers 
of  his  will,  June  10,  1685. 


262  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

George  Steele,  brother  of  John;  Cambridge,  1632-3;  freeman,  Mass.,  May 
14,  1634;  an  original  proprietor  of  Hartford;  his  home-lot,  in  1639,  was 
on  the  west  side  of  what  is  now  Washington  St.,  extending  from  the  present 
Capitol  Avenue  to  Park  St.  He  served  in  the  Pequot  War ;  was  chosen  sur- 
veyor of  highways,  1641,  1651  ;  townsman,  1644.  He  d.  in  1664,  "very 
aged ;"  inv.  £131.  6.  10.  His  will  names  his  brother,  John.  — Ch.  :  i.  Eliza- 
beth ;  m.  Thomas  Watts,  May  1,  1645  ;  d.  Feb.  25,  1684-5.  ii.  James, 
Hartford  ;  b.  about  1623  ("aged  about  58,"  June,  1681)  ;  m.  (1)  Ann  Bishop, 
dau.  of  John,  of  Guilford;  townsman,  1655,  1660,  1664;  fought  against 
the  Pequots  in  1657—8  ;  appointed  commissary  in  the  King  Philip  War, 
1675,  and  allowed  £50  per  annum  for  his  services;  he  was  also  employed 
to  lay  out  the  bounds  of  several  towns.  His  wife  d.  in  1676,  and  he  m.  (2) 
Bethia,  widow  of  Samuel  Stocking,  and  dau.  of  John  Hopkins.  She  d.  be- 
fore Nov.  1695  ;  he  d.  1712.  iii.  Richard;  d.  1639  (s.  p.).  iv.  Martha;  m. 
John  Hannison,  or  Henderson,  of  H. 

George  Stocking,  Cambridge;  freeman,  Mass.,  May  6,  1635;  an  original  pro- 
prietor of  Hartford  ;  his  home-lot  in  1639  was  on  the  south  side  of  "the  road 
from  George  Steel's  to  the  South  Meadow,"  and  adjoining  George  Steele's  lot 
on  the  west.  He  was  surveyor  of  highways,  1654,  1662  ;  chimney-viewer, 
1659;  freed  from  watching,  etc.,  May,  1660;  d.  May  25,  1683,  "at  great 
age."  His  wife  was  Anna.  —  Ch.  :  i.  Lydia,  m.  John  Richards,  of  Hartford, 
son  of  Thomas,  ii.  Sarah,  m.  Samuel  Olcott,  of  Hartford,  son  of  Thomas. 
iii.  Hannah,  m.  Andrew  Benton,  of  Hartford,  iv.  Samuel,  m.  May  27,  1652, 
Bethia,  dau.  of  John  Hopkins,  of  Hartford  ;  removed  to  Middletown  about 
1655;  deputy,  1665,  1669,  1674;  dea.  in  Middletown;  d.  Dec,  1683;  his 
widow  in.  James  Steele,  of  Hartford. 

John  Stone,  an  original  proprietor,  had  an  allotment  of  lands,  but  conveyed  it 
to  Samuel  Stone  by  gift  before  1640.  Lechford  speaks  of  him  as  "  Mr.  John 
Stone,  of  Hartford,"  Sept.  16,  1639;  removed  to  Guilford,  where  he  was  one  of 
the  signers  of  the  original  compact  in  1639.  Lands  were  recorded  to  John 
Marsh,  Feb.  1639-40 ;  "  part  whereof  did  belong  to  John  Stone  and  were  by 
him  given  to  Sam'l  Stone,  and  so  by  the  said  Sam'l  Stone  unto  John  Marsh, 
of  Hartford,  and  now  belongeth  to  him  and  his  heirs."  His  home-lot  was  on 
the  west  side  of  Front  St. 

Rev.  Samuel  Stone,  son  of  John  Stone,  a  freeholder  of  that  place,  was  b.  in  Hert- 
ford, Co.  Herts  (usually  at  that  time  sounded  Hartford)  ;  bapt.  July  30,  1602, 
in  the  church  of  All  Saints;  entered  at  Emmanuel  Coll.,  Cambridge,  1620; 
A.B.,  1623  ;  A.M.,  1627.  Recent  discoveries  show  that  a  Samuel  Stone,  prob- 
ably this  one,  was  curate  at  Stisted,  Co.  Essex,  near  Chelmsford,  from  June 
13,  1627  to  Sept.  13,  1630.  He  came  to  New  England  with  Cotton,  Hooker, 
and  other  men  of  note,  in  the  "Griffin,"  arriving  at  Boston,  Sept.  4,  1633; 
chosen  Teacher  of  the  church  at  Cambridge,  Oct.  11,  1633;  freeman,  Mass., 
May  14,  1634 ;  removed  to  Hartford  in  1636,  where  he  was  an  original  pro- 
prietor, and  in  1639  his  home-lot  was  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Little  River, 
between  those  of  Rev.  Thomas  Hooker  and  Elder  William  Goodwin.  He  served 
as  chaplain  to  the  troops  under  Capt.  Mason  in  the  Pequot  War,  1637.  His 
wife  d.  1640,  before  Nov.  2  or  3,  when  Mr.  Hooker  mentions  her  death  in  a 
letter  to  Rev.  T.  Shepard,  saying  that  she  "  smoakejd-  out  her  days  in  the  dark- 
ness of  melancholy."  He  m.  (2)  before  July,  1641,  Elizabeth  Allen,  of  Boston. 
After  Mr.  Hooker's  decease  he  was  the  sole  pastor  of  the  First  Church  until 
his  death,  July  20,  1663.  Inv.  £563.  1.  His  widow  m.  (2)  George  Gardner, 
of  Salem,  afterward  of  Hartford,  and  d.  in  1681.  —  Ch.  :  i.  John  (son  of  the 
1st  wife)  graduated,  Harvard  College,  1653  ;  "  he  had  no  Commencement  part 
when  his  class  took  their  second  degree,  having  perhaps  previously  gone  to 
England,  where  he  received  the  degree  of  M.A.  from  the  University  of 
Cambridge."     After  the  Restoration  a  "Mr.   John  Stone"  was   silenced  at 


THE  ORIGINAL  PROPRIETORS.  263 

Hellingley,  in  Sussex.1  "Was  this  the  graduate  1 "  His  name  was  starred  on 
the  College  catalogue  hefure  1700.  ii.  Joseph,  bapt.  Oct.  18,  1646;  not 
mentioned  in  his  father's  will.  iii.  Lydia,  b.  Jan.  22,  1647-8;  d.  young. 
iv.  Son,  bapt.  April  29,  1649  ;  prob.  d.  young,  v.  Abigail,  b.  Sept.  9,  1650  ; 
d.  young  (?).  vi.  Samuel,  was  at  Harvard  for  a  time  about  1659,  but  left 
before  graduation.  He  was  colleague  with  Rev.  Gershom  Eulkeley,  at  "Weth- 
ersiield,  1666-1669,  and  again  in  1676;  he  also  preached  at  Simsbury  and 
Middletown,  and  perhaps  other  places,  but  "  fell  into  intemperate  habits,  was 
excommunicated  from  the  church,  and  wasted  his  whole  estate."  He  never 
married;  d.  Oct.  8,  1683;  "he  was  among  his  companions  first  at  one,  and 
then  at  another  Taverne,  and  thence  went  in  the  evening  to  a  friend's  house 
(that  of  Henry  Howard,  who  m.  Sarah  Stone),  when  his  discourse  was  very 
bitter  and  offensive  to  some  present ;  but  going  thence,  the  night  being  very 
dark,  was  found  the  next  morning  dead  in  the  little  River  that  runs  through 
the  town  ;  having  missed  the  bridge.  He  fell  down  upon  the  Rocks,  and 
thence  rowled  or  some  way  gott  into  the  water  at  a  little  distance  and  there 
lay  dead  at  break  of  day."  2  vii.  Elizabeth,  m.  (1)  AVilliam  Sedgwick,  of 
Hartford ;  (2)  John  Roberts,  of  Hartford,  who  removed  to  New  Jersey  (q.  v.). 
viii.  Rebecca,  m.  about  1657,  Timothy  Nash,  of  New  Haven,  who  removed 
to  Hartford  (q.  v.).  ix.  Mary,  m.  Joseph  Fitch,  of  Hartford,  before  1663 
(q.  v.).  x.  Sarah,  m.  Thomas  Butler,  of  Hartford. 
John  Talcott  was  born  in  Braintree,  Co.  Essex,  the  son  of  John  and  Anne 
(Skinner)  Talcott,  and  grandson  of  John  Talcott,  of  Colchester,  Co.  Essex, 
living  there  in  1558,  died  in  1606,  who  was  a  son  of  John  Talcott  of  Warwick- 
shire. The  Herald's  visitation  of  Essex  in  1558  gives  the  pedigree  and  arms 
of  this  family.8  John  Talcott  the  emigrant  was  a  minor  when  his  father  died 
in  1604,  and  not  of  age  in  1606,  when  he  is  mentioned  in  the  will  of  his 
grandfather,  who  left  him  £40  to  be  paid  when  he  reached  the  age  of  twenty- 
one.  He  m.  in  England,  Dorothy,  dau.  of  Mark  Mott,  of  Braintree,  son  of 
Thomas  Mott,  of  Sheme  Hall,  Co.  Essex.  He  sailed  from  England,  June 
22,  1632,  in  the  "Lion,"  with  others  of  Mr.  Hooker's  company,  and  arrived 
in  Boston  Sept.  16,  1632  ;  freeman,  Mass.,  Nov.  6,  1632  ;  deputy,  May,  1634  ; 
March,  1634-5;  May,  1635;  March,  1635-6;  May, 
1636;  removed  to  Hartford  in  1636.  His  son,  Lt.-Col. 
John  Talcott,  states  in  his  memorandum  book  :  "  The 
kitchen  that  now  stands  on  the  north  side  of  the  house 
that  I  live  in  was  the  first  house  that  my  father  built  in 
Hartford,  in  Conn,  colony,  and  was  done  by  Nicholas 
Clark,  the  first  winter  that  any  Englishman  rought  or 
built  in  Hartford,  which  was  in  the  year  1635.  My 
father  and  mother  and  his  family  came  to  Hartford  in 
the  year  1636,  and  lived  first  in  said  Kitchen,  which  was 
first  on  the  west  side  of  the  chimney.  The  great  barn 
was  built  in  the  year  1636,  and  underpined  in  1637, 
and  was  the  first  barn  that  was  raised  in  the  colony. 
The  east  side  of  this  house  that  we  live  in,  and  was  my 
father  Talcott's,  deceased,  was  built  with  the  porch  that  the  talcott  asms. 
is,  in  the  year  1638,  and  the  chimneys  were  built  in 
1638."  His  home-lot,  in  the  distribution  of  1639,  was  on  the  east  side  of 
Main  St.,  and  his  house  stood  on  the  present  corner  of  Main  and  Talcott 
Sts.  Townsman,  1638.  He  was  one  of  the  Committee,  who  for  the  first 
time  sat  with  the  Court  of  Magistrates,  1637,  and  Deputy  every  following 

1  Rev.  Ezekiel  Rogers  in  his  will,  April  17,  1660,  mentions  his  "loving  nephew,  Mr. 
Sam'l  Stone  of  Conn.,  and  his  son  John." 

2  John  Whiting's  letter  to  Increase  Mather,  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.,  vol.  viii.  p.  469-472. 

3  See  Harleian  MSS.,  1137,  p.  148  ;  also  Talcott  Pedigree,  7-21. 


264  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

year  until  1654,  when  lie  was  chosen  Assistant,  also  Treasurer  of  the  colony, 
1654-1659  ;  and  one  of  the  two  Commissioners  of  the  New  England  Colonies. 
He  d.  March,  1659-60;  in  v.  £1645.  8.  4.  ;  his  widow,  Dorothy,  d.  Feb., 
1669-70.  —  Ch.  :  i.  Mary,  m.  June  28,  1649,  the  Rev.  John  Russell,  of 
Wethersfield,  afterward  of  Hadley  ;  d.  hetween  1655  and  1660.  ii.  Lt.-Col. 
John,  m.  Oct.  29,  1650,  Helena,  dau.  of  John  Wakeman,  of  New  Haven  ;  free- 
man, 1652  ;  townsman,  1653;  deputy,  1660,  1661  ;  chosen  Treasurer  to  suc- 
ceed' his  father.  May  17,  1660,  which  office  he  held  until  1676,  when  he 
resigned,  and  was  appointed  to  the  command  of  the  troops  raised  for  King 
Philip's  War.  He  was  always  victorious,  and  obtained  great  renown  as  an 
Indian  fighter.  He  was  one  of  the  patentees  named  in  the  Charter  of  1662, 
and  that°  document  was  intrusted  to  Wyllys,  Talcott,  and  Allyn,  for  safe 
keeping.  His  wife,  Helena,  d.  June  21,  1674  ;  and  he  m.  (2)  Nov.  9,  1676, 
Mary  Cook.  He  d.  in  Hartford,  July  23,  1688,  leaving  a  numerous  family. 
His  son,  Joseph,  was  Gov.  of  Conn.,  1724-1741.  The  Governor's  descend- 
ants now  occupy  the  dwelling-house  on  Main  Street,  built  by  Col.  Samuel 
Talcott,  his  son," in  1770.  iii.  Samuel,  b.  in  Cambridge,  about  1635;  grad. 
Harvard  College,  1658  ;  m.  Nov.  7,  1661,  Hannah,  dau.  of  Elizur  and  Mary 
(Pynchon)  Holyoke,  of  Springfield;  freeman,  1662;  townsman,  Hartford, 
1665  ;  he  settled  at  Wethersfield  upon  land  given  him  by  his  father;  Com- 
missioner for  Wethersfield,  1669-84;  deputy,  1670-84  ;  Secretary,  1684,  "in 
the  absence  of  Capt.  Allyn."  May  16,  1676,  while  King  Philip's  War  was 
raging,  he  was  appointed  one  of  the  Standing  Council ;  appointed  Capt.  of  the 
troop  of  Hartford  County,  Oct.,  1681  ;  Assistant  from  1685,  excepting  under 
Andros's  administration,  until  his  death,  Nov.  10,  1691.      His  wife,  Hannah, 

d.  Feb.  2,  1679,  and  he  m.  (2)  Aug.,  1679,  Mary .     He  is  the  ancestor 

of  those  of  the  name  in  Glastonbury  and  Wethersfield. 

Thomas  Upso?j,  Hartford,  1639,  one  of  the  inhabitants  who  received  land  "by 
the  courtesie  of  the  town;"  his  home-lot  in  1639  was  on  the  west  side  of 
the  present  Albany  Avenue.  He  removed  very  early  to  Farmington,  where 
he  was  an  original  proprietor;  he  m.  in  Hartford,  Jan.  23,  1646-7,  Elizabeth 
Fuller,  who  was  a  second  wife.  He  d.  July  19,  1655.  Inv.  £108.  8. 
His  widow  m.  (2)  Edmund  Scott,  of  Farmington. 

Robert  Wade,  Dorchester,  1635,  removed  soon  to  Hartford,  where  he  was  one 
of  those  who  received  land  "by  the  courtesie  of  the  town  ;  "  his  home-lot  in 
1639  was  on  the  east  side  of  the  road  to  the  Cow  Pasture,  the  one  "seques- 
tered "  for  John  Pierce ;  he  removed  to  Saybrook,  where  he  was  living  in 
1657,  when  he  applied  for  and  obtained  a  divorce  from  his  wife,  Joan  (who 
had  deserted  him  for  fifteen  years  and  was  then  in  England).  In  1669  he 
was  a  freeman  in  Norwich.     "Robert  Wade,  of  Windham,  died  in  1696." 

William  Wadsworth,1  Cambridge,  1632,  came  in  the  "Lion"  from  London, 
Sept.  16,  1632  ;  prob.  bringing  with  him  four  children,  Sarah,  William,  Mary, 
and  John;  freeman,  Mass.,  Nov.  6,  1632;  in  June,  1636,  removed  to  Hart- 
ford, where  he  was  an  original  proprietor;  his  home-lot  in  1639  was  on  the 
west  side  of  the  road  from  Seth  Grant's  to  Centinel  Hill,  prob.  extending 
along  what  is  now  the  south  side  of  Asylum  St.,  from  Trumbull  St.  to  Ford 
St.  He  was  chosen  townsman,  1642,  1655,  1661,  1673;  constable,  1651; 
list  and  rate  maker,  1668.  He  m.  (1)  name  unknown ;  (2)  in  Hartford,  July 
2,  1644,  Elizabeth  Stone,  said  to  have  been  a  sister  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Stone.2 
Lie  was  deputy  nearly  every  session  between  Oct.,  1656,  and  May,  1675.  He 
d.  in  1675,  will  dated  June  16  ;  inv.  Oct.   18,  £1677.  13.  9.  *  His  widow, 

1  "William  "Wadsworth,  the  younger  brother  of  James,  was  b.  in  Long-Buckley,  Co. 
Northampton;  rem.  thence  to  Braintree,  Co.  Essex;  emigrated  to  N.  E." — Days  Hist. 
Discourse,  1843.  Lt.-Col.  John  Talcott,  in  the  memorandum  book  mentioned  above,  speaks 
of  William  Wadsworth  as  "  ray  Oncle  Wadsworth." 

2  He  had  a  sister  Elizabeth,  bapt.  in  Hertford,  Oct.  21,  1621.  —  Hist.  First.  Ch.  p.  47. 


THE   ORIGINAL  PROPRIETORS.  265 

Elizabeth,  died  in  1G82.  —  Ch  :  i.  Sarah,  m.  Sept.  17,  1646,  John  Wilcock, 
Jr.,  of  Hartford,  afterward  of  Middletown  (q.  v.).  She  d.  1648  or  '49.  ii. 
William,  d.  young.  iii.  John,  settled  in  Farmington  ;  m.  Sarah,  dau.  of 
Thomas  Stanley,  in  1662;  he  was  deputy,  1672-1677;  Assistant,  1679— 
1689;  one  of  the  Standing  Council  during  King  Philip's  War;  d.  in  1689, 
leaving  seven  sons,  one  of  whom,  John,  was  the  father  of  the  Rev.  Daniel 
Wadsworth,  pastor  of  the  First  Church,  Hartford,  who  m.  1734,  Abigail, 
dau.  of  Gov.  Joseph  Talcott,  and  was  the  father  of  Col.  Jeremiah  Wadsworth. 
iv.  Mary,  b.  about  1632  (a.  53,  1684-5)  ;  m.  ab.  1656,  Thomas  Stoughton, 
of  Windsor,  v.  Elizabeth,  b.  May  17,  1645  ;  ni.  Nov.  27,  1662,  John  Terry, 
of  Simsbury  ;  d.  March  12,  1715.  vi.  Samuel,  bapt.  Oct.  20,  1646  ;  freeman, 
1676;  d.  1682  (s.  p.);  his  will,  dated  Aug.  16,  gave  his  estate  of  above 
£1100,  to  a  brother  and  a  sister,  a  nephew  and  two  nieces.  vii.  Joseph, 
b.  ab.  1647  ;  this  was  Capt.  Joseph,  the  hero  of  the  Charter,  a  man  of 
prominence,  and  some  turbulence  of  character;  freeman,  1676;  Lieut,  in 
Philip's  War,  and  afterward  Capt.  of  the  Hartford  trainband.  He  m.  Eliza- 
beth, dau.  of  Bartholomew  Barnard,  of  Hartford  ;  she  d.  Oct.  26,  1710,  having 
been  the  mother  of  his  children  ;  he  m.  (2)  Elizabeth,  dau.  of  Lt.-Col.  John 
Talcott,  and  (3)  Mary,  dau.  of  John  Blackleach,  of  Wethersfield,  who  had 
been  widow  of  Thomas  Welles  and  John  Olcott.  viii.  Sarah,  bapt.  March 
17,  1649-50;    m.   Jonathan  Ashley,  Nov.   10,  1669.        ix.  Thomas,  b.  ab. 

1651   (a.  about  36,  Sept.,  1687);   m.   Elizabeth ;  freeman,  1676;  d.  in 

Hartford,  1725.  His  father  gave  him,  in  his  will,  his  lands  located  east 
of  the  Connecticut  River,  and  he  settled  in  East  Hartford.  x.  Rebecca, 
unmarried  in   1682. 

Henry  Wakbley  (Walkley),  Hartford,  1639,  one  of  those  inhabitants  who 
received  lands  "  by  the  courtesie  of  the  town  ;"  his  home-lot  was  on  the  west 
side  of  the  road  from  George  Steel's  to  the  Great  Swamp.  March  28,  1650, 
Henry  Wakeley,  of  Hartford,  admitted  administrator  on  the  estate  of  his 
"  wives  other  husband,"  having  given  a  bond  of  £50,  with  Mr.  Blackmail  of 
Stratford,  for  the  paymenl  of  £20  to  the  two  children.  He  removed  to 
Stratford  ;  was  freeman  there,  1669  ;  will  dated  July  11,  1689. 

James  "Wakeley,  perhaps  son  of  Henry,  who  mentions  a  son  James  in  his 
will;  one  of  the  inhabitants  who  received  lands  "by  the  courtesie  of  the 
town  ; "  his  home-lot  was  on  the  north  side  of  the  road  from  George  Steel's 
to  the  South  Meadow,  "  which  the  Townsmen  bought  of  Arthur  Smith,  and 
was  parcell  of  his  home-lott  and  now  settled  on  James  Waklie  by  the  inhabi- 
tants of  this  town,"  Feb.  1639-40;  m.  Oct.  5,  1652,  Alice,  widow  of  James 
Boosy;  removed  to  Wethersfield,  and  thence  to  Newport,  1665;  :n  1680  he 
sent  to  Connecticut  from  Providence  a  petition  for  a  divorce ;  his  wife  desired 
it  also,  but  neither  prevailed;  she  d.  1683. 

Samuel  Wakemax,  Roxbury,  came  in  the  "Lion,"  in  Nov.  1631  ;  freeman,  Mass., 
Aug.  7,  1632;  prob.  removed  to  Cambridge;  deputy,  May,  1635;  constable 
for  Newtown,  April,  1636  ;  an  original  proprietor  at  Hartford,  1639,  when 
his  home-lot  was  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Little  River  ;  chosen  townsman, 
1638 ;  appointed  with  George  Hubbard,  Senr.,  and  Ancient  Stoughton,  in  1636, 
"to  consider  the  bounds  and  survey  the  breadth  of  Dorchester  (Windsor)  to- 
wards the  Falls,  and  of  Watertown  (AVethersfield)  towards  the  mouth  of 
the  River."  He  was  killed  in  1641  by  a  shot  from  the  Spanish  fort  at  Provi- 
dence in  the  Bahamas,  where  he  had  been  sent  "  to  buy  cotton."  His  widow, 
Elizabeth,  m.  (2)  Nathaniel  Willett,  of  Hartford,  before  Jan.  1643,  and  the 
estate  of  Wakeman  was  settled  on  him  Dec.  4,  1645,  on  condition  that  he 
pay  £40  to  the  son  when  he  reached  the  age  of  21,  and  £20  to  each  of  the 
dau's  at  the  age  of  18.  —  Ch.  :  i.  Ezbon,  freeman  at  Stratford,  1669  ;  m.  Apr. 
1,  1669,  at  Guilford,  Hannah  Jordan  ;  removed  to  Fairfield  before  1671,  where 
he  d.  in  1683.     ii.  Elizabeth;  m.  Joseph  Arnold,  of  Haddam.     iii.   Grace; 


266  MEMORIAL   HISTORY  OF   HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

m.  John  Kelly,  of  Hartford,  iv.  Joanna ;  m.  Francis  Hackleton,  of  Hart- 
ford,    v.   Hannah. 

Nathaniel  Ward,  Hartford,  1638;  an  original  proprietor;  his  home-lot  in  1G39 
was  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Little  Eiver.  Chosen  townsman,  1639,  1640 ; 
constable,  1652,  1657.  He  m.  (prob.  for  2d  wife)  Jane,  widow  of  John 
Hopkins,  of  Hartford  ;  freed  from  training,  etc.,  March,  1657-8.  He  was 
called  "of  Norwattock,"  Sept.  11,  1660.  One  of  the  " with-drawers "  to 
Hadley,  1659  ;  he  d.  there,  buried  June  1,  1664  ;  he  d.  childless,  and  in 
his  will,  dated  May  27,  1664,  he  leaves  half  his  estate  to  kinsman,  William 
Markham,1  and  mentions  kinswoman  Elizabeth  Hawks,  sister  Cutting,  sister 
Allen  and  her  son  Daniel,  kinsman  Noyes,  and  the  Hadley  school.  His  widow 
m.  (3)  Gregory  Wolterton,  of  Hartford. 

Andrew  Warner  2  came  from  Hatfield,  Co.  Gloucester,  son  of  John  Warner, 
yeoman  in  said  Shire  and  Town  ;  Cambridge,  1632,  freeman  May  14,  1634  ;3 
one  of  the  Commissioners  for  ordering  affairs  at  Connecticut,  March,  1635-6  ; 
an  original  proprietor  at  Hartford,  where  his  home  Jot  in  1639  was  on  the 
south  bank  of  the  Little  River.  He  m.  in  Hartford,  prob.  as  second  wife, 
Hester,  widow  of  Thomas  Selden  ;  he  was  chosen  Deacon  of  the  First  Church, 
Oct.,  1633  ;  removed  to  Hadley  in  1659,  witli  Elder  Goodwin  and  the  "with- 
drawers;"  took  the  oath  of  allegiance  at  Hadley,  Feb.  8,  1679,  and  d.  there 
Dec.  18,  1684,  or  possibly  the  month  following,  a.  almost  90.  His  widow, 
Hester,  d.  1693. 

John  Warner  ;  a  John  Warner  (prob.  the  game)  was  entered  for  passage  in  the 
"Increase,"  in  April,  1635,  "aged  20;"  in  the  same  ship  came  Isaac  More, 
"aged  13,"  Matthew  Marvin,  Wni.  Busco,  and  others.  He  served  in  the 
Pequot  War  ;  was  one  of  the  inhabitants  of  Hartford  who  received  land  "by 
the  courtesie  of  the  town;"  his  home-lot  in  1639  was  on  the  east  side  of  the 
road  to  the  Cow-Pasture;  he  m.  in  Hartford,  in  1649,  Ann,  dan.  of  Thomas 
Norton,  of  Guilford,  a  second  wife  ;  he  was  an  original  proprietor  and  settler 
of  Farmington ;  joined  Farmington  Church,  March  15,  1656-7,  with  ch.  : 
freeman,  1664  ;  freed  from  watching  and  warding,  etc.,  May,  1670;  he  went 
in  1673  to  view  Mattatuck  to  ascertain  if  it  were  desirable  to  plant  there, 
and  was  a  patentee  for  Mattatuck  in  1674;  d.  before  removal,  in  1679, 
leaving  a  widow,   Margaret. 

Richard  Watts,  Hartford,  1639;  one  of  the  inhabitants  who  received  land  "by 
the  courtesie  of  the  town;"  his  home-lot  was  on  the  west  side  of  the  "road 
from  George  Steel's  to  the  Gi'eat  Swamp."  He  d.  in  1655,  prob.  :  will  dated 
Oct.  29,  1650;  inv.,  March  20,  1654-5,  £114.  17.  His  widow,  Elizabeth, 
d.  1666;  will  dated  Feb.  28,  1665-6  ;  inv.  April  17,  1666  ;  she  mentions 
"cousin  Mary  Smith,"  in  Banbury,  Oxfordshire,  "cousin  Geo.  Haines  that  is 
blind,"  cousin  Daniel  Hubbard,  dau.  Browne,  dau.  Hubbard,  cousin  Eliza- 
beth Hubbard,  cousin  Nath'l  Browne. —  Ch.  :  i.  William,  Hartford,  1639  ; 
one  of  those  who  received  land  "  by  the  courtesie  of  the  town  ; "  his  home-lot 
adjoined  his  father's  on  the  south.  He  was  granted  two  acres  of  land  at 
Hockanum  in  1641  ;  he  m.  in  Hartford,  but  returned  to  England,  and  d. 
there  before  1668.  ii.  Elizabeth,  m.  George  Hubbard  (q.  v.).  iii.  Ellinor,  m. 
Dec.  23,  1647,  Nathaniel  Browne,  of  Hartford,  who  removed  to  Middletown 
1654;  (2)  Jasper  Clements,  of  Middletown;  (3)  Nathaniel  Willett,  of  Hart- 
ford, iv.  Capt.  Thomas  Watts ,  b.  about  1626  ;  1n.  May  1,  1645,  Elizabeth, 
dau.  of  George  Steele,  of  Hartford  ;  chimney-viewer,  1651 ;  surveyor  of  high- 
ways, 1653,  1673;  townsman,  1657,  1662,  1667;  successively  appointed  Ser-. 
geant,  Ensign,  Lieutenant,  and  Captain,  of  the  Hartford  trainband  ;  he  headed 

1  Wm.  Markham,  of  Hadley,  called  Nathaniel  Ward  uncle,  and  had  much  estate  from  him. 

2  From  old  acct.  book  of  Jabez  Warner,  of  Middletown,  b.  1710,  quoted  by  Andrew  F. 
Warner  in  letter  to  R.  R.  Hinman,  May  14,  1849. 

8  Savage  thinks  that  the  name  should  be  that  of  Andrew  Ward  (iv.  418). 


THE  ORIGINAL  PROPRIETORS.  267 

his  company  in  the  Narragansett  fight,  Dec.  19,  1675,  and  commanded  the 
forces  that  went  up  the  river  in  1677.  He  d.  (s.  p.)  in  1683  ;  will  dated  Aug. 
6  ;  inv.  Oct.  22  ;  left  his  house  and  lot  to  his  brother's  son,  Samuel  Hubbard, 
whom  he  had  brought  up  from  a  child.  His  widow  d.  Feb.  25,  1684-5, 
leaving  her  property  to  her  brother,  James  Steele,  and  his  four  daughters. 

Richard  Webb,  Cambridge;  freeman,  Mass.,  Nov.  6,  1632;  one  of  the  original 
proprietors  of  Hartford  in  1639  ;  his  home-lot  was  on  the  west  side  of  Main 
St.,  near  the  present  corner  of  Church  St. ;  grand-juror,  1643 ;  townsman, 
1649  ;  surveyor  of  highways,  1650.  He  was  one  of  the  signers  of  the  agree- 
ment for  planting  Norwalk,  June  19,  1650,  and  removed  there  soon  after. 
He  had  an  estate  of  £255  in  1655,  at  Norwalk;  d.  there  in  1665  (s.  p.). 
He  had  no  children,  but  took  Sarah,  youngest  dau.  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Stone, 
and  brought  her  up.  In  1677  his  widow,  Elizabeth  Webb,  employed  her 
"  Beloved  Brother,  John  Gregory,  to  make  an  agreement  with  Thomas  Butler, 
of  Hartford,  and  his  wife,"  they  "  laying  claime  to  the  estate  of  her  husband, 
Richard  Webb,  deceased."     Widow  Elizabeth  Webb  d.  Jan.  24,  1680. 

John  Webster,  Hartford,  1636;  by  family  tradition  lie  was  from  Co.  Warwick; 
he  was  an  original  proprietor  of  Hartford,  and  his  home-lot  in  1639  was  on 
the  east  side  of  the  street  now  called  Governor  St.  He  was  one  of  the  Com- 
mittee who  for  the  first  time  sat  with  the  Court  of  Magistrates,  1637  and 
1638,  and  a  magistrate  from  1639  to  1655,  when  he  was  made  deputy-gov- 
ernor, and  the  next  year  governor.  He  was  one  of  the  committee  who 
formed  the  code  of  criminal  laws  for  the  Colony  in  1642  ;  a  Commissioner 
for  the  United  Colonies,  1654.  He  was  an  influential  member  of  the  church 
in  Hartford,  took  a  deep  interest  in  the  controversy  -which  agitated  that  and 
other  churches,  was  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  Hadley  company,  and  removed 
thither  in  1659  ;  he  was  admitted  freeman,  Mass.,  and  in  May,  1660,  made  a 
magistrate.  He  d.  in  Hadley,  April  5,  1661,  leaving  a  widow,  Agnes. 
Ch.  :  i.  Matthew,  freeman,  Hartford,  1645  ;  Farmington,  1669;  d.  July  16, 
1675.  ii.  William  Hadley,  m.  Feb.  17,  1670,  Mary,  dau.  of  Thomas 
Reeve,  of  Springfield  ;  his  wife  was  accused  of  witchcraft,  and  sent  to  Boston 
for  trial,  in  1684,  but  was  acquitted,  and  died  in  peace,  1696.  He  d.  about 
168S  (s.  p.).  iii.  Thomas,  Northampton  ;  m.  June  16,  1663,  Abigail,  dau.  of 
George  Alexander,  of  Northampton  ;  removed  to  Northfield  in  1674  ;  driven 
away  in  1675  by  the  Indians,  and  removed  to  Hadley.  He  returned  again  to 
Northiield,  and  d.  there  in  1686.  iv.  Robert,  Middletown  ;  m.  about  1652, 
Susannah,  dau.  of  Hon.  Richard  Treat,  of  Wethersfield  ;  at  the  organization 
of  the  town  of  Middletown,  Feb.  26,  1654,  he  was  chosen  recorder;  he 
continued  there  until  about  1660,  wdien  he  returned  to  Hartford;  chosen 
townsman,  1664;  list  and  rate  maker,  1668;  he  d.  in  Hartford  in  1676. 
v.  Anne;  m.  John  Marsh,  of  Hartford  and  Hadley ;  d.  June  9,  1662.  vi. 
Elizabeth,  m.  prob.  William  Markham,  of  Hadley,  as  2d  wife  ;  d.  in  1688. 
vii.  Mary  ;  m.  John  (1)  Hunt ;  their  descendants  lived  in  Northampton.  John, 
eldest  son  of  Lieut.  Robert  Webster,  was  the  great-grandfather  of  Noah 
Webster,  the  renowned  lexicographer. 

Governor  Thomas  Welles,  an  original  proprietor  of  Hartford ;  his  home-lot  in 
1639  was  on  the  east  side  of  the  street  now  Governor  St.  He  removed  to 
Wethersfield,  where  he  was  also  an  original  proprietor.  He  became  a  member 
of  the  Court  of  Magistrates,  March  28,  1637,  and  continued  a  magistrate  until 
he  was  chosen  deputy-governor,  May  18,  1654  (again  in  1656,  1657,  1659)  ; 
he  was  the  first  treasurer  in  1639,  Secretary  of  the  Colony  in  1640,  and  held 
the  office  until  1649.  In  1649  he  was  a  Commissioner  of  the  United  Colonies  ; 
Governor  in  1655  and  1658.  He  m.  (1)  in  England,  Elizabeth  Hunt ;  (2),  ab. 
1645  or  1646  Elizabeth  Deming,  widow  of  Nathaniel  Foote,  of  Wethersfield ; 
d.  in  Wethersfield,  Jan.  14,  1659-60  ;  his  widow  d.  July  28,  1683,  aa.  ab.  88  ; 
inv.  £1069.  9.  — Ch.  :  i.  John;  settled  in  Stratford;  freeman,  1645;  m.  ab. 


268  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

1647,  Elizabeth,  dau.  of  John  Curtis,  of  Stratford;  deputy,  1656;  assistant, 
1658-9;  d.  ab.  1660.  ii.  Thomas,  Hartford;  m.  23  June,  1654,  Hannah, 
widow  of  John  Pantry,  and  dau.  of  William  Tattle,  of  New  Haven  ;  he  was 
quartermaster  under  Major  John  Mason,  1658;  deputy,  1663;  assistant, 
1668  ;  killed  in*  1668  by  a  fall  from  a  cherry-tree.  iii.  Samuel,  Wetherstield  ; 
freeman,  1657;  deputy,  1657-1662,  and  1675  ;  m.  1659,(1)  Elizabeth,  dau. 
of  John  Hollister,  of  Wetherstield  ;  (2)  Hannah,  dau.  of  George  Lamberton, 
of  New  Haven  ;  d.  July  15,  1675.  He  was  the  ancestor  of  the  Hon.  Gideon 
Welles,  Secretary  of  the  Navy.     iv.  Mary,  d.  before  her  father,     v.  Ann,  m. 

(1)  April  14,  1646,  Thomas  Thomson,  of  Hartford,  afterward  of  Farmington  ; 

(2)  Anthony  Hawkins,  of  Farmiugton,  as  his  2d  wife  ;  d.  1680.  vi.  Sarah, 
b.  1631 ;  m.  Feb.,  1653,  Capt.  John  Chester,  of  Wetherstield  ;  d.  Dec.  16, 
1698. 

William  Westley,  Hartford,  1638-39  ;  one  of  those  inhabitants  to  whom  land 
was  granted  "  by  the  courtesie  of  the  town  ;"  his  home-lot  in  1639  was  on 
the  west  side  of  the  road  from  George  Steel's  to  the  Great  Swamp.  He  was 
freed  from  watching,  etc.,  April,  1646  ;  d.  before  1650,  when  "  widow 
Wesles  land  "  is  mentioned  in  Distr.  480.  A  widow  Westley  was  assisted 
by  the  church  in  Hadley,  because  she  had  been  of  their  party  before  leaving 
Hartford.  Anna  Wrestley  sold  to  John  Bigelow  her  home-lot ;  deed  recorded 
May  30,  1669.  Widow  Watts  bought  of  Ann  Westley  land  on  the  east  side 
of  the  river,  Jan.  7,  1664. 

William  Westwood,  b.  about  1606  ;  a  power  of  attorney  from  his  daughter,  Mrs. 
Cook,  and  her  husband  (1707),  describes  him  as  "  formerly  dwelling  in  the 
country  of  Essex,  in  the  kingdom  of  England,  Husbandman  alias  Yeoman." 
He  came  to  New  England  in  the  "  Francis  "  from  Ipswich ;  embarked  the  last 
of  April,  1634  (a.  28),  with  wife,  Bridget  (a.  32).  Settled  in  Cambridge; 
freeman,  Mass.,  March  4,  1634-5;  sworn  "constable  of  the  plantations  at 
Conecticott,"  Sept  3,  1635  ;  one  of  the  committee  for  ordering  affairs  at  Conn., 
March,  1635-6  ;  at  the  first  court,  April  26,  1636,  and  in  every  one  follow- 
ing, until  March,  1637.  He  was  an  original  proprietor  of  Hartford,  and  his 
home-lot  in  1639  was  on  the  west  side  of  the  "road  from  Little  Eiver  to 
North  Meadow,"  now  Front  St.  He  was  chosen  townsman,  1640,  1647,  1653  ; 
deputy,  1642-1649  ;  again  in  1651  and  1652,  and  Oct.  1656.  He  signed  the 
agreement  to  remove  to  Hadley,  where  he  held  a  prominent  place  among  the 
first  settlers,  and  was  one  of  the  first  townsmen  chosen  ;  he  d.  in  Hadley,  April 
9,  1669,  jb.  about  63.     His  widow,  Bridget,  d.  May  12,  1676,  se.  about  74. 

Elder  John  White  came  in  the  ship  "  Lion  "  which  sailed  from  London,  June 
22,  1632;  arrived  at  Boston,  Sept.  16.  Settled  in  Cambridge;  freeman, 
March  4,  1633;  townsman  there,  Feb.,  1635.  He  sold  the  greater  part  of 
his  land  in  Cambridge  before  June,  1636,  and  prob.  removed  to  Hartford 
with  Hooker's  company.  He  was  one  of  the  original  proprietors  of  Hartford, 
and  his  home-lot  in  1639  was  on  the  east  side  of  the  highway  now  Governor 
St.,  and  was  about  ten  rods  south  of  the  Little  River.  He  was  chosen  towns- 
man, 1642,  1646,  1651,  and  1656  ;  he  was  also  frequently  a  juror.  His  name 
is  fifth  on  the  list  of  signers  of  the  agreement  to  remove  to  Hadley,  and  he 
was  one  of  the  first  townsmen  chosen  there,  1660,  and  again  1662,  1663,  and 
1665  ;  he  and  his  wife  returned  to  H.,  were  received  to  2d  Ch.,  Hartford, 
from  Hadley,  April  9, 1671  ;  ordained  Ruling  Elder,  March,  1677.  He  d.  Jan. 
1683-4.  His  wife's  name  was  Mary,  and  she  d.  before  him.  —  Ch. :  i.  Mary, 
in.  Jan.  29,  1646,  Jonathan  Gilbert,  of  Hartford ;  d.  in  1650.  ii.  Nathaniel, 
b.  about  1629  ;  one  of  the  original  proprietors  of  Middletown ;  deputy  from 

1661  to  1710,  and  held  other  public  offices  ;  m.  (1)  Elizabeth ;  d.  Aug.  27, 

1711,  as.  ab.  82  ;  his  2d  wife  was  Martha,  widow  of  Hugh  Mould,  and  dau.  of 
John  Coit,  of  New  London,  iii.  John,  of  Hartford  and  Hatfield ;  m.  Sarah, 
dau.  of  Thomas  Bunce,  of  Hartford  ;  d.  in  Hatfield,  Sept.  15, 1665.     iv.  Lieut. 


THE   ORIGINAL  PROPRIETORS.  269 

Daniel,  b.  1634;  settled  in  Hatfield;  m.  Nov.  1,  1661,  Sarah,  dau.  of  John 
Crow,  of  Hartford  and  Hadley ;  d.  July  27,1713.  v.  Sarah,  m.  (1)  Stephen 
Taylor,  of  Hatfield,  who  was  buried  Sept.  8,  1665  ;  (2)  Oct.  15,  1666,  Bar- 
nabas Hinsdale,  of  Hatfield  and  Deerfield  ;  killed  at  Bloody  Brook,  Sept.  18, 
1675  ;  (3)  Feb.,  1679,  Walter  Hickson,  of  Hatfield.  She  d.  Aug.  10,  1702. 
vi.  Ensign  Jacob,  b.  in  Hartford,  Oct.  8,  1645  ;  settled  in  Hartford  ;  freeman, 
1668;  surveyor  of  highways,  1670;  townsman,  1682,  1687,  1691,  1696;  in. 
before  1683,  Elizabeth,  dau.  of  Thomas  Bunce,  of  Hartford;  died  in  1701. 
"  This  holy  man,  having  faithfully  served  the  Lord  in  his  place,  and  that  also 
with  good  success  through  grace  (He  was  a  good  man  and  God  was  with  him), 
fell  asleep  in  Christ,  and  went  to  receive  his  reward,  Jan.,  1 683-4,"  x 

Samuel  Whitehead,  Cambridge,  1635;  an  original  proprietor  at  Hartford,  where 
his  home-lot  before  1639  was  on  Main  St.,  on  what  is  now  the  south  corner 
of  Pearl  and  Main  Sts. ;  but  he  had  sold  part  of  it  to  Richard  Lord,  before  Feb., 
1639-40,  and  part  to  John  Skinner.  He  served  in  the  Pequot  War,  1637, 
and  received  a  grant  of  land  for  his  services,  in  1671  ;  he  removed  to  New 
Haven,  where  he  was  admitted  freeman,  and  a  member  of  the  General  Court, 
Aug.  6,  1642;  m.  May,  1676,  Sarah,  widow  of  John  Gilbert,  dau.  of  Thomas 
Gregson;  d.  Sept.  1690. 

Major  William  Whiting  was  an  original  proprietor  of  Hartford ;  his  home-lot 
in  1639  was  on  the  east  side  of  the  street  now  Governor  St.  In  1633  "the 
Bristol  men  had  sold  their  interest  in  Piscataqua  to  the  Lords  Say  and 
Brooke,  George  Wyllys,  and  William  Whiting,  who  con- 
tinued Thomas  Wiggin  their  agent."  Mr.  Whiting  retained 
his  interest  in  Piscataqua  until  his  death,  and  was  one  of 
the  most  efficient  promoters  of  the  trade  and  commerce 
of  Hartford.  He  was  also  engaged  in  a  patent  for  lands 
at  Swampscott  with  Lords  Say  and  Brook.  He  was  one 
of  the  Committee  who  for  the  first  time  sat  with  the 
Court  of  Magistrates  in  1637  ;  freeman,  Feb.,  1640; 
Treasurer  of  the  Colony  from  1641  until  1647;  chosen 
magistrate  1642,  and  continued  in  office  until  his  death 
in  1647.  In  1638  he  was  allowed  to  trade  with  the 
Indians ;  and  he  was  appointed  with  Major  Mason  and 
others  to  erect  fortifications  in  1642,  and  the  same  year  TIIE  WHITING  ARMS. 
he  was  appointed  with  Mason  to  collect  tribute  of  the 
Indians  on  Long  Island  and  on  the  Main.  He  was  a  merchant  of  wealth, 
and  had  dealings  with  Virginia  and  Piscataqua ;  had  a  trading-house  at  the 
Delaware  River,  and  also  at  Wcstfield.  He  begins  his  will,  dated  March  20, 
1643,  by  stating  that  he  intends  "a  voyage  presently  unto  sea;"2  the 
last  addition  to  his  will  was  made  July  24,  1647,  and  he  probably  d.  soon 
after,  leaving  widow  Susanna,  who  m.  in  1650  Samuel  Fitch,  of  Hartford, 
and  (3),  Alexander  Bryan,  of  Milford  ;  she  d.  at  Middletown,  July  8,  1673. 
Amount  of  Whiting's  inv.  £2854.  —  Ch. :  i.  Wilham,  went  to  England,  was 
a  merchant  in  London,  and  d.  there  in  1699.  In  1686  the  Assembly  of 
Connecticut  appointed  him  their  "agent  to  present  their  petition  (in  refer- 
ence to  the  Charter)  to  the  King."  ii.  John,  b.  1635  ;  grad.  Harvard  Coll., 
1653;  m.  about  1654,  Sybil,  dau.  of  Deacon  Edward  Collins,  of  Cambridge, 
joined  the  church  in  Cambridge,  and  lived  there,  and  in  Salem,  where  he  ren- 
dered ministerial  assistance  to  Eev.  Edward  N  orris.  In  1660  he  removed  to 
Hartford,  and  was  ordained  pastor  of  the  First  Church,  as  colleague  with  Eev. 
Samuel  Stone  ;  after  Stone's  death,  in  1664,  Rev.  Joseph  Haynes  was  settled  as 
his  colleague,  and  after  many  controversies  Whiting  withdrew  with  his  followers, 

1  Old  Ch.  record,  quoted  in  the  Rev.  Dr.  Parker's  Historical  Discourse,  1870,  p.  34. 

2  Several  of  his  letters  written  in  1637,  now  in  the  State  Archives,  are  sealed  with  his 
arms  as  above  given.  These  arms  are  a  variation  of  those  of  the  family  of  Whiting  of  Bos- 
ton, in  Lincolnshire.  —  See  Heraldic  Jour.  i.  160. 


270  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

and  organized,  Feb.  12, 1670,  the  Second  Church.  He  was  appointed  as  chaplain 
of  the  troops  in  1675.  He  d.  in  Hartford,  Sept.  8, 1679.  He  had  m.  a  second 
wife,  in  1673,  Phebe,  dau.  of  Thomas  Gregson,  of  New  Haven,  and  she  m.  after 
his  death,  Eev.  John  Russell,  of  Hadley.  His  son,  Col.  William,  was  a  distin- 
guished military  officer,  fought  in  all  the  French  and  Indian  wars  of  his  time, 
led  a  company  of  "Fusaleers"  to  the  fight  at  Pemaquid  in  1697,  and  later  a 
company  of  Dragoons,  for  the  security  of  the  County  of  Albany,  hi.  Samuel, 
mentioned  in  his  father's  will,  but  we  hear  nothing  more  of  him.  iv.  Sarah, 
b.  about  1637;  m.  (1)  about  1654,  Jacob  Mygatt,  of  Hartford  (q.  v.); 
(2)  John  King,  of  Northampton,  v.  Mary,  m.  Aug.  3,  1664,  Rev.  Nathaniel 
Collins,  of  Middletown;  d.  Oct.  25,  1709.  vi.  Joseph,  b.  Oct.  2,  1645; 
settled  in  Westfield,  Mass.;  m.  (1)  Oct.  5,  1669,  Mary,  dau.  of  Hon.  John  and 
Amy  (Wyllys)  Pynchon,  of  Springfield  ;  (2)  in  1676,  Anna,  dau.  of  Col.  John 
Allyn ;  he  returned  to  Hartford  in  1675  or  1676  ;  held  the  office  of  Treas- 
urer of  Connecticut  from  1678  until  his  death  in  1717,  when  his  son  John 
succeeded  him  and  held  the  office  thirty-two  years. 

John  Wilcock  (Wilcox),  an  original  proprietor,  Hartford,  1639  ;  his  home-lot 
was  on  what  is  now  the  West  Park.  He  was  chosen  surveyor  of  highways, 
1643,  1644;  townsman,  1650;  d.  in  1651  ;  will  dated  July  24;  inv.  Oct.  1, 
£391.  13.  He  names  his  wife,  Mary,  who  d.  ab.  1668.  Ch.  :  i.  John,  m. 
(1)  Sept.  17,  1646,  Sarah,  dau.  of  William  Wadsworth ;  who  d.  in  1648  or 
1649;  (2)  Jan.  18,  1649-50,  Retorn  (Katherine)  Stonghton  ;  (3)  Mary; 
(4)  in  1671,  Esther,  dau.  of  William  Cornwell,  of  Middletown.  He  removed 
to  Middletown  about  1654  ;  removed  to  Dorchester  ab.  1664,  but  returned 
to  Middletown  ;  d.  May  24,  1676.  ii.  Sarah,  m.  John  Bidwell  (q.  v.),  of 
Hartford,  iii.  Ann,  b.  ab.  1616;  m.  John  Hall  (q.  v.),  of  Hartford,  after- 
ward of  Middletown. 

Gregory  Wolterton  (Wilterton),  Hartford,  1639;  an  original  proprietor;  his 
home-lot  in  1639  was  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Little  River,  on  the  highway 
now  Elm  St.  He  was  chosen  townsman,  1639,  1646,  1651,  1666  ;  constable, 
1643,  1654  ;  fence-viewer,  1650.  He  signed  the  agreement  to  move  to  Hadley 
in  1659,  but  did  not  go.  He  was  a  tanner.  He  m.  (1)  Susanna,  who  d.  in  1662, 
se.  75;  (2)  Benet,  widow  of  Thomas  Stanley,  who  d.  in  Jan.,  1663-4;  (3) 
Jane,  widow  of  Nathaniel  Ward,  and  previously  wife  of  John  Hopkins.  He 
d.  1674;  will  dated  July  14;  inv.  Aug.  6,  £585.  16.  He  left  no  children, 
and  names  a  large  number  of  people  in  his  will,  — wife  Jane  ;  James  Wolter- 
ton, of  Ipswich,  old  England,  son  of  Matthew,  bro.  of  Gregory  ;  land  in 
Hartford  to  John  Shepard,  son  of  Edward,  of  Cambridge ;  Dorothy,  Hannah, 
and  Sarah,  dau's  of  Thomas  Lord,  deceased  ;  and  others,  not  of  Hartford. 

Thomas  Woodford,  came  to  Boston  in  the  "William  and  Francis;"  embarked 
March  7,  arrived  June  5,  1632  ;  settled  at  Roxbury ;  freeman,  March  4,  1635; 
m.  in  Roxbury,  Mary,  dau.  of  Robert  Blott ;  he  came  to  Agawam  with  Mr. 
Pynchon's  company,  where  he  signed  the  agreement  of  May  16,  1636,  and 
had  an  allotment  of  land.  Named  in  the  distribution  of  1639  at  Hartford, 
when  he  was  one  who  received  land  "by  the  courtesie  of  the  town;"  his 
home-lot  was  on  the  west  side  of  the  highway  now  Front  St.  He  was  chosen 
with  Arthur  Smith,  Feb.  10,  1639-40,  to  attend  the  townsmen,  and  to  do 
any  special  services  required  by  them,  as  to  givt  notice  of  town-meetings, 
impound  stray  cattle,  etc.  Appointed  to  act  as  sexton,  March  3,  1640,  to 
"  attend  the  making  of  graves  for  any  corpses  deceased ; "  to  "  receive  for 
giving  notice  by  ringing  the  bell,  making  the  grave,  and  keeping  of  it  in 
seemly  repair,  so  that  it  may  be  known  in  future  time  ;  when  such  graves 
have  been  made  for  the  lesser  sort,  2s.  6d.,  for  the  middle  sort,  3s.,  and  for 
the  higher  sort,  3s.  6cZ. ; "  also  appointed  town  crier,  and  to  be  paid  2d.  for 
crying  anything  lost.  His  wife  probably  d.  in  Hartford  ;  he  removed  about 
1656  to  Northampton;  there  d.  March  6,  1667. 


THE  ORIGINAL  PROPRIETORS.  271 

Governor  George  Wyllys,  b.  at  Fenny  Compton,  Co.  Warwick,  son  of  Richard 
Wyllys,1  Esq.,  and  Hester,  dau.  of  George  Chambers,  of  "Williamscote,  Co. 
Oxford.  His  pedigree  is  traced  back  in  England  for  several  generations. 
In  Camden's  Visitation  of  Warwickshire,  in  1619,  George  Wyllys  is  described 
as  living  at  Fenny  Compton,  ve.  29,  with  his  wife,  Bridget,  dau.  of  William 
Young,  of  Kingston  Hall.  The  name  of  the  wife  he  brought  with  him  to 
New  England  was  Mary  (prob.  a  second  wife).  In  1636  he  sent  his  steward, 
William  Gibbons,  with  twenty  men,  to  Hartford,  to  purchase  and  prepare  for 
him  a  farm,  erect  a  dwelling-house,  and  have  everything  in  readiness  for  him- 
self and  his  family.  He  had  been  a  partner  with  Robert  Saltonstall  and 
William  Whiting  in  the  Dover  and  Piscataqua  patents  (Mass.  Rec.  i.  324). 
He  was  an  original  proprietor,  and  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  his  home- 
lot  covered  the  square  now  included  between  Main,  Char- 
ter Oak,  Governor,  and  Wyllys  Sts.,  and  that  on  it  stood 
the  famous  Charter  Oak.  He  came  in  1638,2  was  chosen 
magistrate  April  11, 1639,  again  16-40,  '43  and  '44  ;  deputy- 
governor,  1641,  governor,  1642  ;  and  Commissioner  of  the 
United  Colonies.  He  d.  in  Hartford,  March  9,  1644-5. 
His  widow,  Mary,  was  living  in  1655.  —  Ch.  :  i.  George, 
prob.  he  who  was  b.  in  1611  ;  left  by  his  father  in  Eng- 
land, in  possession  of  the  estate  of  Fenny  Compton. 
ii.  Hester,  m.  Oct.  17,  1645,  as  his  second  wife,  Capt.  Rob-  the  wyllys  arms. 
ert  Harding,  of  Boston,  afterward  of  Rhode  Island  ;  in 
Nov.  1646  he  went  home  to  England,  and  in  1651  was  a  merchant  in  Lon- 
don, iii.  Amy,  m.  Oct.  30,  1645,  Hon.  John  Pynchon,  of  Springfield  ;  she 
d.  Jan.  9,  1699.  iv.  Samuel,  b.  1632;  grad.  Harvard  Coll.,  1653;  m.  (1) 
1654,  Ruth,  dau.  of  Guv.  John  Hayneaj  chosen  magistrate,  1654,  and  con- 
tinued in  that  office  until  1685  ;  in  the  absence  of  the  governor  and  deputy- 
governor  he  was  repeatedly  appointed  moderator  of  the  General  Court.  In 
1661,  1662,  1664,  and  1667  he  was  one  of  the  Connecticut  Commissioners 
for  the  United  Colonies.  "  He  was  extensively  engaged  in  trade,  and  often 
absent  from  the  Colony.  He  had  an  interest  in  several  sugar  plantations  at 
Antigua,  in  partnership  with  Richard  Lord,  and  frequently  went  to  the  West 
Indies.  His  speculations  proved  unprofitable;  and  as  he  had  borrowed  con- 
siderable money,  his  affairs  became  deeply  involved,  so  that  pecuniary  assist- 
ance was  granted  him  by  the  Assembly.  This  led  to  his  withdrawal  from 
the  magistracy,  but  he  retrieved  his  affairs,  and  he  was  again  Assistant  from 
1680  to  1693,  and  also  in  1698."  His  wife,  Ruth,  was  living  in  1680  ;  but 
d.  before  1688,  when  he  m.  (2)  at  Berwick,  Me.,  Nov.  28,  1688,  Mrs.  Mary 
Love.  He  d.  in  Hartford,  May  30,  1709.  His  only  son,  Hezekiah,  was  b. 
April  3,  1672  ;  m.  May  2,  1704,  Elizabeth,  dau.  of  Rev.  Jeremiah  and 
Elizabeth  (Whiting)  Hobart,  of  Haddam,  Conn.  He  held  many  positions  of 
trust;  was  town  clerk  of  Hartford,  1705-1732;  chosen  Secretary  of  the 
Colony,  1712,  and  continued  in  that  office  until  1734;  d.  Dec.  24,  1741  ; 
Mrs.  Elizabeth  Wyllys  d.  Sept.  1762.  His  only  surviving  son,  Col.  George 
Wyllys,  b.  Oct.  6,  1710,  grad.  Yale  Coll.,  1729;  appointed  secretary  for  the 
Colony,  pro  tern.  1730,  and  in  1734  was  regularly  appointed  secretary,  and  held 

1  "  Of  your  charite  pray  for  the  soul  of  Richard  Wyllys,  gentleman,  lord  of  the  mannour 
of  Fenny  Compton,  and  one  of  the  King's  justices  of  the  Peace  in  the  Co.  of  Warwick.  And 
Jane  his  wife,  which  Richard  deceased  the  VIII  day  of  February  in  the  year  of  our  Lord 
MDXXXI.  Of  whose  souls  Jesu  have  mercy.  Amen.  Here  lyeth  buried  the  body  of  Richard 
Willis,  of  Fenny  Compton,  in  the  County  of  Warwick,  gentleman,  son  of  Ambrose  Willis, 
deceased,  which  said  Richard  had -by  Hester  his  wife,  five  children,  that  is  to  say,  George, 
William,  Richard,  Judith,  and  Mary,  all  now  living,  who  deceased  the  tenth  day  of  June,  1597." 

2  April  6,  1638,  George  Willis,  of  Fenny  Compton,  gentn.,  and  Marie  his  wife,  conveyed 
to  Richard  Sraarte  all  their  land  in  Old  Stratford,  Wellcombe,  and  Bishopton  ;  "George 
Willys,  jur.,"  one  of  the  witnesses. 


272  MEMORIAL  HISTORY   OF  HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

the  office  for  the  long  period  of  sixty-six  years.  He  also  succeeded  his  father 
as  town  clerk  of  Hartford,  was  lieut.-col.  of  the  First  Regiment,  and  served  on 
many  committees  of  the  General  Assembly.  He  m.  Mary,  dau.  of  Rev.  Timothy 
Woodbridge,  of  Simsbury.  She  d.  Nov.  11,  1774  ;  he  d.  at  his  mansion  on 
Charter  Oak  Hill,  April  24,  1796.  His  children  were  :  i.  Samuel,  bapt.  Jan. 
7,  1738-9  j  Yale  Coll.,  1758  ;  went  to  England  in  1764,  and  remained  there 
for  six  years;  in  1771  he  became  the  first  captain  of  the  first  company  of 
Governor's  Foot  Guard;  in  1774,  Col.  of  the  1st  Conn.  Regt.  ;  he  served 
through  the  Revolutionary  War  as  colonel  of  a  Connecticut  regiment.  He 
m.  Feb.  3,  1777,  his  cousin  Ruth,  dau.  of  Thomas  and  Ruth  (Wyllys)  [Lord] 
Belden,  aud  widow  of  Capt.  John  Stoughton.  He  was  town  clerk  of  Hart- 
ford, 1796-1805  ;  held  other  town  offices,  and  was  Major-General  of  the  Connec- 
ticut Militia.  He  succeeded  his  father  as  Secretary  of  State  in  1796,  and  held 
the  office  until  1809.  Mrs.  Ruth  Wyllys  d.  Sept.  2,  1807.  He  d.  June  9, 
1823.  ii.  Mary,  bapt.  March  7,  1741-2;  m.  March  8,  1764,  Eleazer  Pome- 
roy,  of  Hartford  ;  d.  in  Middletown,  Nov.  14,  1805.  iii.  William,  bapt. 
Aug.  12,  1744;  d.  unm.  in  Hartford,  Jan.  18,  1826.  iv.  Hezekiah,  b.  in 
1747  ;  Yale  Coll.,  1765  ;  colonel  of  a  Connecticut  regiment  in  the  Revolu- 
tion;  m.  in  1785,  Amelia,  widow  of  Col..  Joseph  Trumbull,  of  Lebanon,  and 
dau.  of  Col.  Eliphalet  Dyer,  of  Windham.  She  d.  Jan.  15,  1818;  lied. 
March  29,  1827,  and  was  the  last  of  the  Wyllys  name  who  lived  in  the  old 
mansion.1  v.  Susanna,  b.  May  13,  1750  ;  m.  Jan.  22,  1788,  Judge  Strong,  of 
Litchfield  ;  d.  in  Hartford,  May  23,  1794  (s.  p.).  vi.  John  Palsgrave,  bapt. 
Aug.  11,  1754;  Yale  Coll.,  1773;  served  through  the  Revolutionary  War ; 
brigade  major  in  1776  ;  in  1781,  major  in  the  3d  Conn.  Regiment,  and  dis- 
tinguished himself  by  his  gallantry.  He  m.  his  cousin  Jerusha,  dau.  of  Col. 
Samuel  and  Mabel  (Wyllys)  Talcott,  who  d.  in  Hartford,  Aug.  9,  1783.  In 
1785  he  was  appointed  major  of  the  troops  raised  for  the  defence  of  the  fron- 
tier. He  was  killed  in  the  attack  on  the  Miami  Towns,  Sept.  30,  1790,  while 
serving  in  Gen.  Harmar's  expedition  against  the  Indians,  (s.  p.) 

Note  to  page  238.  —David  Ensign  m.  (2)  Sarah,  dau.  of  John  and  Sarah  (Wadsworth) 
Wilcox  ;  settled  in  the  West  Division  about  1686  ;  an  original  member  of  the  West  Hartford 
Church,  1713  ;  died  Dec.  13,  1727. 


LATER  SETTLERS. 

Edward  Alleyn,  1684;  b.  in  Boston,  Sept.  21,  1661,  son  of  Edward  and  Mar- 
tha Alleyn ;  shop-keeper ;  m.  Rachel,  dau.  of  James  Steele,  of  Hartford. 

Jonathan  Ashley,  1682  ;  son  of  Robert  Ashley,  of  Springfield  ;  m.  Nov.  10, 
1669,  Sarah,  dau.  of  William  Wadsworth  ;  lived  at  the  north  end;  d.  1705. 

John  Baker,  1665,  Baker's  Lane  (now  Ward  Street);  chimney-viewer,  1666  ;  m. 
Lydia,  dau.  of  John  Baysey  ;  had  6  ch. 

Bartholomew  Barnard,  1647;  m.  Oct.  1647,  Sarah,  dau.  of  Thomas  Birch ard ; 
constable,  1655,  1665  ;  d.  1698  ;  had  6  ch. 

Andrew  Benton,  1660,  Wethersfield  lane;  came  fi;om  Milford;  m.  (1)  Hannah, 
dau.  of  George  Stocking,  of  Hartford ;  (2)  Ann  (prob.  dau.  of  John  Cole) ; 
d.  July  31,  1683,  se.  63.     His  widow  d.  April  19,  1686  ;  had  9  ch. 

John  Bigelow,  1668,  son  of  John,  of  Watertown,  who  came  from  Wrentham,  Co. 
Suffolk  ;  b.  Oct.  27,  1643  ;  m.  Rebecca,  dau.  of  George  Butler  ;  died  ab.  1707. 

Jonathan   Bigelow,   1670;  brother  of  John,  b.  Dec.   11,  1646;   m.  (1)  1671, 

1  The  sons  of  Samuel  and  Hezekiah  died  young,  or  unm.;  the  dan's  removed  from  Hart- 
ford. Mary,  dau.  of  Samuel,  m.  John  M.  Gannett.  Amelia,  dau.  of  Hezekiah,  m.  Asher 
Adams,  of  Charlestown,  and  the  Wyllys  name  is  extinct  in  the  male  line. 


LATER  SETTLERS.  273 

Rebecca,  dau.   of  John  and  Rebecca  (Greenhill)  Shepard,  of  Hartford  ;  (2) 
Mary,  dau.  of  Samuel  Olcott,  of  H.;  (3)  Mary  Benton ;  d.  Jan.  9,  1710-11. 

Mr.  John  Blackleach,  1661,  son  of  John,  of  Boston ;  adm.  inhabitant,  Sept. 
1661  ;  his  father  had  bought  the  home-lot  of  Elder  Win.  Goodwin,  on  the 
corner  of  Main  and  Arch  Sts.,  and  conveyed  it  to  him,  June  20,  1661  ;  he 
sold  it  to  Thomas  Welles,  1666,  and  perhaps  then  rem.  to  Wethersfield  ;  he 
was  master  of  the  "  Hartford  Merchant  "  in  1677,  and  partner  with  Richard 
Lord  in  his  enterprises;  constable,  1664;  went  to  England,  1678,  returned 
next  year;  m.  (1)  perhaps,  Elizabeth,  dau.  of  Henry  Webb,  of  Boston;  (2) 
Elizabeth,  dau.  of  Benjamin  Herbert,  of  Hartford  ;  d.  in  Wethersfield,  Sept. 
7,  1703,  8B.  77.     His  widow  d.  June  12,  1708.     They  had  3  ch. 

Stephen  Bracy  (Brace),  1672  ;  came  from  Swanzey;  d.  1692  ;  inv.  .£400. 

Thomas  Cadwell,  1652  ;  m.  1658,  Elizabeth,  widow  of  Robert  Wilson,  and  dau. 
of  Deacon  Edward  Stebbin  ;  lived  on  a  portion  of  Dea.  Stebbin's  home-lot  on 
the  corner  of  the  streets  now  Front  and  State  Sts.;  constable,  1662  ;  licensed 
to  keep  the  ferry  in  1681  ;  d.  Oct.  9,  1694  ;  had  10  ch. 

Isaac  Cakebread  was  a  soldier  in  King  Philip's  War;  in  Hartford  bef.  1680 
lived  on  the  highway  now  Elm  St. ;  m.  Hepzibah  Jones,  1677 ;  died  1698. 

John  Camp,  1668  ;  lived  on  Wethersfield  lane  ;  m.  Mary,  dau.  of  Robert  Sanford 
d.  March  14,  1710-11. 

Joshua  Carter,  1691  ;   son  of  Joshua  Carter,  of  Deerfield  ;   b.  June  6,  1668 
m.  May  21,  1691,  Mary,  dau.  of  John  Skinner,  of  Hartford;  lived  on  Rocky 
Hill. 

Richard  Case,  1669,  East  Hartford  ;  freeman,  1671  ;  hay  ward  of  Hockanum 
meadow  ;  m.  Elizabeth,  dau.  of  John  Purkas,  of  Hartford  ;  d.  March  30,  1694  ; 
inv.,  .£203.  2.  6  ;  had  3  ch.      (Names  kinsman  Thomas  Olcott  in  his  will.) 

Thomas  Catlin,  b.  ah.  1612;  first  mentioned  in  Col.  Rec.  in  1644;  chimney- 
viewer,  1647,  1648,  1653;  surveyor  of  highways,  1655;  townsman,  1659; 
constable,  1662-1674  ;  m.  (l)Mary  ;  (2)  Mary,  widow  of  Ed.  Elmer;  d.  1690. 

John  Cole,  b.  ab.  1612;  Hartford  1655;  constable,  1657;  d.  1685. 

Joseph  Collier,  1666  ;  chinmey-viewer,  1669  ;  m.  as  2d  w.  Elizabeth,  dau.  of 
Robert  Sandford,  bef.  1676  ;  d.  Nov.  16,  1691  ;  his  widow  d.  1695-6. 

Aaron  Cooke,  1686,  son  of  Aaron  and  Sarah  (Westwood)  Cooke,  of  Hadley, 
b.  1663;  m.  Martha,  dau.  of  Mr.  John  Allvn ;  townsman,  1686,  1689,  1693, 
1699,  1703  ;  d.  April  15,  1725,  ee.  61  ;  had  7  ch. 

Humphrey  Davie,  Esq.,  son  of  Sir  John  Davie,  of  Creedy,  Co.  Devon,  came  to 
Hartford  from  Boston  ;  m.  as  2d  w.  Sarah,  widow  of  James  Richards,  Esq.,  and 
dau.  of  William  Gibbon;  d.  in  H.  Feb.  18,  1688-9;  his  eldest  son,  John, 
who  grad.  from  Harvard  Coll.  1681,  succeeded  to  the  baronetcy  in  1707. 

Jacob  Deming,  1696,  son  of  John  Deming,  of  Wethersfield,  b.  Aug.  26,  1670; 
m.  March  14,  1694-5,  Elizabeth,  dau.  of  Richard  Edwards;  his  widow  m. 
Jonathan  Hinckley  before  1714.     D.  had  4  ch. 

Alexander  Douglass,  1669;  lived  "up  Neck;"  chimney-viewer,  1672;  m.  a 
dau.  of  Nicholas  Clark,  of  Hartford ;  d.  Oct.  3,  1688;  had  3  dau". 

Mr.  Joseph  Fitch,  1655  (Savage  says  1660)  ;  in.  Mary,  dau.  of  Rev.  Samuel 
Stone,  bef.  1663;  townsman,  1662;  in  1669  he  made  Sam'l  Wyllys  his  at- 
torney to  sell  his  lands  at  Great  Birch,  Co.  Essex,  when  he  went  to  England ; 
he  removed  to  Windsor,  east  side  of  the  river,  prob.  bef.  1672. 

Mr.  Samuel  Fitch,  1650  ;  engaged  to  keep  school  for  three  years  from  Jan.  1, 
1649-50;  freeman,  May,  1651;  m.  1651,  Susanna,  widow  of  William 
Whiting ;  deputy,  1654,  1655;  d.  1659;  had  2  ch. 

Lamorock  Flowers,  1686,  West  Division  ;  ni.  Lydia,  dau.  of  Joseph  Smith,  of 
Hartford;  d.  June  19,  1716;  had  8  ch. 

Mr.  George  Gardner,  1673  ;  m.  ab.  1671,  Elizabeth,  widow  of  Rev.  Samuel  Stone, 
as  his  2d  wife  ;  d.  Aug.  20,  1679  ;  inv.  £3001.  0.  6.  ;  his  widow  d.  1681. 

John  Gilbert,  1648;  m.  May  6,  1647,  Amy,  dau.  of  Thomas  Lord,  of  Hartford; 
vol.  i.  — 18. 


274  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF   HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

freeman,  1G57;  constable,  1660;  townsman,  1663,  1667,  1675,  1679,  1684; 
d.  Dec.  29,  1690;  his  widow  d.  Jan.  8,  1691. 

Mr.  Jonathan  Gilbert,  b.  1618;  brother  of  John;  m.  Jan.  29,  1645-6,  Mary, 
dau.  of  Elder  John  White ;  his  wife  d.  ab.  1650,  and  he  m.  (2)  Mary,  dau.  of 
Hugh  Wells;  townsman,  1658,  1664,  1670,  1674,  1678;  deputy,  collector 
of  customs,  and  Marshal  of  the  Colony;  d.  Dec.  10,  1682,  ee.  64;  his  widow 
d.  July  3,  1700;  they  had  11  ch. 

Peter  Grant,  1677,  Wethersfield  lane  ;  d.   1681  ;  leaving  widow,  Mary. 

Nathaniel  Greensmith,  1655;  he  and  his  wife  were  both  executed  for  witch- 
craft at  H. ;  his  execution  took  place  Jan.  25,  1662-3  ;  hers  in  1662  ;  as  a  part 
of  his  effects  were  claimed  by  Hannah  and  Sarah  Elson,  it  is  prob.  that  he  m. 
the  widow  of  John  Elson,  of  Wethersfield,  whose  2d  husband,  Gervase  Mudge, 
d.  1652  ;  inv.  £181.  18.  5. 

Henry  Grihmes,  or  Graham,  1661,  Wethersfield  lane;  chimney-viewer,  1661; 
freeman,  1669;  d.  1684;  inv.  £745  ;  his  widow,  Mary,  d.  1685  ;  had  8  ch. 

Henry  Hayward,  or  Howard,  1663  ;  b.  ab.  1623  ;  came  from  Wethersfield  ;  malt- 
ster :  m.  Sept.  28,  1648,  Sarah  Stone,  in  H. ;  will  proved  April  4,  1709  ;  inv. 
£531.  14.  6. ;  had  7  ch. 

Arthur  Henbury,  1691  ;  b.  ab.  1646  ;  had  been  of  Simsbury  ;  m.  (1)  May  5, 
1670,  Lydia,  dau.  of  Luke  Hill,  of  S.  ;  (2)  ab.  1689,  widow  Martha  Beuient ; 
buried  in  H.,  Aug.  1,  1697  ;  had  5  ch.     His  widow  m.  John  Shepherd,  senr. 

John  Henderson  or  Hannison  ;  m.  Martha,  dau.  of  George  Steele  ;  d.  1688. 

Benjamin  Herbert,  or  Harbert,  1644  ;  m.  Aug.  22,  1644,  Christian  Nethercott ; 
chimney-viewer,  1652,  1656,  1660  ;  his  wife's  will  dated  Sept.  10,  1670,  leaves 
property  to  her  kinsmen,  Abel  and  John  Nethercoat,  "  living  in  old  England, 
near  Banbury  ;"  he  m.  (2)  Jane ;  living  in  1685  ;  one  ch. 

Thomas  Hill,  1685  ;  from  Middletown  ;  d.  1704,  leaving  w.  Mary  and  6  ch. 

Barnabas  Hinsdale,  1693,  Rocky  Hill;  b.  Feb.  20, 1668  ;  son  of  Barnabas  Hins- 
dale, of  Deerfield;  m.  Nov.  9,  1693,  Martha  Smith,  dau.  of  Joseph,  of  H., 
d.  "  in  the  great  sickness,"  Jan.  25, 1725  ;  his  widow  d.  1738  ;  had  9  ch. 

Isaac  Hinsdale,  brother  of  Barnabas,  b.  Sept.  15,  1673;  settled  in  West  Hart- 
ford, 1697;  m.  Jan.  6,  1715,  Lydia  Loomis  ;  d.  1739;  had  4  ch. 

Samuel  Kecherell,  1644;  house-lot  on  the  highway  on  the  bank  of  the  Little 
River,  bounded  east  by  the  "Burying  plat"  ;  he  died  prob.  bef.  1656,  and  his 
widow  sold  her  dwelling-house  to  Ozias  Goodwin ;  one  ch. 

Samuel  Kellogg,  son  of  Lieut.  Joseph,  rem.  to  H.  from  Hadley,  where  he  was 
b.  Sept.  28,  1662;  m.  Sarah,  dau.  of  John  Merrills,  of  H.,  Sept.  22,  1687. 

John  Kelly,  1655,  south  side;  freeman,  1658;  m.  (1)  Grace,  dau.  of  Samuel 
Wakeman,  of  H. ;  (2)  Bethiah ;  d.  bef.  Feb.,  1663-4;  inv.  £14.  11.  9. 

Thomas  King,  1688  ;  b.  in  Northampton,  son  of  John  and  Sarah  (Holton)  King; 
m.  (1)  Nov.  17,  1683,  Abigail,  dau.  of  Jedediah  Strong;  she  d.  1689,  and  he 
m.  (2)  1690,  Mary,  dau.  of  Robert  Webster,  of  H.,  who  d.  Sept.  27,  1706; 
(3) ;  he  d.  Dec.  26,  1711 ;  his  widow  d.  Jan.  2,  1711-12  ;  had  5  ch. 

George  Knight,  1674;  lived  "up  Neck;"  d.  bef.  May  13,  1698;  inv.  £257. 
Widow  Sarah,  and  several  dau™. 

Thomas  Long,  1665;  m.  (1)  Sarah,  dau.  of  John  and  Sarah  (Wadsworth)  Wil- 
cox; rem.  to  Windsor,  east  side  of  the  river,  bef.  1694;  divorced,  and  m. 
(2)  Sarah,  dau.  of  Edward  Elmer;  d.  Nov.  8,  17  LI. 

Joel  Marshall,  1682;  will  proved  Jan.,  1721  ;  had  5  ch. 

Thomas  Marshall,  1668,  Wethersfield  lane;  will  proved  Dec.  30,  1692  ;  had  7  ch. 

John  Mason,  1678;  b.  ab.  1652;  m.  Hannah  (dau.  of  Daniel  Arnold?);  d. 
Feb.  19,  1697-8  ;  inv.  £245.  11. ;  had  8  ch. 

John  Merrills,  1657;  tanner;  son  of  Abraham  Merrills,  of  Newtown  ;  adopted 
by  Gregory  Wolterton ;  freeman,  1658  ;  chimney-viewer,  1664,  1673  ;  towns- 
man, 1684,  1694,  1700  ;  m.  Sarah,  dau.  of  John  Watson,  of  Hartford  ;  rem.  to 
the  West  Division;  d.  July  18,  1712;  had  10  ch. 


LATER  SETTLERS.  275 

Cornelius  Merry,  1698  ;  son  of  Cornelius  Merry,  of  Northampton,  an  Irishman  ; 
settled  in  the  West  Division ;  d.  there,  Aug.  9,  1760,  se.  94. 

John  Mitchell,  1 655  ;  d.  July  28,  1683  ;  inv.  £132  ;  left  widow,  Mary,  and  6  ch. 

Thomas  Morgan,  1690,  West  Division  ;  m.  Rachel ;  had  4  ch. 

Serg't  Joseph  Nash,  1658,  son  of  Thomas,  of  New  Haven  ;  freeman,  1658 ;  his  first 
wife,  Mary,  d.  in  New  Haven,  in  1654  ;  in.  (2)  bef.  June  15,  1665,  Margaret, 
widow  of  Arthur  Smith,  of  Hartford ;  appointed  sealer  of  weights  for  the 
counties,  and  for  H.,  Oct.  1670;  granted  liberty  to  set  up  a  shop,  Aug.  8, 
1671;  constable,  1661;   townsman,  1672;  d.  1678;  had  one  child. 

Timothy  Nash,  1661,  brother  of  Joseph;  m.  ab.  1657,  Rebecca,  dau.  of  Rev. 
Samuel  Stone  ;  rem.  to  Hadley,  1663  ;  d.  March  13,  1699  ;  his  widow  d.  1709. 

Adam  Niccols,  1655 ;  came  from  New  Haven  ;  m.  Anna,  sister  of  Mr.  John 
Wakeman;  d.  Aug.  25,  1682  ;   had  5  ch. 

Cyprian  Nichols,  1664,  b.  1642  ;x  came  from  Withatn,  Co.  Essex  ;  bought  house 
and  land  of  William  Whiting,  of  London,  on  the  highway  now  Governor  St., 
which  had  been  his  father's  housedot,  April  6,  1664  ;  freeman,  May  21,  1668 ; 
townsman,  1670,  1675,  1676,  1685,  1688,  1692,  1696,  1697;  had  3  ch. 

Timothy  Phelps,  1692,  son  of  Samuel,  of  Windsor;  m.  (1)  Nov.  18,  1686,  Sarah, 
dau.  of  Walter  Gaylord,  of  W.  ;  (2)  Nov.  13,  1690,  Sarah,  dau.  of  Daniel 
Pratt;   d.  1712. 

Mr.  William  Pitkin,  1659,  son  of  Roger,  of  London  ;  East  Hartford;  liberty 
granted  him  to  keep  school  in  Hartford,  March,  1660  ;  freeman,  Oct.,  1662  ; 
m.  Hannah,  dau.  of  Ozias  Goodwin,  of  Hartford  ;  he  was  bred  a  lawyer ;  At- 
torney for  the  Colony  ;  deputy,  1675  ;  treasurer,  1676,  1677  ;  Assistant  several 
years;  d.  Dec.  15,  1694,  se.  58;  had  8  ch. 

William  Randolph  (Randall)  ;  m.  Mary,  widow  of  Peter  Grant,  of  Hartford;  d. 
Dec,  1684;  his  widow  d.  1688. 

Robert  Reeve,  1655;  m.  (1)  Mary,  dau.  of  John  Skinner,  of  H.  ;  (2)  Elizabeth, 
dau.  of  John  Nott,  of  Wethersfield  ;  freeman,  1658;  chimney-viewer,  1661  ; 
surveyor  of  highways,  1667;  constable,  1671  ;  d.  Feb.  1680-1  ;  had  9  ch. 

Mr.  James  Richards,  1663;  son  of  Thomas  Richards,  of  Plymouth,  Mass.; 
m.  Sarah,  dau.  of  William  Gibbons  ;  townsman,  1662  ;  freeman,  1664  ;  magis- 
trate, 1664-1680;  Commissioner  of  the  United  Colonies,  1672,  1675;  "in 
calling  he  was  a  merchant,  and  traded  extensively  in  real  estate  ; "  d.  June  11, 
1680.  He  gave  £50  to  the  Latin  School  in  H.,  £20  to  the  poor  of  H.  His 
gravestone  is  in  the  old  Centre  burying-ground,  having  on  it  his  coat  of  arms,  — 
Argent,  four  lozenges  conjoined  in  fesse  gules,  between  two  bars  sable ;  those 
of  the  family  of  Richards,  of  East  Bagborough,  Co.  Somerset ;  he  had  5  ch. 

John  Roberts,  1682;  m.  after  1674,  Elizabeth,  dau.  of  Rev.  Samuel  Stone,  and 
divorced  wife  of  William  Sedgwick,  of  Hartford  ;  he  rem.  to  New  Jersey. 

Samuel  Robinson  (Robertson),  1665;  house-lot  on  the  Neck;  d.  Aug.  30, 
1682  ;  inv.  £55.  9. ;  left  a  widow  and  5  ch. 

John  Sadd,  tanner,  1674;  came  from  Earl's  Colne,  Co.  Essex  ;  house-lot  on  the 
present  Park;  m.  ab.  1690,  as  2d  wife,  Hepsibah,  widow  of  John  Pratt;  d. 
Dec.  20,  1694  ;  inv.  £1901.  5.  10. ;  his  widow,  Hepsibah,  d.  Dec.  20, 1711. 

Nathaniel  Sandford,  1655,  Wethersfield  lane;  chimney-viewer,  1657;  sur- 
veyor of  highways,  1663,  1667;  d.  1687;  one  child. 

Robert  Sandford,  1646;  house-lot  on  the  road  to  the  Cow  Pasture;  m.  Ann, 
dau.  of  Jeremy  Adams;  d.  1676.     His  widow  d.  1682  ;  they  had  8  ch. 

Adrian  Scroop,  "  of  Hartford,"  witnesses  a  deed  from  Simon  Wolcott  to  Richard 
Lord,  March  31,  1665,  and  again  May  8,  1667.  Dr.  Stiles  in  his  book  on 
the  regicides  offers  the  opinion  that  this  is  Col.  Adrian  Scrope,  who  signed 
King  Charles's  death-warrant;  but  he  was  executed  in  London,  Oct.  17,  1660. 

Robert  Shirley,  b.  ab.  1647  ;  1677  was  a  servant  to  Mr.  James  Richards,  who 
gave  him  land ;  he  owned  the  house-lot  of  "  his  father,  Marshall  George  Grave, 

1  He  testified,  in  1707,  that  he  lived  for  thirteen  years  in  the  same  house  in  Hartford 
with  William  "Westwood  (q.  v.). 


276  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF   HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

Decd,"  and  land  near  Rocky  Hill  divided  "with  him  hy  his  "  brother,  John 
Grave;"  he  m.  (2)  Sarah,  dan.  of  Joseph  Easton,  Sr. ;  d.  1711. 

Sergeant  John  Shepard,  1670;  son  of  Edward,  of  Cambridge;  cooper;  house- 
lot  on  highway  now  Lafayette  St. ;  m.  (1)  Oct.  1,  1649,  Rebecca,  dau.  of  Sam- 
uel Greenhill,  of  H.  ;  (2)  Susannah,  widow  of  William  Goodwin,  of  H.  ;  (3) 
Sept.  8,  1698,  Martha,  widow  of  Arthur  Henbury  ;  d.  June  12,  1707  ;   11  ch. 

Joseph  Smith,  1655  ;  m.  April  20,  1656,  Lydia,  dau.  of  Rev.  Ephraim  Huit,  of 
Windsor;  died,  1689-90;  had  14  ch. 

Gerard  Speck,  1665  ;  m.  Mary,  dau.  of  John  Purkas,  before  1663;  chimney- 
viewer,  1671 ;  an  agreement  made  between  him  and  Thomas  Burr,  Feb.  22, 
1685-6,  provides  that  Burr  will  maintain  Speck  with  all  the  "necessaries 
comely  and  convenient  for  such  an  aged  person,"  and  Speck  agrees,  for  these 
conditions,  and  for  the  love  he  bears  to  Burr  and  his  wife,  to  give  them  all 
his  estate,  house,  barn,  and  homedot. 

Thomas  Thornton,  1677  ;  house  lot  on  the  highway  now  Elm  St.  ;  he  had  lived 
at  Milford ;  there  m.  1674,  Hannah,  dau.  of  Nathaniel  Farrand  ;  chimney- 
viewer,  1680  ;  in  1699  he  owned  the  house  and  land  which  formerly  belonged 
to  "  my  Brother  "  Marshal  George  Grave ;  d.  Sept.  22,  1703  ;  had  one  ch. 

Thomas  Tomlinson,  1665  ;  house-lot  on  the  Neck  ;  d.  March  27,  1685  ;  his  widow 
Elizabeth  m.  (2)  John  Long,  bef.  Oct.  23,  1685 ;  they  had  7  ch. 

John  Turner,  1675;  m.  Susanna,  dau.  of  John  Merrill. 

Bevil  Waters,1  1661,  Wethersfield  lane;  b.  ab.  1648;  apprenticed  to  Thomas 
Watts,  carpenter,  1661-67  ;  freeman,  1669  ;  townsman,  1682;  m.  (l)unkn.  ; 
(2)  Dec.  13, 1722,  Sarah,  widow  of  Joseph  Mygatt,  dau.  of  Robert  Webster ;  d. 
Feb.  14, 1729-30;  had  3  ch. 

Caleb  Watson,  1674;  b.  at  Roxbury,  1641;  son  of  John;  gr.  H.  C.  1661; 
taught  school  at  Hadley,  1665-1667  ;  m.  Dec.  15,  1665,  Mary,  dau.  of  George 
Hyde,  of  Boston  ;  taught  school  in  Hartford,  1674-1705  ;  d.  1725-6  (s.  p.). 

John  Watson,  1644;  juror,  1644;  surveyor  of  highways,  1647;  d.  1650;  inv. 
June  4,  £126.  1.  6.     His  widow,  Margaret,  d.  1683  ;  they  had  3  ch. 

Mr.  Eliezer  Way,  1666;  freeman,  1669;  surveyor  of  highways,  1671  ;  d.  July 
12, 1687  ;  inv.  Aug.  9,  £867.  3.  11  ;  his  widow,  Mary,  d.  1701 ;  had  4  ch. 

Thomas  Whaples,  1653  ;  d.  ab.  Dec.  10,  1671,  leaving  a  widow  and  7  ch. 

Samuel  Wheeler,  1687;  m.  Sarah,  dau.  of  Peter  Grant,  of  Hartford;  d.  June 
29,  1712 ;  inv.  £46.  4  ;  had  7  ch. 

Giles  Whiting,  1644  ;  freed  from  training,  Jan.  3,  1643-4;  d.  1656  ;  by  a  nun- 
cupative will  left  all  his  estate  to  his  "  brother  William  Leawes  "  (Lewis). 

Nathaniel  Willett,  1642;  m.  (1)  Elizabeth,  widow  of  Samuel  Wakeman ;  (2) 
Hannah,  dau.  of  Jeremy  Adams,  of  H. ;  (3)  Ellinor,  widow  of  Jasper  Clem- 
ents, and  Nathaniel  Browne,  of  Middletown  ;  constable,  1645,  1659  ;  towns- 
man, 1654,  1666,  1670,  1675,  1678,  1682  ;   d.  Jan.  4,  1698;  had  4  ch. 

William  Williams,  1645  ;  cooper;  b.  ab.  1625  ;  m.  Nov.  20, 1647,  Jane  West- 
over;  d.  Dec.  17,  1689 ;  his  widow  d.  Dec.  25,  1689  ;  they  had  9  ch. 

John  Wilson,  1675  ;  b.  ab.  1650  ;  son  of  Robert,  of  Farmington  ;  freeman,  16 75  ; 
house-lot  on  the  highway  now  Front  St.,  part  of  that  of  his  gr.-f.  Deacon  Ed- 
ward Stebbin ;  m.  Lydia,  dau.  of  John  Cole,  of  H.  ;  chosen  Deacon  of  the 
South  Church,  1688 ;  townsman,  1690  ;  d.  1698 ;  inv.  March  1  ;  had  3  ch. 

Phineas  Wilson,  1675,  a  wealthy  merchant  from  Dublin  ;  m.  (1)  Mary,  dau.  of 
Nathaniel  Sandford  ;  (2)  Elizabeth,  dau.  of  John  Crow,  widow  of  William. 
Warren,  of  Hartford;  d.  1692;  inv.  £2204;  his  widow  d.  July  10,  1727- 
aged  87. 


C^d^vy  J/>  <fci&*W 


Bevil  Waters,  alias  Walters,"  in  a  deed  dated  Nov.  14,  1681. 


THE   FIRST   CHURCH.  277 


SECTION    III. 

THE  FIRST  CHURCH. 

BY   THE   REV.    GEORGE   LEON   WALKER,    D.D. 

The  ecclesiastical  organization  known  as  the  First  Church  of  Hart- 
ford antedates  by  two  or  three  years  the  settlement  of  the  town.  The 
precise  time  of  its  organization  at  Newtown  (Cambridge),  Mass.,  is 
uncertain,  though  there  is  a  high  degree  of  probability  that  it  occurred 
sometime  in  16-32.1 

The  earliest  distinctly  ascertainable  date  in  its  history,  however,  is 
Oct.  11,  1633,  at  which  time  the  Rev.  Thomas  Hooker  and  the  Rev. 
Samuel  Stone  were  ordained  respectively  its  pastor  and  teacher.2 
William  Goodwin  had  probably  earlier  been  chosen  ruling  elder,  and 
Andrew  Warner  and  one  or  more  others,  -         . 

deacons.  The  company  of  people  thus  con-  -^*7T  /T^^A,4"-**.  ."/ 
federated  into  church  fellowship,  after  the  *  / 

early  New  England  way  of  mutual  agreement  and  subscription  to  a  cov- 
enant, had  to  a  considerable  extent  been  acquainted  with  Mr.  Hooker 
in  England,  and  some  of  them  had  stood  in  a  quasi  parishional  relation- 
ship to  him  during  his  occupancy  of  the  Puritan  Lectureship  at  Chelms- 
ford, in  Essex,  from  the  vicinity  of  which  place  many  of  them  came. 
Mr.  Hooker,  for  whom  this  company  waited,  while  for  more  than  a  year 
previous  to  his  arrival  they  were  called  by  his  name,  reached  America 
in  the  "  Griffin,"  Sept.  4,  1633,  accompanied  by  his  destined  associate 
in  the  Newtown  Church  service,  the  Rev.  Samuel  Stone,  and  by  the 
Rev.  John  Cotton  and  Mr.  John  Haynes. 

Mr.  Hooker  was  born  at  Marfield,  in  Leicester;  it  is  believed  in 
July,  1586.  This  little  hamlet  of  Marfield  is  one  of  four  tirhings  or 
towns,  which  make  up  the  parish  of  Tilton,  and  itself  contains  but  five 
houses,  having  had  six  at  the  time  of  Hooker's  birth.  He  was  educated 
first  at  the  grammar  school  of  Market  Bosworth,  and  subsequently 
at  Queen's  and  Emmanuel  Colleges  at  Cambridge.  He  took  his 
Bachelor's  degree  at  Emmanuel  in  January,  1608,  and  his  Master's 
in  1611.  Here  at  Emmanuel,  after  receiving  his  Master's  degree,  he 
resided  some  years  as  Fellow  on  Sir  Wolstan  Dixie's  foundation. 
Sometime,  probably  in  1620,  Mr.  Hooker  became  rector  of  the  donative 
parish  of  Esher,  in  Surrey,  where  he  married,  and  from  whence  he 
went,  apparently  in  1625' or  1626,  to  Chelmsford,  in  Essex,  as  lec- 
turer in  the  Church  of  St.  Mary's,  then  under  the  charge  of  the  Rev. 
John  Michaelson.  Here  he  was,  in  the  latter  part  of  1629,  silenced  by 
Bishop  Laud  ;  and  in  1630  was  compelled  to  fly  the  country  to  Holland, 
where  he  preached  successively  in  Amsterdam,  Delft,  and  Rotterdam, 

1  The  question  of  the  date  of  organization  is  discussed  in  the  present  writer's  "History 
of  the  First  Church  of  Hartford,"  pp.  53-61. 

2  Savage's  "  "VVinthrop's  Journal,"  vol.  i.  p.  137. 


278  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

until  the  overtures  made  to  him  by  his  former  parishioners  and  acquaint- 
ances induced  him  to  follow  them  to  their  home  in  America. 

The  Rev.  Samuel  Stone,  who  came  with  Mr.  Hooker,  was  born  at 
Hertford,  in  Hertfordshire,  and  baptized  in  the  Church  of  All  Saints 
w  July  30,  1602.      He  was    educated   at    Em- 

^CVHt..*  £%DH-+~.  manuel  College,  Cambridge,  taking  his  Mas- 
ter's degree  in  1624,  and  studying  divinity 
with  the  Rev.  Richard  Blackerby,  at  Aspen,  in  Essex.  In  1630  he 
became  lecturer  at  Towcester,  in  Northamptonshire,  from  which 
place  he  joined  Mr.  Hooker  as  his  associate  in  the  American  en- 
terprise. 

The  Church  at  Newtown  being,  by  the  induction  of  Pastor  Hooker 
and  Teacher  Stone  into  their  respective  offices,  fully  equipped  for  its  ap- 
propriate work,  found  itself  in  the  winter  of  1633  in  the  midst  of  what 
William  Wood,  writing  that  same  year,  describes  as  "  one  of  the  neatest 
and  best  compacted  towns  in  New  England." 

But  gradually,  and  from  very  near  the  establishment  of  the  Newtown 
community,  arose  a  certain  uneasiness  respecting  their  situation.  The 
inhabitants  "  complained  [May,  1634]  of  straitness  for  want  of  land,"1 
and  various  efforts  were  made  on  the  part  of  the  Court  for  their  quiet 
and  satisfaction.  Enlargements  were  granted  in  September,  1634, 
embracing  the  territory  now  known  as  the  townships  of  Brookline, 
Brighton,  Newton,  and  Arlington ;  but  the  restlessness  continued. 
Various  causes  have  been  assigned  for  it,  —  personal,  political,  relig- 
ious ;  and  probably  all  of  them  in  some  degree  conspired.  Nor 
is  it  necessary  to  decide  which  was  most  potent.  The  Newtown  people 
were  of  like  passions  with  others,  and  they  were  conscious  of  the  pos- 
session of  materials  for  a  colony  by  themselves.  The  views  of  their 
leaders,  ecclesiastical  and  civil,  differed  to  some  extent  from  those  of 
others  in  the  Bay,  and  found  expression  of  the  difference  on  more  than 
one  occasion.  The  land  question  was  but  an  ostensible  difficulty.  Con- 
trasts of  temperament  and  oppositions  of  judgment  in  some  political 
and  even  religious  matters  availed  more  than  scantiness  of  acres  ; 
and  it  implies  nothing  derogatory  to  the  character  either  of  those  who 
went  or  those  who  remained,  that  the  Newtown  company  felt  that  they 
might  be  happier  under  an  administration  distinctively  their  own,  and 
in  some  other  spot  of  the  boundless  new  continent  than  that  to  which 
the  Court  had  ordered  them  in  1632.2 

Their  "strong  bent"  to  go,  at  last  prevailed.  The  arrival  in  the 
autumn  of  1635  of  a  large  number  of  immigrants  into  the  Bay,  and 
the  gathering  of  a  portion  of  them  into  church  estate  under  the  care  of 
the  Rev.  Thomas  Shepard,  in  February,  1636,  enabled  them  to  find 
purchasers  for  their  houses,  and  left  them  free  to  go. 

The  31st  of  May,  1636,  saw  them  on  their  pilgrimage.  The 
way  was  through  a  pathless  wilderness.  Their  guides  were  the  com- 
pass and  the  north  star.  The  lowing  of  a  hundred  and  sixty  cattle 
sounding  through  the  forest  aisles  summoned  them  to  each  morning's 
advance.  Goats  and  sheep  and  swine  lent  their  voices  to  the  chorus. 
Their  journey  lasted  a  fortnight ;  the  toilsome  and  devious  way  leading 
near  to  the  mouth  of  the  Chicopee,  and  thence  down  along  the  banks 

1  Winthrop,  vol.  i.  p.  157. 

2  History  of  the  First  Church,  in  Hartford,  pp.  73-83. 


THE   FIRST   CHURCH.  279 

of  the  Connecticut,  swollen  with  springtime's  melted  snows.  The  pas- 
tor's wife,  an  invalid,  was  borne  on  a  litter  because  of  her  infirmity. 
It  must  have  been  near  the  middle  of  June  when  their  goal  was  reached  ; 
and,  borne  on  rafts  and  boats  across  the  wide,  full  river,  the  corporate 
fellowship  of  the  First  Church  reached  its  abiding  home  on  Hartford 
soil.  Arrived  upon  the  ground,  and  the  land  duly  purchased  from  the 
Indians  through  the  agency  of  Mr.  Stone  the  teacher  and  Mr.  Goodwin 
the  ruling  elder  of  the  Church,  a  temporary  meeting-house  was  built 
on  the  southerly  side  of  the  plot  afterward  known  as  Meeting-House 
Square.  This  in  two  or  three  years  gave  place  to  a  more  permanent 
structure  on  the  same  square  a  little  farther  to  the  east,  —  a  structure 
which  served  the  uses  of  the  community  for  nearly  a  hundred  years. 
Near  the  meeting-house,  on  the  same  public  square,  were  the  jail,  the 
stocks,  and  the  whipping-post ;  and  a  little  farther  off  to  the  north- 
west side  of  the  square  was  the  first  burial-ground ;  soon  abandoned, 
however,  for  another  location  down  the  "  great  street." 

Connection  with  any  ecclesiastical  organization  was  never  in  the 
Connecticut  colony  a  condition  of  civil  privilege ;  nor  was  it  ever  af- 
firmed of  Mr.  Hooker  at  Hartford,  as  it  was  affirmed  of  Mr.  Cotton  at 
Boston,  that  "  whatever  he  delivered  in  the  pulpit  was  soon  put  into  an 
order  of  court  if  of  a  civil,  or  set  up  as  a  practice  in  the  church  if  of 
an  ecclesiastical  concernment."  J  Nevertheless,  the  Church  and  the 
civil  community  were  closely  related  in  that  formative  time,  and  the 
hand  of  the  ministers  was  in  almost  all  current  affairs.  Mr.  Stone' 
chaplained  the  troops  on  the  memorable  Pcquot  expedition  in  1637,  and 
the  soldiers  of  the  little  army  were  probably  nearly  to  a  man  church- 
members.  Mr.  Hooker  preached  with  utmost  freedom  on  what  would 
now  be  called  political  topics.  Especially  conspicuous  as  well  as 
forever  memorable  was  Mr.  Hooker's  part  in  preparing  the  way  for 
and  laying  down  the  principles  of  the  fundamental  laws  of  the  colony 
adopted  in  1639.  A  sermon  by  him,  preached  on  Thursday,  May  31, 
1638,  before  a  session  of  the  Court,  has  been  declared  to  be  "the 
earliest  known  suggestion  of  a  fundamental  law,  enacted  not  by  royal 
charter,  nor  by  concession  from  any  previously  existing  government, 
but  by  the  people  themselves, —  a  primary  and  supreme  law  by  which 
the  government  is  constituted,  and  which  not  only  provides  for  the 
free  choice  of  magistrates  by  the  people,  but  also  '  sets  the  bounds 
and  limitations  of  the  power  and  place  to  which '  each  magistrate  is 
called." 2 

Nor  did  the  removal  of  the  Hartford  Church  a  hundred  miles  into 
the  forest  wilderness  separate  it  at  all  from  the  Bay  churches  in  inter- 
est. The  pastor  and  teacher  and  delegates  from  the  brotherhood  were 
present  and  active  in  Boston  in  August,  1637,  at  the  synod  concerning 
Mrs.  Anne  Hutchinson's  religious  vagaries,  and  at  the  synod  at  Cam- 
bridge in  1643  called  to  antagonize  the  spread  of  Presbyterianism.  So, 
too,  were  Mr.  Stone  and  delegates  present  at  the  Cambridge  synod  of 
1647  and  1648,  which  formulated  the  platform  known  by  its  Cambridge 
birthplace.  Mr.  Hooker,  however,  had  died  July  7,  1647,  in  an  epi- 
demical sickness  which  prevailed  throughout  New  England,  at  the  age 

1  Hubbard's  "History  of  New  England,"  p.  182. 

2  Dr.  Leonard  Bacon,  "Centennial  Address,  General  Conference,"  pp.  152,  153. 


280  MEMOKIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

of  sixty-one  years,  leaving  behind  him  the  memory  of  one  of  the  best 
and  greatest  of  men. 

Upon  the  death  of  Mr.  Hooker  various  endeavors  were  made  for  a 
successor  in  the  vacated  office.  The  Rev.  Jonathan  Mitchell  was  invited 
to  the  pastorate  in  June,  1649.  With  similar  intent,  at  different 
periods  later,  the  pulpit  was  supplied  by  Michael  Wigglesworth  occa- 
sionally in  1653  and  1654,  by  John  Davis  in  1655,  and  by  John  Cotton, 
son  of  the  Boston  minister,  in  1659. 

But  the  period  covered  by  these  years  between  Mr.  Wigglesworth's 
and  Mr.  Cotton's  services  in  Hartford  is  chiefly  memorable  for  a  quar- 
rel in  the  Church,  led  by  Teacher  Stone  on  the  one  side  and  by  Elder 
William  Goodwin  on  the  other,  and  of  which  it  seems  probable  that  the 
candidacy  of  Michael  Wigglesworth  was  the  provoking  occasion.  Into 
the  perplexing  and  prolonged  details  of  this  controversy  it  is  impossible 
here  to  enter.1  It  must  suffice  to  say  that  after  the  first  recognizable 
point  of  difference,  in  Mr.  Stone's  refusal  to  allow  the  Church  to  vote 
on  Mr.  Wigglesworth's  "  fitnes  for  office  in  ye  church  of  Hartford,"  and 
Mr.  Goodwin's  opposition  to  this  restraint  as  an  infringement  of  the 
rights  of  the  brotherhood,  the  subsequent  progress  of  the  quarrel  was 
attended  by  such  incidents  as  these :  the  indignant  resignation  of  his 
office  by  Teacher  Stone,  yet  his  resumption  of  his  functions  as  if  he 
had  not  resigned ;  the  practical  deposition  from  office  of  Ruling  Elder 
Goodwin  by  the  Church's  choice  of  a  "  moderator ; "  the  withdrawal  of 
Mr.  Goodwin  and  his  party  from  the  Church ;  successive  ecclesiastical 
councils ;  days  of  humiliation  and  prayer  appointed  by  the  Massachu- 
setts churches  in  the  Hartford  Church's  behalf ;  repeated  blundering 
attempts  of  the  General  Court  to  interpose,  resulting  in  aggravation 
rather  than  healing  of  the  strife ;  the  final  review  and  "  determina- 
tion "  of  the  matter  by  a  council  at  Boston  in  September  and  October, 
1659 ;  the  acceptance  of  the  "  sentence  "  by  both  parties,  and  the  re- 
moval of  Elder  Goodwin  and  most  of  his  party  to  Hadley.  The  quar- 
rel brought  up  many  interesting  questions  of  polity,  but  was  to  be 
deplored  as  centring,  after  all,  in  the  personal  element  implied  in  the 
opposition  of  two  able  and  excellent  but  obstinate  men. 

About  a  year  after  the  settlement  of  the  long  quarrel  the  Rev.  John 
Whiting  was  ordained  colleague  with  Mr.  Stone.  Mr.  Whiting  was 
born  in  England  in  1635,  but  educated  at  Harvard,  graduating  in  1653. 
Three  years  subsequent  to  his  establishment  here,  Mr.  Stone  the 
teacher  died,  July  20,  1663. 

The  dual  idea  of  the  New  England  ministry  was  still  strong ;  and 
the  Church,  upon  the  old  teacher's  death,  proceeded  almost  immediately 
to  associate  another  man  with  Mr.  Whiting.  This  was  the  Rev.  Joseph 
Haynes,  born  about  1641,  graduated  at  Harvard  in  1658,  and  like  Mr. 
Whiting,  a  son  of  one  of  Hartford's  foremost  citizens.  This  association 
of  the  two  young  Hartford  townsmen  in  the  ministry  of  the  Church  to 
which  their  fathers  had  belonged,  and  in  which  they  themselves  had 
been  nurtured,  seemed  auspicious  of  peaceful  times.  Nevertheless, 
two  years  after  the  settlement  of  the  younger  man  the  two  pastors 
were    in    open    conflict,   the    Church   was  divided    into   parties ;    an 

1  See,  for  recently  discovered  papers  in  this  controversy,  the  second  volume  of  the  Con- 
necticut Historical  Society  publications,  pp.  51-125;  and  for  a  general  account  of  the  affair, 
the  "History  of  the  First  Church  in  Hartford,"  pp.  146-175. 


THE  FIRST  CHURCH.  281 

ecclesiastical  warfare  was  in  lively  progress,  which  in  1670  resulted  in 
the  division  of  the  Hartford  Church  into  two  permanently  sundered 
organizations. 

This  time,  however,  the  controversy  was  not  to  any  extent  a  per- 
sonal one,  but  one  which  to  a  degree  agitated  New  England.  It  grew 
out  of  divergent  views  of  the  two  pastors  of  the  Church,  and  of  parties 
in  the  Church,  respecting  the  proper  scope  of  baptism  and  church- 
membership.1  Mr.  Whiting  the  senior  pastor,  and  the  minority  of  the 
Church  with  him,  held,  at  least  at  the  outset  of  the  controversy,  to  the 
doctrine  of  Hooker  and  Davenport,  that  only  "  visible  saints "  consti- 
tuted "fit  matter"  for  church-fellowship,  and  that  only  the  children  of 
such  were  to  be  baptized.  Mr.  Haynes  and  the  majority  of  the  Church 
accepted   the   principles   of  /in 

the    Ministerial     Assembly  ^^^^/^^f/1^5    ^J^/j/a,  a  D 

of  1057,  and  of  the  Synod  of      S^y     J  7*   TT*44**^. 

1002,  which  introduced  the      C -"^  <s 

practice  of  what  came  to  be  known  as  the  half-way  covenant  system, 
allowing  baptized  persons,  not  professing  experimental  piety,  to  assent 
to  a  modified  church  covenant  and  to  have  their  children  baptized. 

This  view  of  the  major  part  of  the  Church  came  to  be  the  prevalent 
view  throughout  New  England,  and  resulted  in  a  practical  separation 
of  every  church  into  two  parts:  one  of  experimental  or  full-communion 
members,  the  other  of  members  in  "a  state  of  education,"  or  hall-way 
covenant  members.  The  controversy  as  it  progressed  here  in  Hartford 
was  complicated  by  differences  of  opinion  about  synodical  authority 
and  right  of  self-government.  And  it  would  appear  that  in  the  end 
this  clement  of  the  controversy  almost  obliterated  the  other.  But  the 
result  was  a  rupture  in  the  Hartford  Church,  which  was  consummated 
by  the  constitution,  on  the  22d  of  February,  1070,  of  Mr.  Whiting  and 
thirty-one  withdrawing  members  into  the  Second  Church  of  Hartford, 
on  a  platform  of  original  Congregationalism.  This  sound  platform  did 
not,  however,  avail  to  prevent  the  immediate  adoption  of  the  half-way 
covenant  practice,  which  had  become  an  irresistible  tide. 

The  old  Church,  meanwhile,  committed  to  the  "large  Congrega- 
tional" way  and  inclined  to  synodical  supervision  and  clerical  authority, 
floated  on  without  much  that  was  memorable  in  its  experience  until  the 
death  of  its  pastor,  Mr.  Haynes,  May  24,  1079,  at  the  age  of  thirty-eight 
years. 

The  Rev.  Isaac  Foster  succeeded  to  the  pastorate  sometime  in  1679 
or  1080.  Mr.  Foster  was  born  at  Charlestown,  Mass.,  probably  in 
1652.  He  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1071.  On  a  voyage  to  Bil- 
boa  he  was  captured  by  the  Turks  ;  but  being  ransomed  in  1073,  he  held 
a  fellowship  for  some  years  in  the  college  at  Cambridge.  An  invitation 
to  settle  with  the  just  then  rather  strict  Congregational  church  at  Wind- 
sor was  made  to  him  in  1079,  but  was  declined  by  him.  The  death  of 
Mr.  Haynes  at  that  juncture  opened  the  way  for  overtures  to  Mr.  Foster 
by  the  more  "  Prcsbyterially  "  inclined  First  Church  of  Hartford.  But 
exactly  when  he  was  invited  or  when  he  came  cannot  be  told ;  and 
his  ministry  was  short.     He  died  Aug.  21,  1082,  in  one  of  those  epi- 

1  The  general  questions  in  issue,  and  the  local  applications  of  them  to  the  controversies  in 
the  Hartford  community,  are  discussed  in  the  "History  of  the  First  Church,"  pp.  180-211. 


282  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

demical  sicknesses  with  which  early  Hartford  was  so  often  afflicted. 
Mr.  Bradstreet,  of  New  London,  records  in  his  journal,  "  He  was  a  man 
of  good  Abylities.  His  death  has  made  such  a  breach  y*  it  will  not 
easily  be  made  up." 

The  young  pastor  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Timothy  Woodbridge, 
who  took  not  only  his  office  but  his  widow,  thus  doubly  displacing  his 
memory  from  men.     Timothy  Woodbridge  was  born  in  England,  and 

baptized  at  Barford  St.  Martin's,  in 
^ijl  -*J?    /M  *N  /^S  Wiltshire,  on  Jan.  13,  1656.      His 

£J1?Hor**y  Wfo)  {fr>hr&  father,  the  Rev.  John  Woodbridge, 
Cy  had    been    ordained    at   Andover, 

Mass.,  Oct.  24,  1645,  but  returned  to  England.  Coming  again  to 
America  in  1663,  young  Timothy  was  brought  with  him,  and  was  grad- 
uated at  Harvard  College  in  1675.  His  earliest  appearance  at  Hartford 
seems  to  have  been  about  the  middle  of  1683,  from  which  date  he 
ministered  regularly,  but  was  not  ordained  pastor  until  Nov.  18,  1685. 
With  Mr.  Woodbridge's  pastorate  something  like  regular  church  and 
parish  records  first  begin,  previous  church  records  having  perished, 
and  parish  records  in  distinction  from  town  records  not  having  been 
needed  previous  to  the  separation  of  the  two  churches  in  1670.  Mr. 
Woodbridge  was  voted  by  the  Society  <£100  a  year,  and  had  the  use 
of  the  Church  lands.  He  was  now  about  thirty  years  old.  The 
time  of  his  entrance  on  the  ministry  was  one  of  religious  depression. 
The  wars  with  the  Indians  had  spread  the  vices  of  camp-life  through 
the  community.  The  half-way  covenant  was  filling  the  churches 
with  people  sufficiently  religious  to  claim  baptism  for  their  children, 
but  not  enough  so  to  have  or  profess  any  experience  of  piety,  or  to 
come  to  the  Lord's  Supper. 

Political  disturbances  added  their  influence  to  hinder  religious  pros- 
perity. The  death  of  the  profligate  King  Charles  and  the  accession  of 
James  II.  the  same  year  Mr.  Woodbridge  was  installed  pastor,  the 
arrival  of  Andros  in  Boston  in  1686  and  in  Hartford  in  1687,  the  ex- 
citement attending  and  following  the  hiding  of  the  charter,  the  English 
revolution,  the  accession  of  William  and  Mary,  and  the  declaration  of 
war  between  England  and  France,  were  all  unfavorable  to  the  preva- 
lence of  religious  life  or  even  of  good  order  in  the  town  and  colony. 
The  winter  and  spring  of  1695-6,  however,  saw  the  community  under 
unusual  religious  impression.  Between  the  23d  of  February  and  the 
5th  of  April,  1696,  one  hundred  and  ninety-four  persons,  an  equal  num- 
ber of  either  sex,  gave  assent  to  the  covenant.  It  is,  however,  a  signi- 
ficant commentary  on  the  imperfection,  perhaps  of  the  reviving  itself, 
and  certainly  of  the  religious  system  under  which  it  took  place,  that 
when  those  admitted  to  "  full  communion  "  as  the  result  of  this  winter's 
awakening  were  gathered  in,  they  were  but  twelve. 

Among  the  events  of  Mr.  Woodbridge's  pastorate  was  the  setting 
off  of  the  East  and  West  Hartford  churches  and  societies.  The  sepa- 
ration of  the  East  Hartford  organization  was  accompanied  by  consider- 
able controversy,  and  the  exact  date  of  the  organization  of  the  Church 
is  not  ascertained  ;  but  March  30,  1705,  saw  the  ordination  of  the  Rev. 
Samuel  Woodbridge,  a  nephew  of  Timothy  of  the  First  Church,  over 
the  new  church  in  that  place.  The  West  Hartford  organization  was 
set  off  witli  less  difficulty  in  1713. 


THE   FIRST   CHURCH.  283 

Mr.  Woodbridge  was  one  of  the  "  ten  principal  ministers  of  the  col- 
ony" nominated  in  1700  as  "trustees,  or  undertakers,  ...  to  found, 
erect,  and  govern  a  college."  But  in  sympathy  with  Mr.  Buckingham 
of  the  Second  Church,  who  became  a  trustee  in  1715,  and  in  sympathy 
with  Hartford  County  people  generally,  Mr.  Woodbridge  desired  the 
permanent  location  of  the  college  to  be  fixed  at  Wethersfield.  And 
perhaps  the  most  dramatic  incident  of  Mr.  Woodbridge's  whole  history 
may  be  found  in  that  passage  of  it,  when,  having  in  various  ways  voted, 
remonstrated  and  labored  against  the  location  of  the  college  at  New 
Haven,  he  presided,  on  Sept.  18,  1718,  at  a  rival  commencement  at 
Wethersfield,  in  defiance  of  the  plain  votes  of  the  trustees  and  of  the 
General  Assembly  fixing  the  college  at  the  former  place.  The  town 
of  Hartford  sympathized  with  its  ministers  in  their  rather  irregular 
and  excited  procedures,  and  elected  them  the  following  year  as  repre- 
sentatives to  the  Assembly.  Mr.  Woodbridge  prayed  at  the  opening  of 
the  session  on  the  14th  of  May,  but  on  the  18th  his  seat  was  challenged 
on  account  of  his  alleged  charging  the  "  Honourable  the  Governor  and 
Council "  in  the  college  affair  "  with  breach  of  the  6th  and  8th  com- 
mandments."    Just  how  the  matter  resulted  cannot  be  determined. 

Mr.  Woodbridge  was  active  also  in  originating  and  maintaining  the 
Consociational  System  established  by  the  adoption  of  the  Say  brook 
Platform  in  1708.  Among  the  Hartford  County  delegates  to  this  synod 
were  the  pastor  of  the  First  Church,  and  John  Haynes,  one  of  its  mem- 
bers, son  of  the  former  pastor.  The  system  thus  adopted  continued 
the  legally  recognized  one  in  the  State  till  1784,  and  remained  the  vol- 
untarily accepted  method  of  the  majority  of  the  churches  much 
longer,  and  of  some  to  the  present  time.  Of  the  local  County  Asso- 
ciation organized  under  the  Saybrook  system  Mr.  Woodbridge  was  gen- 
erally moderator  until  his  death.  That  event  occurred  April  30,  1732, 
at  the  age  of  seventy-six  years  and  six  months,  after  serving  the  Church 
in  a  ministerial  capacity  forty-eight  years  and  eight  months,  and  being 
forty-six  years  and  three  months  its  installed  pastor.  Three  hundred 
and  sixteen  persons  were  admitted  to  "  full  communion,"  and  four 
hundred  and  seventy-eight  "  owned  the  covenant,"  in  Mr.  Woodbridge's 
ministry. 

The  Rev.  Daniel  Wadsworth  succeeded  to  the  vacated  pastorate  on 
Sept.  28,  1732.  He  was  born  at  Farmington,  Nov.  14,  1704,  and  gradu- 
ated at  Yale  College  in  1726.  The  coming  of  a  new  pastor  was  laid 
hold  of  as  the  opportunity  for  agitating  afresh  two  questions  which  had 
been  to  some  extent  mooted  before. 
One  was  the  question  of  a 
meeting-house,  the  other  of  the  meth 
od  of  singing.  The  latter  prob 
was  first  settled,  though  not  without  some  struggle.  The  old  pastor, 
Mr.  Woodbridge,  had  wanted  a  reformation  in  the  method  of  singing 
in  his  day,  and  had  preached  a  singing-lecture  at  East  Hartford  in 
June,  1727,  in  favor  of  the  "  new  way  "  of  singing  by  "  note  "  instead  of 
by  ear.  But  he  died  without  witnessing  the  change.  With  the  coming 
of  Mr.  Wadsworth,  however,  enthusiasm  enough  was  kindled  to  induce 
the  Society  on  the  20th  of  June,  1733,  to  take  this  cautious  and  tentative 
action :  "  Voted  and  agreed  that  after  the  expiration  of  three  months, 
singing  by  Rule  shall  be  admitted  to  be  practised  in  the  Congregation 


itore. 

acth-   tfaJt*j£l/v5y^,if*f. 

blem  " 


284  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

of  this  Society,  and  until  their  Annual  Meeting  in  December  next ;  and 
that  then  a  Vote  be  Taken  whether  the  Society  will  further  proceed  in 
that  way  or  otherwise."  Tried  thus  prudently  for  four  months,  the 
Society  saw  its  way  in  December  to  vote  "  that  singing  by  Rule 
be  admitted  to  be  practised  in  the  Congregation  of  this  Society,"  and 
Mr.  Gilbert  was  empowered  "  to  sett  the  psalm." 

The  meeting-house  question  was  of  more  difficult  solution.  The 
old  situation  in  Meeting-Housc  Yard  was  by  common  consent  dis- 
approved for  the  new  structure,  but  agreement  on  a  new  one  was  a 
matter  of  eleven  years'  conflict.  Two  locations  on  the  east  side  of  the 
"  great  street,"  near  where  the  Athenaeum  now  stands,  given  by  Mrs. 
Abigail  Woodbridge  and  accepted  by  the  Society,  were  successively 
abandoned,  and  a  location  on  the  west  side  of  the  street,  partly  on  the 
burying-ground,  finally  chosen.  Work  began  on  the  new  house  June 
20,  1737,  and  it  was  dedicated  Dec.  30,  1739 ;  the  sermon  by  Mr. 
Wadsworth,  from  Haggai  ii.  9,  being  printed.  This  house  stood  side- 
wise  to  the  street,  its  steeple  on  the  north  end.  It  was  sixty-six  feet 
long  and  forty-six  feet  in  width.  There  was  a  door  at  the  south  end, 
another  on  the  east  side,  and  another  under  the  steeple,  on  the  north. 
The  pulpit  was  on  the  west  side,  and  over  it  a  sounding-board.  Gal- 
leries were  on  the  ends,  and  on  the  side  unoccupied  by  the  pulpit.  And 
so  at  last  the  new  edifice,  which  succeeded  to  the  one  which  stood,  as 
Mr.  Wadsworth  says,  "  99  years"  in  Meeting-House  Yard,  was  finally 
entered. 

This  house  was  the  scene  of  the  Rev.  George  Whitefield's  preaching 
when,  on  October  22,  1740,  he  passed  through  this  place  on  his  first 
New  England  pilgrimage.  It  was  also  the  scene,  about  seventeen 
months  later,  of  the  trial  of  the  Rev.  James  Davenport,  of  Southold,  Long 
Island,  for  preaching  contrary  to  a  statute  passed  in  May,  1742,  by  which 
any  "foreigner  or  stranger  that  is  not  an  inhabitant  of  this  Colony" 
was  made  liable  to  arrest  as  a  "  vagrant,"  should  he  preach  in  any 
parish  without  the  consent  of  the  settled  minister  and  a  majority  of 
the  people.  The  trial  was  attended  by  much  tumult,  and  resulted 
in  Mr.  Davenport's  being  conducted  between  "  two  files  of  musketiers  " 
from  the  meeting-house  to  the  Connecticut  River,  and  put  aboard  a 
vessel  for  his  home.  This  exciting  episode  was  but  an  incident  in  the 
generally  turmoiled  condition  of  affairs  which  attended  and  followed 
the  Whitefieldian  pilgrimage.  In  the  divisions  of  the  time  the  Hart- 
ford ministers  and  churches,  as  well  as  the  Association  to  which  they 
belonged,  leaned  strongly,  and  it  may  be  thought  too  strongly,  to  the 
conservative  side.  But  the  community  was  at  all  events  spared  some 
of  those  ecclesiastical  scandals  which  lacerated  and  dishonored  religion 
in  some  parts  of  the  colony,  where  freer  run  was  given  to  the  new  meas- 
ures of  the  new  men. 

Mr.  Wadsworth  died  Nov.  12,  1747,  at  forty-three  years  of  age. 
The  numbers  admitted  to  the  Church  in  his  pastorate  —  seventy -five  to 
the  covenant  and  one  hundred  and  three  to  full  communion  —  do  not 
appear  large  for  the  Great  Awakening  period  ;  but  the  proportion  of  one 
class  to  the  other  indicates  a  healthful  state  of  the  Church  and  a  right 
view  of  things  in  its  pastor. 

Mr.  Wadsworth  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Edward  Dorr.  Mr. 
Dorr  was  born  at  Lyme,  Nov.  2,  1722.     He  graduated  at  Yale  College 


THE   FIRST   CHURCH. 


285 


(oUu/,  &/0r?* 


"N 


in  1742 ;  was  licensed  to  preach  by  the  New  Haven  Association,  May 
29, 174-1 ;  ministered  awhile  at  Kensington  ;  and  was  ordained  pastor  of 
the  First  Church  of  Hartford,  April  27,  1748.  Mr.  Dorr's  pastorate 
fell  upon  a  dull  time  of  New  England  religious  history.  The  contro- 
versies of  the  preceding  years,  growing 
to  some  extent  out  of  the  Whitefieldian 
movement ;  the  separations  from  many 
Connecticut  churches  ;  the  restiveness 
of  many  under  the  Saybrook  Platform, 
and  the  determination  of  others  in  the  maintenance  of  the  discipline  es- 
tablished by  that  platform ;  the  distracting  influence  of  the  French  War, 
and  the  absence,  however  accounted  for,  of  those  divine  influences 
which  at  times  triumph  over  all  obstacles, —  all  combined  to  make  this 
period  of  the  colony's  history  one  of  monotony  and  discouragement.    A 

larger  and  larger  number  of 
people  were  contenting  them- 
selves with  such  merely  formal 
assent  to  the  gospel  as  carried 
with  it  the  privilege  of  half- 
way church-membership,  but  im- 
plied no  spiritual  change.  In 
the  midst  of  this  depressed  con- 
dition of  affairs  Mr.  Dorr  exer- 
cised a  laborious  and  faithful 
ministry  of  twenty-four  years 
and  five  months.  In  that  period 
fifty-five  persons  were  admitted 
to  full  communion,  and  two  hun- 
dred and  seven  owned  the  cov- 
enant. In  1756  the  Society 
voted  that  "  their  committee  in- 
form Mr.  Dorr  that  this  Society 
arc  desirous  that  Dr.  Watts's 
psalms  may  be  sung  in  the  con- 
gregation, at  least  half  ye  time." 
In  1767  the  meeting-house  was 
struck  by  lightning,  and  Sarah,  daughter  of  John  Larcum,  killed  ;  where- 
upon the  Society  ordered  a  "  rate"  of  £130  to  repair  damages  and  "to 
procure  an  Electrical  Rod,"  said  to  be  probably  the  first  one  in  Hart- 
ford. It  was  in  Mr.  Dorr's  day  that  the  attempt  to  plant  an  Episcopal 
church  in  Hartford  was  first  made.  The  endeavor  began  with  preaching 
in  this  place,  in  17(32,  by  the  Rev.  Thomas  Davies.  Land  was  purchased 
and  foundations  partly  laid.  But  the  enterprise  languished  and  was 
awhile  abandoned,  until  in  1786,  in  the  days  of  Mr.  Dorr's  successor, 
it  was  prosperously  revived. 

Mr.  Dorr  broke  down  with  a  kind  of  paralytic  trouble  some  two 
years  before  his  death,  and  finished  his  honorable  though  rather  un- 
eventful course,  Oct.  20,  1772,  in  the  fiftieth  year  of  his  age.  His 
funeral  sermon  was  preached  and  published  by  his  aged  associate  in  the 
Hartford  ministry,  the  Rev.  Elnatnan  Whitman,  of  the  Second  Church. 
The  Rev.  Nathan  Strong,  of  Coventry,  succeeded  to  the  pastor- 
ate Jan.  5,  1774,  having   been   invited   thereto   in   June   previously. 


THE    CENTRE    CHURCH. 
BUILT   IN  1807. 


286 


MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 


1 

-  -"■". 

1  ,■:'';  ."■  ■'''] 
1 

'. ....      J,     ■: 

m  ss 

f! 

- 

Mr.  Strong  was  born  at  Coventry,  Oct.  16,  1748,  and  graduated  at  Yale 
College  in  1769,  serving  as  tutor  in  1772-1773. 

Mr.  Strong  entered  on  his  pastoral  labor  at  a  trying  period.  There 
were  only  fifteen  male  members  in  full  communion  at  the  time,  and 
divisions  of  sentiment  on  the  political  questions  of  the  clay  distracted 
the  community.  The  feeble  confederacies  this  side  of  the  water  were 
just  entering  on  the  protracted  struggle  of  the  American  Revolution. 
As  the  conflict  progressed,  a  tide  of  infidelity  set  in  under  the  influ- 
ence of  French  associations  in  the  War  for  Independence,  and  religion 

became,  to  an  extent  un- 
known before  or  since  in 
this  land,  a  matter  for  gibe 
and  contempt.  Mr.  Strong 
vigorously  embraced  the  pa- 
triotic cause.  He  served 
awhile  as  chaplain  to  the 
troops.  Especially  in  the 
later  political  discussions 
connected  with  the  adoption 
of  the  Federal  Constitution 
he  published  a  series  of 
about  twenty  articles  in- 
tended to  harmonize  public 
opinion  in  the  ratification 
of  that  instrument.  Mr. 
Strong's  earlier  ministry 
was  complicated  by  business 
transactions  of  a  rather 
questionable  and  embarrass- 
ing character.  In  connec- 
tion with  his  brother-in-law, 
Mr.  Reuben  Smith,  he  was 
engaged  extensively  in  the 
distillery  traffic,  wherein  he  lost  money,  had  his  house  attached, 
and  was  only  by  courtesy  spared  being  lodged  in  jail  for  debt.  But 
about  1794  a  great  change  came  over  the  character  of  Mr.  Strong's 
ministry,  and  over  the  aspect  of  his  congregation.  Revivals  began, 
which  continued  at  intervals  through  1798,  1800, 1808,  1813, 1815,  and 
which  transformed  the  whole  aspect  of  the  place.  In  the  progress  of 
these  religious  awakenings  Dr.  Strong  published  several  volumes  of 
sermons,  one  polemical  treatise  on  the  question  of  "Future  Punish- 
ment," and,  in  connection  with  Deacon  Joseph  Steward  of  his  own 
Church,  and  the  Rev.  Abel  Flint  of  the  Second  Church,  a  volume  known 
as  the  "Hartford  Selection  of  Hymns."  Dr.  Strong  was  the  principal 
founder  of  the  Connecticut  Missionary  Society/ and  in  its  behalf  origi- 
nated and  edited  the  "  Connecticut  Evangelical  Magazine."  In  1807 
the  First  Society  entered  its  present  house  of  worship,  the  dedicatory 
sermon  being  preached  by  Dr.  Strong  on  the  3d  of  December.  In  1814 
the  Church  first  enjoyed  the  use  of  a  conference-room  for  social  religious 
meetings,  —  a  brick  edifice  located  on  Theatre  (now  Temple)  Street. 

Dr.  Strong  died,  after  an  illustrious  ministry,  on  the  25th  of  December, 
1816.     He  was  buried  in  the  Old  North  burying-ground,  the  first  of 


REV.    NATHAN    STRONG. 


THE   FIRST   CHURCH.  287 

the  Hartford  pastors  to  be  interred  elsewhere  than  in  the  old  ground 
behind  the  First  Church  building. 

The  Rev.  Joel  Hawes  was  Dr.  Strong's  successor.  Mr.  Hawes  was 
born  at  Medway,  Mass.,  Dec.  22,  1789.  He  graduated  at  Brown  Uni- 
versity in  1813,  and  Andover  Seminary  in  1817.  He  was  installed 
pastor  of  the  First  Church,  March  4,  1818.  The  new  pastorate,  estab- 
lished just  as  the  lines  of  controversy  in  ,S  ^s  s~i 
the  Unitarian  conflict  in  Massachusetts  s^fl^ttcL^i^t-Mtf 
were   being  sharply   drawn,   was    marked,     ^^ 

near  its  outset  (in  1822),  by  a  substitution  for  the  brief  formula,  at 
once  creed  and  covenant,  hitherto  in  use  in  the  admission  of  members 
to  the  Church,  of  a  new,  many-articled  creed  and  elaborate  covenant, 
which  are  still  employed.  Sabbath-school  work  began  in  Hartford  in 
1818,  the  year  of  Mr.  Hawes's  settlement.  The  year  1832  put  the  So- 
ciety into  the  possession  of  a  new  conference-room  in  place  of  the 
old  one  on  Temple  Street;  and  the  years  1835  and  1852  saw  various 
modifications  of  the  internal  structure  of  the  meeting-house. 

But  the  chief  distinction  of  the  pastorate  of  Dr.  Hawes  was  the 
succession  of  revivals  which  powerfully  pervaded  the  community  and 
added  to  the  membership  of  the  First  Church.  Ten  distinct  periods  of 
religious  awakening  occurred  during  Dr.  Hawes's  ministry,  and  ten 
hundred  and  seventy-nine  persons  in  this  period  joined  the  Church  by 
confession  of  faith.  Dr.  Hawes  was  a  man  of  strong  sense,  devout 
earnestness,  and  cogent  and  persuasive  address.  His  ministry  was  one 
of  the  most  useful  ever  exercised  in  Connecticut.  During  its  continu- 
ance the  North  Church,  the  Fourth  Church,  the  Pearl  Street  Church, 
and  the  Asylum  Hill  Church  were  organized,  taking  from  the  First 
Church  as  constituents  of  the  new  churches  a  hundred  and  ninety -seven 
of  the  most  active  and  energetic  of  Hartford  Christians. 

On  Oct.  21,  18(32,  the  Rev.  Wolcott  Calkins  was  installed  associate 
pastor  with  Dr.  Hawes,  but  was  dismissed  on  the  6th  of  July,  1864. 
The  withdrawal  of  Mr.  Calkins  was  accompanied  by  the  discharge  of 
Dr.  Hawes  from  all  further  responsibility  for  the  Church,  leaving  him 
in  the  position  of  pastor  emeritus,  which  position  he  held  until  his  death, 
June  5,  1867. 

The  Rev.  George  H.  Gould  was  installed  pastor  of  the  First  Church 
Dec.  14,  1864,  and  dismissed  Oct.  11,  1870. 

The  Rev.  Elias  H.  Richardson  followed,  April  24,  1872.  In  De- 
cember, 1878,  he  removed  to  New  Britain,  where  he  was  installed 
pastor,  and  where  he  died  June  27,  1883. 

The  present  pastor,  the  Rev.  George  Leon  Walker,  was  installed 
Feb.  27,  1879. 

The  First  Church  celebrated,  Oct.  11  and  12,  1883,  its  two  hundred 
and  fiftieth  anniversary  ;  a  full  account  of  the  proceedings  on  the  occa- 
sion being  published  in  a  memorial  volume.  The  present  pastor  also 
published  in  1884  an  extended  history  of  the  First  Church  of  Hartford. 


MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF   HARTFORD  COUNTY. 


THE  SECOND   CHURCH. 

BY  THE  REV.  E.   P.   PARKER,  D.D. 

The  Second  Church  of  Christ  in  Hartford  was  organized  on  the 
12th  of  February,  1669-70  (O.S.),  or  on  the  22d  of  February,  1670  (N.S.). 
Its  founders  were  very  worthy  men  and  women  who,  with  their  fami- 
lies, withdrew  from  the  First  Church  in  Hartford.  The  reasons  for 
their  withdrawal  grew  out  of  certain  dissensions  that  for  a  long  time 
profoundly  agitated  and  finally  divided  the  mother  church. 

For  eleven  years  or  more  the  original  Hartford  Church  was  peaceful 
and  prosperous  under  the  able  and  judicious  ministry  of  Mr.  Thomas 
Hooker,  who,  with  Mr.  Samuel  Stone,  led  a  flock  of  people  through  the 
wilderness  from  Newtown  to  the  banks  of  the  Connecticut. 

Not  many  years  after  Mr.  Hooker's  death  (1647)  a  controversy 
arose  in  the  church,  the  origin  of  which  was  obscure  two  hundred  years 
ago,  but  the  effects  of  which  were  wide-spread  and  baneful.  This  con- 
troversy was  rooted  in  diversities  of  opinion  on  certain  ecclesiastical 
questions,  but  was  doubtless  intensified  and  complicated  by  local  jeal- 
ousies and  personal  antagonisms.  For  many  years  the  minority  stood 
in  an  attitude  of  remonstrance  and  dissent,  asking,  but  in  vain,  for 
permission  of  the  General  Court  to  form  themselves  into  a  distinct 
church,  and  also  asking  in  vain  to  be  allowed  to  unite  with  the  churches 
in  Farmington  and  Wethersfield.  Councils^and  conferences,  and  syn- 
ods, and  courts  strove  in  vain  to  effect  a  permanent  reconciliation. 

In  1660  John  Whiting  was  ordained  as  colleague  of  Mr.  Stone, 
and  on  the  death  of  Mr.  Stone,  in  1663,  Joseph  Haynes  became  Mr. 
Whiting's  colleague.  These  young  men  were  both  sons  of  gentlemen 
who  were  eminent  among  the  first  settlers  of  Hartford.  Mr.  Whiting- 
held  to  the  old  ways  of  Congregationalism,  and  represented  the  views 
of  the  minority  in  the  church.  Mr.  Haynes  accepted  the  doctrines  of 
the  Synod  of  1662,  and  was  attached  to  the  "  Presbyterian "  ways. 
The  old  disputes  broke  out  anew.  Again  councils  and  synods  were 
held  with  little  profit.  Finally  the  General  Court  in  1669  directed  the 
Hartford  Church  to  take  some  effectual  course,  that  Mr.  Whiting  and 
his  party  "  might  practise  the  Congregational  way  without  disturbance 
either  from  preaching  or  practice,  .  .  .  or  else  to  grant  their  loving- 
consent  to  these  brethren,  to  walk  distinct,  according  to  such  their  Con- 
gregational principles."  "  This  winter,"  says  Bradstreet's  Journal, 
"  Hartford  Church  divided,  Mr.  Whiting  and  his  party  refusing  to  hold 
communion  with  Mr.  Haynes,  .  .  .  Mr.  Haynes  and  those  with  him 
being  looked  upon  as  Presbyterians."  No  other  town  in  New  England 
^-j  except  Boston  had  as  yet  more  than  one 

ij,0kn      £VliC£rgy      '  u^  'he  22d  Qf  Pebruary5  1670  (NS>)? 

(~-^  Mr.  John  Whiting,  the  senior  pastor,  with 

thirty-one  members  of  the  Hartford  Church  and  their  families,  formed 
the  Second  Church  in  Hartford.     The  names  of  all  these  persons  are 


THE   SECOND   CHURCH.  289 

known,  and  the  paper  which  was  laid  before  the  ecclesiastical  council 
on  that  occasion  has  been  preserved.  It  shows  that  the  withdrawers 
were  true  and  pure  Congregationalists,  and  its  historical  value  will 
readily  be  perceived.  It  is  now  admitted  on  all  sides  that  the  principles 
it  enunciates  are  thoroughly  sound,  and  that  the  party  identified  with 
it  were  in  the  main  right  in  their  positions  and  endeavors  throughout 
the  long  controversy. 

"  Having  had  the  consent  and  countenance  of  the  General  Court  and  the 
advice  of  an  ecclesiastical  council  to  encourage  us  in  embodying  as  a  church  by 
ourselves,  accordingly,  upon  the  day  of  completing  our  distinct  state  (namely, 
Feb.  12,  1669),  this  paper  was  read  before  the  messengers  of  the  churches,  and 
consented  to  by  ourselves,  namely  : 

"  The  holy  providence  of  the  Most  High  so  disposing,  that  public  opposition 
and  disturbance  hath  of  late  years  been  given  both  by  preaching  and  practice  to 
the  Congregational  way  of  church  order,  by  all  manner  of  orderly  establishments 
settled,  and  for  a  long  time  unanimously  approved  and  peaceably  practiced  in  this 
place  ;  all  endeavors  also  (both  among  ourselves  and  from  abroad),  with  due 
patience  therein,  proving  fruitless  and  unsuccessful  to  the  removing  of  that  dis- 
turbance ;  we  whose  names  are  after  mentioned,  being  advised  by  a  council  of 
the  neighbor  churches,  and  allowed  also  by  the  Honored  General  Court,  to  dispose 
ourselves  into  a  capacity  of  distinct  walking  in  order  to  a  peaceable  and  edifying 
enjoyment  of  all  God's  holy  ordinances ;  we  do  declare,  that  according  to  the 
light  we  have  hitherto  received,  the  forementioned  Congregational  way  (for  the 
substance  of  it)  as  formerly  settled,  professed  and  practiced,  under  the  guidance 
of  the  first  leaders  of  this  church  of  Hartford,  is  the  way  of  Christ ;  and  that  as 
such  we  are  bound  in  duty  carefully  to  observe  and  attend  it  until  such  further 
light  (about  any  particular  points  of  it)  shall  appear  to  us  from  the  Scripture  as 
may  lead  us  with  joint  or  general  satisfaction  to  be  otherwise  persuaded.  Some 
main  heads  or  principles  of  which  Congregational  way  of  church  order  are  those 
that  follow  ;  namely  : 

"First,  That  visible  saints  are  the  only  fit  matter,  and  confederation  the 
form,  of  a  visible  church. 

"Second,  That  a  competent  number  of  visible  saints  (with  their  seed) 
embodied  by  a  particular  covenant,  are  a  true,  distinct,  and  entire  church  of 
Christ. 

"  Third,  That  such  a  particular  church  being  organized,  or  having  furnished 
itself  with  those  officers  that  Christ  hath  appointed,  hath  all  the  power  and  privi- 
leges of  a  church  belonging  to  it ;  in  special  —  first,  to  admit  or  receive  members  ; 
second,  to  deal  with,  and,  if  need  be,  reject  offenders ;  third,  to  administer  and 
enjoy  all  other  ecclesiastical  ordinances  within  itself. 

"  Fourth,  That  the  power  of  guidance,  or  leading,  belongs  only  to  the  Elder- 
ship, and  the  power  of  judgment,  consent,  or  privilege,  belongs  to  the  fraternity 
or  brethren  in  full  communion. 

"  Fifth,  That  communion  is  carefully  to  be  maintained  between  all  the 
churches  of  Christ,  according  to  his  order. 

"  Sixth,  That  counsel  in  cases  of  difficulty  is  to  be  sought  and  submitted  to 
according  to  God." 

The  covenant  read  and  consented  to  on  the  same  day  —  an  admira- 
ble paper,  written,  doubtless,  by  John  Whiting  —  is  still  in  use  by  the 
church. 

Mr.  John  Whiting  was  immediately  chosen  and  re-ordained  as  pas- 
tor of  the  new  church.  He  was'  the  second  son  of  Major  William 
Whiting,  who  was  a  man  of  wealth  and  influence,  a  magistrate,  and 

VOL.   I.  — 19. 


290  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF  HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

treasurer  of  the  colony.  Mr.  Whiting  was  an  able  and  godly  man, 
and  continued  as  pastor  in  the  Second  Church  until  his  death  in  1689. 
The  first  meeting-house  of  this  church  was  a  small  and  unsightly 
building,  which  was  used,  however,  until  the  year  1754. 

The  second  pastor  of  the  church  was  the  Rev.  Thomas  Buckingham, 
a  graduate  of  Harvard  in  1690.  He  was  settled  in  1694,  and  remained 
in  this  pastorate  till  his  death,  in  1731.  He  was  one  of  the  most  emi- 
nent ministers  in  Connecticut,  a  gentleman  of  engaging  manners, 
superior  abilities,  and  exemplary  character. 

His  successor  was  the  Rev.  Elnathan  Whitman,  son  of  Samuel 
Whitman,  minister  of  the  church  at  Farmington.  His  pastorate  in  the 
Second  Church  of  Hartford  covered  the  period  between  the  years  1732 
and  1777,  and  in  the  successive  and  powerful  revivals  which  followed  upon 
the  preaching  of  Jonathan  Edwards  and  Whitefield,  the  church  was 
greatly  increased  in  numbers  and  power.  It  was  during  his  pastorate 
that  a  new  meeting-house  was  built  (1754),  and  a  large  bequest  of  land 
was  made  to  the  society  by  the  mother  of  Mr.  Buckingham,  the  late  pas- 
tor. In  1767  the  Rev.  William  Patten  was  settled  as  colleague  of  Mr. 
Whitman,  but  was  dismissed  in  1773  and  died  in  Roxbury  in  1775. 

During  the  Revolutionary  War,  or  from  1777  till  1784,  the  church 
was  without  a  settled  pastor,  although  several  attempts  were  made  to 
procure  one.  In  1784  the  Rev.  Benjamin  Boardman  was  settled  over  the 
church.  Besides  the  use  of  the  parsonage  and  grounds,  he  was  to  receive 
one  hundred  and  twenty  pounds  of  lawful  money  annually.  The  fol- 
lowing "  bill "  will  show  with  what  good  cheer  the  godly  men  of  those 
days  comforted  themselves  on  solemn  occasions.  On  the  back  of  the 
bill  is  written,  "  Ordination  ;  eight  pounds  allowed  and  order  given  on 
treasurer  in  full." 

"  1784.     The  South  Society  in  Hartford,  to  Israel  Seymour,  Dr. 

May  4th,  to  keeping  ministers,  etc.  £.    s.    <i. 

"        "      "  2  mugs  tody 024 

"      "  5  segars 0     5   10 

"      "  1  pint  of  wine 030 

"        "      "  3  lodgings 009 

May  5th,  "  3  bitters 009 

"     "  3  breakfasts 0     3     6 

"        "     "  15  boles  punch        1   10     0 

"     "  24  dinners 116     0 

"     "11  bottles  wine 3     6     0 

«     "  5  mugs  flip 0     5  10 

"     "  3  boles  punch 060 

•'     "  3  boles  tody 036 

"  Eeceived  by  me, 

"  Israel  Seymour." 

In  the  same  year  of  Mr.  Boardman's  ordination  the  city  of  Hart- 
ford was  incorporated.  In  1786  Mr.  William  Stanley  made  a  bequest 
of  much  value  to  the  society. 

In  1790  Mr.  Boardman  was  retired  from  the  pastorate,  and  a  year 
later  the  Rev.  Abel  Flint  was  ordained.  The  items  of  the  bill  for  his 
ordination    expenses    show  that    good    liquor    in  abundance  was  still 


THE   SECOND   CHURCH. 


291 


enjoyed  by  holy  men.  Gallons  of  wine  and  of  rum,  quarts  of  brandy, 
pipes  and  tobacco,  were  thought  to  be  necessary  on  the  occasion.  A 
pound  of  tea  then  cost  eight  shillings,  and  a  pound  of  best  beef  cost 
but  fourpence. 

The  catalogue  of  members  of  the  church,  and  also  the  records  of 
the  church,  are  complete  from  the  date  of  Mr.  Flint's  ordination,  in 
1791.  The  records  of  the  society  are  complete  from  the  year  1767. 
When  Dr.  Flint  took  charge  of  the  church  the  population  of  the  city 
was  about  four  thousand.  There  were  but  twenty-seven  members  of  the 
church,  three  less  than  at  its  organization  in  1670;  but  during  his 
distinguished  ministry  the 
church  grew  rapidly.  Even- 
ing meetings  and  Sunday 
schools  were  established, 
which  were  very  successful. 
It  was  during  his  ministry, 
in  1822,  that  a  bold  attempt 
was  made  by  certain  Univcr- 
salists  in  the  parish  to  cap- 
ture the  entire  church  and 
society;  but  their  plans  were 
foiled,  and  they  withdrew, 
to  form  a  church  of  their 
own. 

After  thirty-three  years 
of  service,  Dr.  Flint  retired 
from  the  pastorate.  He  was 
every  incli  a  gentleman,  of 
imposing  appearance  and  ad- 
dress, affable,  eloquent,  and 
scholarly. 

In  1825  the  Rev.  Joel  H. 
Linsley  was  settled  over  the 
church, —  a  man  of  burning 
zeal  and  godly  life,  under 
whose  ministry  the  church 
was  greatly  blessed  in  spir- 
itual "thing's.      In   1827    the 

present  meeting-house  Avas  dedicated,  and  was  thought  to  be  as  fine  a 
sanctuary  as  any  in  the  land. 

Dr.  Linsley  was  dismissed  in  1832,  and  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev. 
Cornelius  Vanarsdalen,  who,  after  an  uneventful  ministry  of  four  years, 
was  dismissed  in  1836,  and  in  1837  the  Rev.  Oliver  E.  Daggett  was 
settled  as  pastor  ;  and  although  he  retired  in  1843,  he  left  his  perma- 
nent mark  upon  the  parish.  In  the  year  1838  no  less  than  one  hundred 
and  fifty  persons  were  received  into  the  church  on  profession  of  faith. 

The'  Rev.  Walter  Clarke  was  pastor  from  1845  until  1859,  during 
which  period  the  city  rapidly  increased  in  population  and  the  church 
was  much  enlarged.  In  I860  the  present  pastor,  the  Rev.  Edwin  Pond 
Parker,  was  ordained  and  installed. 

In  1853  extensive  alterations  were  made  in  the  sanctuary,  by  which 
it  was  enlarged  and  improved.     In  the  summer  of  1884  the  building 


THE    SECOND    (cONG'l)  CHURCH. 


(Erected  in  1S27.) 


NOW  CALLED  THE  SOUTH  CHURCH. 


292  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF   HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

was  seriously  damaged  by  fire,  and  has  since  been  thoroughly  and  beau- 
tifully restored.  In  1870  the  church  and  society  celebrated  their  two 
hundredth  anniversary  with  appropriate  services. 

Not  counting  one  colleague  pastorate,  there  have  been  ten  pastors 
of  the  church  in  two  hundred  and  fifteen  years,  making  the  average 
pastorate  twenty-one  years  and  a  half  in  duration. 


GENERAL   HISTORY   OF  THE   TOWN.  293 

SECTION   IV. 

GENERAL   HISTORY  TO   THE  REVOLUTION. 

BY    MISS    MARY    K.    TALCOTT. 

The  Indians.  —  Ferry,  Bridges,  and  Roads.  —  The  Town  Commons.  —  The  Square, 
and  its  Historic  Associations.  —  The  Post-Office.  —  Hartford  in  the  Rev- 
olution. 

The  change  of  rulers  in  England  in  1688  involved  the  American 
colonies  in  another  French  and  Indian  war,  and  the  records  of  that 
and  the  succeeding  years  show  what  strenuous  efforts  the  colonists 
made  to  protect  themselves  from  the  roving  bands  of  Indians  sent  out 
by  Count  Frontenac,  or  instigated  by  his  agents.  In  Hartford  the 
people  lived  in  a  state  of  expectation  of  attack,  and  Feb.  28,  1689, 
preparations  were  made  for  defence,  by  voting  to  fortify  the  houses  of 
Mr.  Samuel  Wyllys,  and  Mr.  James  Steele,  on  the  south  side  of  the 
river,  and  those  of  Mr.  John  Olcott,  and  Mr.  Bartholomew  Barnard,  on 
the  north  side,  so  that  the  people  might  repair  to  them  in  case  of  an 
Indian  foray.  These  places  were  in  different  quarters  of  the  town,  the 
first  being  the  well-known  Wyllys  mansion  on  Charter  Oak  Hill ;  James 
Steele's  house  stood  near  the  present  corner  of  Washington  Street  and 
Capitol  Avenue  ;  John  Olcott  lived  "  Up  Neck,"  —  that  is,  on  the  Wind- 
sor road;  and  Bartholomew  Barnard  dwelt  on  Centinel  Hill,  opposite 
the  head  of  the  present  Morgan  Street.  The  state  of  constant  uneasi- 
ness in  which  the  inhabitants  of  Hartford  then  lived  is  shown  by  the 
following  passage  from  the  court  records,  under  date  July  31 ,  1690 : 

"John  Stocking  fined  five  pounds  for  discharging  his  Gun  or  pistol  in  the 
Midle  of  the  Towne,  against  the  express  command  of  Joseph  Mygatt,  the  cor- 
poral of  the  watch,  which  caused  an  alarm,  to  the  great  disturbance  of  the 
Town." 

In  all  the  towns  in  the  colony  the  soldiers  were  ordered  to  take 
their  arms  and  ammunition  to  meeting  on  Sabbath  days,  whenever  so 
directed  by  the  county  major  or  chief  military  officer,  upon  penalty  of 
five  shillings  for  neglect  thereof. 

There  were  many  Indians  in  the  community,  a  large  part  of  them 
being  slaves,  taken  prisoners  in  war,  and  they  were  kept  under  very  strict 
control.  No  liquor  was  allowed  to  be  sold  to  them,  and  there  are  many 
entries  on  the  court  records  of  fines  imposed  for  selling  strong  drink 
to  the  Indians,  cider  being  also  under  the  ban.  The  fines  were  some- 
times very  large,  Edward  Burlinson  being  mulcted  ,£60  for  selling 
liquor  to  a  Farmington  Indian,  June  29,  1693.  Probably  these  precau- 
tions were  caused  not  by  anxiety  for  the  morals  of  the  Indians,  but  by 
apprehensions  of  what  their  conduct  might  be  when  excited  by  the 
"  firewater."  In  the  case  of  Edward  Burlinson,  above  mentioned,  John 
Kelly  and  his  wife,  who  were  accessory  to  the  fact,  were  fined  ten 


294  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

shillings  each  for  that,  and  for  taking  some  of  the  liquor  out  of  the 
Indian's  bottle  and  filling  it  up  with  water ;  so  that  there  appears  to  have 
been  a  desire  that  the  "  noble  red  man "  should  have  fair  play,  and 
obtain  all  that  he  had  paid  for. 

The  burning  of  Deerfield,  in  1704,  caused  great  alarm  throughout 
the  colonies,  and  in  all  the  towns  preparations  were  made  for  defence. 
Here  in  Hartford  four  houses  on  the  west  side  of  the  great  river  were 
ordered  to  be  fortified;  namely,  Mr.  Samuel  Wyllys's,  Mr.  John 
Olcott's,  Lieutenant  Sanford's,  and  Mr.  Bidwell's ;  and  a  committee 
were  appointed  to  "  proportion  each  man's  share  that  he  is  to  do  of 
such  fortification."  Two  of  the  places  were  the  same  as  those  fortified 
in  1689;  Bidwell's  house  was  on  what  is  now  the  west  Park,  and 
Sanford's  residence  was,  I  think,  situated  on  what  is  now  Albany 
Avenue.  Also  the  "  Great  Guns"  were  ordered  to  be  put  upon  carriages 
at  the  town  charge.  This  is  the  last  time  we  hear  of  the  fortification 
of  houses  in  Hartford.  As  the  outlying  settlements  increased,  the 
danger  from  the  attacks  of  Indians  lessened ;  but  the  "  Great  Guns  " 
were  still  kept  in  order,  and  Dec.  6,  1718,  Mr.  John  Austin  was 
appointed  to  take  care  of  them,  and  to  be  gunner  when  there  was 
occasion  to  use  them. 

In  the  year  1691  an  epidemic  appears  to  have  prevailed,  as  the 
townsmen  of  Hartford,  Wethersfield,  and  Windsor  were  freed  from 
cutting  brush  on  the  Town  Commons,  by  reason  of  the  sickness ;  and, 
according  to  Governor  Roger  Wolcott,  the  year  1697  was  also  a  season 
of  great  scarcity  and  mortality.  In  1702  a  county  fast  was  observed,  by 
order  of  the  County  Court,  for  "  prevalence  of  epidemicall  and  mortal 
diseases,"  and  for  the  "  continuance  of  the  drought."  1 

In  April,  1691,  complaint  was  made  of  the  great  disorder  at  the 
ferry  on  the  Lord's  Day,  so  large  a  number  then  crowding  on  to  be 
carried  over  to  attend  public  worship.  Three  years  after,  in  1694,  the 
inhabitants  on  the  east  side  of  the  river  petitioned  to  have  "  tire  liberty 
of  a  minister"  among  them,  and  it  was  granted  in  the  same  year. 
The  people  were  called  upon,  in  1709,  to  consider  another  proposed  separa- 
tion. On  the  8th  of  December,  David  Ensign,  Sr.,  Samuel  Sedgwick,  Sr., 
and  John  Watson,  Sr.,  in  behalf  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  West  Division, 
desired  liberty  to  settle  a  minister,  and  the  town  voted  that  they  did 
not  see  cause  to  grant  the  petition.  The  West  Division  farmers,  how- 
ever, were  persistent,  and  applied  to  the  General  Assembly  in  October, 
1710,  and  that  body  appointed  a  committee  to  treat  with  the  inhabitants 
of  Hartford  on  the  matter.  The  report  of  the  committee  was  favorable 
to  the  AVest  Division,  and  in  1711  the  Assembly  granted  the  desired 
privilege,  this  being  the  fourth  society  in  Hartford ;  and  no  further 
change  was  made  in  these  ecclesiastical  divisions  of  the  town  until  many 
years  after  this  time.  In  1719,  £9  out  of  the^-ent  paid  for  the  ferry 
was  granted  to  the  people  of  the  West  Farms,  for  the  purchase  of  a 
burying-yard  ;  and  Dec.  14,  1725,  a  suitable  "  cloth  for  funeralls  "  was 
ordered  to  be  purchased  for  the  West  Division. 

The  town  records  contain  many  references  to  the  ferry,  this  being 
the  chief  mode  of  communication  with  the  towns  on  the  east  side  of  the 
Connecticut.     The  fares  were  regulated  by  the  votes  of  the  town,  and 

1  Comity  Court  Records,  vol.  vi.  p.  207. 


GENERAL   HISTORY   OF   THE   TOWN.  295 

were  the  same  as  in  1681,  with  the  addition  "  that  those  that  go  with 
grist  for  the  mill  were  to  pay  4d.  in  money,  or  6d.  in  pay." 

In  1712  liberty  was  granted  by  the  General  Assembly  to  Richard 
Keeny,  of  Hartford,  to  keep  a  ferry  near  the  bounds  between  Hartford 
and  Wethersfield.  Benoni  and  Timothy  Smith,  living  in  the  same 
neighborhood,  petitioned  the  Assembly  for  liberty  to  keep  a  ferry,  in 
1722.  Permission  was  granted,  with  the  conditions  that  they  keep 
good  vessels  and  provide  sufficient  attendance.  The  fares  over  this 
ferry  were  raised  by  the  Assembly  in  1745 :  For  a  man,  horse,  and 
load,  9d. ;  for  a  man,  4(7. ;  for  neat  cattle,  Id.  per  head ;  sheep,  2d.  per 
head.  In  1748  the  money  accruing  from  the  rent  of  the  ferry  was 
divided  among  the  schools  to  procure  firewood,  and  in  1756  the  rent 
was  appropriated  to  the  repairing,  etc.,  of  the  great  bridge  over  the 
Rivulet.  The  town  voted  in  1758  that  two  boats  be  employed  in  at- 
tending on  the  ferry  between  Hartford  and  East  Hartford,  John  Jones 
and  Benjamin  Bigelow  being  the  ferrymen.  Two  years  later  it  was 
voted  that  in  the  future  one  of  the  ferrymen  live  on  the  east  side  of  the 
river,  for  the  urcater  convenience  of  passengers. 

Hardly  second  in  importance  to  the  ferry  as  a  means  of  communi- 
cation between  different  parts  of  the  town  comes  the  town  bridge  over 
Mill  River  or  Little  River,  the  Rivulet  or  Riveret,  as  it  was  differently 
named.  March  9,  1691,  Colonel  Allyn,  Mr.  Nathaniel  Stanly,  Mr. 
Cyprian  Nichols,  Deacon  Hosmer,  and  Lieutenant  Wadsworth  were 
appointed  a  committee  "  to  provide  a  passage  over  Mill  River,  and 
to  rebuild  the  bridge  over  said  river  with  all  possible  expedition." 
This  structure  could  not  have  been  very  strong,  for  it  was  voted 
that  any  person  who  "  shall  drive  a  Team  with  either  Cart  or  Sledd 
over  it  either  Laden  or  Empty,"  shall  be  fined  five  shillings.  A  new 
bridge  was  built  in  1728,  which  cost  the  town  £140,  and  Dec.  21, 
1731,  Captain  Nathaniel  Stanly  was  appointed  to  take  care  of  it  and 
keep  it  in  repair.  This  bridge,  too,  did  not  last  long,  and  in  De- 
cember, 1742,  the  committee  reported  that  the  structure  was  defective 
and  unsafe,  and  £300  was  voted  towards  the  building  of  a  good,  strong 
cart-bridge.  That  there  were  other  bridges  in  the  town  is  shown  by  a 
vote,  Dec.  15,  1746,  that  the  surveyor  of  highways  have  liberty  to  cut 
timber  on  the  town  Commons,  for  the  purpose  of  repairing  the  several 
bridges  over  the  Little  River,  "  and  over  sucli  brooks  as  have  been 
damnified  by  the  late  Flood."  After  1750  the  Great  Bridge,  as  it  was 
called,  on  the  main  street,  appears  to  have  been  one  of  the  centres  of 
trade,  and  many  shops  were  built  in  its  immediate  neighborhood. 
There  were  also  shops  or  stalls  on  the  bridge  itself,  which  were  very 
popular.  Thomas  Green,  the  printer,  had  his  office  near  the  Great 
Bridge.  Dec.  6,  1753,  both  Captain  Thomas  Seymour  and  John  Austin 
petition  for  liberty  to  erect  buildings,  —  one  "  westward  from  the  arm 
of  the  bridge,"  and  the  other  "  on  the  northeast  arm  of  the  bridge." 
Another  cart-bridge  replaced  the  former  structure  in  1756,  and  Colonel 
Samuel  Talcott,  Captain  Jonathan  Seymour,  and  Captain  Stephen 
Hosmer  were  appointed  to  have  the  care  of  the  same.  Feb.  28,  1780, 
Colonel  Thomas  Seymour,  Colonel  Hezekiah  Wyllys,  Colonel  Jeremiah 
Wadsworth,  and  Mr.  Barzillai  Hudson  were  appointed  a  committee 
to  estimate  the  cost  of  a  stone  bridge  over  the  Rivulet.  On  the  10th  of 
April  following,  the  same  persons  were  appointed  to  request  of  the 


296 


MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 


General  Assembly  liberty  to  have  a  lottery  for  the  purpose  of  raising 
money  for  the  stone  bridge ;  but  as  we  hear  nothing  more  of  the  pro- 
ject, probably  the  poverty,  and  lack  of  money  caused  by  the  Revolu- 
tionary War,  gave  the  plan  a  quietus  until  some  fifty  years  later,  when 
the  present  stone  bridge  was  built. 

After  17-3(3  many  applications  were  made  to  the  town  for  permission 
to  erect  shops  on  the  banks  of  the  Little  River,  there  being  then  high- 
ways along  both  shores  of  the  stream.  Numerous  cessions  were  made, 
which  afterward  gave  the  town  some  trouble ;  and  in  1759  Daniel  Ed- 
wards, Esq.,  Colonel  Samuel  Talcott,  and  Captain  Jonathan  Seymour 
were  appointed  a  committee  to  consider  what  improvements  may  be 
made,  for  the  advantage  of  the  town,  on  the  banks  of  the  Rivulet ;  and 
Dec.  30, 1760,  the  committee  were  empowered  to  sell  and  dispose  of  the 
banks  on  either  side ;  the  money  received  from  the  sales  to  be  used  for 
maintaining  the  Great  Bridge.  The  town,  however,  retained  an  interest 
in  some  portion  of  the  banks,  and  many  leases  were  made  to  different 
individuals  during  the  next  fifty  years.  April  12,  1779,  liberty  was 
granted  Thomas  Seymour  to  build  a  grist-mill  and  saw-mill  between 
the  town  bridge  and  the  front  of  his  own  home-lot,  on  the  payment 

of  twenty  dollars.  It  was 
in  front  of  this  house,  and 
near  this  saw-mill,  that 
John  Ledyard,  the  fu- 
ture celebrated  traveller, 
moored  his  craft,  at  the 
close  of  his  long  and  ad- 
venturous voyage  down  the 
Connecticut,  from  Hano- 
ver, New  Hampshire ;  and 
near  this  spot  he  planted 
the  elm  now  known  as 
"  Ledyard's  elm,"  on  Arch 
Street. 

Although  our  fore- 
fathers had  surveyors  of 
highways  to  provide  for 
the  needs  of  the  travelling 
public,  it  does  not  appear 
that  they  did  much  more 
than  keep  the  roads  clear  for  teams,  even  on  the  main  street  of  the 
town.  Dec.  14, 1758,  the  matter  was  taken  up  in  town-meeting ;  it  was 
declared  that  the  streets  and  roads  on  the  west  side  of  the  Great  River 
"  are  very  miry,  and  uncomfortable  for  walking  on  ffoot "  at  certain 
seasons;  and  "divers  persons  having  made  foot-walks  to  go  dry  on  in 
miry  weather,"  all  "  people  were  forbidden  to^  injure  or  demolish  these 
walks  in  any  way,  on  pain  of  forfeiting  twenty  shillings  to  the  com- 
plainant." A  lottery  was  permitted  by  the  General  Assembly,  May, 
1760,  for  the  purpose  of  raising  £300  to  be  used  in  repairing  the  main 
streets  in  Hartford,  west  side  of  the  river.1 

The  Town  Commons  occupy  a  prominent  place  among  the  subjects 
voted  upon  at  the  town-meetings.     The  right  to  all  the  unoccupied  land 

1  Colonial  Kecords,  vol.  ix.  pp.  292,  293. 


THE    LEDYARD    ELM. 


GENERAL   HISTORY   OF   THE   TOWN.  297 

was  vested  in  the  proprietors,  that  is,  the  first  settlers,  or  their  descend- 
ants, and  also  those  persons  who  bought  the  home-lots  of  original  pro- 
prietors, and  with  those  their  rights  in  the  undivided  lands;  but  the 
area  of  the  Commons  was  gradually  diminished  by  successive  divisions 
and  grants,  either  to  some  of  their  own  number  or  to  new  inhabitants. 
Encroachments  were  occasionally  made  by  individuals  ;  and  to  guard 
against  this  danger  Mr.  Nichols  and  Mr.  Mygatt  were  appointed  in 
1697  to  "  see  that  no  person  or  persons  do  get  back  upon  the  Town 
Common." 

The  use  made  of  the  Commons  was  also  regulated  by  vote.  A  cer- 
tain number  of  pine-trees  were  reserved  for  the  making  of  turpentine, 
and  April  26,  1709,  all  persons  were  prohibited  from  boxing  any  trees, 
or  drawing  any  turpentine  except  from  those  trees  already  designated. 
The  townspeople  had  the  right  of  cutting  firewood  on  the  Commons  ; 
and  Dec.  5,  1702,  each  householder  was  granted  liberty  to  cut  and 
carry  away  one  tree  in  each  week  until  the  1st  of  March  ;  but  white 
oaks  and  chestnuts  were  not  to  be  touched.  Dec.  15,  1746,  Charles 
Burnham's  house  having  been  destroyed  by  fire,  he  was  permitted  to 
cut  wood  enough  on  the  Commons  to  build  a  new  dwelling.  Notwith- 
standing the  abundance  of  timber,  the  consumption  of  it  was  closely 
watched.  Jan.  8,  1748,  complaint  was  made  that  there  had  been  much 
waste  and  destruction  ;  and  the  people  were  from  that  time  only  allowed 
to  cut  certain  sorts  of  trees,  above  certain  dimensions,  so  as  to  prevent 
the  young  growth  from  being  destroyed.  For  a  number  of  years  birch, 
alder,  witch-hazel,  boxwood,  and  hardbeam  were  the  only  kinds 
allowed  to  be  felled. 

The  proprietors  held  frequent  meetings  to  discuss  the  management 
of  the  Common;  and  finally,  at  a  meeting  convened  Nov.  20,  1753,  it 
was  voted  that  a  division  of  these  lands  —  which  the  inhabitants  had 
"quietly  held  and  enjoyed  from  Time  beyond  the  Memory  of  Man" — 
should  be  made  to  the  proprietors,  according  to  the  grand  list  of  1752. 
Captain  Stephen  Hosmer,  Captain  John  Pitkin,  Lieutenant  Jonathan 
Seymour,  Captain  Jonathan  Hills,  Mr.  John  Skinner,  and  Mr.  Daniel 
Bull  were  appointed  a  committee  to  make  the  list.  When  the  list  was 
presented,  on  the  21st  of  December  following,  it  was  voted  that  the 
same  committee  should  lay  out  the  large  tract  known  as  the  Town 
Commons,  on  the  west  side  of  the  river;  which  was  accordingly  done, 
and  the  method  of  division  adopted  by  the  committee  confirmed  by  a 
town  vote,  March  26,  1754.  The  report  of  the  committee  by  whom 
this  last  considerable  portion  of  the  Commons  was  distributed  is  still  in 
existence.  This  tract  stretched  from  Wethersfield  bounds  to  Windsor, 
lying  west  of  the  two  branches  of  the  Little  River,  and  extending  west- 
ward to  the  lots  previously  apportioned  to  the  proprietors  on  West 
Hartford  Street.  It  was  laid  out  in  thirty  tiers  of  lots,  and  provision 
was  made  for  numerous  highways  across  the  tract.  The  common 
lands  on  the  east  side  of  the  river  were  obtained  in  1672  by  the  pur- 
chase of  the  tract  known  as  the  Five  Miles,  from  Joshua,  sachem  of 
the  Niantic  Indians,  son  of  Uncas,  sachem  of  the  Mohegans.  This  land 
is  now  comprised  in  the  town  of  Manchester,  and  a  further  account  of 
it  will  be  found  in  the  history  of  that  town. 

The  Green,  or  Square,  in  front  of  the  Court  House,  wras  also  a  part  of 
the  public  domain.    It  was  encroached  upon  greatly,  and  in  1749  it  was 


298  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

found  necessary  to  set  up  monuments  at  the  corners  to  show  the  boun- 
daries. These  monuments  were  to  be  placed,  —  one  on  Mr.  Ebenezer  Wil- 
liamson's lot,  one  on  the  northwest  corner  of  the  homestead  belonging 
to  the  heirs  of  Mr.  John  Caldwell,  one  on  the  north  end  of  the  dwelling- 
house  of  Moss,  and  one  on  Joseph  Olcott's  home-lot.    The  land 

outside  of  straight  lines  run  from  one  of  these  monuments  to  the  other 
was  to  be  sold,  and  Messrs.  Daniel  Edwards,  James  Church,  and 
Thomas  Seymour  were  to  have  charge  of  the  matter.  The  Square  at 
first  included  the  space  from  Kingsley  Street  on  the  north  to  Grove 
Street  on  the  south  (though  neither  of  those  streets  were  then  in  exist- 
ence) and  Market  Street  on  the  east.  This  enclosure  was  the  scene  of 
all  the  festivities  and  solemnities  that  occurred  in  the  town,  and  many 
persons  well  known  in  American  history  have  walked  across  its  pave- 
ments. The  freemen  of  the  colony  assembled  in  this  Square  yearly  for 
the  purpose  of  choosing  the  governor  and  other  public  officers,  and  the 
General  Court  held  its  sessions  in  the  meeting-house ;  here  Colonel 
Fletcher  attempted  to  read  his  royal  commission  and  instructions, 
Oct.  26,  1693,  when  stout  Captain  Wadsworth  ordered  the  drums  to  be 
beaten  to  drown  the  aide-de-camp's  voice,  and  uttered  the  sanguinary 
threat,  found  in  all  the  school  histories,  that  "he  would  make  the  sun 
shine  through  him"  if  he  interrupted  the  trainband  exercises  any 
further.  Here,  Sept.  19,  1727,  George  II.  was  proclaimed  King,  the 
proclamation  being  read  at  the  head  of  the  First  Regiment,  drawn 
up  on  the  Square,  with  "  many  of  the  principal  planters  and  gentlemen 
of  quality "  standing  by ;  when  the  glorious  news  of  the  capture  of 
Louisburg  was  received,  July  8,  1745,  an  ox  was  roasted  whole  on  the 
Green  in  the  presence  of  many  gentlemen  of  distinction,  and  in  the  midst 
of  great  rejoicings.  The  first  company  of  the  trainband  drilled  and  exer- 
cised here,  and  the  Square  has  often  resounded  with  the  clang  of  arms  ; 
later,  as  we  approach  the  Revolutionary  period,  we  see  Ingersoll  the 
Stamp-master  reading  his  resignation,  while  the  Sons  of  Liberty  regard 
him  with  stern  faces ;  later  still,  Washington  and  Rochambeau,  accom- 
panied by  their,  respective  staffs,  met,  according  to  tradition,  near  what 
was  the  east  end  of  the  State  House  yard,  —  now  covered  by  the  post- 
office  building,  —  when  they  came  to  Hartford,  in  1781,  to  plan  the 
campaign  which  closed  with  the  capture  of  Yorktown  ;  Count  Rocham- 
beau, General  Chastellux,  and  their  suites  came  from  the  ferry  up 
Market  Street,  Washington  and  Knox  up  Main  Street,  from  their 
quarters  at  Colonel  Wadsworth's. 

The  fatal  accident  known  in  the  annals  of  Hartford  as  "  the  blowing- 
up  of  the  school-house  "  occurred  within  the  borders  of  the  Square,  that 
building  standing  in  front  of  the  present  American  Hotel.  It  was  the 
day  of  thanksgiving  for  the  repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act,  May  23,  1766, 
ushered  in  by  the  ringing  of  bells,  the  display  of  colors  by  the  shipping 
in  the  river,  and  the  firing  of  cannon,  and  preparations  were  making 
for  a  general  illumination  in  the  evening.  A  number  of  young  gen- 
tlemen had  come  together  to  make  sky-rockets  in  an  upper  chamber 
of  the  brick  school-house,  while  the  powder  stored  in  the  room  below 
was  being  distributed  to  the  militia.  Two  companies  of  soldiers  had 
just  received  a  pound  for  each  man,  when  the  powder  scattered  by  this 
delivery  was  thoughtlessly  set  on  fire  by  boys,  and  in  an  instant  the 
building  was   reduced   to  a  heap  of   ashes,  and  twenty-eight  persons 


GENERAL   HISTORY   OF  THE   TOWN.  299 

were  buried  in  its  ruins,  six  of  whom  died  after  being  taken  out  of 
the  crumbling  mass,  and  the  others  were  more  or  less  injured.  On  the 
25th  of  May  a  sermon  was  preached  in  the  North  Meeting-house  by 
tht^  Rev.  John  Devotion,  of  Saybrook,  as  a  funeral  discourse  in  memory 
of  the  unfortunate  individuals  killed  by  the  explosion.  These  were 
Mr.  Levi  Jones  ;  Mr.  William  Gardiner,  a  merchant  on  Queen  Street; 
Dr.  Nathaniel  Ledyard,  brother  of  Colonel  William  Ledyard  of  the 
Groton  fort,  —  all  young  and  newly  married  men;  Richard  Lord,  son 
of  Mr.  John  Ilaynes  Lord;  John  Knowlcs,  an  apprentice  to  Thomas 
Sloan  the  blacksmith  ;  and  Richard  Burnham,  son  of  Mr.  Elisha 
Burnham. 

In  1694  the  sign-post  was  ordered  to  be  set  up  near  the  bridge,  but 
it  was  afterward  removed  to  the  Square,  and  was  probably  used  as  the 
public  whipping-post  also.  In  early  days  the  stocks  were  also  located 
on  the  Square,  and  the  spectacle  of  men  seated  in  the  stocks  must  have 
been  frequently  seen,  as  it  was  a  common  punishment  for  drunkenness 
or  profanation  of  the  Sabbath.  Later,  there  was  a  pillory;  and  in  1768 
Thomas  Baldwin,  of  Meriden,  was  condemned  to  stand  in  this  instru- 
ment of  torture  one  hour,  and  to  receive  ten  stripes  on  the  naked  body, 
for  the  crime  of  blasphemy.  Blood  must  have  flowed  on  the  Square, 
too,  for  occasionally  criminals  were  condemned  to  lose  their  right  cars  ; 
and  in  1767  two  men  convicted  of  burglary  were  sentenced  to  have 
their  right  ears  cut  off  and  to  be  branded  on  their  foreheads  with  the 
letter  "B." 

The  jail  was  on  the  north  side  of  the  Square,  "a  prison  house" 
being  built  in  1698.  A  workhouse  was  ordered  to  be  constructed  in 
1727,  and  Captain  Nathaniel  Stanly,  Mr.  John  Austin,  and  Mr.  John 
Skinner  appointed  a  committee  to  procure  land  for  the  purpose.  In 
1729  a  building  was  erected  on  what  is  now  Pearl  Street,  beyond  Trum- 
bull, 50  feet  in  length,  32  feet  in  breadth,  and  14  feet  between  the 
joints.  In  17o4,  £60  was  appropriated  to  be  used  for  the  workhouse, 
part  for  the  hiring  of  a  good  and  suitable  master,  and  part  for  bed- 
ding,  etc.  The  master  was  to  have  one  third  part  of  the  earnings  of 
all  persons  under  his  care,  and  was  not  to  exact  more  than  8s.  per 
week  for  boarding  occupants  except  in  cases  of  sickness.  Later,  the 
jail  was  removed  to  the  spot  now  occupied  by  the  Case,  Lockwood,  & 
Brainard  Company,  on  the  corner  of  Pearl  and  Trumbull  streets.  After 
the  Revolution  the  street  now  known  as  Pearl  Street  was  Prison  Street, 
and  the  road  from  the  jail  to  the  Little  River  was  Workhouse  Lane. 
It  was  somewhere  in  this  locality  that  the  selectmen  were  ordered, 
Feb.  25,  1782,  to  set  out  a  small  piece  of  land  and  build  a  house  on  it 
for  the  use  of  Niel  McLean.  tw  the  old  soldier,  as  long  as  he  lives,"  "  to 
remain  to  the  Town  for  a  Poor-House. " 

The  public  market  was  on  the  south  side  of  the  Square,  —  an  open 
building  with  stalls,  standing  in  front  of  what  is  now  Central  Row,  and 
extending  easterly  to  Prospect  Street.  Wednesday  was  the  market-day 
for  all  manner  of  commodities  that  might  be  brought  in. 

The  Square  was  formerly  called  Meeting-house  Yard,  and  the  meeting- 
house of  the  First  Church  stood  on  the  east  side  of  the  present  City 
Hall  Square.  The  building  was  nearly  square,  with  a  hip  roof,  in  the 
centre  of  which  was  a  turret,  in  which  hung  the  bell  used  for  both  eccle- 
siastical and  secular  purposes.      This  bell  was  broken   in  1725,  and 


300  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF  HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

Captain  Nathaniel  Stanly,  Captain  Hezekiah  Wyllys,  Captain  Thomas 
Seymor,  and  Mr.  John  Austin  were  appointed  a  committee  "  to  take  the 
best  advice  they  can  what  is  best  to  be  done  with  the  Town  Bell,  under 
the  present  broken  Circumstances  of  it,"  whether  it  should  be  "  Sent 
home  to  England,"  or  to  have  it  new  cast  in  New  England.  The  next 
year  a  rate  of  <£100  was  levied  to  pay  the  charges  of  sending  the  bell 
to  Great  Britain. 

In  1737  the  old  meeting-house  was  pulled  down,  after  an  existence 
of  ninety-nine  years  ;  the  people  having  decided,  after  a  long  discussion, 
to  place  the  new  building  on  the  southeast  corner  of  the  burying-lot, 
permission  to  do  so  being  granted  by  the  town.  The  First  Church  has 
continued  on  that  site  now  for  nearly  one  hundred  and  fifty  years,  the 
present  church  being  the  second  building. 

As  before  stated,  the  General  Assembly  met  in  the  meeting-house, 
and  evidently  the  building  was  somewhat  dilapidated  before  the  new- 
court-house  was  built ;  as  in  1715  Joseph  Talcott,  Esq.,  was  ordered 
"  to  take  care  and  set  workmen  to  mend  and  repair  the  court  chamber 
in  the  first  meeting-house  in  Hartford,  so  that  it  may  be  safe  for  the 
court  to  be  held  in  the  same." 

The  General  Assembly  granted  <£500  for  a  newT  Court  House  in  1718, 
which  was  built  in  1719  on  the  west  side  of  the  Square,  nearly  on  a 
line  with  Main  Street.  This  structure  was  72  feet  long,  30  broad,  and 
24  between  joints,  with  a  range  of  pillars  under  the  middle  of  the 
beams  of  the  chamber  floor,  a  door  on  each  side  and  at  each  end, 
a  staircase  at  the  southwest  and  another  at  the  southeast  corner,  and 
two  chambers  of  thirty  feet  long,  one  for  the  Council  and  another  for 
the  Representatives,  a  staircase  into  the  garrets,  and  a  lobby  to  the 
Council-chamber.1  Truly,  not  such  a  spacious  and  elegant  building 
as  the  present  sightly  Capitol  of  Connecticut.  In  1734  James  Church, 
of  Hartford,  was  appointed  doorkeeper  of  the  Court  House,  at  a  salary 
of  <£3  annually. 

Main  Street  as  originally  laid  out  was  much  wider  than  at  present, 
a  fort  being  placed  at  either  end,  one  near  the  South  Green,  at  the 
fork  of  the  roads  leading  to  Wethersfield  and  Farmington.  The 
other  fort  was  on  Centinel  Hill,  near  what  is  now  the  head  of  Morgan 
Street.  The  street  being  straight,  the  guards  on  duty  were  able  to 
see  from  one  fort  to  the  other  ;  but  the  land  being  desirable  for 
shops  and  business  purposes,  many  persons  petitioned  for  license  to 
build  on  the  highway  and  public  Square,  and  in  this  way  the  parade- 
ground  and  street  were  contracted  to  their  present  dimensions.  Almost 
the  earliest  permission  of  this  kind  was  given  to  David  Bigelow, 
Dec.  18,  1711,  for  the  use  of  a  piece  of  land  opposite  the  burying-yard, 
next  to  Captain  Williamson's  fence,  where  he  proposed  to  carry  on  the 
potter's  trade.  "  In  the  good  old  Colony  days,  when  George  the  Second 
was  King,"  Main  Street  was  Queen  Street,  and  State  Street  was  King- 
Street.  Many  signs  were  used  after  the  English  fashion,  as  we  learn 
from  old  advertisements;  for  instance, —  "Hezekiah  Merrill  sells  Books, 
Painter's  Colours,  and  Medicines  at  the  Sign  of  the  Unicorn  and 
Mortar  ; "  "  Thomas  Hilldrup  sells  and  repairs  Watches  at  the  Sign  of 
the  Taylor's  Shears ; "  "  Thomas  Green  sells  Bibles,  Common-Prayer 

1  Colonial  Records,  vol.  v.  pp.  198,  289. 


GENERAL   HISTORY   OF   THE   TOWN.  301 

Books,  &c,  at  the  sign  of  the  Heart  and  Crown ; "  and  Sally  Tripper 
kept  a  shop  "  in  Draw  Lane,  opposite  the  Sign  of  the  Trowell." 

The  burying-lot  mentioned  above  was  the  one  now  known  as  the  old 
Centre  Church  grave-yard,  which  then  came  forward  to  the  street,  cov- 
ering the  space  now  occupied  by  the  Centre  Church,  the  lecture-room 
building,  and  the  adjoining  block.  In  1712  all  persons  were  prohibited 
from  carting  over  the  burying-ground.  Apparently  at  a  later  period  the 
Vk  burying  Lott"  was  leased  to  individuals,  who  kept  it  fenced  and  fed 
calves  and  sheep  in  it.  On  these  terms  it  was  leased  to  Mrs.  Abigail 
Woodbridge,  1737,  by  the  selectmen.  She  was  probably  the  last  person 
to  whom  it  was  so  granted,  for  in  1756,  after  her  death,  the  Selectmen 
were  desired  to  have  "  the  Burying  Lott  in  the  Body  of  the  Town"  well 
fenced  about,  and  so  kept  at  as  little  expense  as  may  be  to  the  Town. 
In  1771  a  school-house  was  built  on  the  northeast  corner  of  the  "  bury- 
ing Lott,"  south  of  James  Mooklar's  barber-shop. 

The  pall,  or  funeral-cloth,  used  at  burials  was  invariably  provided 
by  the  town;  and  in  1742  it  was  voted  that  Mr.  Samuel  Talcott  be  paid 
<£18  for  a  funeral-cloth  for  the  use  of  the  town. 

The  population  on  the  east  side  of  the  river  formed  a  much  larger 
proportion  of  the  inhabitants  of  Hartford  before  the  Revolution  than 
now,  and  their  importance  was  proportionately  greater.  A  census  ^ 
taken  in  1761  gives  the  whole  population  of  Hartford  as  3,938  people, 
black  and  white,  152  being  negroes.  Of  this  number  1,588  lived  on 
the  east  side  of  the  river.  The  influential  Pitkin  family,  of  East  Hart- 
ford, held  a  prominent  place  in  the  civil,  military,  and  judicial  affairs 
of  the  colony.  From  1659  to  1840  the  Pitkins  were  conspicuous  in  the 
Town,  Colony,  and  State,  and  furnished  judges  to  the  bench,  besides 
one  chief  magistrate,  and  military  officers  to  lead  the  forces  of  the  Col- 
ony against  the  French  and  Indians,  and  later  against  the  British 
regulars.  This  pre-eminence  of  one  family  was  not  an  infrequent 
occurrence  in  colonial  times,  —  the  Wolcotts  of  Windsor  being  another 
example  ;  and  the  Wyllyses,  of  Charter  Oak  Hill,  held  the  offices  of  Sec- 
retary of  State  and  Town  Clerk  of  Hartford,  father  and  son  continu- 
ously, for  nearly  one  hundred  years  ;  and  the  three  sons  of  old  Secretary 
George  Wyllys  held  prominent  positions  in  the  Continental  army. 

Long  before  the  Revolution  the  people  of  the  east  side  considered 
themselves  of  sufficient  importance  to  form  a  town  by  themselves  ;  but 
the  west  side  succeeded  in  preventing  any  separation  until  1783,  when 
the  town  of  East  Hartford  was  incorporated. 

While  considering  the  history  of  the  town  of  Hartford,  our  atten- 
tion has  thus  far  been  seldom  called  to  the  affairs  of  the  outside  world. 
It  was  only  occasionally  that  new  inhabitants  presented  themselves, 
and  they  had  to  be  admitted  by  vote  of  the  town  ;  as,  for  instance, 
Dec.  25,  1705,  it  was  voted  in  town-meeting  that  Ephraim  Jones,  of 
Concord,  would  be  made  an  inhabitant  if  he  came  here.  This  for- 
mality was  continued  for  many  years ;  and  Dec.  6,  1757,  Mr.  Gabriel 
Ludlow,  "  late  of  the  City  and  Province  of  New  York,"  having  removed 
hither  on  the  17th  of  July  previous,  and  desiring  the  approbation 
of  the  inhabitants,  was  graciously  accepted  and  declared  a  resident. 
The  population  of  Hartford  in  1756  was  2,926  whites,  101  negroes. 
The  whole  county  did  not  contain   as  many  people  as  now  reside  in 


302  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

Hartford   alone,  —  the   number   then   being   35,714    whites   and   854 
negroes. 

In  1757  we  obtain  an  unexpected  glimpse  of  the  Acadian  exiles, 
immortalized  by  Longfellow.  The  Town-book  of  Hartford  is  not  the 
place  where  we  should  look  for  souvenirs  of  the  companions  of  Evan- 
geline ;  but  those  unfortunate  people  were  distributed  among  the  colo- 
nies from  Massachusetts  to  Virginia,1  and  Connecticut  received  four 
hundred  of  these  "  French  neutrals,"  who  were  called  so,  because, 
although  the  soil  they  lived  upon  was  British  territory,  they  claimed 
to  be  regarded  as  neutrals,  not  liable  to  be  called  upon  to  bear  arms 
either  for  or  against  the  English.  Thirteen  of  these  people  were 
assigned  to  Hartford,  nine  to  Wethersfield,  fourteen  to  Farmington, 
etc. ;  and  the  selectmen  of  the  various  towns  were  directed  to  take 
care  of  them,  and  not  to  allow  any  of  them  to  depart  out  of  the  towns 
where  they  belonged,  without  permission.  Dec.  6,  1757,  by  town  vote 
the  selectmen  of  Hartford  were  directed  to  build  a  small  house  for  the 
accommodation  of  these  people,  as  no  suitable  habitation  could  be  hired  ; 
and  also  to  find  business  and  employment  for  them  if  possible.  The 
only  further  mention  of  these  emigrants  is  two  years  later,  Dec.  26, 
1759,  when  Mr.  Robert  Nevins  is  granted  the  sum  of  20s.  for  portion 
of  rent  and  damages  sustained  while  the  French  people  lived  in  his 
house.  Whether  they  remained  here,  or  whether  they  found  their 
way  back  to  Nova  Scotia,  as  many  of  the  Acadians  did  finally,  we 
have  no  means  of  discovering  from  the  town  records. 

Our  materials  for  a  history  of  the  post-office  in  Hartford  are  very 
scanty.  King  William  111.  established  a  post-office  in  Boston  in  1694, 
the  mails  to  be  conveyed  thence  to  New  York  and  the  New  England 
colonies;  but  probably  for  a  number  of  years  there  was  no  very 
regular  means  of  communication.  In  1708  John  Campbell,  post- 
master, Boston,  wrote  to  the  Governor  and  Council  of  Connecticut, 
offering  to  establish  a  constant  post  between  Hartford  and  Saybrook.2 
How  frequent  this  was  we  can  only  judge  from  the  fact  that  in  1715 
the  western  post  left  Boston  for  Connecticut,  New  York,  and  Pennsyl- 
vania once  a  fortnight  in  the  winter  months,  probably  once  a  week  in 
the  summer. 

June,  1755,  James  Parker,  postmaster  at  New  Haven,  and  printer 
of  the  "  Connecticut  Gazette,"  employed  a  post-rider  from  New  Haven  to 
Hartford, who  carried  the  "  Gazette"  and  letters.  Leaving  New  Haven 
Saturday  morning,  going  by  Wallingford,  Durham,  Middletown,  and 
Wethersfield,  to  Hartford,  he  returned  Monday  evening,  so  as  to  be  in 
New  Haven  Tuesday  evening.  John  Mc  Knight  was  the  postmaster 
in  Hartford  then. 

In  1764  John  Walker  was  postmaster.  A  weekly  post  between  Hart- 
ford and  New  London  was  ordered  in  1767,  leaving  Hartford  Tuesdays, 
and  returning  Friday  night  or  Saturday.  William  Ellery,  a  merchant 
on  Queen  Street  (grandfather  of  the  late  Governor  Thomas  H.  Sey- 
mour), succeeded  Walker  about  1770  or  1771 ;  and  May  7,  1771,  the 
post-office  was  removed  to  the  house  of  John  Ledyard,  Esq.,  on  Arch 
Street.      Ellery  received  his  commission  from  Franklin  and  Hunter, 

1  See  Parkman's  "Montcalm  and  Wolfe,"  vol.  i.  p.  282. 

2  See  Colonial  Kecords,  vol.  iv.  p.  47,  note. 


GENERAL   HISTORY   OF   THE   TOWN.  303 

the  Postmasters-General  under  the  Crown,  who  introduced  many  im- 
provements, and  made  the  post-office  department  much  more  like  the 
modern  institution  than  ever  before.  In  1777  Ellery  resigned,  and 
Thomas  Hilldrup,  the  watchmaker  and  jeweller,  from  London,  was 
appointed, in  his  stead,  and  the  post-office  was  removed  to  his  shop,  "a 
few  rods  north  of  the  State  House."  During-  Hilldrup's  incumbency, 
which  continued  until  1794,  the  office  was  very  frequently  moved,  ac- 
cording to  tradition.1  In  1779  he  advertised  that,  having  removed  his 
family  a  few  miles  from  town,  -w  in  future  the  post-office  will  be  attended 
at  stated  hours  only  ;  namely,  the  post  days,  immediately  after 
service  in  the  afternoon;  and  on  every  other  day  in  the  week,  from 
nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  until  sundown,  Saturdays  excepted,  —  the 
riders  to  depart  at  nine  o'clock  Monday  morning."  A  few  years  later, 
in  1786,  the  mail  facilities  were  improved  ;  and  Jan.  7,  1786,  the  post- 
master advertises  that  the  different  mails  (except  Providence)  will 
arrive  at  the  office,  by  stage,  twice  every  week;  namely,  Wednesdays 
and  Saturdays,  at  seven  p.m. 

The  first  attempt  to  establish  a  regular  communication  between 
Hartford  and  Xew  Haven  was  in  1717,  when  Captain  John  Munson,  t 
of  New  Haven,  was  given  by  the  General  Assembly  the  sole  privilege  of 
transporting  passengers  and  goods  between  the  two  places  for  seven 
years,  with  the  provision  that  it  should  be  lawful  for  any  person  to 
transport  his  goods,  or  any  of  his  own  family,  in  his  own  wagon.  Any 
person  who  should  employ  any  other  conveyance  than  John  Munson's, 
or  his  own,  should  be  lined  10$.  Apparently  this  method  of  transporta- 
tion was  interrupted  in  the  winter;  tor  Munson  was  to  start  from  New 
Haven  on  the  first  Monday  of  every  month  excepting  December,  Jan- 
uary, February,  and  March,  and  with  all  convenient  despatch  to  drive 
to  Hartford,  and  thence  in  the  same  week  return  to  Xew  Haven. 

Fifty-live  years  later  the  travelling  facilities  were  so  far  improved 
that  stages  left  Hartford  once  a  week  tor  Boston  and  Xew  York.  In 
February.  177-.  Jonathan  Brown  and  Nicholas  Brown  advertised  that 
their  coaches  would  leave  Hartford  every  Monday,  one  for  Boston  and 
one  for  New  York,  reaching  their  destinations  Wednesday  night.  The 
return  trip  was  made  on  Thursday,  arriving  in  Hartford  Saturday 
night;  thus  requiring  a  whole  week  for  the  round  trip  from  Hartford 
to  New  York,  which  can  now  be  made  in  one  day.  Many  travellers 
undoubtedly  went  by  water  to  the  various  seaports.  Jan.  30,  1769, 
Paul  Hatch,  master  of  the  sloop  "  Betsey,"  advertises  that  he  will  take 
freight,  or  passengers,  for  Boston  or  Nantucket ;  and  the  journey  to 
New  York  was  frequently  made  in  a  similar  manner. 

The  position  of  Hartford,  midway  between  New  York  and  Boston, 
made  it  a  convenient  stopping-place  in  the  old  coaching  days,  and  we 
read  in  the  columns  of  the  "  Connecticut  Courant"  the  names  of  many 
prominent  individuals  who  passed  through  the  town.  Sometimes  the 
chronicle  sounds  quite  like  the  "  Court  Journal."  June  30,  1768, 
Sir  William  Johnson  came  to  town  from  New  London,  where  he  had 
been  "  for  the  recovery  of  his  health,"  and  proceeded  the  same  day  on 
his  journey  to  Johnson  Hall.     'k  July  4,  1768,  came  to  town  his  Excel- 

1  It  is  said  that  Sheriff  Williams  drove  tip  one  day  to  the  office  and  was  informed  it  had 
been  removed.  He  replied,  "Hilldrup  moves  so  often,  he  will  have  moved  again  before  I  can 
get  there ." 


304  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

lency  Lord  Charles  Greville  Montague,  Governor  of  South  Carolina, 
and  his  lady."  Later  we  find  the  names  of  our  Revolutionary  heroes, — 
Mr.  Paul  Revere,  the  Hon.  John  Hancock,  Esq.,  his  Excellency  Gen- 
eral Washington,  the  Marquis  de  Lafayette,  the  Chevalier  John  Paul 
Jones,  and  others. 

Hartford  was  also  a  stopping-place  for  troops  on  their  way  to  the 
camp  at  Charlestown  during  the  siege  of  Boston.  Aug.  9,  1775,  it  is 
stated  that  nine  companies  of  riflemen,  from  Virginia,  Maryland,  and 
Pennsylvania,  passed  through  the  town.  When  the  British  were  driven 
out  of  Boston  the  current  was  reversed,  and  numerous  bodies  of  soldiers 
passed  through  Hartford,  going  southward. 

In  1776,  when  New  York  was  threatened  by  the  English  troops, 
besides  companies  of  foot,  three  regiments  of  light-horse,  under 
Colonel  Thomas  Seymour,  of  Hartford,  marched  to  the  aid  of  the 
beleaguered  city.  The  "  Courant "  of  July  22  contains  an  item  that  the 
troop  of  light-horse  belonging  to  this  town  had  returned,  their  place 
being  supplied  by  the  foot. 

In  January,  1777,  Colonel  Samuel  Wyllys's  battalion  was  ordered 
to  rendezvous  in  this  town,  for  the  purpose  of  filling  the  ranks  and 
perfecting  the  raw  levies  in  military  exercises  and  the  selectmen  were 
directed  to  assist  Colonel  Wyllys  in  procuring  barracks,  etc. 

A  portion  of  General  Gates's  division  of  the  Continental  army  was 
encamped  for  a  time,  in  October,  1778,  on  the  North  Meadow,  and  later 
in  West  Hartford.  On  the  3d  of  November  an  entertainment  was  given 
by  his  Excellency  Governor  Trumbull,  to  the  general,  his  brigadiers,  and 
field-officers.  A  company  of  the  train  of  artillery  paraded  before  the 
Court  House,  and  "  by  the  exactness  of  their  discipline  rendered  them- 
selves respectable  to  the  numerous  spectators."  Dinner  was  served  at 
three  o'clock,  probably  at  Bull's  tavern,  the  "  Bunch  of  Grapes,"  oppo- 
site the  Court  House;  and  at  half-past  five  the  distinguished  company 
were  conducted  back  to  the  Court  House,  after  a  salvo  of  thirteen  guns. 
On  the  17th  of  November,  General  Putnam  took  the  command  of  the 
troops,  and  a  week  after  they  marched  to  Danbury.  A  year  later  Gen- 
eral Gates  was  here  again,  with  two  regiments ;  but  the  visit  of  the 
French  troops  under  Rochambeau,  in  East  Hartford,  made  a  stronger 
impression  on  the  popular  mind,  and  has  been  the  longest  remembered 
in  tradition.  The  place  of  their  encampment  was  Silver  Lane,  in 
East  Hartford,  which  derived  its  name  from  the  kegs  of  silver  coin 
which  were  opened  there  for  the  purpose  of  paying  the  troops.  This 
was  a  welcome  sight  to  eyes  accustomed  to  the  ragged  bits  of  depre- 
ciated paper-money  issued  by  Congress.  The  high  value  set  upon  specie 
is  shown  by  an  advertisement  in  the  "  Courant,"  Oct.  31,  1779,  in  which 
John  Watson,  of  East  Windsor,  offers  $3,000  reward  for  the  recovery 
of  125  guineas,  20  half-guineas,  7  half-joes,  and  34  dollars,  "  all  very 
bright  and  new,"  stolen  by  thieves. 

As  Hartford  witnessed  none  of  the  rigors  of  actual  warfare  during 
the  contest  between  Great  Britain  and  her  revolted  colonies,  it  was  all 
the  more  desirable  as  a  place  of  confinement  for  prisoners,  and  many 
tories  and  British  soldiers  were  kept  in  durance  here.  At  one  time 
they  were  confined  in  the  Court  House  ;  but  on  the  11th  of  October, 
1778,  the  General  Assembly  ordered  these  prisoners  to  be  removed  to 


GENERAL   HISTORY   OF   THE   TOWN.  305 

other  quarters,  in  charge  of  Ezekiel  Williams,  Commissary  of  Prisoners. 
In  December,  1776,  a  detachment  of  fourteen  men,  under  the  command 
of  an  ensign  and  one  sergeant,  were  ordered  to  keep  guard  about  the 
prison  in  Hartford,  to  prevent  intercourse  between  the  prisoners  within 
and  the  tories  without.  Jan.  17, 1777,  Barzillai  Hudson  was  appointed 
ensign  and  commandant  of  the  guards  about  the  jail.  May  28,  1777, 
Captain  John  Chenevard  was  paid  £77  9s.  Id.  for  one  half  the  expense  of 
building  a  yard  around  the  jail.  The  selectmen  of  Hartford  petitioned 
the  General  Assembly,  Jan.  8,  1778,  that  the  prisoners  of  war  might 
be  removed  to  some  other  place  :  complaining  that  the  continuing  of  the 
prisoners  in  this  town  was  attended  with  innumerable  ill  effects ;  that 
the  public  stores  and  magazines  were  greatly  exposed,  and  in  some 
instances  lost ;  that  intelligence  was  communicated  to  the  enemies  of 
the  country;  that  the  prices  of  the  necessaries  of  life — wood,  bread, 
meat,  and  clothing  —  were  much  increased  by  the  British  officers  and 
their  servants,  kk  who  do  not  stick  at  any  sum  to  obtain  the  same  ; "  and 
that  there  was  danger  of  their  forming  combinations  with  the  blacks, 
to  injure  the  lives  and  property  of  the  people.  This  reference  to  the 
negroes  recalls  an  incident  at  an  earlier  period  of  the  war,  when  the 
people  of  Hartford  were  much  disturbed  by  the  election  of  Governor 
Skene's  negro  as  Governor  of  the  blacks.  This  custom  of  electing  a 
Governor,  in  imitation  of  the  whites,  had  been  observed  by  the  negroes 
for  a  number  of  years  previous.  The  fortunate  individual  was  always 
treated  with  great  attention  and  respect  by  his  colored  brethren,  and 
never  failed  to  receive  the  title  of  Governor  from  them.  Governor 
Cuff  succeeded  Colonel  Wyllys's  negro,  and  held  the  office  for  ten 
years  preceding  1770,  when  he  saw  fit  to  resign,  and  appointed  John 
Anderson,  Governor  Skene's  man,  as  his  successor,  without  holding  an 
election.  This  excited  the  distrust  and  alarm  of  the  people.  The 
Governor  and  Council  convened  at  Hartford,  and  a  committee  was 
appointed  to  investigate  the  subject,  who  searched  Governor  Skene's 
lodgings  in  West  Hartford  and  examined  his  papers.  Nothing  of  a 
dangerous  tendency  was  found,  however,  and  the  committee  were  con- 
vinced that  the  whole  affair  was  merely  a  compliment  to  a  stranger. 

At  a  later  date  the  prisoners  were  apparently  regarded  with  less 
suspicion;  and  in  the  "Courant"  of  Feb.  3,  1777,  there  appears  an 
advertisement  that,  by  permission  of  the  Committee  (of  Inspection)  of 
Hartford,  arithmetic,  geometry,  trigonometry,  gauging,  and  dialling, 
and  music  on  a  variety  of  instruments,  would  be  taught  by  Fagan  and 
Balentine,  officers  of  the  55th  Regiment,  who  might  be  found  at  Mr. 
Knox's,  near  the  ferry. 

Several  executions  took  place  here  of  spies  and  traitors.  March  19, 
1777,  Moses  Dunbar  was  executed  for  high  treason  in  the  presence  of  a 
large  concourse  of  spectators.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Jarvis,  of  Middletown, 
preached  a  sermon  at  the  jail  to  the  prisoner  ;  and  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Strong  improved  the  occasion  by  a  discourse  at  the  North  Meeting- 
house, to  the  spectators,  which  was  published.  Nov.  10,  1778,  David 
Farnsworth  and  John  Blair,  found  guilty  by  the  court-martial  at  Dan- 
bury,  of  being  spies  and  passing  counterfeit  money,  were  hanged  on 
Rocky  Hill.  A  court-martial,  held  at  Hartford,  March  7,  1781,  Colonel 
Heman  Swift  president,  condemned  Alexander  McDowell,  late  lieu- 
tenant in  Colonel  Welles's  regiment,  to  suffer  death  for  desertion  to 
vol.  i.  —  20. 


306  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF  HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

the  enemy ;    and   his  execution  accordingly  took  place  in  Hartford, 
March  21,  1781. 

The  chief  supervision  of  affairs  in  Hartford  during  the  Revolution- 
ary period  was  exercised  by  the  Committee  of  Inspection.  This  body 
was  substantially  identical  with  the  Committee  of  Correspondence  and 
Observation,  appointed,  Dec.  20,  1774,  when  a  meeting  was  held  to 
express  the  sympathy  of  the  inhabitants  "  with  our  brethren  of  Boston 
and  the  Massachusetts  Bay,"  though  the  resolutions  open  with  words 
of  loyalty  to  the  Crown.  This  committee  consisted  of  the  following : 
Samuel  Wadsworth,  George  Smith,  Samuel  Talcott,  Benjamin  Payne, 
Thomas  Seymour,  John  Pitkin,  George  Pitkin,  David  Hills,  Isaac  Shel- 
don, Aaron  Bull,  Samuel  Wyllys,  Timothy  Cheeny,  Richard  Pitkin, 
Abijah  Colton,  Noah  Webster,  Ebenezer  Welles,  and  John  Cook. 
Jan.  22,  1777,  a  new  Committee  of  Observation  was  appointed,  contain- 
ing some  new  names  :  Oliver  Ellsworth,  Hezekiah  Wyllys,  John  Welles, 
Ashbel  Welles,  James  Church,  and  Solomon  Gilman. 

April  7,  1777,  it  was  "  voted  that  Messrs.  Joseph  Church,  Zachariah 
Pratt,  Jonathan  Bigelow,  Jonathan  Welles,  Timothy  Cowles,  David 
Hills,  and  Abijah  Colton  be  a  committee  to  provide  for  the  families  of 
the  soldiers  belonging  to  this  town  ; "  and  in  succeeding  years  the  same 
and  other  committees  were  appointed  for  the  same  purpose.  Dec.  27, 
1779,  two  thousand  pounds  were  voted  for  the  use  of  this  committee  to 
enable  them  to  purchase  provisions. 

On  the  28th  of  February,  1780,  twenty-nine  persons  were  appointed 
to  be  Inspectors  of  Provisions,  to  detain  and  secure  any  embargoed 
provisions  which  they  might  suspect  were  intended  to  be  carried  out  of 
the  State.  Nov.  15,  1780,  Captain  Jonathan  Bull  on  the  west,  and  Mr. 
Daniel  Pitkin  on  the  east  side  of  the  river  were  chosen  to  procure  the 
salt,  receive  the  casks,  and  put  up  the  provisions  for  the  Continental 
army,  for  which  the  inhabitants  were  taxed  12d.  on  the  pound.  During 
all  this  period,  and  later,  frequent  bounties  were  offered  for  able-bodied 
men  to  fill  up  the  quotas  of  the  fast-thinning  regiments  in  the  Conti- 
nental line.  Many  only  volunteered  for  three  months,  so  that  a  con- 
stant effort  was  required  to  keep  up  the  number  of  soldiers  promised 
by  the  State. 

Dec.  30,  1777,  William  Pitkin,  George  Wyllys,  Benjamin  Payne, 
Thomas  Seymour,  Jesse  Root,  John  Pitkin,  and  Benjamin  Colton, 
Esqs.,  were  appointed  to  take  into  consideration  the  Articles  of  Con- 
federation drawn  up  by  Congress  for  a  plan  of  union  to  be  adopted  by 
the  United  States  of  America,  and  to  lay  the  same  before  the  people  of 
the  town  at  their  next  meeting.  Jan.  15,  1778,  the  meeting  was  held, 
and  the  articles  did  not  meet  with  entire  approval. 

The  treaty  of  peace  with  Great  Britain  was  signed  at  Versailles, 
Jan.  20,  1783 ;  but  the  fact  was  not  known  in  Hartford  until  the 
27th  of  March,  at  seven  o'clock  a.m.,  when  ^Colonel  Wadsworth  re- 
ceived a  letter  from  Philadelphia,  dated  March  23,  containing  the 
information.  The  news  was  received  with  great  joy.  "  As  the  ex- 
press came  solely  to  bring  the  news,  and  we  had  no  doubt  of  its  being 
true,  the  inhabitants  of  this  town  manifested  their  extreme  joy  by 
the  firing  of  cannon,  ringing  of  bells,  and  in  the  evening  fireworks 
and  illuminations."  1 

1  Connecticut  Courant. 


GENERAL   HISTORY   OF  THE   TOWN.  307 

Although  the  war  was  over,  the  troubles  and  anxieties  consequent 
upon  establishing  the  new  government  on  a  firm  foundation  were  still 
to  be  encountered.  That  the  people  of  Hartford  bore  their  share  in 
these  is  shown  by  the  resolutions,  passed  in  town-meeting,  Sept.  16, 
1783,  which  the  representatives  for  Hartford — Colonel  Thomas  Sey- 
mour and  Colonel  George  Pitkin  —  were  requested  to  lay  before  the 
General  Assembly.  The  first  was  a  request  that  they  should  strenu-' 
ously  oppose  all  encroachments  of  the  American  Congress  upon  the 
sovereignty  and  jurisdiction  of  the  separate  States,  and  every  assump- 
tion of  power  not  expressly  vested  in  them  by  the  Articles  of  Confed- 
eration. And  in  particular  they  were  desired  to  investigate  the  great 
and  interesting  question  whether  Congress  was  authorized  to  give 
half-pay  for  life  to  the  officers  of  the  army,  or  five  years'  full  pay  as  an 
equivalent ;  and  how,  and  in  what  manner,  the  right  was  obtained,  and 
if  it  be  found  unconstitutional,  to  attempt  every  means  for  its  removal. 
Another  was  to  desire  the  Connecticut  delegates  in  Congress  to  protest 
against  sending  ambassadors  to  the  Courts  of  Europe,  it  being  an  ex- 
pense "in  our  present  circumstances  unnecessary  and  insupportable." 
And,  finally,  the  delegates  were  desired  to  exert  themselves  that  place- 
men and  pensioners,  and  every  other  superfluous  officer  of  State,  be 
discountenanced  and  removed,  and  that  the  yeas  and  nays  be  taken 
and  published  upon  every  important  question  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives. 

Jan.  1,  1781,  Colonel  Samuel  Talcott,  Captain  Seth  Collins,  Mr. 
Thomas  Goodman,  Mr.  Chauncey  Goodrich,  Mr.  John  Trumbull,  Colonel 
Thomas  Seymour,  Mr.  Ebcnezer  Welles,  Noah  Webster,  Esq.,  Captain 
John  Cook,  Mr.  Caleb  Bull,  Mr.  Barnabas  Deane,  Mr.  Peter  Colt, 
Captain  Jonathan  Bull,  and  Captain  Israel  Seymour  were  appointed  a 
committee  to  consider  and  lix  the  "  Limitts  "  of  that  part  of  the  whole 
of  the  town  which  is  proposed  to  be  incorporated  into  a  city,  and 
to  draw  up  a  memorial  to  the  General  Assembly  praying  for  such 
incorporation. 


(>U^iy 


cA^ t/<Z£c<rf%J 


308 


MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 


SECTION    V. 


COMMERCE  AND  BANKING. 


CO.MMEKCE. 


BY    ROWLAND    SWIFT, 

President  of  the  American  National  Bank. 

The  varied  and  always  increasing  business  which 
at  the  present  makes  use  of  and  makes  moderately 
remunerative  the  considerable  banking  capital  of 
Hartford  had  its  beginning  with  the  very  first 
plans  that  looked  to  the  settlement  of  this  region. 
It  has  followed  in  its  development  the  processes 
and  progress  of  a  contemporaneous  trade  with 
which,  from  earliest  times  and  amid  all  changes, 
it  has  shared  local  connections,  a  free  course,  and 
an  interesting  if  not  curious  history. 

Whether  Governor  Winslow,  of  Plymouth,  was 
the  first  white  man  who  had  planted  his  foot  upon 
this  soil,  or  the  Dutch  representative  of  the  West 
India  Company  had  been  here  before  him,  it  may 
fairly  be  said  that  both  were  prospecting  with  re- 
gard primarily  to  commercial  interests  when  first 
they  came.  The  Sachem  who  had  visited  Plymouth 
and  the  Massachusetts2  doubtless  full  of  fears  of  his  savage  neighbors, 
and  greatly  desirous  of  gaining  for  himself  and  those  whom  he  repre- 
sented the  friendship  and  the  arms  of  the  Englishmen,  seasoned  his 
rather  effective  eloquence  with  certain  representations  that  evidently 
moved  the  sympathies  of  his  Puritan  auditors,  however  much  or  little 
they  had  previously  been  interested  in  him  and  his  strange  people.  He 
told  them  that  yonder  by  the  banks  of  the  western  river  were  great 
magazines  of  corn.  There  also  could  readily  be  gathered  great  wealth 
of  beaver.  His  brethren  knew,  too,  where  were  treasuries  of  wampum- 
peage,  and  all  were  waiting  there  for  the  advent  and  the  barter  of  the  pale- 
faced  merchant.  And  of  these  things  the  white  man  had  desire  enough 
and  much  need  of  some.  For  corn  and  for  beaver,  if  he  was  to  get  them, 
he  must  give  in  exchange  such  merchandise  as  he  could  command,  and 
not  silver  and  gold.  He  must  offer  his  gayly  colored  blankets,  his 
trinkets  and  knives  and  hatchets  and  awls  and  what  not  for  their  wam- 
pum, and  with  this  again  he  would  buy  without  limitation  the  Indians' 
stores  of  maize  and  peltry.  So  the  appeal  of  Wahginnacut  was  timely 
at  least ;  sagacious  indeed  could  he  have  had  any  conception  of  the 
material  interests  to  which  some  of  those  before  him  were  committed. 

A  few  of  the  Plymouth  colonists,  to  whom  with  others  the  original 
patent  had  been  granted,  became  obligated  by  purchase  from  their  fellow 


1  A  copy  of  Bartholomew's  design  for  a  statue  of  Commerce. 

2  1631  j  Winthrop,  vol.  i.  p.  52. 


COMMERCE   AND   BANKING.  309 

adventurers,  some  of  whom  were  resident  in  England,  to  pay  for  it 
the  sum  of  eighteen  hundred  pounds  sterling  money.1  This  obligation, 
as  well  as  the  problem  of  temporary  supplies,  was  a  constant  and  press- 
ing incentive  to  schemes  of  trade.  It  was  a  burdensome  responsibility, 
requiring  a  watchful  administration,  and  for  the  current  necessities 
of  their  business  some  ready  means  other  than  their  own.  Governor 
Bradford  gives  a  suggestive  story  of  the  difficulty  and  cost  of  getting 
some  pecuniary  accommodations,  which  were  obtained  in  England  after 
having  "  acquainted  divers  of  our  worthy  and  approved  friends  (by  our 
letters)  with  our  raw  and  weak  estate  and  want  of  ability  of  ourselves 
to  manage  so  great  an  action  as  the  upholding  of  the  plantation."  2  In 
1G2G  Mr.  Allerton  secured  for  him  and  his  associates  in  the  application 
a  loan  of  two  hundred  pounds  sterling,  "  but  it  was  at  thirty  in  the  hun- 
dred interest ;  by  which  appears  in  what  straits  we  were ;  and  yet  this 
was  upon  better  terms  than  the  goods  which  were  sent  us  the  year  be- 
fore, being  at  forty-five  per  cent;  so  that  it  was  God's  marvellous  provi- 
dence that  we  were  ever  able  to  wade  through  things."  In  the  course 
of  the  following  year  negotiations  were  completed  by  which  Mr.  Brad- 
ford, Mr.  Winslow,  and  ten  others  associated  themselves  for  commercial 
purposes,  and  under  covenants  to  pay  and  acquit  the  colony  of  all  debts 
for  purchase  of  the  same  in  consideration  that  they  were  to  have  and 
freely  enjoy  the  pinnace  and  boats,  and  "  the  whole  stock  of  furs, 
fells,  beads,  corne,  wampumpeak,  hatchets,  knives,"  etc.,  owned  by  the 
colony,  and  that  they  were  to  have  the  whole  trade  to  themselves,  their 
heirs  and  assigns,  with  all  the  privileges  thereof  as  the  colony  had,  to 
use  the  same  for  six  full  years.     Governor  Bradford  wrote  :  — 

"We  thought  it  our  safest  and  best  course  to  come  to  some  agreement  with 
the  people  to  have  the  whole  trade  consigned  to  us  for  some  years;  and  so  in  the 
time  to  take  upon  us  to  pay  all  the  debts  and  set  them  free  :  Another  reason 
which  moved  us  was  our  great  desire  to  transport  as  many  of  our  brethren  of 
Leyden  over  unto  us,  as  we  could.  .  .  .  We  well  knew  that  except  we  followed  our 
trading  roundly,  we  should  never  he  able  to  do  the  one  or  the  other."3 

But  the  field  that  immediately  adjoined  the  colonial  settlement 
could  not  alone  support  such  extensive  operations  as  would  meet  the 
wants  or  sufficiently  reward  the  investments  of  the  company.  Almost 
at  the  very  time  the  new  association  was  being  formed,  in  1G2T-1628, 
they  had  established  a  post  upon  the  Kennebec  or  the  Penobscot,  and 
had  met  with  promising  success  there.  Other  plans  were  maturing  as 
well.  From  the  first,  two  of  the  corporators  at  least  had  been  inclined 
to  follow  upon  the  solicitations  of  the  friendly  Wahginnacut,  and  to 
secure  perhaps  the  advantages  of  pre-emption  upon  the  banks  of  the 
Connecticut.  Mr.  Winslow,  soon  after  the  Sachem's  visit  and  overtures 
to  him,  explored  this  region  personally,  by  what  route  of  approach  or 
by  what  company  attended  is  unknown.  What  he  saw  sufficiently  con- 
firmed the  representations  that  had  urged  him  to  the  ground,  and  upon 
his  return,  in  company  with  Governor  Bradford,  he  offered  and  solicited 
of  their  friends  at  the  Bay  a  participation  in  their  contemplated  enter- 
prise here.4     A  week's  visit  and  conference  over  the  proposal   failed 

1  Massachusetts  Historical  Society's  Collections. 

-  See  Shirley  to  Bradford,  Massachusetts  Historical  Society's  Collections,  vol.  iii.  p.  58. 

3  Bradford's  Letters,  Massachusetts  Historical  Society's  Collections,  vol.  iii.  p.  59. 

4  Winthrop,  vol.  i.  p.  105,  and  note.     (See  vol.  ii.  p.  497.) 


310  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

entirely,  however ;  Winthrop,  thoroughly  dreading  the  difficult  naviga- 
tion of  the  stream  and  the  dangerous  character  of  the  savages  who 
inhabited  the  adjacent  parts,  could  but  discourage  the  idea  of  planta- 
tion here.  Indeed,  his  notions  of  this  extended  region  appeared  to  be 
uniformly  alarming,  and  even  upon  maturer  information  were  tenaciously 
held.  He  records  later  by  two  years  at  least  that  "  the  country  on  the 
west  of  the  Narragansett  Bay  is  all  champaign  for  many  miles,  but  very 
stony  and  full  of  Indians.'''1 1 

But  the  interests  and  sentiments  behind  the  Company  of  Plymouth 
allowed  no  abatement  of  their  intentions.  Various  individuals  were  get- 
ting acquainted  with  the  locality  and  with  the  possibility  of  gain.  John 
Oldham  and  three  others  came  to  the  Connecticut  in  September,  1633, 
to  trade.  This,  presumably,  was  the  first  overland  pilgrimage  hither 
by  the  eastern  colonists,  unless  Mr.  Winslow  had  taken  the  forest  paths 
on  his  exploration.  Trading  parties  generally,  perhaps  in  the  interest 
of  the  Plymouth  Company,  had  taken  ship  hither  for  the  same  purpose 
occasionally  during  the  previous  two  years  and  found  their  enterprise 
rewarded  by  encouraging  profits,  with  experiences,  however,  demon- 
strating the  necessity  for  a  house  and  a  company  located  to  receive  the 
commodities  brought  down  by  the  river  Indians  and  their  allies  from 
remoter  parts.  Beaver  was  brought  here  in  abundance.  It  was  told 
that  the  Dutch  had  bought  in  a  year  not  less  than  ten  thousand  skins. 
From  Plymouth  and  Massachusetts  there  were  sent  sometimes  to  Eng- 
land the  worth  of  XI, 000  sterling  in  a  single  ship  for  which  there  had 
been  always  a  ready  market  and  for  several  years  a  growing  demand. 
In  the  mean  time  every  account  amplified  their  estimate  of  the  extensive 
opening  to  the  north  and  the  northwest  for  commerce  in  all  kinds  of  furs 
and  skins  and  in  every  product  of  the  distant  lake  regions  and  Canada. 
A  precedence  then  in  locality  here  and  in  trade  and  alliances  among 
the  resident  tribes  was  of  manifest  importance,  —  a  calculation  verified 
somewhat  by  the  known  regard  of  the  same  considerations  by  the  Dutch, 
—  while  it  was  as  reasonable  in  some  respects  that  Oldham's  private 
enterprise  should  command  their  especial  attention  and  suggest  dili- 
gence and  promptness  on  their  part.  His  neighbors  at  the  Bay  cer- 
tainly regarded  him  with  some  dislike  and  caution.  They  had  been 
forewarned  of  a  certain  boldness  and  selfishness  in  his  disposition,  and 
of  his  determination  with  a  few  others  to  trade  at  large  with  the  natives 
regardless  of  any  grants  of  the  exclusive  privilege  to  others.2  Neither 
Mr.  Bradford  nor  Mr.  Winslow,  it  may  be  supposed,  was  unacquainted 

1  Winthrop,  vol.  i.  p.  1  4t". 

2  "  Mr.  John  Oldham  came  from  New  England  not  long  hefore  your  arrivall  there,  by  whom 
wee  have  had  noe  small  Disturbance  in  our  Business,  having  bin  cast  behinde  at  the  least  two 
months  tyme  in  our  Voyage,  through  the  varyetie  of  his  vast  conceipts  of  extraordinary 
gaine :  .  .  .  with  whom  after  long  Tyme  spent  in  sundrvTreatyes,  finding  him  a  man  alto- 
gether vnfit  for  vs  to  deale  with,  wee  have  at  last  left  him  to  his  owne  way.  .  .  .  But  hee 
doth  interest  other  men  who  for  ought  wee  knowe  are  never  likely  to  be  benefitiall  to  the  plant- 
ing of  the  country  ;  their  own  particular  Profitts  (though  to  the  overthrowe  of  the  general 
plantacon)  being  their  cheife  aime  and  interest.  .  .  .  Wee  feare  that  as  he  hath  bin  obstinate 
and  vyolent  in  his  Opinions  here  soe  hee  will  persist  and  bee  ready  to  draw  a  partie  to  himself 
there,  to  the  great  Hindrance  of  the  common  quiett  ;  wee  have  therefore  thought  fitt  to  give 
you  Notice  of  his  Disposicion  to  the  end  you  may  beware  how  you  meddle  with  him,  as  also 
that  you  may  vse  the  best  Meanes  you  can  to  settle  an  Agreement  with  the  old  Planters,  soe 
as  they  may  not  barken  to  Mr.  Oldham's  dangerous  though  vaine  Propositions."  —  Gov.  & 
Dep.  of  the  N.  E.  Co.  for  a  Plantation  in  Mass.  Bay,  to  Cap1.  John  Endicott,  Apr.  17,  1629. 
{Mass.  Records,  vol.  i.  p.  388.) 


COMMERCE   AND   BANKING-.  311 

with  their  pushing  competitor,  nor  indifferent  to  the  reports  regarding 
this  journey  of  his  and  the  entertainments  and  traffic  at  Indian  towns 
"all 'the  way."1 

Their  bark  was  in  commission  within  a  month.  William  Holmes 
was  its  master,  and  as  resolute  a  man  as  has  ever  navigated  the  devious 
channel  of  the  Connecticut  River.  The  threatening  Dutchmen  already 
planted  near  the  present  site  of  the  city  of  Hartford,  although  they  for- 
bade his  passage  at  the  mouths  of  two  cannon,  failed  to  frighten  him 
from  his  course,  and  the  first  house  on  the  Connecticut  was  brought 
from  his  deck  and  erected  and  palisaded  at  the  confluence  of  the  Tunxis 
River.  Several  sachems,  original  proprietors  of  the  locality,  who  had 
been  driven  away  by  the  Pequods,  returned  with  Holmes.  Satisfactory 
purchase  was  made  from  them  of  an  ample  tract  of  land,  and  the  plucky 
navigator  was  soon  prepared  to  address  himself  to  the  wants  and  fan- 
cies of  his  aboriginal  neighbors,  who  were  found  to  be  readily  accessible, 
if  not  eager  to  possess  such  merchandise  as  he  had  in  store  to  offer 
them.  We  have  every  reason  to  suppose  that  the  business  here  inaugu- 
rated was  for  the  time  being  vigorously  prosecuted,  and  that  the  com- 
pany at  New  Plymouth  afforded  every  resource  at  its  command  for  its 
success.  The  representatives  of  the  Dutch  West  India  Company  also 
immediately  set  up  their  trading-house  near  by,  and  the  two  establish- 
ments pursued  their  trade  under  the  disadvantages  of  uncontrollable 
competitions  and  almost  hostile  misunderstandings,  while  numbers  of 
individual  adventurers  like  Oldham  from  time  to  time  appeared  on  the 
ground,  adding  considerably  to  the  volume  and  diversity  of  the  mer- 
chandise offered  for  sale  or  exchange  to  the  natives.  The  plainest 
tools  that  could  aid  them  or  their  squaws  in  their  rude  husbandry, 
coarse  colored  stuffs  that  were  convenient  for  loose  garments  or  blank- 
ets, the  simplest  hardware,  and  the  cheapest  trinketry  were  disposed  of 
broadcast  to  them.  A  brass  kettle  they  greatly  coveted.  Over  it  they 
would  stretch  and  fasten  a  dried  skin,  and  with  the  novel  drum  make 
noisy  music  for  their  pagan  dance-worship.  Sales  of  fire-arms  or  am- 
munition were  prohibited  by  the  colonial  laws  and  deprecated  in  Gov- 
ernor Bradford's  astonishing  doggerel,  but  seemed  to  prevail  to  some 
extent  regardless  of  the  inflictions  of  either.2 

1  Winthrop,  vol.  i.  p.  111. 

2  "For  these  tierce  natives,  they  are  now  so  fill'd 
With  guns  and  muskets,  and  in  them  so  skill'd, 
As  that  they  may  keep  the  English  in  awe, 
And  when  they  please,  give  to  them  the  law  ; 
And  of  powder  and  shot  they  have  such  store 
As  sometimes  they  refuse  for  to  huy  more  ; 
Flints,  screw-plates,  and  moulds  for  all  sorts  of  shot 
They  have,  and  skill  how  to  use  them  have  got ; 
And  mend  and  new  stock  their  pieces  they  can, 
As  well  in  most  things  as  an  Englishman. 
Thus  like  madmen  we  put  them  in  a  way 
"With  all  our  weapons  us  to  kill  and  slay  ; 
That  gain  hereof  to  make  they  know  so  well, 
The  fowl  to  kill,  and  us  the  feathers  sell. 

The  Indians  are  nurtured  so  well, 

As  by  no  means  you  can  get  them  to  tell 

Of  whom  they  had  their  guns  or  such  supply ; 

Or,  if  they  do,  they  will  feign  some  false  lie : 

So  as,  if  their  testimony  you  take 


312  MEMORIAL  HISTORY   OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

With  the  advent  here  of  the  colonies  from  Dorchester  and  Water- 
town  and  Newtown  in  Massachusetts,  the  consequent  assumption  and  re- 
adjustment of  territorial  ownership,  the  organization  of  the  colonial 
government  with  its  immediate  protection  and  restraints,  there  came 
no  very  sudden  or  severe  modifications  of  commercial  modes  or  endeav- 
ors, although  a  more  completely  local  interest  and  administration  en- 
sued, and  as  time  went  on  a  gradual  extension  of  relations  with  the 
surrounding  regions  and  more  frequent  and  important  signs  of  other 
commerce  appeared. 

It  is  not  easy  at  this  day  to  appreciate  how  even  the  comparatively 
limited  business  of  the  pioneer  merchants  could  be  for  so  long  a  period 
conducted  with  the  use  of  so  little  money.  In  the  simple  exchange  of 
one  commodity  for  another  the  savage  followed  a  mode  taught  him  by 
his  fathers,  to  him  the  safest  and  the  best ;  and  it  was  long  before  ex- 
perience suggested  to  him  the  convenience  and  necessity  of  a  medium 
of  general  adaptability  to  the  more  extended  practices  of  buying  and 
selling,  which  the  Englishman  with  his  education  and  his  multiplying 
affairs  had  hardly  the  tact  to  get  along  without.  The  expansion  of  the 
fields  of  operation,  with  the  increase  in  magnitude  of  individual  trans- 
actions, proved  the  primitive  standards  too  cumbersome  for  the  mani- 
fold adjustments  between  man  and  man  among  the  colonists  or  between 
the  colonist  and  the  native.  Gold  and  silver  were  present  in  the  coun- 
try in  unappreciable  amounts,  certainly  not  to  be  found  in  quantity  or 
form  to  fulfil  adequately  the  office  of  money ;  one  party  had  never 
learned  of  such  a  term  or  such  a  use  for  the  precious  metals,  or  indeed 
for  anything  else,  and  there  was  no  artificial  device  extant  to  suggest 
or  answer  this  convenience  for  the  native.  The  colonist  and  the  foreign 
trader  imported  scant  stores  of  coin,  mostly  of  silver,  and  this  was 
known  and  handled  among  them  as  money,  and  in  the  few  exchanges 
which  it  served  to  effect  was  passed  at  rates  which  the  negotiators  for 
the  time  being  should  agree  upon.  The  Court  after  a  time  interposed 
its  order  for  uniformity,  as  in  1643,  "that  good  Rialls  of  f-  and  Reix 
Dollers  shall  passe  betwixt  man  &  man  att  flue  shillings  a  peece,  in  all 
payments." 1  The  few  definite  allusions  to  coined  money  appearing  upon 
the  public  records  for  many  years  thereafter  hardly  relieved  the  rule  of 
barter  which  prevailed,  and  which  was  supplemented  by  a  system  of 
debit  and  credit  accounts  practised  among  all,  which  answered  for  the 
preservation  and  adjustment  of  most  transactions  of  a  mercantile  na- 
ture, after  a  fashion. 

In  the  course  of  their  very  first  interviews  the  curiosity  of  the  colo- 
nists had  been  attracted  by  the  conspicuous  preference  and  value  ac- 
corded by  the  natives  to  their  treasures  of  white  and  purple  beads, 
showily  disposed  specimens  of  which  constituted  the  more  refined  of 
their  personal  adornments  and  came  to  be  known  under  the  rather  in- 
discriminate term  of  wampum.     More  intimate  intercourse  discovered 

For  evidence,  little  of  it  you  can  make. 

And  of  the  English  so  many  are  guilty, 

And  deal  under-hand,  in  such  secrecy, 

As  very  rare  it  is  some  one  to  catch, 

Though  you  use  all  due  means  them  for  to  watch  ; 

Merchants,  shopkeepers,  traders,  and  planters  too, 

Sundry  of  each  spare  not  this  thing  to  do." 

Account  of  New  England. 
1  Colonial  Records,  vol.  i.  p.  86. 


COMMERCE   AND   BANKING.  313 

other  uses  and  treatment  of  the  evidently  cherished  thing.  It  seemed 
to  be  the  last  price  demanded  in  their  most  reluctant  negotiations.  It 
was  the  coveted  tribute  from  their  dependencies.  It  was  offered  as  the 
supreme  token  in  their  solemn  pledges  for  peace  or  of  alliance  in  the 
hostile  campaign.  It  was  often  strewn  upon  their  sacrifices  at  the  re- 
ligious ceremonials.  A  gift  of  it  was  the  precious  sign  and  seal  of  their 
betrothals.  It  formed  the  ornament  of  their  most"  royal  insignia,  the 
transcendent  symbol  in  every  pageant  of  war  or  worship,  and  was  the 
most  considerate  provision  for  their  dead,  disposed  at  their  burial  within 
reach  of  the  mouldering  hands,  to  supply,  as  they  conceived,  the  first  ne- 
cessities in  the  land  of  spirits.  An  examination  of  standard  specimens 
showed  an  almost  incredible  product  by  manual  labor  with  but  rude 
implements  to  assist  in  its  formation  from  the  shells  of  the  ocean  and 
its  comely  finish.  It  was  found  to  be  much  in  use  in  their  primitive 
barter,  and  for  this  was  securely  strung,  each  of  the  two  colors  carefully 
assorted  with  uniform  and  approved  quality.  It  had  its  unit  of  meas- 
ure in  this  condition  at  first,  —  the  handy  but  variable  stretch  from  the 
tip  of  the  finger  to  the  point  of  the  elbow,  which  found  an  accustomed 
acceptance  and  usage  among  all  the  tribes  of  the  shores  if  not  of  all  the 
continent,  indeed.  The  average  length  of  forearm  was  not,  however, 
always  guaranteed  among  the  Xew  Englanders.  Complaints  Avere  not 
alone  expressed  by  the  moderate  Dutchmen  who  intimated  that  the 
longest-boned  of  the  tribes  usually  received  payment  and  told  the  meas- 
ure when  wampum  was  to  complete  the  transaction.  Nevertheless  its 
ready  convertibility  for  mutual  use  commended  it  in  view  of  the  com- 
mon need ;  and  the  keen  trader  trusted  his  wits  and  plied  his  arithmetic 
mid  ventured  upon  the  chances  of  saving  his  margins  in  the  measurc- 
ments,  and  of  holding  his  own  a  part  of  the  time  at  least,  although  at 
some  times  he  encountered  more  than  one  chance.  Computation  by 
measurement  was  succeeded  by  a  process  of  enumeration,  which  seemed 
to  offer  a  more  accurate  and  intelligent  method  and  more  apparent 
justice  in  ordinary  dealings.  As  the  fathom  became  more  familiar,  and 
the  changes  in  the  price  of  beaver  and  the  standards  made  by  colonial 
enactments  changed  the  basis  of  count,  the  ensuing  differences  between 
six  or  four  or  three  for  a  penny  introduced  other  perplexities  to  the 
computation ;  and  in  all  his  puzzling  attempts  to  reconcile  his  beads, 
two  of  white  for  one  of  black,  with  pounds,  shillings,  and  pence,  the 
merchant  found,  ordinary  market  fluctuations  aside,  that  the  shell  money 
of  the  seventeenth  century  was  a  vexation.  Like  every  better  currency, 
too,  material  conditions  embarrassed  the  circulation  of  it.  The  supply 
came  to  be  expanded  by  more  facile  production.  Machinery  was  in- 
vented and  utilized  for  the  purpose.  Counterfeits  appeared,  cunningly 
wrought  and  too  common.  Ill-made  work  and  much  of  all  grades  un- 
assorted and  ill  strung  multiplied,  until  the  debasement  was  notable 
and  the  consequent  depreciation  "likely  to  ruin  the  country."  The 
Commissioners  of  the  United  Colonies  represented  "  that  the  Indyans 
abuse  the  English  with  much  badd,  false,  and  unfinished  peage,  and  that 
the  English  Traders,  after  it  comes  to  their  hands,  choose  out  whatt  fitts 
their  m'ketts  and  occasions  and  leaue  the  refuse  to  pass  to  and  fro  in  their 
Colonies ;  w-  the  Indyans  whoe  best  understand  the  quality  and  defects 
of  peague  will  not  willingly  take  back." 1    Whereupon  the  Court  ordered 

1  Colonial  Records,  vol.  i.  p.  179. 


314  MEMORIAL   HISTORY  OF    HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

that  "  no  peage  white  or  black  bee  paid  or  receiued,  but  what  is  strung, 
and  in  some  measure  strung  sutably  and  not  small  and  great,  vncomely 
and  disorderly  mixt  as  formerly  it  hath  beene ; " 1  and  the  order  was 
perpetuated  in  the  Code  of  1650.  In  1637  this  was  made  a  legal  tender 
in  payment  of  the  "  levey  of  six  hundred  and  twenty  poundes  to  be  levied 
for  to  defray  the  charges  of  the  late  designes  of  warr  that  is  already  past, 
...  at  fower  a  penny."2  If  it  retained  this  distinctive  quality  after  1661 
in  this  colony,  Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Island  had  discontinued  it;  but 
as  late  as  1666  there  was  granted  "  to  Norwidge  50  fathoms  of  Wampum 
or  ye  effects  thereof;"  at  which  time,  however,  and  after  all  the  vicissi- 
tudes in  colonial  finance,  the  tender  did  not  seem  to  be  satisfactory,  and 
"  upon  the  petition  of  Norwidge  in  liew  of  the  fifty  fathom  of  peage  for- 
merly ordered  to  them,  doe  order  the  Treasurer  to  pay  them  fiue  pounds 
out  of  the  next  Country  Rate."  3 

Care  for  the  security  and  prosperity  of  the  colonists  on  the  Con- 
necticut inspired  and  directed  many  of  their  first  enterprises  in  trade. 
The  public  necessities  soon  and  often  moved  the  Court  to  restrictive 
measures,  and  in  some  instances  to  the  granting  of  privileges  quite  in 
the  nature  of  monopolies.  Whatever  may  have  been  the  promise  of  the 
earliest  adventures,  emergencies  appeared  which  interrupted  them,  and 
the  declaration  "that  there  shall  be  an  offensive  warr  ag*.  the  Pequoitt" 
virtually  brought  "Harteford  Town,  Wythersfield,  and  Windsor"  under 
martial  law  for  the  time  being.  Although  hostilities  against  this  dan- 
gerous tribe  were  happily  so  brief  and  so  successful,  they  had  effected 
great  inconvenience  and  embarrassment  to  the  planters.  The  Court 
must  take  active  and  extraordinary  measures  in  view  of  their  concep- 
tion that  the  plantations  would  be 

"  in  some  want  of  Indian  Corne.  And  on  the  same  Consideracon  wee  conceiue 
if  every  man  may  be  at  liberty  to  trucke  with  the  Indians  vppon  the  Eiver  where 
the  supply  of  Corne  in  all  likeliwood  is  to  bee  had  to  furnish  or  necessities,  the 
market  of  Corne  among  the  Indians  may  he  greatly  advanced  to  the  preiudice  of 
these  plantacons.  wee  therefore  thinke  meete  and  doe  soe  order  that  noe  man  in 
this  River  nor  Agawam  shall  goe  vpp  River  amonge  the  Indians  or  at  home  at  their 
houses  to  trade  for  Corne  or  make  any  contract  or  bargaine  amonge  them  for 
Corne  either  privately  or  publiquely."  4 

In  March,  1638,  Mr.  William  Pynchon,  of  Agawam,  agreed  — 

"to  deliver  att  Harteford  good  Marchantahle  Indian  Corne  att  5*.  pr  bushell 
as  farr  as  500  bushells  will  goe  at,  if  hee  can  save  by  that ;  for  the  residue  hee  is 
to  have  5s.  2d.  pr  bushell. ...  In  consideracon  whereof  the[re]  is  a  restraint  of  any 
to  goe  upp  the  Eiver  to  trade  with  the  Indians  for  Corne ;  as  alsoe,  if  any  In- 
dians bring  downe  any  Corne  to  vs  wee  are  not  to  exceede  4s.  pr  bushell  .  .  . 
prouided  alsoe  that  if  the  said  Mr.  Pincheon  hee  inforced  to  raise  the  price  with 
the  Indians  of  sixe  sixes  of  Wampom  a  pecke,  then  the  plantacons  are  to  increase 
the  pay  of  5s.  pr  bushell ;  if  hee  can  abate  anything  hee  will  sett  of  soe  much  of 
5s.  pr  bushell." 

This  arrangement  did  not  meet  the  necessities  of  the  time.  The 
scarcity  became  distressing,  the  prices  almost  prohibitory.      A  ship 

1  Colonial  Records,  vol.  i.  p.  546.  2  Hud.,  p.  12. 

3  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.  pp.  35  and  83.  *  Ibid.,  vol.  i.  p.  11. 


COMMERCE   AND  BANKING.  315 

was  sent  to  the  Narragansett  country  to  purchase  further  supplies,  and 
committees  also  to  Pocomtock  (Deerficld),  notwithstanding  the  former 
agreement  with  Mr.  Pynchon.  It  appears  by  the  statement  of  Captain 
.John  Mason  that  these  negotiations  up  the  River  secured  large  quanti- 
ties of  corn,  fifty  canoe-loads  being  sent  down  at  one  time.  Dissatis- 
faction followed  upon  the  results  of  Mr.  Pynchon's  agency, "  for  that  as 
was  concerned,  &  uppon  prfe  apprcd,  he  was  not  soe  carefull  to  prmote  the 
publicque  good  in  the  trade  of  Corne  as  hee  was  bounde  to  doc,"  and  a 
fine  of  forty  bushels  of  corn  to  be  paid  to  the  treasurer  was  entered 
against  him.  Whatever  the  justice  or  injustice  of  this  imposition,  the 
memory  of  it  did  not  debar  him  further  preference  of  similar  nature;  and 
when  for  a  valuable  consideration  the  exclusive  trade  in  beaver  was 
secured  for  Windsor  to  Mr.  Ludlow  and  Mr.  Hull,  for  Hartford  to 
Mr.  Whiting  and  Tho.  Stanton,  and  for  Wcthersfield  to  Geo.  Hub- 
bard and  Rich.  Lawes,  Mr.  Pynchon  secured  the  privilege  for  Aga- 
wam.1  The  father  of  the  Springfield  colony  was  an  active  and  an  able 
tradesman,  and  evidently  found  his  account  in  the  opportunities  of  his 
times,  sometimes  possibly  in  the  emergencies  of  his  contemporaries.2 
Some  of  his  few  published  letters  illustrate  the  variety  of  his  dealings 
and  his  acquaintance  with  methods  of  business  which  not  till  a  later 
century,  upon  the  appearance  and  development  of  more  diversified 
local  interests,  came  to  any  common  practice  here.  It  may  be  safely 
presumed  that  he  affixed  as  early  a  date  as  any  drawer  to  any  bill  of 
exchange  addressed  to  parties  on  the  Connecticut,  as  the  following 
missive,  warm  with  friendly  greetings  as  it  is  diligent  in  business, 
explains :  — 

To  the  Bight   Worskipfull  &•  my  worthy  ffrend  Mr.  John   Winthrop  at   Quincttecot  Riuer 

month,  delr  this 

Roxbury,  July  4,  1636. 

Deere  &  worthy  Freind,  —  My  true  loue  remembered  :  I  sent  you  a  few  lines 
by  laud,  &  now  againe  by  sea,  to  assuer  you  that  I  forget  you  not :  &  the  name 
of  your  good  health  is  good  newes  vnto  me.  I  suppose  the  former  parsell  of 
Cloth  is  nearly  all  gonu,  &  therefore  I  haue  sent  you  a  smale  parsell  more ;  the 
best  that  euer  came  to  Quincttecot :  the  contentes  are  as  followeth,  viz.  :  — 

33  y.  of  tauny  :  plain  wool 
39  y.  f    tauny  shagg 
38  y.  £    liuer  culler  shagg 
38  y.       marry  shagg 

37  y.  £    niurry  shagg 

38  y.  of  liuer  culler  shagg    , 

All  thes  at  85.  per  yard,  better  cloth  by  much  then  any  I  see  heere  in  the 
Bay. 

I  pray  accept  my  Bill  of  exchang  to  you,  by  Mr.  Peeter,  for  63li  :  &  as  for 
the  freight  of  the  Blessing  formerly,  I  have  a  perfett  account  of  it :  but  I  have 
not  mett  with  Anthony  Dike  to  confer  my  notes  with  him.  &  as  for  the  fraught 
of  the  Batcheller,  I  shall  mak  upp  the  tunag  with  Mr<  Gose  at  Watertowne ;  for 

1  Colonial  Records,  vol.  i.  p.  20. 

2  "  Yor  your  debt  I  am  solicitous  oft,  and  I  think  the  long  before  now  I  was  never 
demanded  twice  in  my  life,  neither  should  this,  I  hope,  if  not  for  the  wars  that  I  cannot  go  into 
the  Bay  to  settle  business  to  pay  your  debt,  which  is  the  greatest  I  owe  in  the  world.  There- 
fore pray,  Sir,  have  patience,  and  as  soon  as  possible  I  will  take  a  course  to  give  you  satisfac- 
tion ;  and  in  the  mean  any  of  my  estate  is  at  your  service  to  dispose  of  for  so  much."  — Roger 
Ludlow  to  Wm.  Pynclwn,  Windsor,  May  17, 1637.  (Massachusetts  Historical  Collections,  vol. 
viii.  p.  236.) 


225  y.  @  8,9.  90//.  0s.  Od. 


316  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF   HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

thither  I  haue  conditioned  that  she  must  deliuer  our  goods.  I  asked  Lieftenant 
Gibins,  before  I  would  hier  her,  if  she  might  goe  as  far  as  AYatertowne,  &  he  con- 
fidently affirmed  she  might,  &  that  there  is  water  enough  :  therefore  I  pray  giue 
all  the  furtherance  you  can.  Also  I  receiued  a  parsell  of  course  wampam  from 
you,  but  I  could  not  trade  any  of  it,  because  others  were  furnished  with  plenty 
of  better  :  but  if  you  will  send  me  a  parsell  of  a  100  or  200  fathom  of  fine 
white  wampam,  I  shall  accept  it  as  beuer.  If  you  sell  not  this  cloth,  keepe  it  in 
good  condition  &  I  will  take  it  againe.  As  for  vsing  ould  traders  to  trade  for 
you,  it  is  not  the  best  way  for  your  gaine  :  for  they  know  how  to  sane  themselues ; 
but  a  trusty  man  that  neuer  was  a  trader  will  quickly  find  the  way  of  trading 
&  bring  you  best  profitt.     &  so  the  God  of  peace  be  with  you  euer. 

Your  euer  louing  ffreind, 

William  Pynchon.1 

"  The  great  expense  yerely  to  be  laid  out  to  fetch  in  supply  fro 
other  parts  in  such  cofhodities  as  are  of  necessary  vse  "  afforded  a  topic 
for  anxious  discussion  in  the  councils  of  the  Court,  which  appeared  with 
renewed  urgency  whenever  the  pressure  of  warlike  affairs  abated.  Such 
an  expense  seemed  likely  to  increase.  New  wants  appeared  faster 
than  the  wealth  of  "  this  poor  wilderness  people  "  accumulated.  Close 
upon  a  measure  appropriating  lands  to  encourage  wheat-raising  for 
export,  came  one  evidently  much  in  favor  with  the  excellent  Governor 
Hopkins.  Mr.  Mather  recorded  of  this  chief  magistrate  of  our  colony 
that  "his  descent  and  breeding  first  fitted  him  for  the  condition  of  a 
Turkey  Merchant  in  London,  where  he  lived  for  several  years  in  good 
fashion  and  esteem."  His  calling  had  acquainted  him  with  a  growing 
and  perhaps  profitable  demand  in  England  for  the  cotton  product  of 
the  Levant.  From  it,  by  mixture  with  linen,  a  coarse  cotton  goods  had 
been  made  in  Lancashire  for  several  years,  the  simplest  of  handicraft 
furnishing  yarns  only  suitable  for  such  a  heavy  fabric.  This  staple, 
grown  in  Egypt  and  Syria,  had  found  its  way  to  Great  Britain  at  first 
in  small  quantities,  until  its  use  for  manufacture  became  known  and  the 
consumption  of  it  increased,  when  the  Turkey  merchants  found  increas- 
ing gains  as  they  sought  and  secured  more  frequent  and  larger  consign- 
ments which  they  safely  brought,  in  spite  of  the  ordinary  perils  of  the 
sea  and  in  spite  of  the  Barbary  corsairs.2  Another  source  of  supply  in 
the  West  Indies  was  doubtless  known  at  this  time,  and,  there  is  reason 
to  suppose,  where  a  supply  of  a  better  article  was  to  be  found.  As  early 
as  1628  a  colony  at  Barbadoes  had  stipulated  to  pay  for  their  lands 
purchased  of  English  owners,  in  cotton,  40  pounds  a  year.  So  that  it  does 
not  appear  whether  the  Governor's  proposed  adventure  contemplated 
voyages  to  the  further  shores  of  the  Mediterranean,  or  only  to  the  isles 
nearer  home ;  nor  does  it  appear  just  what  were  the  possibilities  of  im- 
provement of  the  staple  when  brought  to  the  Connecticut,  or  what  the 
chances  of  exchange  that  promised  to  make  the  importation  profitable 
to  the  movers  in  the  enterprise  or  particularly  comfortable  to  anybody. 
However,  in  furtherance  thereof,  and  for  security  in  some  measure 
against  individual  loss,  the  Governor  himself  and  his  deputies  are  upon 
record,  Feb.  8,  1640,  as  follows  :  — 

"  Whereas  yt  is  thought  necessary  for  the  comfortable  support  of  these  plan- 
tations, that  a  trade  of  Cotten  wooll  be  sett  vppon  and  attempted,  for  the  furthering 

1  Massachusetts  Historical  Society's  Collections,  4th  ser.,  vol.  vi.  p.  371. 

2  London  Quarterly  Review,  vol.  xv.  p.  500  ;  Chambers's  Journal,  vol.  xxxix.  p.  138. 


COMMERCE   AND   BANKING.  317 

whereof  yt  hath  pleased  the  Gouernor,  that  now  is,  to  vndertake  the  fumisheing 
and  setting  forth  a  vessell  wth  convenient  speed  to  those  parts  where  the  said 
comodity  is  to  be  had  yf  yt  proue  phesable  :  In  consideration  whereof,  as  also 
fro  the  considerations  in  the  former  order  specified,  It  is  ordered  by  the  Authority 
aforesaid,  that  vppon  the  Retume  of  the  said  vessel),  the  Plantations  by  prportion 
shall  take  offe  the  said  Gotten  at  such  valuable  consideration  as  yt  may  be  afforded, 
according  as  chardge  shall  aryse  and  acreue  therevppon  :  the  pay  for  the  said 
Cotten  wooll  to  be  made  in  Englishe  Corne  or  Pype-staues  as  the  Country  shall 
afford  :  The  prportions  to  be  diuyded  and  laid  vppon  the  seurall  Towaies  are  accord- 
ing to  the  diuision  of  the  last  Country  Rate.  And  for  the  better  prsearning  of 
Tymber,  that  the  Country  may  haue  p'visions  of  Pypestaues  for  the  furthering 
the  said  trade  of  Cotten  Wooll,  It  is  Ordered  that  no  Tymber  shall  be  felled 
from  wthout  the  bounds  of  these  Plantations,  wthout  lycence  fro  the  prticuler 
Courte,  nor  any  Pipestaues  to  be  sould  out  of  the  Eiuer  wthout  alowance  fro  the 
said  Courte."  1 

It  is  not  known  to  what  lengths  this  interesting  design  was  con- 
ducted, or  whether  it  was  found  "  phesable,"  or  ultimately  that  any 
considerable  importations  by  its  promoters  were  made,  or  for  what  they 
were  made  profitable.  The  following  minutes,  however,  appear  in  the 
Colonial  Records  (vol.  i.),  and  are  suggestive  :  — 

"Septem.  the  8th  1642  :  Its  agreed  that  Wyndsor  shall  take  offe  the  worth 
of  90/.  in  Cotten  Wooll,  fro  Mr.  Hopkins;  Wethersfield,  the  worth  of  110/.; 
Hartford  200/.  ;  wth  liberty  to  the  Plantations  to  p'portion  yt  according  to  their 
former  Eats,  if  Wyndsor  and  Wethersfield  shall  wthin  on  month  desire  yt." 

"  October  the  4th  1642:  Its  ordered  there  shall  be  90  Coats  prvided  wthin 
these  Plant"8,  wthin  term  dayes,  basted  wth  cotten  wooll  and  made  defensiue  ag*. 
Indean  arrowes ;  Hartford  40,  Wyndsor  30,  Wethersfield  20." 

Thus  it  is  to  be  supposed  some  use  for  the  staple  was  found  at  once, 
and  perhaps  further  demand  for  it  immediately  followed.  A  letter  of 
Mr.  William  Pcad,  of  Barbadoes,  to  John  Winthrop  (1646),  complains, 
because  "  I  have  been  credibly  informed  by  some  who  have  been  lately 
in  your  parts,  that  cotton  wools  did  yield  a  better  price  at  that  time 
mine  were  vended ; "  and  this  would  indicate  that  the  new  market  was 
not  equal  to  the  growing  supply  ;  other  commodities  were  coming  here 
from  this  quarter  in  greater  measure  than  was  desired,  and  called  for 
some  restrictions  upon  their  admission ; 2  but  the  cotton-wool  trade  was 
apparently  favored  to  the  very  moderate  extent  which  the  means  and 
convenience  of  the  colonists  would  allow. 

For  more  than  a  half  century  following  these  dates  there  are  to  be 
observed  comparatively  few  indications  of  a  growing  commercial  enter- 
prise. More  or  less  extensive  hostilities  with  Indians  threatened  from 
year  to  year,  until  at  the  outbreak  of  and  during  Philip's  War  the  dread- 
ful suspense  was  in  large  measure  realized.  Even  the  fear  of  conflicts 
with  the  Dutch  was  finally  disposed  of  only  when  the  patent  of  the 
Duke  of  York  was  asserted  and  Peter  Stuyyesant  surrendered  to  Colonel 
Nichols.  The  tension  of  the  public  expectation  during  the  canvass  of 
the  Charter  interests  with  Governor  Winthrop  at  the  British  Court ; 

1  Colonial  Records,  vol.  i.  pp.  59,  60. 

2  "It  is  also  ordered  that  whatsoever  Barbados  Liquors,  commonly  caled  Rum,  Kill  Deuill, 
or  the  like,  shall  be  landed  in  any  place  of  this  Jurisdictyon,  and  any  part  thereof  drawn  and 
sould  in  any  vessell,  .  .  .  shall  be  all  forfeited  &  confiscated."  —  Colonial  Records,  vol.  i. 
p!  255. 


318  MEMORIAL  HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

the  agitation  between  Hartford  and  New  Haven  colonies;  the  startling 
dangers  at  the  invasion  of  Andros  ;  and  again  the  rallying  alarms  for 
defence  against  the  French  and  Indians,  —  all  these  momentous  and  ab- 
sorbing affairs  in  their  times  engaged  every  mind  and  well-nigh  subor- 
dinated every  endeavor  for  trade.  Shipments  of  furs,  skins,  timber, 
cereals,  and  in  fact  of  almost  every  product  of  the  country,  limited  and 
uncertain  as  they  were,  were  hampered  earlier  or  later  by  some  restric- 
tive mandate  of  the  Court.1  No  inconsiderable  burden  and  hindrance 
was  that  imposed  upon  the  exports  from  the  river  by  the  tolls  secured 
to  Mr.  Fenwick  for  ten  years  in  the  conditions  of  the  settlement  with 
him.  These  cumbersome  regulations  were  of  course  suggested  by  vari- 
ous emergencies,  and  upon  occasion  were  variously  and  specially  modi- 
fied. Permission  was  granted  in  1649  "  to  Sain:  Smith  and  the  rest  of 
the  owners  of  the  shipp  at  Wethersfield  libberty  to  get  and  make  so 
many  pipestaues  as  will  freight  out  the  said  shipp  the  first  voyage,  pro- 
vided they  doe  it  out  of  the  bounds  of  any  of  the  Townes  vppon  the 
River  within  this  Jurisdiction."  2  In  answer  to  a  petition  of  Mr.  Gershom 
Bulkeley,  of  Wethersfield,  the  Council,  in  April,  1676,  granted  to  him 
"liberty  to  transport  60  bushels  of  cornc  to  Boston  in  Mr.  Goodall's 
Ketch  to  purchass  som  necessaries  and  phissical  druggs ; "  and  again 
he  was  permitted  (by  the  Court),  October,  1677,3  to  "  transport  two  hun- 
dred of  deere  skinns  out  of  this  Colony  this  next  yeare,  any  law  to  the 
contrary  notwithstanding ; "  while  under  stress  of  his  urgent  appeal 
(1671),  Jeremy  Osborn,  of  New  Haven,  was  relieved  to  the  extent  that 
he  might  "transport  about  fowertecn  pounds  worth  of  leather  to  pur- 
chass a  servant  for  himself  in  the  Bay  to  help  carry  an  end  his  trade."  4 
Nevertheless  the  progress  of  our  affairs  had  been  but  moderate  when 
in  1680  the  Governor  and  Council  made  reply  to  the  interrogatories  of 
the  Committee  for  Trade,  etc.,  of  His  Majesty's  Council,  as  will  appear 
from  extracts  therefrom  :  — 

"  Our  cheif  Trade,  for  procuring  of  cloathing,  is  by  sending  what  provissions 
we  rays  to  Boston,  where  we  buy  goods  with  it,  to  cloath  vs. 

"  The  trade  \vth  the  Indians  in  this  Colony  is  worth  nothing,  for  by  reason  of 
warrs  they  have  wth  other  remote  Indians  they  get  litle  pelfry. 

"  Our  principle  Townes  are  Hartford  vpon  Conecticutt  river,  New  London 
vpon  Pequot  River,  New  Haven  and  Fayretield  by  the  sea  side  :  in  which  townes 

1  April,  1642,  "  It  is  Ordered  there  shall  be  a  restraynt  for  any  prson  \v"'in  this  Jurisdiction 
fro  trading  \vth  Indeans  in  Long  Island,  vntill  the  Courte  in  September  com  twelue  month ;  only 
Tho:  Steynton  and  Richard  Lord  haue  liberty  to  goe  one  vyadge  for  the  putting  offe  the  smale 
cohiodityes  they  haue  pruided  for  that  end,  and  to  gather  in  their  old  debts."  —  Colonial 
Records,  vol.  i.  p.  72. 

2  Colonial  Records,  vol.  i.  p.  200. 

3  "To  the  Honered  Genu  Assembly  met  at  Hartford,  Octobr  11,  1677.  The  petition  of 
Gershom  Bulkeley  humbly  sheweth  : 

"That  whereas  yr  petitioner  hath  been  enformed  that  by  a  late  act  of  this  Assembly  the 
exportation  of  Deere  Skins  out  of  this  Colony  is  p'hibited  :  His  humble  request  is,  that  this 
Honored  Assembly  will  grant  him  a  permission  from  time  to  time  to  export  what  he  may  re- 
ceaue  thereof  :  it  being  a  comodity  which  he  had  intended  &  doth  yet  hope  to  improve  for  a 
continuall  supply  of  medicines  :  &  which  being  a  matter  not  so  much  of  private  benefit  as  of 
general  &  necessary  concernment,  may  this  Assembly  please  to  grant  his  small  request,  you 
shall  further  oblige,  Honored  gents,  Your  very  Serv1, 

(Col.  Archives  :  Trade  and  Maritime  Affairs,  vol.  i.  Doc.  1.)  Gershom  Bulkeley." 

[For  access  to  this  and  other  interesting  original  papers,  and  for  various  valuable  sugges- 
tions pertaining  to  this  article,  the  writer  is  indebted  to  Mr.  Charles  J.  Hoadly,  the  State 
librarian.] 

4  Colonial  Records,  vol.  ii.  pp.  119,  325,  433. 


COMMERCE   AND   BANKING.  319 

is  managed  the  principall  trade  of  the  colony.  Our  Buildings  are  generally  of 
wood ;  some  there  are  of  stone  and  brick  :  many  of  them  of  good  strength  and 
comelynesse  for  a  wilderness,  both  those  of  wood,  stone,  and  brick  :  [many  40  foot 
long  and  20  foot  broad,  and  some  larger;  three  and  four  stories  high.1] 

"  The  Comodities  of  the  country  are  Wheat,  Peas,  By,  Barly,  Indian  Com, 
and  Porck,  Beif,  Woole,  Hemp,  Flax,  Cyder,  Perry,  and  Tarr,  deal  boards,  Pipe 
Staves,  Horses  :  but  to  say  the  yearly  value  of  what  is  exported,  or  spent  upon 
the  place,  we  cannot.  The  most  is  transported  to  Boston,  and  there  bartered  for 
(loathing.  Some  small  cpiantities  directly  sent  to  Barbadoes,  Jamaican,  and  other 
Caribia  Islands,  and  there  bartered  for  sugar,  cotton  wool,  and  rumme,  and  some 
money  :  and  now  and  then,  rarely,  some  vessells  are  laden  with  Staves,  Pease, 
Porck,  and  Flower,  to  Maderah  and  Fyall,  and  there  barter  their  comodities  for 
"Wine.  We  have  no  need  of  Virginia  trade ;  most  people  planting  so  much  Tobacco 
as  they  spend. 

"  Our  wheat  haveing  been  much  blasted  and  o-  pease  spoyled  with  worrnes 
for  sundry  yeares  past,  abates  much  of  o-  trade. 

"  For  the  Materialls  for  Shipping,  here  is  good  Timber  of  Oak,  Pine,  and 
Spruce  for  masts,  oake  boards  and  pine  boards  and  tarr  and  pitch,  and  hemp. 
[Some  sayle  cloth  is  allready  made  in  these  parts,  but  no  great  quantity.2] 

"The  value  of  the  comodities  imported  yearely  we  cannot  compute,  but  pos- 
sibly it  is  8  or  9,0001i. 

"In  o-  colony  there  are  about  20  petty  merchants.  Some  trade  only  to  Bos- 
ton, some  to  Boston  and  the  Indies,  other  to  Boston  and  New  York,  others  to 
Boston,  the  Indies,  and  Newfoundland.  As  for  forrain  merchants,  few,  and  very 
seldom,  trade  hither. 

"There  are  but  few  servants  amongst  us  and  less  slaves,  not  above  30  as  we       ^ 
judge  in  the  colony.  .  .  .  And  for  Blacks,  there  comes  sometimes  3  or  4  in  a  year 
from  Barbadoes;  and  they  are  sold  usually  at  the  rate  of  221i.  apiece,  sometimes 
more  and  sometimes  less,  according  as  men  can  agree  with  the  master  of  vessells, 
or  merchants  that  bring  them  hither. 

"As  to  the  estates  of  the  merchants,  we  can  make  no  guess  of  them  :  but  as 
for  the  estates  of  the  Corporation  in  general,  it  doth  amount  to  110,788  lis. 
Houses  are  so  chargeable  to  mainetaine  that  they  are  not  valued  in  the  above- 
mentioned  suniin. 

"It  is  rare  any  Vessells  come  to  trade  with  us  but  what  come  from  Massachu- 
sets  Colony  or  N.  Yorke  :  but  sundry  of  their  -vessells  doe  come  and  transport 
0-  provissions  for  o-  merchants  to  Boston." 

Among-  their  own  vessels  enumerated  were  :  "  Middletown,  1  ship, 
70  tunti :  Hartford  1  ship.  90  ttmn."  3  In  answer  to  the  query,  "  What 
obstructions  do  you  find  to  the  improvement  of  the  trade  and  navigation 
of  your  corporation  ?"  it  is  replied:  "  The  want  of  men  of  Estates  to  ven- 
ture abroad,  and  of  money  at  home  for  the  management  of  trade,  and 
labor  being  so  dear  to  us." 

While  business  witli  the  outside  world  was  going  on  as  best  it  might, 
we  must  not  suppose  that  neighborly  "  dicker  "  was  left  entirely  to  take 

1  The  words  included  in  brackets  crossed  out  in  the  original  document. 

2  Crossed  out. 

3  This  was  probably  the  "  Hartford  Merchant,"  a  "  Ketch,"  bought  in  Boston  by  Rich- 
ard Lord  and  John  Blaekleach.  about  1676.  (See  Connecticut  Archives,  Private  Controversies, 
vol.  ii.  docs.  34,  44.)  The  ship  (or  barque)  "  called  'The  Tryall,'  "  Greenfield  Larrabe,  mas- 
ter, was  at  "Wethersfiekl  as  early  as  1649,  and  appears  to  have  been  owned  there.  Between 
1660  and  16S0,  we  find  the  names,  as  of  Hartford,  of  the  "Ship  Entrance"  (Sept.  1664); 
"  Ship  America,"  about  70  tons,  bought  by  John  Blaekleach  and  Richard  Lord,  May,  1669, 
and  thru  in  Connecticut  River  ;  and  "  Ketch  Adventure,"  built  at  Wethersfield,  sold  by  John 
Bidwell,  about  1674. 


320  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

care  of  itself.  The  weekly  market  at  Hartford  was  instituted  in  1643, 
and  a  place  central  and  convenient,  probably  upon  the  space  southeast 
of  our  present  post-office  and  city  hall,  appointed  for  every  Wednesday 
"  for  all  manner  of  Comodityes  that  shall  be  brought  in,  and  for  cattell, 
or  any  marchandise  w-soeuer."  And  two  years  after,  "  two  Fayres  to 
be  kept  yearely  att  Hartford,  one  vppon  the  second  Wenesday  in  Maye, 
the  other  the  2d  Wensday  in  Septeber,"  were  authorized  by  the  General 
Court.  These  institutions,  prized  for  the  facilities  afforded  for  exchange 
and  traffic,  precious,  too,  for  the  old-country  associations  preserved  by 
them,  long  held  their  place ;  the  latter  in  some  form  recurring  among 
us  until  recent  days. 

The  town  of  Lebanon  in  1763  appointed  an  agent,  whose  memorial 
to  the  General  Assembly  bears  the  autograph  of  u  Jona  Trumble,"  and 
set  forth  — 

"  That  Fairs  and  Markets  are  found  Beneficial  &  Serviceable  to  facilitate  the 
Transaction  of  Business  among  people  in  a  manner  both  expeditious  and  advan- 
tageous, and  the  situation  &  circumstances  of  the  said  Town  of  Lebanon  are  such 
as  render  it  convenient  &  fit  in  our  apprehension  for  a  Fair  &  market  to  be  set 
up  &  kept  there." 

The  town  of  Windham,  a  close  neighbor  and  in  close  competition, 
urged  before  the  same  session,  — 

"  That  Fairs  and  Markets  are  set  up  and  kept  in  many  towns  and  places  in 
Great  Britain,  and  by  long  experience  have  been  found  to  be  of  great  &  publick 
advantage,  as  it  facilitates  Trade,  encouraging  industry,  and  is  an  easy  way  of 
supplying  each  subject  with  what  he  wants  to  buy,  and  an  expeditious  method  of 
vending  of  the  produce  of  every  kind  that  any  one  has  to  spare.  And  that  it 
would  be  a  gracious  and  fit  thing  to  grant  the  liberty  of  a  Fair  and  Market  to 
Windham." 

A  similar  petition  came  from  the  town  of  Salisbury  (1785),  "  lying- 
in  the  Northwest  Corner  of  the  state,  adjoining  the  States  of  New  York 
and  Boston,  and  scituate  to  accomidate  the  trade  in  this  state  and  bring 
in  money  from  the  others." 

Local  and  petty  trade  was  protected  and  favored  by  such  legal  pro- 
visions as  seemed  to  be  needed,  and  directly  and  indirectly  rather  care- 
fully restricted,  too,  it  must  be  allowed,  as  occasion  was  urged.  An 
order  of  1640  prohibitory  of  "  excesse  in  apparrelle,"  and  prohibiting 
inordinate  profits  to  sellers  of  commodities  of  common  merchandise, 
declared  power  of  the  courts  to  censure  such  disorders.  Retailers  of 
tobacco  would  be  embarrassed  if  now  confronted  by  a  public  sentiment 
like  that  which  we  may  suppose  sustained  the  enactment  of  1647, — 

"That  noe  prson  under  the  age  of  20  years,  nor  any  other  that  hath  not  alreddy 
accustomed  himself  to  the  vse  thereof,  shall  take  any  Tobacco  vntil  he  haue  brought 
a  Certificat  vnder  the  hand  of  some  who  are  approued  for  knowledg  &  skill  in 
phisicke,  that  it  is  vsefull  for  him,  and  also  that  he  hath  receaued  a  lycence  fro  the 
Court  for  the  same," 

Other  prohibitory  language  in  this  behalf  was  as  formidable  in  ap- 
pearance, as  well  as  much  that  was  aimed  at  "  excesse  in  Wyne  and 
strong  waters ; "  but,  apparently,  it  was  dangerously  susceptible  of  such 
various  constructions  as  to  leave  the  traffic  too  nearly  free. 

The  pedler,  Gentile  and  Jew,  was  here  certainly  as  soon  as  wanted, 


COMMERCE   AND   BANKING.  321 

and  engaged  the  watch  and  care  of  the  authorities  forthwith.  As  early 
as  1643"  "many  laborers  and  workmen  complayne  that  they  are  forced 
to  put  offe  their  Corne  wci'  they  receaue  for  their  worke  to  seuerall  Chap- 
men, for  comodityes,  at  a  cheper  rate  than  they  take  yt  art;"  a 
characteristic  business,  to  be  sure ;  and  the  Court"  enjoined  it  without 
ceremony  or  many  words. 

At  the  Hartford  Session  of  the  General  Court,  Nov.  9,  1650, 

"  David  the  Jew,  for  his  misdemeanour  in  going  into  houses  when  the  heads 
of  ye  families  wr  absent,  and  tradeing  p'vision  from  children,  and  for  such  like 
misdemean"  is  fined  20- ." 

Itinerants  of  various  nationalities  made  their  appearance  in  increas- 
ing numbers  as  the  population  increased.  Their  abundance  and  their 
offensive  competition  awakened  the  fears  and  the  opposition  of  resident 
tradesmen  in  the  colony,  and  finally,  in  1727,  moved  numerous  citizens 
of  Stonington  to  offer  an  urgent  and  expressive  memorial  to  the  Assem- 
bly 1  in  answer  to  which  an  act  for  the  suppression  of  them  was  passed, 
and  so  rigorously  prosecuted  too  as  to  evoke  many  fervent  if  ineffectual 
prayers  for  relief.2     Altogether,  our  industrious  legislators  recorded 

1  "To  the  Honrf  Gov.,  Dep"  Gov.,  and  House  of  Magistrates,  And  to  the  Worshipfull 
Speaker  and  House  of  Representatives  together  assembled  &  sitting  in  Generall  Court  or  As- 
sembly at  Hartford,  within  and  for  His  Majesties  Colony  of  Connecticut,  this  ll'i1  Day  of 
May,  A.  D.  1727  :  The  Humble  Petition,  Request,  and  Prayer  of  us  the  Subscribers,  yr  Hon" 
most  humb1  suppliants,  Freeholders  In  said  Colony,  most  humbly  sheweth :  That  whereas  we, 
your  hons  most  Hum1  Suppliants,  Do  count  it  a  great  unhappiness  To  this  Colony  In  General 
to  be  Infessted  and  oppressed  with  such  Multitudes  of  foreign  or  Perigrine  Pedlers  who  flock 
into  this  colony  &  travail  up&  Down  in  it  With  Packs  of  Goods  to  sell;  Gratly  to  the  Preju- 
dice of  Such  in  Particular  (yor  Hon™  Dutifull  Inhabitants),  Who  not  only  make  it  theirwhole 
Imploy,  But  prhaps  many  of  them  arc  in  no  other  way  to  maintain  and  support  their  famelys. 
Men  Through  much  paines  and  fatigue  l>o  keep  by  them  all  Sourtes  of  ncsscssarvs  to  supply 
their  neighbours  with  on  reasonable  terms,  and  are  taxed  yearly  for  their  sd  Privelidge  and 
faculty,  which  they  not  only  readily  But  Gladly  Pay,  While  those  Strangers  and  foreigners 
Carry  off  y°  profitt:  If  yor  hon?  Please  to  look  in  the  proseedings  in  Great  Britain  in  such  af- 
fairs, we  hum!?  believe  yo*  honl  will  find  no  presedent  for  the  tolleration  of  such  practice  there 
as  Pedlers  traveling  about  among  private  houses  with  Packs  of  Goods  to  sell  :  as  per  Stat.  39 
Eliz.,  hut  are  punishable  as  vagrants,  s.  Jar.  7.  See  also  2  Roll.  rep.  1720.  Jenkins,  316, 
Plo.  16,  etc.  Neither  Do  we  suppose  there  is  any  Countenance  of  such  practice  in  the  neigh- 
bouring Governments.  We  also  Emagine  them  in  sd  Practice  to  be  greatly  prejudicial  to  the 
Inhabitants  in  Generall,  But  Especially  to  the  poorer  sort  of  People;  and  as  they  Seem  very 
Corrupt  in  many  respects  to  the  Health  &  Constitution  of  this  Colony,  We  are  not  without 
reasons  to  fear  That  in  time  they  may  be  a  means  not  only  to  Corrupt,  but  also  to  Eclips  us  of 
some  of  our  valuable  Privilidges,  Which  we  no  happily  Injoy  under  yor  honl  good  Conduct 
and  Government.  And  it  will  be  well  if  through  their  means  Loyal  Duty  of  true  Leigancy  be 
not  in  time  amo«  some  Impaired,  Sines  We  know  not  the  reason  of  their  Leaving  their  Native 
Land.  Beside  all  which  many  rageing  and  Contageous  Deseases  May  by  them  be  Brought  in 
and  Spread  amongst  us,  By  Their  buying  packs  of  Goods  Imported  from  Deseasd  parts,  for 
which  reason  They  (no  Doubt)  may  purchass  them  the  Cheaper,  "Which  they  may  carry 
amongst  us  and  sell ;  for  all  which  reasons,  and  many  others  too  tedious  here  to  Insert,  We, 
yo!  Honre  Most  Dutifull  Suppliants  most  humbly  Pray  That  yor  hon™  In  yor.  Great  Wisdom 
would  take  into  Consideration  the  Premises,  and  take  such  measures  which  may  Efectually 
prevent  for  the  future  all  Such  Pedlers  from  Carrying  their  packs  of  Goods  about  to  private 
houses  in  this  Colony  to  sell,  as  their  practice  now  is.  And  vol  Hon™  most  humble  Petition- 
ers, as  in  Duty  Bound,  shall  Ever  Pray  for  the  Continuall  prosperity  of  this  Hon.  Assembly, 
And  express  our  Thankfullness  and  Gratitude  by  our  Constant  endeavour  to  promote  the  well 
faire  of  this  Colony. 

William  Stanton,  Joseph  Palmer,  Elisha  Chesebrough, 

George  Denison,  Saxton  Palmer,  Eben?  Searle, 

James  Chesebrough,  John  Lambert,  Elnathan  Minor, 

Job  Denison,  Jno.  Miner,  Joseph  Galup," 

Jonathan  Copp,  Nath'l  Chesebrough,  and  ten  others. 

2  "  To  the  Hon1,  the  Gov*,  Councell,  &  Representatives  In  Gen'l  Court  Assembled,  In  Harr- 
ford  the  Third  day  of  July,  Anno  Domini,  1728  :  The  humble  petition  of  James  Robinson,  of 
Middletown,  sheweth  that  your  humble  supplyant  hath  been  A  pedler  for  this  two  years  last 

VOL.  I.— 21. 


322  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

numerous  measures  for  the  relief  or  the  encouragement,  or  at  any  rate 
for  the  regulation  of  trade,  domestic  and  foreign,  which  had  their  trials 
during  the  century  preceding  the  Revolutionary  period.  Sometimes 
there  were  embargoes  upon  exports  ;  duties  upon  imports  if  from  neigh- 
boring governments;  premiums  upon  imports  if  from  the  motherland; 
prohibitions  here,  bounteous  privileges  there ;  grants  upon  petition ; 
repeals  upon  remonstrance  with  divers  and  changeful  results,  illustrat- 
ing after  all  but  moderate  gains  for  a  new  community. 

The  auctioneer's  calling  was  from  early  times  patronized.  Mr. 
David  Henshaw,  of  Middletown  (then  in  Hartford  County),  notified 
the  public  by  advertisement  in  the  "  Connecticut  Courant "  that  in  De- 
cember, 1764,  he  was  "  to  set  up  a  public  vendue  at  his  chamber  over 
his  store,  to  begin  at  dusk."  Among  the  conditions  upon  which  his 
sales  were  to  be  conducted,  it  was  provided  that  no  underbidders  were 
to  be  employed  by  any  person  having  goods  there  for  sale  upon  penalty 
of  the  forfeiture  of  such  goods  to  the  company  then  present ;  "  and," 
says  the  notice,  ';  as  no  underbidder  will  be  countenanced  or  allowed 
as  mean  and  dishonorable,  so  it  will  be  look'd  upon  as  mean  and  base 
for  the  company  to  get  together  and  agree  not  to  bid  on  one  another  in 
order  to  get  the  goods  at  too  great  an  undervalue." 

The  occasional  replies  to  inquiries  from  the  Lords  Commissioners 
for  Trade  and  Plantations,  succeeding  that  in  1680,  which  has  been 
already  quoted,  recorded  a  threefold  increase  in  the  number  and  esti- 
mated tonnage  of  the  shipping  of  the  entire  colony  at  the  end  of  seventy- 
five  years,  and  at  the  time  of  the  latest  return  of  this  kind,  made  in 
1774,  the  increase  since  1680  had  been  about  tenfold  ;  a  fair  proportion 
of  which  we  may  suppose  was  owned  and  sailed  from  our  county.  The 
following  quotations  from  this  report  of  1774  are  interesting  for  com- 
parison with  those  of  the  first  date,  and  not  less  when  we  remember 
that  events  near  at  hand  finally  closed  the  issue  of  colonial  reports  to 
the  British  Government  from  Connecticut. 

"  The  principal  Trade  of  this  Colony  is  to  the  West  India  Islands,  excepting 
now  and  then  a  Vessell  to  Ireland  with  Flaxseed,  and  to  England  with  Lumber 
and  Potashes,  and  a  few  to  Gibralter  and  Barbadoes. 

"The  number  of  Shipping  is  one  hundred  and  eighty,  their  Tonnage  10,317. 
Seafaring  men,  1,162,  besides  upwards  of  twenty  sail  of  Coasting  Vessells  that  em- 
ploy about  ninety  Seamen.  .  .  .  Those  vessels  that  go  from  hence  to  the  French 
and  Dutch  Plantations  carry  Horses,  Cattle,  Sheep,  Hogs,  Provisions,  and  Lum- 
ber ;  Those  for  Gibralter  and  Barbary  carry  Flour,  Lumber,  New  England  Rum, 
and  Stores  for  muling ;  they  receive  Molasses,  Cocoa,  Cotton,  and  some  Sugar ; 
from  the  Dutch  Plantations  Bills  of  Exchange,  and  from  Barbary,  Mules  sold  in 
the  West  Indies  for  Bills  of  Exchange.  The  annual  Amount  is  about  £55,000 
at  an  Average. 

past  when  the  law  of  this  Government  did  Allow  of  it,  anepdid  make  many  Debts  In  most  of 
the  Counties  in  this  Colony,  supposing  the  Liberty  would  have  been  Continued ;  but  I  under- 
stand The  Assembly  the  Last  may  was  pleased  to  Disalow  said  Pratis,  and  Inacted  that  no 
such  practis  should  be  Alowed  In  this  Government  for  the  future,  without  Any  restriction ; 
which  Is  Like  to  prove  very  prejudicial  to  your  petitioner,  because  the  Travailing  About  to 
get  in  his  Debts  without  having  Liberty  to  sell  som  goods  to  bare  his  charges  will  eat  out  all 
his  profitt  and  good  part  of  the  Principle.  Your  petitioner  therefore  humbly  prays  this  Hon- 
orable Assembly  that  they  would  pleas  To  give  him  Liberty  till  the  Last  day  of  Octob.  next  to 
sell  as  formerly  such  Goods  as  he  shall  have  ocation  to  vend  In  his  going  about  to  get  In  his 
Afoirsaid  Contracted  Debts,  &  your  humble  petitioner  as  In  Duty  bound  shall  Ever  Pray. 

James  PiOBINSOn." 


COMMERCE   AXD   BANKING.  323 

"  Its  natural  Produce  is  Timber  of  all  kinds,  Wheat,  Eye,  Indian  Com,  Beans, 
Barley,  Oats,  and  Flax.  The  staple  Commodities  are  the  above  Produce,  Pork, 
Beef,  and  Pot  and  Pearl  Ashes.  The  Manufactures  are  Course  Linens  and 
Woollens,  done  in  the  Family  way  for  the  Use  of  the  poorer  Sort,  Laborers  and 
Servants  ;  also  Iron  mongery,  but  export  none. 

"  The  value  of  our  Export  Produce  and  Commodities  may  be  annually 
£200,000.  Copper  Mines  in  Divers  Parts,  yet  after  considerable  Expense  and 
Labor  to  open  them,  have  proved  unprofitable,  and  now  are  much  neglected. 
Iron  mines  in  great  Plenty  in  Many  Places,  manufactured  to  some  Advantage, 
but  hitherto  not  a  supply  for  our  Inhabitants. 

"  The  Quantity  of  British  Manufactures  the  Inhabitants  do  annually  import 
hither  from  Great  Britain  are  few,  but,  including  those  taken  from  the  Merchants 
of  Boston  and  New  York  upon  a  Medium  from  the  best  Observation,  is  £200,000 
Sterling  per  Annum.  The  Sorts  are  almost  all  that  are  useful  or  ornamental  in 
common  Life.  The  Goods  and  Commodities  exported  from  hence  to  Great  Brit- 
ain are  Pot  and  Pearl  Ashes,  Lumber,  and  some  salted  Provisions ;  the  Annual 
Amount  at  an  Average  may  be  £10,000  Sterling." 

No  statistics  are  to  be  found  which  determine  with  any  accuracy 
what  precise  share  of  this  varied  commerce  belonged  at  these  dates  to 
our  own  locality.  However,  such  indications  as  may  be  gathered  from 
private  or  public  accounts  current  suggest  at  least  that  our  resident 
merchants  were  enterprising  and  alert,  that  they  prosecuted  their  ven- 
tures with  creditable  energy  as  well  as  with  versatile  tact.  It  is  true, 
as  one  reads  the  entertaining  advertisements  that  were  brought  out 
upon  the  early  pages  of  our  ancient  newspaper,  with  their  almost  in- 
numerable details  and  now  curious  terminology,  signs  of  overtrading 
and  unprofitable  competition  are  to  be  discovered.  It  would  seem  that 
the  old  fashions  of  business  were  already  prevalent  among  a  people  who 
in  those  times  asked  for  luxuries  too  often  beyond  their  ability  to  have  ; 
and  the  indulgence  was  sought  at  the  hands  of  those  who  were  then,  as 
are  some  of  their  successors  now,  eager  to  assume  too  many  risks  in 
hopes  of  remunerative  profits.  Such  courses  brought  disappointment 
and  losses  both  in  the  importing  and  distributing  trade. 

Sometimes  there  was  an  inconvenient  need  of  available  funds  with 
which  to  replace  the  silver  withdrawn  when  obtainable  for  liquidation 
of  foreign  accounts.  Bills  of  exchange  were  drawn  between  merchants 
of  the  colonies  in  adjustment  of  their  accounts ;  reference  has  already 
been  made  to  one  of  the  very  earliest  of  these  between  Mr.  Pynchon 
and  Mr.  Winthrop  in  1636.  Repeated  orders  are  upon  our  Colonial 
Records,  which  were  issued  by  the  Assembly,  directing  the  disposal  of 
foreign  exchange  in  convenient  amounts  to  merchants  or  others  who 
desired  it  for  remittance  abroad,  which  exchange  had  been  received 
from  His  Majesty's  Government,  and  which,  so  far  as  it  went,  afforded 
timely  supplies.  "  Out  of  the  money  allowed  to  this  Government  for  the 
expenses  in  the  expedition  to  Cape  Breton,  and  for  the  expense  in  the 
expedition  designed  against  Canada,"  it  was  resolved  (October,  1749) 1 
that  upon  the  humble  request  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  Samuel  Talcott,  he 
should  have  four  hundred  pounds  sterling  money  of  Great  Britain  upon 
his  bond,  with  a  sufficient  surety  for  repayment  of  the  "  like  money  at 
or  before  the  first  day  of  October,  1751,  with  lawful  interest  thereof,  or 
to  pay  equivalent  thereto  at  the  time  of  payment  (viz.),  the  one  half  in 

1  Colonial  Records,  vol.  ix.  p.  492. 


324 


MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF    HARTFORD   COUNTY. 


bills  of  credit  on  this  colony,  and  the  other  half  in  good  silver  money, 
in  specie ; "  1  and  the  Governor  was  authorized  to  draw  a  bill  of  ex- 
change on  the  colony's  agent  in  Great  Britain  for  the  same. 

There  was  also  a  constant  and  embarrassing  need  of  circulating 
money.  At  the  beginning  of  the  century,  say  the  public  records,  it  was 
almost  impracticable  to  pay  the  public  debts,  and  "especially  in  the  in- 
tended expedition  to  Canada."  For  remedy  thereof,  in  accordance  with 
an  act  of  the  Assembly  in 
1709,  the  first  bills  of  credit 
of  our  Commonwealth  were 
printed  and  issued  under  as 
careful  and  appropriate  reg- 
ulations as  were  available. 
The  expedient  seemed  like 
a  public  necessity.  It  was 
one  that  could  not  there- 
after soon  be  dispensed 
with,  and  various  emissions 
followed  as  succeeding 
emergencies  crowded  them 
forward,  until  relief  of  the 
same  sort  was  asked  for  the 
community  at  large  as  well 
as  for  the  convenience  of 
the  Government,  and  peti- 
tions were  urged  before  our 
law-makers  from  time  to 
time  for  the  granting  of 
large  amounts  to  be  loaned 
to  citizens  of  the  State  as 
they  should  be  applied  for, 
at  a  low  rate  of  interest. 
Enactments  covering  ap- 
propriations of  this  sort, 
amounting  nominally  to 
fifty  thousand  pounds  more  or  less,  "  to  retrieve  some  persons  from 
the  difficulties  they  had  fallen  under,"  are  recorded  in  the  course  of 
the  year  1733,  which  seemed  for  the  most  part  to  answer  until  the 
year  1740,  when  war  having  been  declared  against  Spain,  and  the  ex- 
penses of  the  Government  likely  to  be  very  great  and  heavy  by  reason 

1  With  regard  to  payment  "in  good  silver  money,  in  specie,"  it  may  not  be  uninteresting 
to  recall  here  the  record  of  the  Court  of  October,  1682  :  "That  justice  and  righteousness  may 
have  free  passage  amongst  us,  it  is  ordered  by  this  Court  that  all  debts  shall  be  payd  in  specia 
according  to  contract."  Especially  interesting  is  the  note  added  thereto  by  Dr.  J.  H.  Trum- 
bull :  "Here,  as  elsewhere  in  the  records,  we  have  the  word  spp  •/"  or  v"  r'e  used  in  its  primary 
sense;  payment  in  specie  was  payment  in  specified  commodities  of  the  kind  or  species  agreed 
upon  by  the  parties;  or,  when  'no  specia  is  engaged,'  i.  e.  no  special  agreement  was  made,  in 
such  articles  as  were  received  in  payment  of  rates  at  prices  regulated  by  the  Court.  Specie 
payment  might  be  made  in  wheat,  rye,  or  peas,  as  well  as  in  coin  or  bullion  ;  ami  the  term 
was  not  restricted  to  gold  and  silver' until  those  had  been  made  the  only  legal  tender  in  pay- 
ment of  debts.  (Secretary  Allyn  writes  'specia,'  and  sometimes  'specia?,'  for  'species 'in  the 
plural.)"—  Colonial  Records,  vol.  iii.  p.  109.  [In  1676,  the  Governor  and  Council  recom- 
mended that  "where  men  cannot  discharge  the  country  levy  in  the  specia  ordered  by  the 
Genu  Court "  (wheat,  pease,  Indian  corn,  etc. ),  an  appraisal  of  such  other  estate  as  was  taken 
for  discharge  of  rates  should  be  made  by  indifferent  persons,  etc.  — Id.,  vol.  ii.  p.  251.] 


U~o{v>i   ifuvJrtCf      j 


crpfi  <laM^J 


6se^, 


"AC-SIMILE  (REDUCED   H)  OF  ONE  OF  THE   FIRST  BILLS 

OF    CREDIT   OF    CONNECTICUT. 
(From  an  original  belonging  to  Dr.  J.  Hammond  Tn 


.bull.) 


COMMERCE   AXD   BANKING. 


325 


CUUl 

the  troeuiJt<Jinno 


6a 


of  the  intended  expedition 
directed  by  His  Majesty 
against  the  Spanish  West 
Indies, "  and  also  by  reason 
of  a  great  scarcity  of  a 
medium  of  exchange,  the 
same  bearing  a  very  small 
proportion  to  the  extent  of 
the  demand  therefor,  in 
order  to  the  carrying  on 
the  business  and  affairs  in 
this  Colony,"  an  issue  of 
colonial  notes  was  ordered 
of  £30,000  of  the  value  in 
silver  at  eight  shillings  per 
ounce,  and  known  popu- 
larly as  of  the  "  new  tenor." 
Of  this  series  £  22,000  were 
to  be  "loaned  out  to  par- 
ticular persons,  freeholders 
and  inhabitants  in  this 
Colony,"  and  Nathaniel 
Stanley,  Esq.,  and  Captain 
John  Marsh  were  appointed 
for  the  County  of  Hartford 
a   committee   to   have  the 


FAC-S1MILE  (REDUCED  '., )  OP  ONE  OF  THE  FIRST  BILLS 
OF   CREDIT   OF   CONNECTICUT.1 

(From  an  original  belonging  to  Dr.  J.  Hammond  Trumbull  I 

management  of  loaning 
the  said  bills  and  taking 
security  therefor  in  said 
county :  the  amount  here 
to  be  distributed  to  be  in 
some  proportion  to  the  gen- 
eral list  of  the  county,  the 
loans  in  no  case  to  be  less 
than  twenty-five  or  more 
than  one  hundred  pounds, 
to  be  secured  by  double  land 
security  or  bonds  for  silver 
money,  double  the  sum  bor- 
rowed, with  two  sufficient 
sureties,  payable  half  four 
years  and  half  eight  years 
from  date,  in  the  same  bills 
"  or  silver  at  aforesaid  rate, 
or  gold  equivalent,  or  any 
bills  of  credit  of  this  or  the 
neighbouring  Colonies  pass- 
ing current  in  this  Colony, 
according  to  their  current 

value  in  silver  at  the  rate     pac-simile  (reduced  y3)  of  one  of  the  first  bills 
aforesaid    at    the     time     of  OF  CREDIT  OF  Connecticut. 

(From  an  original  belonging  to  Dr.  J.  Hammond  Trumbull.) 
1  Figures  omitted  from  upper  right-hand  corner,  as  they  have  been  altered  in  the  original 


THIS  INDEBTED  BILL  OF  TEH  SHILLINGS 

Y)uz p-o  >n.tru.boio>zu  of  hon<ructi&ut,  i/iffleljksxi'&s-jo 
to  uUmseltor  {her tor j native  in.  vaicU  eaualto 
5naruy/cA  ia  jhaieve  euAOrcurtquj  acz&piici  vyiru 
treasurer &J<ejJtM>tAS  sJvorcluvzte.  ic  rum,  scror 
any  JfocA,  at  any  Umt  ts\  u  Sfrearusy  anarbfordcAilu 


(^g-AuiLK&rt- 


326  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

payment,  or  in  good  water-rotted  hemp  and  well-wrought  canvas  or 
duck  raised  and  manufactured  according-to  the  directions  of  the  law 
entitled  An  Act  for  the  encouragement  of  raising  hemp,"  etc.1  It  thus 
appears  that  in  the  general  provision  an  appropriate  share  was  offered 
to  borrowers  in  our  own  locality. 

The  Right  Honorable  the  Lords  Commissioners  for  Trade  and  Plan- 
tations invited  the  Governor  and  Company  to  give  to  them  some  account 
of  the  currency  of  the  colony  outstanding  in  1740  ;  in  response  to  which 
representations  were  offered  which  implied  an  opinion  on  the  part  of 
the  Connecticut  Executive  that  the  medium  was  an  acceptable  one  to 
the  public,  and  that  it  should  be  regarded  as  a  safe  and  conservative 
currency  with  reasonable  and  effectual  provisions  then  assured  for  its 
retirement  and  discharge.  The  legal  tender  clause  in  the  act  author- 
izing the  series  of  this  year  was,  in  accordance  with  the  Commissioners' 
suggestion,  promptly  repealed,  although  "  truly  made  with  an  honest 
and  real  intent  to  prevent  the  said  bills  from  depreciating."  "  And  on 
the  whole,  we  conclude,"  says  their  letter,  "  your  Lordships  will  be  of 
the  opinion  that  we  have  not  granted  large  and  frequent  emissions 
of  paper  currency,  and  if  compared  with  what  some  other  colonies  have 
done,  will  appear  to  be  a  small  proportion." 2 

Following  the  maturity  of  these  loans  the  condition  of  monetary 
affairs  in  this  community  was  not  yet  comfortable.  Active  operations 
in  the  field  of  war  with  Spain  and  France  made  larger  issues  of  notes 
than  ever  necessary,  and  from  the  middle  of  the  decade  such  frequent 
and  considerable  amounts  were  put  into  circulation  as  to  effect  a  most 
damaging  depreciation  and  a  discouraging  embarrassment  throughout 
the  colony,  and  among  the  tradesmen  of  this  immediate  vicinity  espe- 
cially, from  whom  the  following  expressive  appeal  was  made  public  in 
due  time :  — 

To  the  Hon1  General  Assembly  sitting  at  Hartford  the  second  Thursday  in  May,  1751 :  — 

The  Memorial  of  us  the  subscribers,  Merchants  &  Traders  in  and  of  the 
County  of  Hartford  humbly  sheweth  : 

That  we  your  Honours'  Memorialists  have  a  great  part  of  our  Substance  in 
Trade  the  Medium  whereof  is  a  paper  Currency  which  from  its  first  Emission, 
Anno  1709,  to  this  time  has  lost  more  than  seven  parts  in  eight  of  the  value  it 
was  then  Emitted  At.  And  in  the  few  years  since  the  Memorable  Expedition 
against  Cape  Breton  it  has  lost  one  half  its  Aralue  and  the  Substance  in  Trade  of 
your  Honours'  Memorialists  is  Sunk  and  lost  in  the  Same  Degree  &  proportion ; 
and  if  your  Honours  in  your  great  Wisdom  prevent  not  the  depreciating  of  the  said 
Medium,  we  cannot  see  but  it  must  Terminate  in  the  Ruin  of  our  Trade  &  Estates, 
and  we  humbly  conceive  the  Trade  of  this  Colony  can  share  no  other  Fate. 
And  as  the  Medium  of  Trade  is  that  whereby  your  dealings  are  valued  and 
weighed,  we  cannot  but  think  it  ought  to  be  esteemed  of  as  Sacred  a  Nature  as 
any  weights  &  Measures  whatsoever,  and  in  order  -fo  maintain  Justice  must  be 
kept  as  Stable  for  us.  As  a  False  weight  and  a  false  Ballance  is  an  abomination  to 
the  Lord,  we  apprehend  a  False  and  unstable  Medium  is  equally  so ;  it  occasions 
as  much  inicpiity  and  is  at  least  as  Injurious.  We,  your  Honours'  Memorialists, 
therefor  humbly  Pray  this  Hon'1  Assembly  in  your  great  Wisdom  to  provide  that 
the  Medium  of  Trade  may  be  rendered  Stable  for  time  to  come,  and  that  the  Just 

1  Colonial  Records,  vol.  viii.  p.  320.  2  Ibid.,  p.  359. 


COMMERCE   AND   BANKING.  327 

Value  of  our  now  Outstanding  Debts  may  be  secured  to  us ;  and  yr  Memorialists 
as  in  Duty  bound  will  ever  Pray.     (Signed) 

John  Ledyard,        Sam'l  Pelton,  Joshua  Lothrop,  Philip  Mortimer, 

Joseph  Wright,      Rich'd  Wait,  Benj'n  Paine,         Sam'l  Starr, 

Matthew  Talcott,  Elipha.Williams,  Jr.  Jno.  Lawrence,      Rich'd  Alsop, 
Elisha  Brewster,    Thos.  Belding,         Jno.  McKnight,     Alexand'r  Macky, 
Thos.  Goodwin,        Sam'l  Talcott,         Elisha  Burnham,  John  Potwine, 
Wm.  Wright,  Dan'l  Lothrop,        Rob't  Neivens,      Dan'l  Goodwin, 

Geo.  Phillips,       Michael  Burnham. 

Such  sums  had  been  emitted  before  the  date  of  this  memorial  that, 
notwithstanding  such  conservative  endeavors  on  the  part  of  the  Govern- 
ment as  we  may  suppose  it  put  forth,  there  was  hardly  time  to  redeem 
them  all  before  the  commencement  of  the  next  French  war.  From 
1755  excessive  emissions  of  a  similar  nature  to  previous  ones,  except 
that  they  bore  five  per  cent  interest,  followed  each  other  into  circula- 
tion ;  of  which,  in  an  account  prepared  for  transmission  to  the  Commis- 
sioners for  Trade  and  Plantations  (1764),  Mr.  Eliphalet  Dyer  asserted 
that  "their  value  has  remained  invariable,  permanent,  and  stable,"  and 
that  the  funds  appropriated  for  calling-  in,  sinking,  and  discharging  said 
sums  emitted,  and  the  sums  granted  by  Parliament  as  a  compensation 
to  the  Colony,  had  been  improved  therefor ;  and  that,  save  only  some 
small  sums  of  1761,  all  "  antecedent  to  that  of  March,  176:2,  were  called 
in,  sunk,  and  discharged."1 

The  troubled  years  that  now  followed,  covering  the  period  of  the 
war  for  national  independence,  brought  a  notable  experience  of  inter- 
ruption and  disaster  to  commerce,  and  of  discredit  and  depreciation  to 
the  public  promises  to  pay;  while  the  eventual  recovery  from  the  depres- 
sion in  values  and  enterprise  was  necessarily  tardy  and  unsatisfactory, 
with  apparent  improvements  that  too  often  were  found  to  be  only  inter- 
mittent and  disappointing.  The  trade  and  the  finances  of  the  finally 
independent  colonies,  and  so  of  each  community  like  this  in  the  centre 
of  our  State,  were  suffering  with  common  or  specific  embarrassments 
which  awakened  the  popular  mind  to  the  examination  and  advocacy  of 
any  new  or  old  scheme  which  gave  any  promise  for  their  amelioration. 
It  was  not  for  this  latitude  a  new  project  which  was  evolved  out  of  the 
perplexing  experiences  of  these  trying  times,  and  which  eventually  se- 
cured the  successful  organization  of  the  first  and  a  real  bank  in  Con- 
necticut and  at  Hartford.  The  maturity  of  its  age,  if  we  do  not  care  to 
say  the  antiquity  of  the  idea,  appears  upon  the  perusal  of  "  First  Essays 
at  Banking  and  The  First  Paper  Money  in  New  England,"  2  and,  in  con- 
nection therewith,  of  a  letter  of  our  Governor  John  Winthrop ;  from 
which  letter  some  extracts  will  be  interesting.  It  was  addressed  to 
his  friend,  the  Hon.  William  Brereton,  in  England,  and  bears  date  from 
Hartford  in  New  England,  Nov.  6,  1663  :3  — 

...  I  doe  not  remember  whether  yourselfe  were  present  wth  the  council  of 
the  Royall  Society,  when  I  declared  some  proposalls  concerning  a  way  of  trade 
and  banke  wthout  mony,  wch  I  had  formerly  hinted  to  Mr.  Hartlib  in  a  letter  fro 
home,  and  sometymes  to  yourselfe  when  I  was  in  England.  .  .  . 

1  Colonial  Records,  vol.  xii.  p.  339.  -  Dr.  J.  Hammond  Trumbull  :  Worcester,  1 884. 

3  Massachusetts  Historical  Society's  Collections,  5th  ser.,  vol.  viii.  p.  86. 


328  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

The  generall  acquaintance  and  interest  y*  they  have  in  the  gentry,  merchants, 
and  citisens,  besides  the  sufficient  insight  y*  many  of  you  have  into  matters  of 
trade  and  exchange,  made  me  thinke  y4  such  a  designe  could  no  way  be  better 
accepted  and  brought  into  vse  then  from  y*  Royall  Society.  If  it  'may  appeare 
of  publiqe  vse  and  benefit,  they  may  please  to  add  what  they  se  necessary  for  the 
pTecting  thereof.     It  is  wholy  their  owne. 

I  have  given  out  no  copies  of  it,  nor  made  it  knowne  to  any  other :  it  will  most 
probably  be  so  approved,  as  from  themselves  that  it  may  be  quickly  brought  into 
a  practical  rvay,  to  the  great  advance  of  trade,  and  settlement  of  such  a  banke  as 
may  answer  all  those  ends  y*  are  atteined  in  other  prts  of  the  world  by  bankes 
of  ready  mony.  I  metion  no  prticulars,  there  being  in  y*  discourse  wch  was  left 
wth  ^jr  Oldenburg,  the  modell  of  what  I  would  se  necessary  fundamentally  for 
such  a  designe  of  trade.  .  .  . 

This  I  am  bold  to  mention  to  yourselfe  in  p'ticular  that  if  there  appear  no 
acceptance  as  to  the  promoting  of  it  amongst  gentlemen  and  merchants  to  a  triall, 
&c,  I  might  obteine  your  Honrs  advice,  whether  to  move  any  other  way  therein 
by  acquainting  merchants  or  others  for  the  setting  it  a  foot,  or  to  desist  further 
thought  about  it  or  any  further  addition  to  that  modell  wch  is  so  far  already  in 
writing.  .  .  .  Honb,e  Sr,  Yr  most  humble  servant, 

Jno.  Winthrop. 

The  "modell"  is  not  known  to  have  gained  publicity  here  to  the 
extent  of  promoting  any  designs  of  this  nature  during  the  life  of  Governor 
Winthrop,  but  it  does  thus  appear  to  have  been  matured  and  cherished 
in  his  own  mind,  and  in  the  course  of  his  long  and  influential  service 
in  the  affairs  of  the  State  may  subsequently  have  been  given  out  among 
his  confidants  and  often  perhaps  referred  to  as  an  available  and  timely 
relief  for  the  necessities  of  trade  as  they  arose  during  the  years  of  his 
administration.  A  chartered  bank  appears  to  have  been  organized  in 
Massachusetts  as  early  as  1686  ; 1  but  our  fathers  on  the  Connecticut  did 
not  adopt  the  novelty  as  readily  as  they  imitated  other  characteristics 
of  their  neighbor's  finances.  A  resolution  appeared  in  the  Lower  House 
of  the  Assembly  in  May,  1726, "  that  a  bank  be  raised  of  certain  sums  of 
Bills  of  Credit  on  this  Government  to  be  let  out  at  Reasonable  Interest, 
and  that  a  Com—  from  both  Houses  be  appointed  to  prepare  &  Draw 
and  bring  in  a  proper  Scheme  therefor  to  pass  into  an  Act ; "  and  another 
at  the  same  session  that  "a  Bank  of  .£100,000  more  or  less  be  emitted 
in  bills  of  public  credit  to  be  Loaned  to  ye  use  of  the  Government." 
Neither  of  these  passed  the  Upper  House. 

But  not  until  the  charter  of  the  New  London  Society  United  for 
Trade  and  Commerce  was  granted  at  the  May  session  of  1732  was  the 
attempt  made  by  any  corporation  to  issue  and  give  currency  to  their 
own  bills  of  credit  or  society  notes.  This  association  sought  their 
treasurer  from  Hartford  County.  When  they  organized,  John  Curtiss, 
of  Wethersfield,  received  and  accepted  that  appointment  and  removed 
to  New  London.  Their  enterprise  was  ostensibly  to  follow  navigation 
and  trade  ;  but  the  community  were  soon  surprised  by  the  appearance 
in  circulation  of  large  amounts  of  paper  currency  in  notes  bearing  their 
title  and  in  tenor  and  looks  quite  like  those  of  government  emission. 
These  at  first  passed  readily  into  use  and  to  popular  favor.  The  idea 
seemed  full  of  promise  to  business  minds.  But  afterthoughts  were 
critical.     Wise  men  distrusted  a  scheme  that  had  apparently  exceeded 

1  First  Essays  in  Banking,  p.  14. 


COMMERCE   AND  BANKING.  329 

its  charter,  and  were  alarmed ;  and  a  determined  reaction  against  it 
developed  throughout  the  colony,  precipitated  by  a  demonstration  of 
the  Governor  and  Council  against  the  new  money  and  an  examination 
of  the  business  by  the  legislature,  who  dissolved  the  association  ;  a  fiat 
which  they  endeavored  for  a  while  to  resist,  but  to  which  accpjiescence 
was  finally  enforced  and  they  retired,  after  much  trouble  and  the  im- 
poverishment of  many  of  their  members  and  the  thorough  disgrace  of 
the  whole  notable  undertaking,  provision  having  been  made  by  the 
Assembly  for  redemption  of  their  outstanding  bills.1 

One  signal  experiment  of  such  a  character,  in  the  opinion  of  our 
steady-going  people,  answered  for  many  years  ;  but  after  their  prolonged 
and  miserable  struggle  under  the  depression  and  ruin  of  war,  when  once 
assured  of  their  independence  they  rallied  for  peaceful  pursuits  and 
began  anew  to  lay  foundations  for  business  enlargement  and  stability. 
Their  discussions  seemed  to  contemplate  more  intelligent  ideas  of 
finance.  The  necessities  of  governmental  policy  had  brought  a  different 
model  into  place  ;  and  for  ten  years  from  1781  they  had  had  opportunity 
to  observe  the  success  of  the  Bank  of  North  America  at  Philadelphia, 
and  later,  of  one  at  New  York,  and  of  one  at  Boston,  whose  notes  had 
been  made  redeemable  in  coin  at  pleasure  of  the  holder.  The  act 
authorizing  the  establishment  of  the  United  States  Bank,  with  various 
branches  to  be  planted  in  eligible  cities,  passed  in  Congress  early  in 
1791,  and  Hartford,  not  behind  time  in  some  things,  became  somewhat 
awakened  at  a  pretty  early  date  in  this  regard.  Here,  for  the  day,  was 
to  be  found  a  goodly  accumulation  of  capital ;  this  could  easily  be  ac- 
counted an  eligible  city ;  certain  men  of  the  town  thought  well  of  the 
United  States  Bank,  and  occasionally  published2  some  reasons  why  a 
branch  of  it  might  be  about  the  thing  for  this  important  section  of  the 
world.  The  establishment  of  a  national  bank  might  justly  be  considered  as 
one  of  the  most  auspicious  events  which  had  for  many  years  happened 
in  the  United  States.  A  bank  established  here  would  be  particularly 
beneficial  to  our  commerce  by  enabling  the  merchant  to  command  money 
when  he  wants  it.  Now,  it'  he  is  to  have  advantage  of  opportunities  and 
not  lose  them,  he  must  always  keep  a  hoard  of  money  in  his  chest. 
A  bank  enables  a  merchant  to  employ  a  larger  capital  in  trade  than 
otherwise  he  would ;  especially  helpful  to  the  speculator,  enabling  him 
to  buy  in  large  quantities  and  to  hold  his  stores  until  he  can  realize 
a  satisfactory  profit.  The  farmer  also  may  get  his  advantage  from  the 
merchant  who  avails  of  such  facilities,  because  he  can  sell  his  produce 
all  at  one  place  at  a  stipulated  price,  and  not  be  obliged  to  run  all  over 
town  to  market  it  piecemeal  as  he  may  be  able  to  find  money,  with  a 
different  price  at  each  place  perhaps.  The  owners  of  the  bank  would 
deposit  money  subscribed  by  shares,  to  support  a  paper  credit ;  and  in 
many  ways  it  would  become  properly  an  instrument  of  commerce,,  and 
all  who  had  money  to  spare  could  become  participants  in  the  profits  by 
contributing  to  the  capital.  Any  way,  if  the  bank  did  the  farmer  no 
good  it  would  do  him  no  harm ;  the  bank  would  make  public  credit ; 
it  would  make  facilities  for  exchanges  and  collections  between  various 
localities.  It  would  make  paper  money,  and,  periodically,  out  of  its 
profits  would  make  "  what  are  called  dividends."     If  a  bank  was  an 

1  Colonial  Records,  vol.  vii.  pp.  507,  508. 

2  See  the  "Connecticut  Courant"  files  of  the  day. 


330  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

instrument  of  commerce,  it  was  urged  that  one  was  needed  here.  Con- 
necticut might  be  called  the  soul  of  the  West  India  Trade,  and  imported 
at  this  time  more  spirit  in  proportion  to  its  trade  than  any  other  State. 
One  half  the  horses,  cattle,  and  mules  exported  the  previous  year  from 
the  United  States  were  from  Connecticut,  and  the  principal  article  re- 
turned in  payment  for  them  was  rum,  and  the  molasses  received  is 
mostly  distilled  into  new  rum  after  it  arrives.  Into  Connecticut  there- 
fore are  brought  large  amounts  of  West  India  goods  which  pay  heavy 
duties,  while  at  the  same  time  the  cash  from  the  State  goes  to  New 
York  for  supplies  of  dry  goods.  No  State  is  in  greater  need  of  specie ; 
and  as  it  is  an  importing  State,  it  has  a  claim  to  that  pecuniary  aid 
which  would  be  derived  from  the  national  bank.  Best  judges  believed 
that  a  bank  here  with  a  stock  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  would 
yield  a  good  profit. 

In  the  course  of  another  year  the  purposes  of  those  who  favored  the 
establishment  of  such  an  institution  here  began  to  assume  an  appear- 
ance of  more  definite  direction  and  responsibility,1  and  in  the  beginning 
of  1792  the  preliminaries  of  corporation  were  arranged,  the  proposed 
capital  was  pledged  by  subscription,  and  the  parties  now  substantially 
committed  sought  a  charter  from  the  legislature.  For  the  purpose  of 
securing  this  the  preparation  and  presentation  of  their  petition  was 
wisely  committed  to  three  happily  chosen  agents,  over  whose  signatures 
the  merits  of  the  enterprise  and  the  desires  of  their  principals  were 
given  in  the  following  intelligible  and  interesting  terms :  — 

To  the  Honl.  Gen.  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Connecticut,  now  sitting  in  Hartford  :  — 

The  Petition  of  John  Trumbull,  Chauncey  Goodrich,  and  Noah  Webster,  Junr, 
all  of  the  City  of  Hartford,  Agents  for  the  Stockholders  in  Hartford  Bank,  humbly 
sheweth  :  That  an  association  has  been  formed  and  a  subscription  opened  by  a 
number  of  mercantile  Characters  and  others  in  said  City  and  its  Vicinity,  to  estab- 
lish a  Bank  therein  ;  The  stock  of  said  Bank  to  consist  of  One  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  and  to  be  divided  into  Two  Hundred  and  fifty  shares ;  which  said  sum  is 
already  subscribed,  and  a  Part  thereof  deposited  in  the  Hands  of  a  Committee 
chosen  for  that  purpose.  The  Objects  of  said  Institution  are  to  facilitate  com- 
mercial operations,  and  extend  the  trade  of  the  said  City  &  State,  now  too 
limited  by  the  smallness  of  mercantile  capitals ;  and  the  stockholders  natter 
themselves  that  a  well-regulated  Bank  will  be  especially  useful  to  our  Export 
Business,  as  it  will  provide  Specie  for  the  merchants  wherewith  to  purchase  the 
Produce  brot  to  Market.  The  Public,  and  particularly  commercial  Men,  have 
with  Regret  for  a  long  time  seen  the  dependent  state  of  our  trade ;  our  imports 
and  Exports  in  the  Hands  of  the  Merchants  of  other  States ;  the  trade  of  an  ex- 
tensive inland  Country  on  Connecticut  River,  daily  growing  in  population  & 
wealth,  diverted  from  said  city,  its  natural  Place,  into  other  channels,  out  of  the 

1  Feb.  27,  1792.  "It  is  proposed  to  petition  the  Honorable  General  Assembly  of  this 
State  at  their  Session  in  May  next,  for  the  establishing  a  Bank  in  this  city.  All  merchants 
and  others  that  are  disposed  to  forward  this  business  are  requested  to  meet  at  Mr.  David  Bull's 
this  evening  at  6  o'clock."  —  Advertisement  in  the  "  Connecticut  Courant." 

Barber  notes  David  Bull's  as  "the  most  noted  tavern  in  Hartford,  and  was  called  the 
'Bunch  of  Grapes '  Tavern,  from  the  carving  of  a  bunch  of  grapes  used  as  a  sign."  It  stood  at 
or  near  the  point  of  intersection  of  Asylum  Street  with  the  west  side  of  Main  ;  Asylum  Street 
not  being  opened. 

M.  de  Ohastellux  visited  the  house  during  the  Revolutionary  War.  "  A  very  good  inn,"  he 
wrote,  "kept  by  Mr.  Bull,  who  is  accused  of  being  rather  on  the  other  side  of  the  question; 
a  polite  method  of  designating  a  tory." 


COMMERCE   AND   BANKING.  331 

State,  and  merely  from  want  of  mercantile  wealth.  A  bank,  by  bringing  into 
operation  muney  not  now  used  in  commerce,  and  combining  mercantile  capital 
and  exertion,  it  is  expected  will  in  some  measure  remedy  this  evil.  Such  an 
institution,  your  Honors  are  sensible,  cannot  be  safely  and  successfully  managed 
without  Governmental  Protection  and  Patronage.  Confiding  in  your  Honors' 
known  attention  and  aid  to  the  important  Interests  of  the  State,  and  of  every 
class  of  its  Cityzens,  The  said  stockholders  have  instructed  the  Petr?  to  apply  to 
you  for  an  Act  of  Incorporation  for  s^  stockholders ;  which  the  Petr!  humbly 
pray  your  Honours  to  grant,  &  therein  such  Powers  as  shall  be  necessary  for  the 
well  management  of  s*^  Bank,  and  with  such  Limitations  as  you  shall  see  fit. 
And  your  Petr.8,  as  in  duty  bound,  will  ever  Pray. 

Dated  in  said  City  of  Hartford,  this  14th  day  of  May,  Anno  Domini  1792. 

John  Trumbull,  ) 

Chauncey  Goodrich,  >  Agents. 
Noah  Webster,  Jr.,  ) 

The  application  was  successful,  and  the  charter  of  the  Hartford 
Bank  was  granted  without  apparent  objection  or  delay,  —  the  capital, 
from  $100,000  to  be  increased  from  time  to  time  to  a  sum  not  exceed- 
ing $500,000.     The  following  notice  appeared  in  due  time :  — 

Hartford,  June  18,  1792. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  stockholders  of  the  Hartford  Bank,  convened  according 
to  law  on  the  14th  of  June,  1792,  the  Hon.  Oliver  Ellsworth,  Esqr.,  was  elected 
to  preside  at  said  meeting  for  the  election  of  Directors  of  said  Bank,  when  the 
following  persons,  viz.,  Jeremiah  Wadsworth,  John  Caldwell,  John  Morgan, 
George  Phillips,  Barnabas  Dean,  Timothy  Burr,  James  Watson,  Caleb  Bull,  and 
Ephraim  Eoot  were  duly  elected  Directors  of  said  Bank  for  the  ensuing  year. 
On  Saturday  (16th)  the  Directors  met  for  the  purpose  of  choosing  a  President,1 
and  made  choice  of  the  Hon.  Jeremiah  Wadsworth,  Esq.,  who  declined  serving, 
whereupon  John  Caldwell,  Esqr.,  was  elected.  Hezekiah  Merrill,  Esqr.,  was  at 
said  meeting  appointed  Cashier  of  said  Bank. 

The  organization  now  being  completed,  other  necessary  details  were 
arranged,  so  that  by  Wednesday,  August  8,  the  bank  was  opened  for  the 
transaction  of  business,  in  accordance  with  a  code  of  regulations  pub- 
lished by  authority,  as  follows :  — 

RULES   TO   BE   OESERYED 
at  Hartford  Bank,  in  Hartford. 

The  bank  to  be  open  every  day  in  the  year  except  Sundays,  public  Fasts, 
Thanksgivings,  Christmas,  and  the  Fourth  of  July,  from  the  hour  of  nine  o'clock 
till  twelve  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  from  Two  o'clock  to  Five  in  the  after- 
noon, Saturday  afternoon  excepted. 

Proposals  for  Discount  will  be  received  every  Wednesday;  and  if  accepted,  the 
money  will  be  paid  the  following  day.  Payments  made  at  the  Bank  are  never 
subject  to  revision ;  errors  (if  any)  must  be  discovered  before  the  money  is  taken 
off  the  counter. 

In  order  to  obtain  Discount,  a  note  expressing  the  sum  wanted  (in  Dollars) 
must  be  enclosed  in  a  letter  directed  to  the  Cashier  of  the  Hartford  Bank,  with 
an  indorser  requesting  Discount,  may  be  made  for  any  number'  of  days  not  ex- 
ceeding Forty-five. 

1  The  Presidents  of  the  Hartford  Bank  have  been  :  John  Caldwell,  elected  June  16,  1792  ; 
Nathaniel  Terry,  June  10,  1819  ;  Joseph  Trumbull,  June  12,  1828  ;  David  F.  Robinson, 
Nov.  8,  1839  ;  Henry  A.  Perkins,  June  9,  1853  ;  James  Bolter,  July  6,  1874. 


332 


MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 


Notes  presented  for 
Discount  must  be  ex- 
ecuted in  the  City  of 
Hartford,  and  the  draw- 
er or  indorser  must  be 
a  resident  within  said 
City. 

Charge  shall  be 
taken  in  said  bank  of 
the  Gold  and  Silver  of 
all  those  who  chuse  to 
place  it  there,  free  of 
expense ;  and  will  be 
kept  subject  to  their 
order  payable  at  sight. 
And  they  will  receive 
Deposits  of  Ingots  of 
Gold  ami  of  Silver, 
wrought  Plate,  or  other 
valuable  articles  of 
small  bulk,  and  return 
the  same  on  demand  to 
the  depositor. 

Bills  and  notes  left 
at  the  office  for  collec- 
tion will  be  presented 
for  acceptance,  and  the 
money  collected  or  de- 
manded, without  ex- 
pense, except  in  case  of 
protest ;  the  charges  of 
which  shall  be  paid  by 
the  person  lodging  the 
bill  or  note. 

Gold  or  silver  coins 
will  be  received  and 
paid  according  to  the 
laws  established  by  the 
Congress  of  the  United 
States. 

By  order  of  the  Pres- 
ident and  Directors, 
Hezekiah  Merrill, 
Cashr. 


In  a  short  time 
the  institution  proved 

y  itself  a  necessity. 
No  period  returned 
when  it  could  be 
spared,  and  for    an 

and  indeed  an  extending1 


important  term  of  years  our  city  and  county 

region  without,  gave  an  undivided  patronage  to  its  administrations,  and 

1  The  picture  represents  John  Caldwell's  warehouse  at  the  river-bank   and  one  of  his 
ships  which  was  housed  in  and  laid  up  at  Hartford  during  the  embargo. 


COMMERCE  AND  BANKING.  333 

an  assured,  if  rather  tardy,  confidence  to  its  currency,  which  in  due 
course  was  cautiously  emitted  and  watchfully  protected.  Business 
methods  generally  improved  with  the  knowledge  and  use  of  the  new 
facilities.  As  had  been  predicted,  the  bank  had  its  influence  in  "  de- 
stroying that  bane  of  all  trade,  and  that  curse  to  Connecticut  trade, 
barter."  The  system  of  exchanges  and  payments  between  individuals 
was  inaugurated,  which,  with  some  progressive  refinements  perhaps, 
has  continued  to  this  day. 

Increasing  subscriptions,  as  business  warranted  it,  were  added  to 
fill  out  the  capital  stock  of  the  bank  to  the  limit  of  its  projectors  ;  the 
advantages  and  security  of  such  an  aggregate  of  cash  capital  incor- 
porated by  the  Government,  over  individual  copartnerships  for  banking, 
became  more  and  more  evident,  and  the  public  favor  was  gradually  but 
surely  gained  for  the  institution  itself  and  for  a  system  that  was  to 
expand  and  improve,  but  had  come  to  stay.  Its  business  and  influence 
extended  apace.  The  profits  increased.  Dividends  were  remunerative 
to  the  owners  of  the  stock,  so  that  at  each  further  increase  of  the  cap- 
ital, making  it  finally  one  million  dollars,  —  as  authorized  by  Legis- 
lative Act  of  May,  1807,  —  the  amount  offered  to  investors  was  largely 
over-subscribed ;  and  not  only  was  the  advance  of  four  per  cent  which 
the  act  provided  for  readily  paid,  but  larger  premiums  were  bid  for 
shares  by  those  who  were  eager  to  buy. 

Such  prosperity  in  a  score  of  years  must  needs  awaken  the  attention 
of  anti-monopolists,  or  at  least  of  those  who  coveted  the  so-called  mo- 
nopoly, and  from  such  as  these  came  to  be  heard  suggestions  of  another 
bank.  Moreover,  the  politics  of  the  time,  the  war  of  1812,  and  not  less 
the  differing  inspirations  of  Congregational  and  Episcopal  ecclesiasti- 
cism,  were  prolific  of  discussions  upon  both  sides  of  which  the  ad- 
ministrators and  clients  of  the  old  bank  could  not  be  satisfactorily 
ranged. 

The  moving  consideration,  no  doubt,  lay  in  the  calculation  that  with 
the  return  of  peace  would  come  better  times  for  commercial  and  manu- 
facturing enterprise,  and  that  even  the  then  present  population  and 
business  should  afford  a  profitable  patronage  to  a  second  institution  of 
the  kind.  There  were  strong  and  shrewd  business  men  in  the  move- 
ment. To  the  Congregationalists,  the  Churchmen,  the  Federalists,  and 
the  Democrats  of  the  legislature,  they  brought  their  best  reasons  with 
their  petition,  which  follows  here,  and  pressed  their  suit  to  win :  — 

To  the  Honorable  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Connecticut,  to  be  held  at  Hartford,  the 
Second  Monday  of  May  next:  — 

The  petition  of  Ward  Woodbridge,  Samuel  Tudor,  Jr.,  Charles  Sigourney, 
and  their  Associates,  humbly  sheweth  :  That  the  experience  of  the  last  thirty- 
years  has  in  this  country  completely  demonstrated  the  advantages  arising  from 
well-regulated  banks  in  a  commercial  community.  That  your  petitioners  there- 
fore forbear  to  enter,  deeming  it  entirely  needless,  into  any  details  of  their 
advantages  before  a  body  so  well  informed  as  this  Honorable  General  Assembly. 
That  your  petitioners  pray  for  leave  to  establish  a  bank  in  the  city  of  Hartford. 
And  they  respectfully  ask  permission  now  to  offer  to  the  Honorable  General 
Assembly  a  few  reasons  why  they  think  their  prayer  may  he  granted,  not  only 
without  injury  to  the  public,  but  as  combining  public  advantage  with  private 
interest. 


334  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF    HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

A  bank  in  the  city  of  Hartford  is  an  establishment  by  no  means  for  the 
accommodation  of  that  place  only.  All  the  neighboring  counties  in  this  State 
share  largely  in  the  conveniences  it  affords.  Most  of  the  western  part  of  Massa- 
chusetts, and  of  those  parts  of  Vermont  and  New  Hampshire  which  are  contigu- 
ous to  Connecticut  Eiver,  —  a  section  of  country  almost  equal  in  population  to 
the  whole  State  of  Connecticut,  —  derive  advantages  from  a  bank  in  this  city  as 
well  as  contribute  to  its  support ;  the  merchants  from  them  having  long  been 
accustomed  to  receive  loans  of  money  from  the  Hartford  Bank.  Nor  has  this 
bank  been  able  at  all  times  to  supply  the  demand  for  loans,  though  accompanied 
with  undisputed  security.  The  great  dividends  of  profit  made  by  the  Hartford 
Bank  of  late  years  demonstrates  the  great  and  increasing  demand  for  loans ;  and 
it  is  a  singular  fact  that  these  dividends  have  increased  in  amount  with  the  in- 
crease of  the  capital  of  the  bank.  The  very  high  price  which  its  stock  commands 
evidences  both  the  profitableness  of  the  business  and  the  safety  with  which  it 
may  be  conducted. 

The  prodigiously  great  subscriptions  to  this  bank  of  late,  whenever  a  new 
subscription  to  its  stock  has  been  permitted,  prove  the  extreme  desire  of  the 
public  to  possess  it.  Seeing,  therefore,  from  the  facts  just  adduced  there  appears 
to  be  on  the  one  hand  no  want  of  borrowers,  nor  of  lenders  on  the  other,  your 
petitioners  have  been  led  to  hope  that  while  their  object  meets  with  general  ap- 
probation from  the  community  at  large  it  will  not  be  denied  the  countenance  of 
this  Honorable  General  Assembly. 

If  the  business  of  banking  has  proved  so  lucrative  to  one  bank  in  this  City, 
your  petitioners  see  no  reason  why  that  bank  should  enjoy  a  monopoly  of  this 
profit.  They  are  desirous,  therefore,  of  being  permitted  to  establish  another  bank. 
They  wish  to  invest  their  own  property  therein.  And  they  ask  for  a  new  bank 
rather  than  for  an  enlargement  of  the  old,  thinking  it  more  congenial  to  true  re- 
publican principles,  and  an  equality  of  rights  in  the  great  body  of  our  citizens, 
that  a  new  bank  be  granted  than  that  an  overgrown  capital  and  influence  be 
accumulated  in  the  old  bank,  thereby  diffusing  and  equalizing  privileges,  not  per- 
mitting them  to  be  engrossed,  thereby  promoting  competition  which  creates  an 
increased  endeavour  to  accommodate  the  public,  from  which  the  bank  receives 
its  support.  Your  petitioners  would  remark  that  the  banking  business  in  this 
city  has  been  as  good,  if  not  better,  since  the  war  than  it  was  in  the  time  of 
peace.  The  dividends  of  the  Hartford  Bank  prove  this.  Hence  it  appears  plainly 
a  bank  in  the  City  of  Hartford  has  other  resources  besides  those  of  foreign  com- 
merce. It  has  indeed  important  and  very  great  resources,  not  only  in  an  exten- 
sive and  increasing  inland  trade,  —  the  effect  of  a  central  and  highly  advantageous 
situation,  —  but  in  the  numerous  and  constantly  increasing  manufacturing  estab- 
lishments in  the  vicinity ;  establishments  which  in  general  absorb  a  very  great 
capital  before  they  render  back  to  the  proprietors  any  part  of  it  in  the  profit  ulti- 
mately realized.  And  the  restoration  of  our  foreign  commerce  with  the  return 
of  peace  must  add  greatly  to  the  amount  and  effectiveness  of  these  resources. 
Your  petitioners  would  further  remark  that  it  is  an  undeniable  fact,  which  has 
been  proved  by  experience,  that  the  multiplication  of  banks  does  not  increase  any 
faster  than  the  regular  demands  of  trade  require  the  amount  of  bank-notes  in 
circulation,  but  only  subdivides  it.  Hence  it  follows  that  the  security  of  the 
public  is  really  increased  by  increasing  the  amount  of  bank  capital  pledged  for 
the  redemption  of  bank-notes  in  circulation.  Herfce  also  it  follows  that  from  the 
increase  of  banks  of  late  years  a  vastly  greater  amount  of  bank  capital  is  required 
now  to  authorize  and  support  the  same  amount  of  circulating  paper  than  was  re- 
quired twelve  or  fifteen  years  since.  And  hence  also  must  be  perceived  the  im- 
portance of  endeavouring  as  a  State,  and  as  far  as  may  be  in  our  power,  to  supply 
our  own  circulation  from  our  own  resources.  Your  petitioners  would  also  further 
remark  that  the  creating  more  bank  stock  in  the  State  will  bring  within  the  reach 
of  taxation  the  alienable  property  of  individuals  which  now  escapes  being  taxed, 


COMMERCE  AND  BANKING.  335 

and  thus  it  will  compel  it  to  contribute  a  portion  of  its  profits  to  the  community 
which  privileges,  protects,  and  supports  it.  Your  petitioners  beg  leave  to  conclude 
by  remarking,  finally,  that  they  do  not  ask  for  the  privileges  of  a  banking  associ- 
ation, but  upon  the  ground  of  mutual  concession  as  well  as  of  reciprocal  advan- 
tage. If  this  Honorable  General  Assembly  in  their  wisdom  see  fit  to  grant  them 
an  Act  of  incorporation  for  a  bank  in  the  City  of  Hartford,  to  be  denominated 
The  Bank  of  Connecticut,  with  a  Capital  of  Fifteen  Hundred  Thousand  Dollars, 
divided  into  shares  of  One  Hundred  Dollars  each,  and  with  the  usual  privileges 
of  banking  corporations,  the  petitioners  offer  the  same  liberal  provisions  of  receiv- 
ing at  all  times  the  funds  of  the  State  and  of  school  and  ecclesiastical  societies,  at 
par,  which  is  now  granted  by  the  Hartford  Bank.  And  your  petitioners  further 
pray  that  they  may  be  permitted  to  establish  a  branch  of  said  bank  to  a  limited 
amount  in  the  Town  of  Litchfield,  for  the  purpose  of  Discount  only,  to  be  under 
the  superintendence  of  the  Directors  of  the  Principal  Bank,  and  to  account  monthly 
or  oftener  with  them,  subject  to  any  and  such  other  regulations  and  restrictions 
as  to  your  Honours  may  seem  proper  and  expedient.  And  they  offer,  moreover, 
in  conformity  to  Precedent  in  other  States,  to  pay  for  the  Incorporation  herein 
prayed  for  the  sum  of  Sixty  Thousand  Dollars,  a  premium  of  Four  per  cent,  to 
be  advanced  by  the  stockholders  as  fast  as  the  successive  installments  of  the 
Capital  Stock  shall  be  paid  in,  and  to  be  appropriated,  if  in  the  opinion  of  your 
Honours  it  shall  be  deemed  expedient  and  in  such  proportions  as  by  your  Hon- 
ours may  be  thought  proper,  to  the  uses  of  the  Corporations  of  Yale  College  and 
of  the  Medical  Institute  established  in  the  City  of  New  Haven,  and  of  the  Cor- 
poration of  Trustees  of  the  Fund  of  the  Bishop  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  this 
State,  or  to  be  otherwise  disposed  of  for  the  use  of  the  State,  or  for  any  purpose 
whatever  which  to  your  Honours  may  seem  best.  And  your  petitioners,  as  in 
duty  bound,  will  ever  pray. 

Dated  February,  1814.  Ward  WOODBRIDGE. 

Sam'l  Tudor,  Jr. 

Charles  Sigourney, 
By  his  attorney, 
Walter  Mitchell. 

This  application  of  course  prompted  forcible  and  some  ingenious 
opposition.  Contributors  to  the  newspapers  and  writers  in  pamphlets 
aired  the  matter  in  various  styles.  One  contributor  in  the  "  Courant " 
called  attention  to  the  general  depreciation  of  the  currency  for  the  few 
past  months  more  rapid  and  alarming  than  ever,  evidenced  by  the  ad- 
vance in  the  ] trice  of  labor ;  the  cause  of  which  was  obviously  and  prin- 
cipally, at  least  in  the  mind  of  the  writer,  the  multiplication  of  banking 
institutions  and  the  consequent  flood  of  bank-bills :  — 

"One  which  is  continually  increasing,  and  unless  restrained  will  in  a  few 
years  destroy  the  credit  of  banks.  .  .  .  The  continual  multiplication  of  banks 
and  of  manufacturing  institutions,  with  the  privilege  of  issuing  bills  of  credit,  is 
a  subject  of  just  alarm  to  the  community.  ...  It  is  an  undeniable  fact  that  the 
quantity  of  medium  circulating  is  far  greater  than  the  trade  of  the  country  re- 
quires. Nor  is  the  practice  of  purchasing  charters  by  liberal  donations  to  the 
State  treasuries  to  be  viewed  without  extreme  anxiety.  The  corrupting  influence 
of  such  a  practice  cannot  but  be  obvious ;  and  once  introduced,  that  influence 
will  swell  like  a  torrent,  which  no  public  or  private  virtue  will  be  able  to  resist." 

When  this  measure  was  presented  in  the  Assembly  there  seemed  to 
be  something  indeed  very  like  a  swollen  torrent  behind  it.  The  bonus 
named,  with  the  proposed  divisions  of  it,  and  the  projected  branch  office 
at  Litchfield,  were  quite  captivating  among  the  legislators,  and  the  act 


336 


MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF   HARTFORD  COUNTY 


of  incorporation  was  granted  to  the  president,  directors,  and  company 
of  the  Phoenix  Bank,  with  authorized  capital  of  one  million  dollars ;  a 
premium  of  five  per  cent,  or  fifty  thousand  dollars,  to  be  paid  into  the 
treasury  of  the  State ;  the  right  of  the  State  to  subscribe  for  additional 
shares  at  any  time,  which  shares  should  be  transferable,  being  reserved ; 
as  well  as  the  right  to  appoint  two  directors  when  the  subscription  of 
the  State  should  amount  to  the  number  of  five  hundred  shares. 

When  in  the  following  July  the  commissioners  appointed  by  the  act 
to  receive  subscriptions  to  the  stock  opened  their  books,  not  only  was 


THE    OLD    PHCENIX    BANK    BUILDING    ON    MAIN    STREET. 


the  limited  amount  of  capital  immediately  pledged,  but  seventy  thou- 
sand shares  (17,000,000)  were  asked  for.  The  unhappy  commissioners 
must  withhold  six  shares  where  they  could  grant  one  to  the  eager  in- 
vestors ;  and  their  apportionment,  declareoVat  Bennett's  Coffee-Souse 
July  21,  was  brought  under  a  jealous  and  acrimonious  review  before 
the  public,  while  the  legislature  called  them  to  account  with  close  and 
specific  interrogatories. 

There  was  disappointment  ultimately  at  the  disposal  of  the  fifty 
thousand  dollars  bonus.  The  expressed  preference  of  the  founders  of  the 
new  bank  was  indulged  only  so  far  as  to  bestow  a  part  of  the  sum  upon 
the  Medical  Institute,  while  the  suggestion  in  favor  of  the  Bishops'  Fund 


COMMERCE   AND   BANKING.  337 

was  determinedly  ignored  ;  and  this  incident,  with  some  interesting  com- 
plications more  or  less  intimately  related  thereto,  stood  nearly  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  order  of  events  which  marked  a  change  in  the  governing 
position  between  the  two  political  parties  of  the  State,  the  advent  and 
ascendency  of  the  Tolerationists,  followed  so  soon  by  the  proposal  and 
adoption  of  the  new  Constitution.  However,  much  of  the  varied  con- 
troversy contributed  to  a  public  sense  of  the  importance  of  the  new  in- 
stitution ;  reminding  its  friends  that  they  must  be  substantial  patrons ; 
impressed  those  gentlemen  who  expected  to  undertake  the  direction  that 
they  must  be  alert  and  helpful ;  and  altogether  went  far  to  insure  for  it 
a  good  start. 

At  Bennett's  Coffee-House,  July  21,  when  the  allotment  of  shares 
was  made,  the  first  shareholders'  meeting  was  organized,  and  Messrs. 
Normand  Knox,  Ward  Woodbridge,  Samuel  Tudor,  Jr.,  Charles  Sig- 
ourney,  Daniel  Buck,  Thomas  K.  Brace,  Moses  Tryon,  Jr.,  Jonathan 
W.  Edwards,  John  Burr,  James  H.  Wells,  and  David  Watkinson  were 
elected  directors,  and  Mr.  Knox,  who  had  resigned  the  cashiership  of 
the  Hartford  Bank,1  was  elected  president.2  The  election  of  Mr.  George 
Beach  as  cashier  promptly  followed.  Instalments  upon  the  stock  were 
received  at  the  home  office  and  at  the  Litchfield  branch  office,  and  the 
second  bank  in  this  county  had,  before  the  summer  was  over,  fairly 
started  upon  a  career  of  usefulness  and  success,  albeit  in  a  season  of 
financial  difficulty  and  danger. 

If  this  particular  region  had  been  spared  much  of  the  distress  fol- 
lowing upon  the  usual  fortune  of  war  since  1812,  the  depression  of  com- 
mercial credit  and  the  interruption  and  suppression  of  our  trade  with 
the  outside  world  had,  by  all  accounts,  been  deplorable  enough.  At  the 
same  time  the  species  and  quality  of  the  moneys  forced  into  circulation 
here  as  elsewhere  were  variously  aggravating,  to  say  the  least.  Sus- 
pension of  specie  payments  had  occurred  generally  outside  of  New 
England  ;  Connecticut  banks  cautiously  withdrew  their  specie  notes  and 
replaced  them  with  notes  authorized  by  the  legislature,  nicknamed 
"  Facilities."  These  were  payable  in  two  years  after  the  war,  were  re- 
ceivable of  course  for  debts  due  to  the  banks  of  issue,  and  were  current 
at  a  price  in  the  market.  Besides  these  were  the  fractional  bank-notes 
and  the  notes  for  parts  of  a  dollar  issued  by  other  corporations  and  by 
individuals  for  change,  and  a  great  accumulation  of  unassorted  stuff 
representing  the  unsecured  and  unredeemable  promises  to  pay  of  Western 
and  Southern  banks,  and  every  lot  passing  from  hand  to  hand  badly 
seasoned  with  more  than  a  sprinkling  of  what  at  the  present  day  would 
be  accounted  an  amusing  species  of  counterfeit  work;3  the  latter,  nev- 
ertheless, in  many  instances  about  as  artistic  in  finish  as  the  genuine, 
and  passing  with  as  little  scrutiny,  perhaps,  as  the  other. 

1  Succeeded  there  by  Mr.  Horace  Burr. 

2  The  presidents  of  the  Phoenix  bank  have  been  :  Normand  Knox  ,  elected  President, 
Sept.  1,  1814;  Charles  Sigourney,  Jan.  19,  1821;  George  Beach,  Sept.  8,  1837;  John  L.  Bunce, 
April  5,  I860;  Henry  A.  Redfield,  April  15,  1878. 

3  "  A  specie  bank  bill  was  almost  an  object  of  worship.  An  anecdote  will  illustrate  this. 
In  our  city  of  Hartford  there  were  a  shrewd  man  and  a  greedy  man,  who  had  some  dealings 
with  each  other  about  these  days,  when  the  following  scene  occurred  :  — 

"  Shrcv;l  Man.  Do  you  recollect  giving  me  a  ten-dollar  bill  in  change  yesterdav, 
Mr.  C? 

"  Greedy  .~\rtn>.    No,  I  don't ;  why  do  you  ask  ? 

"  S.  M.    Well,  I  found  a  specie  bill  of  ten  dollars  in  my  purse,  and  I  thought  perhaps 

VOL.   I.  —  22. 


338  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

At  the  close  of  the  war  the  condition  was  no  better.  July,  1815, 
gold  commanded  a  premium  of  fifteen  per  cent,  and,  with  the  raising-  of 
the  blockade  importation,  was  resumed,  and  there  was  great  demand  for 
the  precious  metal  to  pay  for  the  goods  brought  in  from  abroad. 

The  United  States  Bank  was  re-chartered  in  1816,  and  after  all  the 
endeavor  to  establish  the  branch  for  Connecticut  at  Hartford,  it  was 
announced  on  the  4th  of  February,  1817,  that  the  directors  had  finally 
decided  to  place  it  at  Middletown,  "  agreeably  to  their  former  decision." 
This  transaction  had  a  connection,  locally,  with  the  matter  of  the  resump- 
tion of  specie  payments,  which  had  been  agitated  for  several  months. 
If  the  deposits  of  the  Government  were  to  be  at  once  transferred  to  this 
branch  or  others  from  the  State  banks,  the  cpiestion  of  a  date  foi;  re- 
sumption possessed  a  different  interest.  It  was  said  in  behalf  of  the 
latter1  that 

"  The  hanks  in  Boston  and  Ehode  Island  and  many  others  have  always  paid 
specie  for  their  bills.  The  Banks  in  this  State  will  continue  to  fulfil  their  engage- 
ments, and  will  cheerfully  unite  with  the  Banks  of  New  York  in  commencing 
specie  operations." 

Occasionally  during  the  period  of  suspension  had  been  made  the  an- 
nouncement similar  to  one  of  Sept.  30,  1814  :  — 

"  At  the  Hartford  Bank  all  demands  upon  it  are  and  always  have  been 
promptly  and  cheerfully  paid  in  specie." 

Per  contra,  the  same  paper,  June  5,  1815,  says  :  — 

"  New  York  Banks  refuse  to  pay  their  bills,  and  pay  dividends  of  nine  or 
ten  per  cent.  From  present  appearances  the  Facilities  issued  by  the  Banks  in 
this  State  will  be  paid  much  sooner  than  the  bills  issued  by  the  Banks  of  New 
York  or  Pennsylvania." 

Of  course  the  care  of  the  currency  of  our  local  banks  at  the  resump- 
tion was  not  so  serious  a  matter  as  it  was  to  those  of  other  parts  of  the 
country,  and  the  diversion  of  the  Government  deposits  at  this  point  not 
likely  to  be  of  very  great  account.  Yet  the  State  banks  had  preference 
for  one  date  of  resumption ;  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  (Mr.  Craw- 
ford) had  another.  A  communication  from  him,  dated  Dec.  20,  1816, 
mentions  that  the  United  States  Bank  at  Philadelphia  would  commence 
business  there  on  the  1st  of  January  following,  and  be  ready  to  receive 
moneys  from  the  State  banks. 

"If  the  determination  of  the  latter  to  resume  specie  payments  on  July  1st, 
1817,  is  persisted  in,  there  will  be  no  hesitation  in  ordering  transfers  (of  the 
deposits)  with  as  little  delay  as  may  be;  but  as  an  inducement  to  change  that 
determination  it  is  proposed,  if  the  State  Banks  will  resume  on  the  20th  of  Feb- 
ruary next,  the  public  moneys  now  with  them  shall  not  be  transferred  to  the 

I  might  have  received  it  of  you.  You  remember  I  was  only  entitled  to  a  facility,  and  not  to 
a  specie  bill. 

"  G.  M.    Well,  I  dare  say  you  had  it  of  me  ;  let  me  see  it. 

"  S.  M.    There  it  is. 

"  G.  M.    Oh  yes  ;  I  recollect  it  perfectly.     I  '11  take  it  and  give  you  a  facility.     There. 

"  S.  M.    Are  you  sure,  Mr.  C,  that  you  gave  me  that  specie  bill  ? 

' '  G.  M.    Certainly,  certainly.     I  recollect  it  distinctly. 

" S.  M.  Well,  I'm  glad  you  are  sure,  for  they  tell  me  the  specie  bill  is  counterfeit!"  — 
S.  G.  Goodrich,  Recollections,  vol.  i.  p.  494. 

1  Connecticut  Couraut,  January,  1817. 


COMMERCE   AND   BANKING.  339 

Bank  of  the  United  States,  and  from  then  to  July  1st  as  little  shall  be  withdrawn 
as  the  demands  upon  the  Treasury  will  admit." 

The  alternative,  after  all,  was  an  influential  one.  The  policy  of  the 
Secretary  prevailed,  and  resumption  was  here  and  uniformly  and  nomi- 
nally accomplished.  Further  contractions  in  business  and  failures  fol- 
lowed. Our  inland  trade  and  manufactures  suffered,  and  for  differing 
reasons  our  commerce  no  less.  The  reader  may  find  in  the  files  of  the 
day  a  communication  from  a  meeting  of  merchants,  shipholders,  and 
others,  of  the  city  and  county  of  Hartford,  at  Morgan's  Coffee-House, 
addressed  to  the  assembled  Congress,  asking  an  account  of  the  imposts 
and  restrictions  that  since  the  last  war  had  been  laid  on  the  trade  to 
the  West  India  Colonies  by  those  Europeans  who  possessed  them,  by 
which  means  the  shipping  of  this  river  was  nearly  becoming  useless, 
that  the  matter  might  be  considered  whether  there  should  not  be  pro- 
hibition of  the  entry  of  any  vessels  with  a  cargo  from  any  port  or  place 
to  which  an  American  vessel  was  not  permitted  to  enter  and  trade,  or 
of  the  clearance  of  a  foreign  vessel  with  cargo  from  the  United  States 
to  any  such  port. 

In  January,  1824,  the  banking  business  of  Hartford  was  augmented    ! 
by  the  removal  to  this  city  of  the  Connecticut  Branch  of  the  United 
States  Bank.     It  was  noticed  in  the  "  Courant "  of  the  date  :  — 

"  It  is  finally  settled  by  the  Mother  Bank  to  remove  to  this  City  that  Branch 
of  the  Institution  hitherto  located  at  Middletown.  The  long-contested  claims  be- 
tween New  Haven,  Middletown,  and  Hartford,  which  originated  with  the  Bank, 
and  which  have  been  regularly  followed  up  to  this  time,  leaving  the  public  mind 
in  a  state  of  suspense  where  the  Branch  would  ultimately  he  fixed,  are  finally  set- 
tled and  wisely  settled  in  favor  of  Hartford.  Notwithstanding  the  collision  of 
interests,  an  honorable  testimony  of  liberality  has  been  displayed  by  our  City 
Banks  in  tendering  their  vaults  and  spare  room  for  the  accommodation  of  the 
Branch  until  preparation  can  be  made  for  more  permanent  arrangements." 

Of  this  removal  a  New  Haven  journal  (the  "  Register ")  gave  an 
amusingly  different  sketch  :  — 

"  The  United  States  Branch  established  at  Middletown  is  to  be  removed 
forthwith  to  Hartford,  by  a  sudden  and  unexpected  order  from  the  directors 
of  the  Mother  Bank.  We  believe  the  inhabitants  of  New  Haven  are  well  pleased 
that  so  great  a  calamity  as  the  Branch  Bank  would  have  been  is  not  to  be  inflicted 
on  this  place.     We  have  now  as  many  picture-shops  as  can  well  be  supported." 

The  branch  was  speedily  adjusted  to  running  order,  and  conducted 
an  important  business  here  until  the  charter  expired  by  limitation, 
March  4,  183(5.  Of  its  local  directors  officiating  during  its  operations 
in  Hartford,  one,  the  Hon.  Julius  Catlin,  wdio  was  on  the  board  for  a 
large  part  of  the  whole  period,  still  survives  at  this  writing  (1886). 

During  the  legislative  session  of  the  same  year,  in  response  to  the 
application  of  Charles  Sigourney,  George  Beach,  Isaac  Toucey,  Henry 
Kilbourn,  Eliphalet  Averill,  Henry  L.  Ellsworth,  Hezekiah  Huntington, 
Nathaniel  Terry,  Eliphalet  Terry,  Cyprian  Nichols,  Reuben  Langdon, 
Daniel  Buck,  John  Caldwell,  Denison  Morgan,  Robert  Watkinson,  and 
others,  the  Connecticut  River  Company  was  incorporated  by  charter 
"  to  improve  the  boat  navigation  through   the  valley   of    Connecticut 


340  MEMORIAL   HISTORY    OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

River  from  Hartford  toward  its  source."  At  the  following  session 
amendments  were  made  thereto,  so  that  upon  the  payment  of  their 
stock  and  the  expenditure  by  the  said  company  of  not  less  than  two 
hundred  thousand  dollars  for  the  above  purpose,  of  which  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars  should  be  upon  parts  "  above  this  state,"  the  company 
might  assess  fifty  dollars  additional  upon  each  share  of  one  hundred 
dollars,  and  pay  it  over  to  the  Connecticut  River  Banking  Company,1 
simultaneously  chartered,  to  constitute  for  the  latter  a  capital  "  not 
so  exceeding  five  hundred  thousand  dollars."  Further  modifications 
of  the  charter  or  charters  were  made  in  1828  and  subsequently,  which 
practically  secured  for  the  stock  special  exemption  from  taxation,  by 
which  it  has  always  maintained  favor  with  investors,  as  the  institution 
has  had  a  creditable  reputation  with  the  public  ever  since  it  began  busi- 
ness in  October,  1829. 

The  quality  of  our  bank  circulation,  always  of  comparatively  high 
standard,  was  brought  to  proof  of  a  higher  or  more  exacting  test, 
by  the  adoption  during  this  decade  of  what  came  to  be  known  as  the 
Suffolk  Bank  System  of  Redemptions.  The  Suffolk  Bank,  organized 
at  Boston  in  1818,  became  in  1824  -the  agent  of  the  associated  in- 
stitutions of  that  city  for  receiving  and  effecting  the  redemption  of 
the  bills  of  all  the  New  England  Banks,  "  peaceably  if  we  may, 
forcibly  if  we  must."  Funds  from  our  banks,  either  specie,  Boston 
exchange,  or  current  bills  of  other  banks  of  New  England,  were  required 
to  be  deposited  there,  in  time  and  amount  sufficient  to  cover  the  accu- 
mulation of  their  bills  gathered  by  the  exchanges  of  the  Suffolk ;  in 
default  of  which  the  notes  of  the  delinquents  were  to  be  sent  home  for 
presentation,  and  demand  for  specie  payment  of  them  was  to  be  made 
and  enforced.  The  system,  applying  to  a  large  and  increasing  New 
England  currency,  afforded  a  sensible  remedy  for  the  varying  and  ex- 
pensive discount  hitherto  chargeable  upon  this  currency  at  all  points  of 
accumulation  or  exchange.  The  advantages  of  stated  redemptions 
were  in  fact  largely  mutual  between  the  banks  finally  enlisted ;  the 
operations  of  the  method  upon  the  whole  salutary  and  justifiable. 

The  plan  was,  however,  by  no  means  cordially  accepted ;  was  rather 
quite  cordially  hated  and  antagonized  by  a  large  proportion  of  issuing 
banks,  who  saw  in  the  new  movement  a  curtailment  of  the  profits  of  their 
circulation. 

Here,  as  elsewhere,  the  terms  advanced  by  the  "  Boston  Alliance," 
as  it  was  called,  were  at  first  regarded  as  quite,  arbitrary,  and  were 
strenuously  objected  to  and  opposed ;  while  at  Hartford  the  proposed 
special  compensatory  deposit  was  once  for  all  denied  and  persistently 
withheld.  The  threatened  aggression  and  discipline  were  applied  in 
refractory  cases  where  most  likely  to  be  effective ;  the  notes  of  some 
isolated  bank  being  sent  by  special  messenger,  when  gathered  in  con- 
siderable amounts,  for  payment  in  specie.  Various  ways  of  defence  or 
retaliation  were  resorted  to;  and  with  all  the  bravery  shown  in  the  con- 
troversy as  it  proceeded,  there  was  at  least  sharpness  enough  in  what 

1  The  presidents  of  the  Connecticut  River  Banking  Company  have  been  :  Alfred  Smith, 
elected  Jan.  8,  1829  ;  William  H.  Imlav,  Jan.  1,  1838  ;  Alfred  Smith,  Nov.  3,  1851  ;  John  A. 
Butler,  Jan.  7,  1862  ;  Joseph  Church,  Jan.  2,  1872  ;  Geo.  M.  Welch,  Feb.  1,  1872  ;  Samuel 
E.  Elmore,  Jan.  26,  1874. 


COMMERCE   AND   BANKING.  341 

was  said  or  written  upon  either  side.1  With  the  approach  and  progress 
of  another  Presidential  campaign  the  banking  interest  of  the  country 
was  made  a  convenient  and  exciting  topic  of  debate.  The  Old  Hickory 
Hero  was  determinedly  set  against  the  renewal  of  the  National  Bank 
Charter  which  was  to  expire  in  183(3 ;  and  upon  his  accession  to  the 
chief  magistracy  in  1829  moved  in  direct  order  of  assault  upon  the 
system,  and,  in  immediate  course,  for  the  withdrawal  of  the  Govern- 
ment deposits  from  the  custody  of  the  fated  banks. 

The  discussions  of  this  proposed  measure,  which  followed  through- 
out the  first  years  of  the  new  administration,  were  colored  and 
fired  by  partisan  wit  and  wile,  but  in  no  great  degree  hindered  the 
Democratic  purpose.  They  may  have  been  suggestive  of  a  necessity  or 
an  opportunity  for  another  bank  in  Hartford,  and  probably  were  sug- 
gestive to  minds  of  differing  political  choices ;  for  in  the  spring  of  1833 
Messrs.  James  T.  Pratt,  Job  Allyn,  Asa  Farwell,  Lemuel  Humphrey, 
Horace  Goodwin,  2d.  Albert  Day,  A.  H.  Pomeroy,  Solomon  Porter, 
Nathan  Johnson,  Henry  and  Walter  Keney,  Julius  Catlin,  Roland 
Mather,  George  C.  Collins,  David  Clark.  Ellery  Hills,  and  other  as  well- 
remembered  citizens,  united  in  a  communication  to  the  legislature, 
setting  forth,  among  other  things,  that  — 

"  The  business  of  said  town  of  Hartford  and  its  vicinity  had  greatly  increased 
in  a  few  years  past  ;  the  commercial,  manufacturing,  and  mechanical  business  in 
particular  being  now  carried  to  an  extent  until  recently  unknown  to  our  citizens ; 
that  the  same  causes  which  have  produced  this  effect  are  still  supposed  to  exist, 
ami  may  justly  be  expected  to  produce  a  further  increase  in  the  future.  In  con- 
sequence of  this  increase,  further  banking  capital  is  deemed  to  be  necessary. 
Notwithstanding  the  amount  of  such  capital  already  located  in  the  City  of  Hart- 
ford, the  same  is  by  no  means  commensurate  with  the  necessities  of  the  public." 

Their  prayer  was,  that  a  bank  might  be  established  in  Hartford, 
to  be  denominated  the  "  Farmers'  and  Mechanics'  Bank,"  and  in  the 
debates  of  the  Assembly  it  was  rather  fervidly  promised  that  the 
farmers  and  mechanics  would  find,  if  this  charter  were  granted,  that 
their  bank  had  not  been  misnamed.  The  affirmative  vote  prevailed; 
the  charter  carried  with  a  capital  of  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  — 
and  no  bonus  this  time!  W.  H.  Holabird,  Joseph  Pratt,  James  Dodd, 
Benjamin  B.  Soule,  and  Chauncey  F.  Cleveland  were  appointed  com- 
missioners to  receive  subscriptions  for  shares ;  and  when  the  farmers 
and  the  mechanics  and  their  neighbors  had  written  their  names,  it 
was  found  that  they  wanted  to  contribute  a  capital  of  $1,600,750  to 
begin  with.  As  less  than  one  third  of  this  amount  was  called  for, 
there  was  the  usual  amount  of  dissatisfaction  at  the  apportionment  that 
followed  on  the  second  Tuesday  of  July ;  but  the  choice  of  a  board  of 
thirteen  directors  was  shortly  announced,  as  well  as  the  election  by 

1  "  The  Allied  Banks  in  Boston  have  commenced  hostilities  against  the  Fairfield  County 
Bank  at  Nonvalk  and  its  branch  at  Danbury.  An  agent  from  the  East  appeared  and  de- 
manded $33,000.  He  was  offered  notes  of  the  Boston  banks,  which  he  refused.  Such 
conduct  on  the  part  of  the  moneyed  institutions  of  Boston  is  little  calculated  to  create  friendly 
feelings  or  strengthen  regard  for  Boston.  That  City  and  State  have  long  held  the  rest  of  New- 
England  in  leading-strings  in  commercial,  political,  and  other  transactions  ;  but  the  Boston 
aristocracy  and  Essex  Junto  will  find  that  this  conduct  is  not  likelv  to  conciliate  public  feeling 
in  other  States."  —  Hartford  Times,  July  16,  1S27. 


342  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

them  of  Mr.  James  Dodd  as  president,1  and  the  bank  was  ready  for 
business  at  a  season  which  its  friends  could  not  but  consider  op- 
portune. 

In  the  summer  of  1833  an  agent  was  appointed  by  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  to  visit  different  cities  of  the  Union  to  inquire  "upon 
what  terms  and  in  what  manner  the  State  Banks  would  render  to  the 
Government  the  service  now  rendered  by  the  United  States  Banks." 
This  appointment  and  inquiry  was  approved  in  extravagant  terms  by 
such  of  the  press  as  were  loyal  to  the  policy  of  the  President.  The 
United  States  Bank  was  decried  as  an  institution  of  a  very  dangerous 
character,  —  a  rotten  and  corrupt  one.  It  was  demanded  that  "  this 
monster  should  be  discarded  and  all  aid  from  the  Government  with- 
drawn." 

The  result  of  the  Treasury  agent's  inquiry  was  soon  made  public ; 
the  State  banks  in  the  Northern  cities  came  forward,  ready  to  receive  the 
Government  deposits.  September  20th,  announcement  of  the  withdrawal 
of  the  deposits  appeared  in  the  "  Globe,"  the  transfers  to  be  effected 
gradually  ;  and  in  our  local  newspapers  of  November  9  it  was  published 
that  the  Farmers'  and  Mechanics'  Bank  had,  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  been  selected  for  the  Government  Depository  in  lieu  of 
the  branch  bank  at  Hartford. 

All  the  ready  capital  of  our  vicinity  was  not  absorbed  by  the  organi- 
zation of  this  new  bank.  The  wants  of  the  community  were  not  yet, 
it  was  feared,  fully  to  be  supplied,  and  preparation  was  made  for  pro- 
curing another  charter  at  the  coming  session  of  1834.  Among  the 
representative  names  affixed  to  this  application  were  those  of  Messrs. 
Joseph  Church,  Allyn  S.  Stillmau,  George  Putnam,  William  T.  Lee, 
Charles  H.  Northam,  Henry  Oaks,  A.  W.  Butler,  Griffin  N.  Stedman, 
Enoch  C.  Stanton,  J.  B.  Shultas,  A.  S.  Beck  with,  and  those  of  other 
of  our  citizens  as  well  remembered  as  they,  which  made  out  a  numerous 
and  influential  list.     Their  showing  was  — 

"  That  by  reason  of  the  pecuniary  pressure  which  had  been  thrown  upon  the 
Mercantile  and  Manufacturing  interests  of  the  community  by  the  removal  of  the 
Government  deposits  from  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  and  the  consequent 
derangement  of  the  currency  of  the  country  and  destruction  of  public  and  indi- 
vidual confidence,  these  branches  of  individual  and  national  industry  and  wealth 
are  languishing,  to  the  great  detriment  of  the  community ;  that  the  want  of  a 
free  circulation  and  a  deranged  currency  have  necessarily  compelled  merchants 
and  manufacturers  to  curtail  and  in  many  instances  to  abandon  their  opera- 
tions ;  that  already  thousands  of  persons  have  been  thrown  out  of  employment 
and  left  destitute  and  without  any  means  to  support  themselves  and  families,  and 
must  in  a  short  time  be  supported  by  private  charities ;  that  in  order  to  continue 
their  business,  merchants  and  manufacturers  must  resort  to  bank  accommodations 
beyond  the  power  and  ability  of  present  banks  at  this  time  to  extend  ;  and  that  in 
the  opinion  of  the  petitioners  an  increased  amount  of  banking  capital  in  the  City 

1  The  presidents  of  the  Farmers'  and  Mechanics'  Bank  have  been:  James  Dodd,  elected 
May,  1834;  General  Samuel  L.  Pitkin,  May  2,  1837;  A.  H.  Pomroy,  May  5,  1840;  Horace 
Goodwin,  2d,  May  7,  1844 ;  Charles  Boswell,  May,  1850  ;  John  C.  Tracy,  Aug.  11,  1858  ;  Alva 
Oatman,  April  2,  1877  ;  John  G.  Root,  1884.  The  first  hoard  of  directors  consisted  of  James 
Dodd,  Joseph  Pratt,  Luther  Loomis,  James  T.  Pratt,  Albert  Day,  Jeremiah  Brown,  Thomas 
Belden,  Eliphalet  Averill,  W.  S.  Holahird,  Job  Allyn,  Jesse  Savage,  Miles  C.  Burt,  Horace 
Goodwin,  2d. 


COMMERCE  AND  BANKING.  343 

and  County  of  Hartford  is  absolutely  indispensable  to  the  manufacturing  inter- 
ests of  the  County  and  State  at  large." 

They  prayed  for  a  bank  of  live  hundred  thousand  dollars  capital,  to 
be  established  at  Hartford  of  course,  and  to  be  called  the  Manufacturers' 
Bank  ;  or  that  the  Assembly  would  in  some  other  way  "  grant  to  the 
merchants  and  manufacturers  of  the  county  adequate  relief." 

The  committee  of  the  legislature  to  whom  this  petition  was  referred 
reported  that  it  was  in  evidence  before  them  that  the  banking  capital 
already  located  in  Hartford  far  exceeded  in  amount  three  million  dol- 
lars ;  "  all  of  which  is  constantly  and  profitably  employed ;  and  that  a 
further  increase  of  banking  capital  would  not  in  any  degree  curtail  the 
business  of  the  present  banks,  but  would  extend  to  your  petitioners  and 
others  very  great  facilities,"  and  recommended  the  passage  of  a  bill  in 
form  incorporating  the  Exchange  Bank,  with  an  authorized  capital  of 
five  hundred  thousand  dollars,  to  be  divided  into  shares  of  fifty  dollars 
each. 

It  apparently  occurred  to  our  provident  legislators  that  a  profitable 
opportunity  was  neglected  the  year  before,  when  the  charter  of  the 
Farmers'  and  Mechanics'  Bank  issued  free  of  bonus.  In  the  present 
instance  fifteen  thousand  dollars  was  to  be  paid  to  the  State  for  the 
Connecticut  Silk  Manufacturing  Company,  a  large  part  of  which,  in 
case  the  company  was  organized,  was  to  be  paid  to  Gamaliel  Gay  and 
Joseph  Bottom  as  a  remuneration  for  their  expenses  and  labor  for 
inventing  and  constructing  machinery  for  the  manufacture  of  silk,  on 
their  giving  bond  that  said  machinery  might  be  used  by  any  person  in 
this  State  without  additional  charge.  Of  the  remainder,  the  said  com- 
pany was  to  pay  fifteen  hundred  dollars  to  the  Mansfield  Silk  Company. 

Eight  thousand  dollars  further  was  to  be  paid  to  erect  an  iron  rail- 
ing around  the  State  House,  under  the  direction  of  the  Court  of  Common 
Council  of  Hartford,  and  suitable  walks  well  flagged,  setting  up  stone 
posts  and  paving  gutters  about  said  railing.  Two  thousand  dollars, 
moreover,  was  to  be  paid  into  the  treasury  of  the  State,  making  in  all 
a  bonus  of  five  per  cent  on  the  capital  of  the  bank.  On  Tuesday,  July 
29th,  at  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning,  the  books  for  subscription  to  the 
stock  were  opened  at  Union  Hall,  and  by  noon  of  the  31st  the  full 
amount  of  the  capital,  or  more,  was  secured  and  the  subscription  closed. 
Upon  the  succeeding  day  the  first  Board  of  Directors  was  chosen,  and 
of  their  number  Mr.  Roderick  Terry 1  was  elected  to  be  their  president, 
and  by  the  25th  of  August  it  was  announced  that  Mr.  Elisha  Colt  was 
to  be  their  cashier ;  and  so  their  organization  for  business  was  complete. 

The  years  of  our  history  embraced  in  the  administrations  of  Presi- 
dents Jackson  and  Tan  Buren  will  long  be  remembered  for  the  bitter- 
ness of  their  financial  experiences  and  the  acrimony  of  the  discussions 
and  controversies  attendant  upon  them.  The  dominant  political  party 
represented  a  responsible  and  aggressive  policy  in  these  matters,  which 

1  The  presidents  of  the  Exchange  Bank  have  been:  Roderick  Terry,  1834;  Elisha  Colt, 
Feb.  21, 1849;  A.  G.  Hammond,  July  1,  1859;  James  M.  Niles,  Nov.  27,  1865  ;  E.  G.  Howe, 
Jan.  9,  1866 ;  F.  B.  Cooley,  May  6,  1872 ;  John  R.  Redfield,  Jan.  13,  1886.  Its  first  board  of 
directors  consisted  of  James  M.  Bunce,  H.  Huntington,  Jr.,  Loren  P.Waldo,  Edward  P.  Cooke, 
Daniel  Burgess,  Philemon  Canfield,  Roderick  Terry,  William  T.  Lee,  A.  S.  Beckwith,  E.  W. 
Bull,  L.  B.  Hanks,  A.  W.  Roberts,  L.  Kennedy,  Jr. 


344  MEMORIAL   HISTOEY   OF    HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

prepared  a  crisis  for  the  year  1837.  The  removal  of  the  deposits  ;  the 
importation  of  gold,  partly,  as  appeared,  on  account  of  foreign  claims 
and  partly  as  a  matter  of  outright  purchase  and  trade  by  the  agents  of 
the  Executive  ;  the  clumsy  if  not  wilfully  harassing  execution  of  the 
Surplus  Distribution  Act,  and  the  well-known  Treasury  Order,  by  which 
all  payments  for  the  public  lands  were  to  be  made  in  gold  and  silver  — 
were  among  the  chief  measures  which  were  noted  as  the  precursors 
of  the  Sub-Treasury  System,  promoting  expansions  and  contractions 
among  the  banks,  and,  of  course,  mercantile  distresses  and  pecuniary 
pressures  which  were  simultaneously  apparent  along  the  whole  course 
of  these  events.1  Bankruptcies  involving  immense  amounts  of  capital 
were  recorded  in  the  larger  cities  of  the  Union,  South  and  North. 
Great  numbers  of  the  oldest  and  wealthiest  houses  were  successively 
overwhelmed.  These  represented  every  trade  and  industry,  and  the 
contagion  of  disaster  spread  rapidly  and  fiercely  on,  until  in  April  and 
the  beginning  of  May  in  this  year  affairs  in  the  metropolis  had  become 
desperate,  and  the  culmination  was  signalized  by  the  suspension  of  specie 
payments  by  the  New  York  banks,  May  10.  In  this  they  were  followed 
by  the  institutions  of  this  city  on  the  next  day,  as  the  accompanying 
circular  will  signify  :  — 

TO   THE   PUBLIC. 

The  New  York  Banks  have  suspended  specie  payments.     The  question  now 
arises,  Shall  the  Hartford  Banks  suspend  also  1 

If  they  continue  to  pay  specie,  two  consequences  must  follow  :  1.  The  Banks 
must  refuse  all  further  accommodations  and  discounts,  at  whatever  sacrifice  to  indi- 
viduals who  have  looked  to  the  Banks  for  aid.  2.  The  greater  part  of  the  large 
quantity  of  Specie  now  in  the  Banks  will  he  demanded  and  carried  into  other  States. 
The  undersigned  pledge  their  character  that  the  Banks  to  which  they  respec- 
tively belong  are  safe  and  sound  beyond  contingency.  In  further  proof  of  this 
they  annex  an  extract  from  the  report  just  made  to  the  General  Assembly,  founded 
on  a  recent  and  most  careful  scrutiny  by  their  committee.  With  extreme  reluc- 
tance the  Banks  have  decided  on  a  temporary  suspension  of  specie  payments,  and 
when  the  critical  situation  of  even  the  sound  portion  of  the  business  community 
is  considered,  and  also  the  sweeping  ruin  which  must  fall  on  them  if  the  Banks 
take  the  strict  measures  indispensable  to  go  through  with  specie  payments,  they 
ask  for  the  confidence  and  support  of  the  entire  public  to  bear  with  them  for  a 
time  in  a  measure  which  is  not  adopted  without  deep  regret.  Each  Bank  in 
Hartford  will  receive  the  hills  of  all  the  other  Banks  in  Hartford  on  deposit  and 
in  payment  of  notes.  These  Banks  have  more  than  four  dollars  due  them  for 
every  dollar  of  their  bills  in  circulation. 

Joseph  Trumbull,  A.  H.  Pomeroy, 

David  Watkinson,  Jesse  Savage, 

Calvin  Day,  Alb't  Day, 

Committee  for  Hartford  Bank.  Committee  for  Farmers'  &  Mcch.  Bank. 

Charles  Sigourney,  Boderick  Terry, 

S.  Tudor,  Wt&.JN.  Ellsworth, 

Thomas  Day,  S.  W.  Goodrich, 

Denisox   MORGAN,  Committee  for  Exchange  Bank. 

Committee  for  Phoenix  Bank. 

ALFRED   SMITH,  Dan'l  BUCK,         )  Committee  for  Conn.  River 

Wm.    H.   IMLAY,  S.    B.    GRANT,       )      Banking  Co. 

Hartford,  May  11th,  1837. 

1  See  calls  for  mass  meetings,  County  of  Hartford,  1837  ;  also  speech  of  R.  C.  Winthrop, 
House  of  Representatives,  March  26,  1838. 


COMMERCE   AND   BANKING.  345 

[Extract  from  the  Report  of  the   Committee  of  the  General  Assembly,  presented 
May  9,  1837.] 

It  may,  however,  be  proper  for  us  to  say  in  the  outset,  before  entering  into 
any  details,  that  the  soundness  and  solvency  of  all  the  banks  examined  by  us  is, 
in  our  judgement,  unquestionable.  We  believe  that  the  public  may  place  entire 
confidence  in  their  ability  to  meet  all  engagements ;  and  inasmuch  as  the  present 
is  a  time  of  suspicion  and  distrust  in  pecuniary  concerns,  we  feel  bound  to  express 
ourselves  fully  on  this  point.     (Signed) 

Jeremiah  Brown,  \ 

Beth  P.  Beers,      >  Committee. 

Wm.  Field,  j 

A  general  prostration  and  paralysis  of  business  succeeded  upon  this 
startling  event,  and  the  year  was  one  of  wretched  uncertainty  and  dis- 
couragement. Not  until  four  or  live  years  had  passed  were  the  signs  of 
recovery  very  hopefully  assured,  although  in  just  twelve  months  to  a  day 
the  banks  of  New  York  and  Boston,  as  also  those  of  Hartford  and  other 
places,  resumed  specie  payments  together.  However,  from  1840  some 
gradual  improvement  was  thought  to  be  noticeable.  The  complete  over- 
throw of  the  old  political  regime,  enjoyed  in  this  community  as  much  as 
anywhere,  seemed  to  give  something  like  relief  to  the  public  mind,  and 
with  the  accession  of  a  Whig  administration  new  hope  and  enterprise 
were  inaugurated.  If  we  partially  except  the  year  1847,  the  decade  may 
fairly  be  called  one  of  growing  prosperity  in  our  city  and  county. 

The  State  Bank  at  Hartford,  organized  in  1849,  and  the  City  Bank 
in  1851,  were  the  only  ones  added  to  the  circle  here  until  the  adoption 
by  our  legislature  of  the  Free  Banking  Act  of  1852.  This  measure, 
copied  after  that  of  the  State  of  New  York  in  most  particulars,  made 
the  business  of  banking  free  to  all  who  chose  to  engage  in  it;  the  radi- 
cal peculiarity  of  its  provisions  being  a  requirement  of  securities  (exclu- 
sive of  bonds  and  mortgages  upon  real  estate,  which  were  allowed  by 
the  New  York  law)  to  be  deposited  with  the  Treasurer  of  the  State 
against  the  circulating  notes  of  the  banks  organizing  under  the  act ;  the 
currency  to  be  registered  and  issued  by  the  treasurer  to  them. 

These  securities,  for  obvious  reasons,  were  not  limited  to  the  bonds 
of  the  United  States  Government,  but  the  new  system  in  some  other 
respects  was  not  unlike  that  in  after  years  authorized  by  the  National 
Currency  Act.  Under  this  plan  the  Bank  of  Hartford  County  (now  the 
American  National)  was  organized  at  Hartford  in  1852,  the  Charter  Oak 
Bank  in  1853,  and  the  Mercantile  Bank  in  1854.  The  new  system  did 
not,  with  all  its  recommendations,  secure  an  abiding  favor.  In  1855  the 
statute  was  repealed.  The  institutions  that  had  organized  under  it  were 
allowed  to  take  charters  in  the  old  form  by  paying  a  bonus  of  two  per 
cent  upon  their  capitals  to  the  State. 

The  increased  employment  of  currency  was  the  notable  endeavor  of 
bank  managers  in  these  times.  The  growing  West  sought  it  for  use  in 
the  development  of  multiplying  and  almost  endless  schemes.  Railroad 
building  required  fabulous  amounts  of  money,  and  the  bills  of  New  Eng- 
land banks,  especially  those  dated  at  Hartford,  bore  a  high  credit  against 
the  varying  and  unreliable  issues  from  the  banks  of  the  new  States. 
Local  bankers  and  promoters  of  new  and  extending  railways  (many  of 
them  finally  established  as  indispensable  and  trunk  lines)  pledged  their 
all  for  loans  of  currency  at  the  East,  —  a  most  liberal  proportion  of  which 


346  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

were  negotiated  at  Hartford.     The  volume  of  bank  issues  from  here  was, 
in  the  course  of  events,  greatly  augmented. 

The  borrowers  of  the  currency  in  many  cases,  moreover,  undertook 
to  protect  the  banks  from  the  inconvenience  of  its  redemption  by  a  care- 
ful disposition  of  it  for  remote  circulation,  and  by  remittance  of  funds 
to  reimburse  them  when  notified  that  it  had  been  presented  at  home  for 
redemption.  The  bills  were  specially  marked  to  identify  them  with  each 
loan,  and  the  care  and  manipulation  of  "protected  circulation"  was 
conducted  with  considerable  precaution  by  both  parties  to  the  contract ; 
the  borrower  ofttimes,  to  secure  them  against  return  to  the  East,  hy- 
pothecating them  for  secondary  loans,  or  locking  them  in  his  safe  to  be 
retained  as  his  reserve  in  his  banking  business,  where  they  would  not 
see  the  light  of  the  outer  world  during*  the  whole  term  of  the  loan,  and 
upon  satisfactory  negotiations  might  be  so  retained  during  periods  of 
renewal.  The  freedom  of  such  transactions,  although  apparently  so  long 
considered  as  safe  and  conservative  as  they  were  profitable,  at  length 
awakened  adverse  criticism,  and  the  legislature  in  1855  prohibited  any 
agreement  on  the  part  of  the  banks  for  such  protection  of  their  circula- 
tion, and  limited  their  loans  out  of  the  State  to  one  quarter  of  their 
capital,  deposits,  and  notes  issued. 

In  the  summer  of  1857  charters  were  granted  to  the  iEtna  and  to 
the  Merchants'  and  Manufacturers'  (now  First  National)  Banks  of  Hart- 
ford. Their  organization,  although  favored  by  popular  and  eager  contri- 
bution to  their  capitals,  and  followed  by  extensive  and  wealthy  patronage, 
seemed  at  first  appointed  for  an  inauspicious  time.  The  condition  of 
finances  in  the  country  at  large  had  become  oppressively  embarrassing. 
The  long  season  of  expansion  and  speculation  had  for  months  been  de- 
veloping uncomfortable  symptoms.  Values  had  declined  in  merchan- 
dise and  realties.  Faith  in  the  securities  of  railroads  and  other  ventures 
that  had  absorbed  hundreds  of  millions  also  declined,  and  they  were 
slaughtered  in  the  markets.  Exchanges  with  the  West  and  South  were 
impeded.  Specie  seemed  to  disappear.  Money  was  scarce.  Mercantile 
credits  were  severely  tried.  Failures  multiplied,  and  bank  currency  re- 
turned home  from  its  longer  or  shorter  flights  more  rapidly  than  ever. 
The  reduction  of  the  bank  circulation  of  the  State  in  the  last  half  of  the 
year  was  from  ten  millions  outstanding  to  six  millions. 

Upon  the  24th  of  August  the  failure  of  the  Ohio  Life  and  Trust 
Company  at  New  York  startled  and  well-nigh  stampeded  the  entire 
business  community.  Panic  and  disaster  followed,  until  after  days  of 
wild  onset  and  pressure  most  of  the  New  York  banks  —  and  all  but  one 
by  the  14th  and  15th  of  October  —  had  suspended  specie  payments.  On 
the  16th  the  institutions  of  this  State  which  had  not  already  done  so 
together  and  formally  suspended. 

Before  this  united  action  in  Hartforckthe  Bank  Commissioners, 
under  the  direction  of  the  courts,  had  interposed,  first  in  the  case  of  the 
Bank  of  Hartford  County,  then  in  regard  to  the  Charter  Oak,  Mercantile, 
and  Exchange  Banks,  and  held  them  under  receiverships  until,  with  a 
careful  examination  and  adjustment  of  their  affairs,  they  were  enabled 
safely  and  vigorously  to  resume  their  business,  the  Bank  of  Hartford 
County  reducing  its  capital  to  three  hundred  thousand  dollars,  amply 
covering  every  possible  loss  and  securing  a  safe  and  progressive  career 


COMMERCE   AND   BANKING.  347 

for  the  future.  The  resumption  of  specie  payments  followed  here  almost 
without  notice,  upon  the  action  of  the  New  York  banks  on  the  14th  of 
December,  and  was  thereafter  uninterrupted  until  again  it  became  gen- 
eral throughout  the  North,  necessitated  by  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil 
War.1  This  event  found  1  tanking  and  general  business  here  in  a  fairly 
prosperous  condition,  although  numerous  trade  connections  with  the 
South  were  abruptly  discontinued,  and  upon  costly  terms  too  ;  but  with 
the  demands  of  the  Government  for  war  supplies  and  the  enlarged 
wants  and  the  interchanging  traffic  of  the  whole  loyal  section  of  the 
country,  all  our  varied  means  of  production  were  soon  actively  em-  / 
ployed,  and  during  the  eventful  decade  that  followed,  the  supplies  from 
our  manufactories  were  readily  marketable  and  added  largely  by  their 
returns  to  our  local  wealth. 

The  first  appeals  of  the  Government  for  financial  aid  in  1861  met 
with  a  loyal  response  from  Hartford.  Our  banks  took  their  share  of 
the  national  bonds  through  the  medium  of  their  New  York  correspond- 
ents, and  when  the  "  Sixes  of  '81  "  matured  and  were  paid,  considera- 
ble amounts  of  them  were  paid  to  holders  who  had  retained  them 
through  the  entire  term  of  twenty  years.  These  institutions,  to  the 
extent  of  their  utmost  ability,  gave  their  co-operation  at  every  issue 
upon  the  national  credit  thereafter  ;  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  their 
ready  help  in  every  similar  emergency  of  our  own  State. 

The  number  of  banks  in  our  county  was  increased  by  one  organ- 
ized at  New  Britain  under  charter  granted  by  the  legislature  of  May, 
1860,  and  reorganized  as  a  National  Bank  in  April,  1865.  Upon  the 
enactment  of  the  National  Currency  Act  the  Merchants'  and  Manufactur- 
ers' Bank  reorganized  and  became  the  First  National  of  Hartford.  The 
provisions  of  this  ;iet  found  pretty  general  acceptance  here  ;  before  the 
close  of  1865  all  the  other  banks  of  the  city,  except  the  State  Bank  and 
the  Connecticut  River  Banking  Company,  had  become  national  bank- 
ing associations ;  the  Bank  of  Hartford  County,  with  its  capital  restored 
to  six  hundred  thousand  dollars,  taking  the  name  of  the  American  Na- 
tional Bank  of  Hartford.  After  twenty  years  all,  including  the  New 
Britain  National  and  the  Suffield  National,  the  latter  organized  at 
Suffield,  July  12,  1864,  have  renewed  their  charters  for  a  like  term, 
except  the  City  Bank  at  Hartford,  which  resumed  its  franchise  under 
State  law.     The  Southington  National  Bank  was  organized  in  1883. 

In  1819  the  first  savings  bank  of  our  State  was  incorporated.  The 
project  was  to  receive  small  sums  of  money  to  be  placed  at  compound 
interest  and  to  be  returned  on  demand.  The  idea  was  one  of  assured 
practicability.  Such  institutions  had  been  in  operation  successfully; 
one  in  Hamburg  for  forty  years.  To  a  woman,  Priscilla  Wakefield,  is 
accorded  the  honor  of  establishing  the  first  bank  of  this  kind  in  Great 
Britain,  at  Tottenham,  near  London,  where  she  planted  the  "  Child's 
Bank  "  in  1798,  and  followed  the  experiment  with  one  for  adults  in 
1804. 

At  Boston  in  the  United  States  was  planted  in  1816  the  Provident 
Institution  for  Savings,  the  first  on  this  continent,  which  had  success 

1  General  suspension,  Dec.  30,  1861  ;  resumption,  Jan.  1,  1879. 


348  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

from  the  outset,  and  commended  to  observers  the  real  beneficence  and 
economy  to  be  found  in  the  use  of  such  a  depository  for  the  smallest 
savings. 

The  Society  for  Savings,  of  Hartford,  consisted  of  forty-one  persons 
who  received  corporate  privileges  at  the  May  session  of  the  legislature, 
1819  ;  and  when  they  completed  their  organization  they  recorded  their 
primary  object  to  be  "  to  aid  the  industrious,  economical,  and  worthy, 
to  protect  them  from  the  extravagance  of  the  profligate,  the  snares  of 
the  vicious,  and  to  bless  them  with  competency  and  happiness." 

Their  first  president,  Daniel  Wadsworth,  was  chosen  June  9.  Elisha 
Colt  was  their  first  treasurer,  and  James  M.  Goodwin  their  first  secre- 
tary. Messrs.  Ward  Woodbridge,  James  H.  Wells,  Michael  Olcott, 
Jolin  T.  Peters,  David  Porter,  Michael  Bull,  Charles  Sigourney,  John 
Russ,  Jeremiah  Brown,  Isaac  Perkins,  David  Watkinson,  and  William 
Ely  were  chosen  vice-presidents ;  and  Messrs.  Cyprian  Nichols,  Mason 
F.  Coggswell,  Henry  Hudson,  Samuel  Tudor,  Jr.,  Russell  Bunce,  James 
B.  Hosmer,  Charles  Hosmer,  Thomas  Day,  George  Goodwin,  Jr.,  Lorenzo 
Bull,  James  M.  Goodwin,  James  R.  Woodbridge,  Joseph  B.  Gilbert, 
John  Butler,  Henry  Kilbourn,  Christopher  Colt,  Theodore  Pease,  Bar- 
zillai  Hudson,  Jr.,  Roderick  Terry,  Horace  Burr,  George  Beach,  Nor- 
man Smith,  Thomas  K.  Brace,  and  Jesse  Savage  are  recorded  as  the 
first  trustees.  The  deposits  received  in  the  first  six  months  of  their 
existence  amounted  to  $4,352.77.  From  that  beginning  their  business 
increased  until,  Oct.  1,  1885,  the  bank  had  29,123  depositors,  with 
$10,105,086  of  deposits. 

The  other  savings  banks  in  the  city  (established  since  1850)  are  the 
State,  Mechanics,  and  Dime.  The  aggregate  deposits  of  the  twelve  sav- 
ings banks  in  the  county  are  $19,632,998,  due  to  60,000  depositors. 
Hartford  has  three  trust  companies  —  the  Hartford,  the  Connecticut 
Trust  and  Safe  Deposit,  and  the  Security  —  besides  the  United  States 
Bank,  which  began  as  a  trust  company. 

These  are  associated  with  the  national  and  State  banks  of  our  city 
in  the  Hartford  Clearing  House  Association.  The  aggregate  capital  of 
the  thirteen  national  banks  in  the  city  and  county  of  Hartford,  July  1, 
1885,  was  $7,085,000 ;  their  surplus  and  undivided  profits,  $2,518,205.90  ; 
their  deposits,  $9,372,128.13.  The  State  banks  and  trust  companies 
aggregate,  at  same  date,  of  capital,  $2,100,000  ;  surplus  and  earnings, 
$367,520.06  ;  of  deposits,  $4,468,948.37.  Manufacturing  corporations 
represented  by  offices  and  management  at  Hartford  alone  include  capi- 
tals of  nearly  $20,000,000,  and  other  interests  of  much  larger  aggre- 
gates, as  they  appear  in  detail,  indicate  a  notably  large  wealth  in 
proportion  to  the  population  of  the  county.  Perhaps  the  few  amounts 
given  above  are  as  justly  significant  as  any  that  are  available  for  an 
illustration  of  the  material  prosperity  of  the  neighborhood  where  the 
Plymouth  Company  first  began  to  trade  upon  the  Connecticut. 


DOMESTIC   AND   SOCIAL   LIFE   IN    COLONIAL   TIMES.  349 


SECTION   VI. 
DOMESTIC  AND  SOCIAL  LIFE  IN  COLONIAL    TIMES. 

BY  CHARLES  DUDLEY  WARNER. 

The  student  of  the  social  life  in  early  New  England  is  in  danger  of 
being  misled  by  the  laws  and  the  records  of  courts  and  churches.  Un- 
fortunately the  Yices  of  a  people  are  more  apt  to  be  recorded  than  their 
virtues.  It  is  the  law-breakers  and  the  litigious  whose  names  appear 
oftenest  in  the  court  records,  and  the  immoral  portions  of  the  congrega- 
tion claim  most  space  in  the  church  minutes.  We  are  apt  also  to  infer 
that,  because  the  conditions  of  life  were  harder  and  very  different  from 
ours,  in  the  early  days,  there  was  much  less  enjoyment  of  life  than  now  ; 
and  that  a  sort  of  gloom,  resulting  from  an  austere  creed  and  severe  laws, 
overspread  the  community,  forgetting  how  readily  human  nature  adapts 
itself  to  circumstances,  and  how  much  cheerfulness  it  extracts  out  of 
hardships  and  limitations.  The  reader  is  expected  to  bear  this  in  mind 
in  this  brief  sketch  of  colonial  social  life. 

Making  allowance  for  the  differences  between  the  nineteenth  and 
the  seventeenth  century,  the  conditions  of  actual  living  in  Connecticut 
in  the  seventeenth  century  were  much  the  same  as  those  in  frontier  life 
and  in  some  of  the  mountain  regions  of  the  United  States  to-day.  The 
want  of  roads,  the  lack  of  bridges,  the  primitive  conditions  of  the  dwell- 
ings and  the  domestic  economy,  the  necessary  struggles  with  nature  to 
wrest  a  living  from  the  ground,  the  dangers  from  savages  and  wild 
beasts,  and  the  restricted  privileges  of  schools,  churches,  and  books,  the 
free  hospitality  and  the  unpolished  manners  of  society,  in  a  thinly  settled 
country,  produce  always  a  good  deal  the  same  results. 

The  peculiarity  of  the  Hartford  settlers  was  that  they  were  largely 
people  of  some  culture  east  into  raw  conditions,  and  there  was  a 
mingling  here  of  high  breeding  and  rough  life  that  is  not  found  in  later 
frontier  life.  And  it  must  never  be  forgotten,  also,  that  there  was  a 
serious  purpose  in  the  early  life  here,  a  devotion  to  religion,  and  a  deep 
conviction  of  the  value  of  freedom  from  both  Church  and  kingly  super- 
vision. And  yet  the  Pilgrims  belonged  to  their  age  with  all  its  super- 
stitions and  legal  cruelties ;  and  it  is  to  be  remembered  to  their  praise 
that  while  they  brought  with  them  the  English  criminal  laws,  they 
softened  them  here.  But  they  were  still  possessed  by  the  idea  that  all 
the  minute  affairs  of  life  could  be  regulated  by  law. 

The  discipline  at  the  outset  was  necessarily  military  as  well  as 
ecclesiastic.  A  few  details  from  the  colonial  records  for  1636  onward 
will  show  what  this  discipline  was.  Boys  of  the  age  of  sixteen  must 
bear  arms ;  every  soldier  must  have  in  his  house  two  pounds  of  powder  ; 
each  plantation  must  have  an  inspection  of  arms  once  a  month.  The 
Indians  were  very  troublesome,  and  it  was  necessary  at  the  outset 
to  enact  rules  regulating  the  intercourse  of  the  two  races.  Persons 
were  not  permitted  to  trade  arms  with  the  Indians ;  no  person  might 


350  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

restrain  or  whip  an  Indian  or  threaten  him  in  speech  unless  personally 
assaulted ;  but  by  1640  the  skulkers  had  become  so  dangerous,  that 
an  Indian  might  be  shot  at  night  if  discovered  lurking  about  the 
plantation. 

Temperance  was  enforced  in  the  use  of  spirits  and  tobacco  ;  in  1639 
five  men  were  censured  and  lined  for  immoderate  drinking  ;*  but  still 
good  liquor  was  considered  necessary,  and  in  the  expedition  against  the 
Pequots  in  1637,  besides  the  pease  and  oatmeal  which  were  taken  along, 
there  was  ordered  a  hogshead  of  good  beer  for  the  captain  and  min- 
ister and  sick  men,  and  if  there  be  only  three  or  four  gallons  of  strong- 
water,  two  gallons  of  sack. 

Immoralities  were  severely  punished,  and  it  would  seem  by  the 
records  that  comparatively  few  men  and  women  were  offenders.  A 
glance  at  the  records  shows  the  nature  of  the  offences  and  punishments. 
In  April,  1639,  John  Edmunds,  Aaron  Starke,  and  John  Williams  were 
censured  for  unclean  practices  :  Edmunds  to  be  whipped  at  a  cart's  tail 
on  a  lecture-day  in  Hartford ;  Williams  to  stand  upon  a  pillory  from 
the  ringing  of  the  first  bell  to  the  end  of  the  lecture,  then  to  be  whipped 
at  a  cart's  tail,  and  whipped  in  like  manner  at  Windsor  within  eight 
days  ;  Starke  to  stand  on  the  pillory  and  be  whipped,  and  have  the  letter 
"  R"  burnt  on  his  cheek,  and  in  regard  to  the  wrong  done  Mary  Holt  to 
pay  her  parents  ten  pounds,  and  in  default  of  such  to  pay  the  Common- 
wealth, and  when  both  are  in  fit  condition,  to  marry  her.  Also,  "it  is 
in  the  mind  of  the  court  that  Mr.  Ludlow  and  Mr.  Phelps  see  some 
public  punishment  inflicted  on  the  girl  for  concealing  it  so  long."  But 
in  August  the  same  Mary  and  John  Bennett  had  to  be  whipped,  and 
her  master  was  ordered  to  send  her  out  of  the  jurisdiction  of  the  col- 
ony.    The  offenders  seem  to  have  been  people  of  low  condition. 

In  1640  a  house  of  correction,  twenty-four  feet  long  and  sixteen  to 
eighteen  feet  wide,  was  built  for  refractory  persons.  At  this  time, 
owing  to  trouble  on  account  of  rash  and  inconsiderate  contracts  for 
future  marriages,  it  was  ordered  that  such  contracts  should  be  made 
public.  Edward  Vere,  of  Wethersfield,  was  fined  ten  shillings  for  curs- 
ing and  swearing,  and  to  sit  two  hours  in  the  stocks  on  training-day ; 
and  Nicholas  Olmsted,  for  his  relations  with  Mary  Brunson,  was  fined 
twenty  pounds,  and  set  on  the  pillory  in  Hartford  during  the  lecture,  — 
"  to  be  set  on  a  little  before  the  beginning  and  stay  thereon  a  little  after 
the  end."  Richard  Gyldersly  (Gildersleeve)  was  fined  forty  shillings 
for  casting  out  pernicious  speeches  tending  to  the  detriment  of  the  Com- 
monwealth. In  1640,  as  leniency  had  made  the  Indians  insolent,  more 
stringent  laws  were  enacted  against  them.  This  year  an  effort  was 
made  to  protect  domestic  industry  ;  any  person  who  should  "  drink  "  any 
tobacco,  except  such  as  was  grown  within  the  liberties,  was  fined  five 
shillings  a  pound ;  and  it  was  ordered  that  everybody  must  plant  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  flax  or  hemp.  Restrictions  oiv^ersonal  liberty  multiplied. 
In  1640  orders  were  issued  by  the  Court  restraining  luxury  of  apparel ; 
the  constables  were  empowered  to  observe  and  take  notice  of  all  persons 
they  shall  judge  exceed  their  rank  and  condition  therein,  and  bring  them 
before  the  Court.  Wages  of  all  artificers  were  also  regulated,  and  the 
hours  of  work.  The  Court  also  sought  to  prevent  the  "  fowle  and 
grosse  sin  of  lying,"  by  a  fine  or  bodily  correction.  In  1642  it  became 
necessary  to  have  a  guard  of  forty  armed  men  attend  every  Sabbath  and 


DOMESTIC   AND   SOCIAL   LIFE   IN   COLONIAL   TIMES.  351 

lecture-day  (Thursday  was  lecture-day)  in  every  town  ;  and  the  town 
ordered  made  ninety  coats,  "  basted  with  cotton-wool  and  made  defen- 
sive against  Indian  arrows,"  for  the  guards. 

Among  the  capital  offences  in  the  enactment,  December,  1642,  it 
was  death  if  any  man  or  woman  be  a  witch,  or  if  any  person  blaspheme 
the  name  of  God  or  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  for  adultery  and  crimes  against 
nature,  and  for  bearing  false  witness  with  intent  to  take  life,  and  for 
rebellion.  And  as  there  was  "frequent  experience  of  several  other 
ways  of  uncleanness,"  severe  punishments  were  recommended  ;  and  "for- 
asmuch as  incorigiblenes  is  also  adjudged  to  be  a  sin  of  death,  but  noe 
lawe  yet  amongst  us  yet  established  for  the  execution  thereof,  ordered" 
that  children  and  servants  "  for  stubborn  or  rebellious  carriage  against 
parents  or  governors  be  put  in  the  house  of  correction."  Persons  were 
also  imprisoned,  when  caught,  for  going  off  and  living  with  the  Indians, 
whose  laws  were  less  irksome.  A  penalty  was  enacted  for  any  person, 
not  independent,  who  married  or  engaged  to  without  consent  of  parents 
or  governors. 

The  religious  linos  were  more  tightly  drawn  in  1643  by  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  day  of  humiliation  each  month  throughout  the  plantations. 
In  1644  it  was  ordered  that  the  town  of  Hartford  should  select  a  proper 
person  to  .keep  an  ordinary  tor  entertaining  strangers;  and  the  next 
year  liberty  was  granted  to  hold  two  yearly  fairs,  in  May  and  Septem- 
ber. In  1644  Susan  Cole  tested  the  stubborn-conduct  act  by  rebellious 
carriage  toward  her  mistress,  and  was  put  in  the  house  of  correction  to 
bard  labor  and  coarse  diet,  "  to  be  brought  forth  the  next  lecture-day  to 
be  publically  corrected,  and  so  to  be  corrected  weekly  until  order  to  the 
contrary."  But  this  did  not  correct  Susan,  for  the  next  year  she  was 
several  times  whipped  for  worse  offences.  A  few  women  and  men  like 
her  appear  again  and  again  in  the  records;  one  Robert  Beadle  for  beastly 
demeanor  was  severely  scourged  on  lecture-day,  put  in  the  house  of 
correction  for  two  weeks,  publicly  whipped  again,  and  bound  to  "  appear 
at  every  quarter  court  to  be  whipped  till  the  court  sec  some  reforma- 
tion,"—  an  early  specimen  of  the  ''indeterminate  sentence."  Some- 
thing like  white  slavery  is  implied  in  the  sentence  of  Samuel  Barrett  to 
serve  Arthur  Smith  one  year  for  eight  pounds.  In  1646  John  Drake 
was  lined  forty  shillings  for  profanity.  For  slandering  Mrs.  Mary  Fen- 
wick,  Robert  Bartlett  was  put  in  the  pillory,  whipped,  lined  live  pounds, 
and  imprisoned  six  months.  Whippings  were  frequent  in  those  days. 
The  same  Bartlett  got  another  whipping  for  advising  some  prisoners 
not  to  peach  on  their  comrades. 

In  1647  the  habits  of  the  people  were  looked  after  in  respect  to 
tobacco.  "  No  person  under  twenty  shall  take  tobacco,  unless  he  is 
already  used  to  it,  or  can  bring  certificate  of  a  physician  that  it  is  useful 
to  him.  .  .  .  No  man  shall  take  tobacco  publically  in  the  street,  nor  in 
the  fields  or  woods,  unless  on  a  journey  of  'ten  miles,  or  at  the  ordinary 
time  of  repast  called  dinner,  or  if  it  be  not  then  taken,  yet  not  above 
once  in  the  day  at  most,  and  then  not  in  company  with  any  other.  Nor 
shall  any  one  take  any  tobacco  in  any  house  in  the  same  town  where  he 
liveth,  with  and  in  the  company  of  any  man  than  one  who  useth  and 
drinketh  the  same  weed,  with  him  at  that  time,  under  penalty  of  six 
pence  for  each  offence."  In  1647  one  Will  Colefoxe  had  to  pay  five 
pounds  for  "  laboring  to  invegle  the  affections  of  Write  his  daughter." 


352  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

Improper  language  against  the  church  or  its  members  was  not  permitted. 
On  the  17th  of  October,  1648,  the  court  adjudged  Peter  Bussaker  "  for 
his  filthy  and  profane  expressions  (viz. :  that  he  hoped  to  meet  some  of 
the  members  of  the  church  in  hell  ere  long,  and  he  did  not  question  but 
he  should,)  to  be  committed  to  prison,  there  to  be  kept  till  the  sermon, 
and  then  to  stand  in  the  time  thereof  in  the  pillory,  and  after  sermon 
to  be  severely  whipped."  What  effect  these  exhibitions  on  Sundays  and 
lecture-days  had  on  the  congregations  is  not  stated.  In  1648  bragging 
of  mendacity  was  punished  like  the  offence  itself,  and  one  John  Bishop 
was  fined  forty  shillings  for  his  boasting  of  his  lying. 

This  year,  1648,  witchcraft  began  to  attract  attention.  In  December 
the  juiy  found  that  Mary  Jonson  (or  Johnson)  was  "  by  her  own  con- 
fession guilty  of  familiarity  with  the  Devil."  Familiar  with  the  ways  of 
the  Devil  she  doubtless  was,  for  she  was  tried  for  another  offence  a  year 
afterward.  She  belonged  in  Hartford.  There  seems  little  doubt  that  a 
woman  was  hung  in  Windsor  for  witchcraft  (and  perhaps  for  other 
crimes)  about  this  time,  and  there  were  in  the  Commonwealth  several 
accusations  and  trials  for  witchcraft,  and  a  few  executions. 

In  1652  there  is  note  of  the  hiring  of  a  doctor ;  the  General  Court 
gave  Thomas  Lord  fifteen  pounds  a  year  for  residing  here,  "  both  for 
setting  of  bones  and  otherwise"  (not  breaking  them,  we  trust),  and 
fixed  the  charges  he  should  make  for  visits  in  different  towns.  Inter- 
ference with  all  sorts  of  occupations  existed.  In  1653  seamen  were  not 
permitted  to  weigh  anchor  and  pass  out  of  any  harbor  on  the  Lord's  day, 
without  license  from  the  local  officers  of  the  town.  Keepers  of  "  ordi- 
naries "  had  to  be  approved  by  two  magistrates.  The  first  note  we  find 
of  a  divorce  is  in  May,  1655,  when  the  General  Court  permitted  the 
magistrates  of  Stratford  to  give  Goody  Beckwith,  of  Fairfield,  a  divorce 
from  her  husband,  if  he  has  deserted  her  as  she  says. 

In  1656  towns  were  forbidden  to  entertain  Quakers,  Ranters,  Adam- 
ites, or  such  like  notorious  heretics,  over  fourteen  days,  on  a  fine  of 
five  pounds  a  week ;  and  magistrates  had  power  to  imprison  them  till 
they  be  sent  out  of  the  jurisdiction.  In  1657  a  fine  was  imposed  for 
keeping  Quaker  books  or  manuscripts. 

In  March,  1658,  the  Court  ordered  that  no  ministry  or  church  ad- 
ministration should  be  entertained  or  attended  by  the  inhabitants,  dis- 
tinct and  separate  from  and  in  opposition  to  that  which  is  openly  and 
publicly  observed  and  dispensed  by  the  settled  and  approved  minister  of 
the  place,  except  it  be  by  approbation  of  the  General  Court  and  neigh- 
boring churches  ;  provided  this  order  shall  not  hinder  any  private  meet- 
ings of  godly  persons  to  attend  duties  that  Christianity  and  religion  call 
for,  as  fasts  and  conferences,  nor  act  upon  such  as  are  hindered  by  just 
impediments  on  the  Sabbath  day  from  the  public  assemblies. 

In  May,  1660,  the  Court  ordered  that  none  shall  be  received  as 
inhabitants  of  any  town  in  the  colony  but  such  as  are  known  to  be  of 
an  honest  conversation  and  accepted  by  a  major  part  of  the  town. 

In  1650  the  code  of  laws  was  adopted.  Burglary  was  punished,  for 
first  offence,  by  branding  the  letter  B  on  the  forehead  ;  second  offence, 
branding  again  and  severe  whipping ;  third  offence,  death.  If  the  bur- 
glary was  on  a  Lord's  day,  one  ear  was  cut  off  (besides  branding)  for 
first  offence,  and  the  other  ear  for  the  second  offence.  And  two  start- 
ling additions  (copied,  literally,  from  the  laws  of  Massachusetts,  1646) 


DOMESTIC   AND   SOCIAL   LIFE   IN   COLONIAL   TIMES.  353 

were  made  to  the  capital  laws  of  1642  :  "  Any  child  above  sixteen  who 
shall  curse  or  smite  their  [sic]  natural  father  or  mother  shall  be  put  to 
death,  unless  it  can  be  shown  that  the  parents  have  been  unchristianly 
negligent  in  the  education,  or  so  provoked  them  by  extreme  and  cruel 
correction  that  they  have  been  forced  to  preserve  themselves  from 
maiming  and  death.  Any  son,  sixteen  years,  stubborn  and  rebellious, 
who  will  not  obey  his  father  or  mother,  and  when  they  have  chastened 
him  will  not  hearken  to  him,  they  may  take  him  before  the  court,  and 
on  their  testimony  that  he  is  stubborn  and  rebellious  and  lives  in  sundry 
notorious  crimes,  such  a  son  shall  be  put  to  death." 

The  selectmen  had  strange  inquisitorial  powers  over  persons  and  in 
families  (like  that  of  constables  in  matters  of  dress)  :  The  selectmen 
shall  keep  a  vigilant  eye  over  their  neighbors,  that  they  be  taught  to 
read  the  English  tongue  and  a  knowledge  of  the  capital  laws,  under 
penalty  of  twenty  shillings  fine.  Also  all  masters  of  families  once  a 
week  shall  catechise  children  and  servants  in  the  grounds  and  princi- 
ples of  religion,  or  have  them  learn  some  short  orthodox  catechism,  so 
they  shall  be  able  to  answer  questions  to  parents  or  selectmen.  And 
they  shall  teach  children  and  apprentices  some  useful  calling  or  trade, 
or  the  selectmen  may  interfere  and  apprentice  the  children. 

The  public  superintendence  extended  over  all  conduct.  A  persistent 
and  open  contemner  of  religion  and  its  ministers,  on  a  second  offence, 
it  was  ordered  should  stand  ten  hoars  on  a  block  four  feet  high,  upon 
a  lecture-day,    with    a   paper  fixed  on  his  breast   in   capital   letters: 

"  OPEN    AND   OBSTINATE    CONTEMNER    OF   GOD'S    HOLY   ORDINANCES." 

Every  person  who  without  just  and  necessary  cause  absented  him- 
self from  service  on  a  Lord's  day,  fasts,  or  Thanksgiving,  was  fined  five 
shillings  for  each  offence.  The  game  of  shuffle-board  in  houses  of  com- 
mon entertainment  was  forbidden.  Idlers  could  be  punished  as  the 
Court  saw  fit,  and  constables  were  to  prevent  offenders  of  this  sort, 
"  common  coasters,"  unprofitable  fowlers,  and  tobacco-takers.  Drunk- 
ards were  punished  with  increasing  fines,  and  at  last  with  whipping ; 
and  lying  to  the  public  or  private  injury  was  punished  first  by  fines  and 
then  by  whipping. 

This  —  the  record  need  not  be  pursued — is  a  dark  background  of 
severe  laws  and  petty  interferences  with  family  life  and  freedom;  yet  it 
presents  only  one  aspect  of  life,  and  probably  that  which  did  not  seem 
the  most  prevailing  to  the  inhabitants.  The  real  life  of  the  majority 
was  concerned  with  quite  different  matters,  although  all  society  must 
have  felt  to  a  considerable  degree  the  interference  with  personal  liberty. 
Let  us  pass  to  other  details  of  life  that  will  recall  something  of  the 
manners  and  customs  of  our  ancestors  in  colonial  times.  The  mode  of 
life  was  essentially  the  same  in  all  the  towns. 

In  discarding  forms,  the  early  settlers  endeavored  to  preserve  the 
substance  of  religion  and  morals.  Some  one  has  remarked  that  sound- 
ness in  theology  was  more  regarded  than  correctness  in  morals  ;  but  the 
statutes  were  severe  enough  in  regard  to  moral  delinquency.  Court- 
ships and  marriages  were  carefully  supervised,  but  until  1680  the 
church  sanction  was  not  required  in  marriages,  which  were  performed 
by  magistrates,  or  persons  specially  appointed  by  the  authorities.  We 
need  not  dwell  upon  the  fact  that  exact  observance  of  the  Sabbath  was 
exacted  under  pains  and  penalties  ;  young  persons  were  not  permitted 

VOL.   I.  —  23. 


354  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF   HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

to  meet  together  in  the  street  or  elsewhere  on  the  Sabbath  or  Sabbath 
evening,  or  on  a  fast  or  lecture  day,  under  penalty  of  a  fine,  and  consta- 
bles walked  the  streets  to  enforce  this.  "  Servile  labor"  was  not  per- 
mitted, and  the  phrase  was  severely  construed ;  in  one  case  a  man  was 
convicted  of  "  servile  labor"  on  the  Sabbath  for  letting  his  sister  ride 
home  with  him  on  Sunday  from  a  visit  to  her  sick  mother.  Each 
householder  was  required  to  have  at  least  one  Bible,  and  exercises  in 
the  Catechism  in  private  families  were  enforced  by  constables  and 
ty  thing-men. 

The  first  church  buildings  were  small  and  rude,  like  the  first  church 
in  Hartford,  which  afterward  became  the  minister's  stable  ;  and  as 
they  grew  in  size,  and  began  to  be  set  on  hills  and  in  conspicuous  and 
windy,  places,  they  gained  nothing  in  comfort  in  the  cold  weather.  They 
were  mere  barns,  with  square  pews,  high  galleries  for  the  unmarried  and 
the  lower  classes,  a  negro  quarter,  high  pulpit  with  a  sounding-board, 
uncarpeted,  unwarmed,  and  cheerless.  They  had  neither  fireplace 
nor  stove,  and  at  first  women  carried  heated  stones  or  bricks  in  their 
muffs,  and  the  men  put  their  feet  into  fur  bags,  and  later,  foot-stoves 
were  used.  It  was  a  part  of  religion  to  resolutely  sit  through  a  two 
hours'  service  in  a  freezing  temperature ;  and  if  the  preacher  did  not 
make  it  hot  for  his  congregation,  nothing  else  could.  The  members  of 
the  congregation  were  seated  according  to  rank  and  dignity  and  wealth, 
and  the  "  seating  "  was  always  a  delicate  business  ;  but  not  so  much  so 
as  it  would  be  now,  for  social  grades  were  tolerably  well  defined.  In 
the  early  days  the  men  went  to  meeting  armed,  and  the  guns  were 
stacked  in  the  vestibule.  The  covenant  of  the  church  was  a  searching 
spiritual  document,  and  among  its  provisions  were  many  in  regard  to 
children,  for  preparing  them  to  enter  into  its  engagements,  and  for  an 
early  taking  hold  of  it ;  from  the  ages  of  eight  or  nine  to  fifteen  they 
were  required  to  be  publicly  catechised  before  the  congregation  every 
Lord's  day.  The  pay  of  the  minister  was  not  always  easy  to  raise, 
although  it  was  small,  —  sometimes  under  and  sometimes  over  the 
traditional  "forty  pounds  a  year," — and  part  of  it  was  frequently  paid 
in  wood,  grain,  or  work.  But  the  minister  was  commonly  a  farmer 
on  a  small  scale. 

Schools  were  at  once  established.  By  an  early  statute  it  was  or- 
dered that  every  town  containing  thirty  families  shall  maintain  a 
school  to  teach  reading  and  writing,  and  that  "  every  county  town 
should  have  a  Latin  school."  The  earliest  schools  were  taught  prin- 
cipally by  women,  who  grounded  the  pupils  in  reading,  writing,  and 
the  Catechism.  At  a  later  period  the  New  England  Primer,  containing 
the  Westminster  Catechism,  was  the  universal  class-book  for  children. 
What  pay  the  women  teachers  had  we  do  not  read;  but  as  late  as  1677 
a  male  teacher  in  Norwich  received  twenty-five  pounds  for  nine  months' 
teaching,  "  provision  pay."  The  intentions  of  the  first  settlers  in  regard 
to  schools  were  not  carried  out ;  support  was  grudgingly  given,  and  in  the 
second  generation  they  were  of  inferior  grade  and  irregularly  sustained. 

The  houses  of  the  first  settlers  were  log-huts,  and  what  boards  and 
shingles  were  used  were  shaped  by  the  axe.  But  at  an  early  date  the 
inhabitants  of  Hartford  erected  a  grist-mill,  and  soon  after  a  saw-mill ; 
and  frame-houses,  clapboarded,  were  common.  The  houses  of  the  better 
class  were  two  storeys  high,  containing  two  large  square  rooms  below 


DOMESTIC  AND  SOCIAL  LIFE  IN  COLONIAL  TIMES.  355 

and  above,  with  a  gigantic  chimney  in  the  centre  (the  outside  chimneys, 
common  to-day  in  the  South,  were  rare,  but  specimens  of  that  style  of 
colonial  architecture  still  exist),  and  steep  roofs.  Some  of  the  houses 
had  a  porch  in  front,  the  height  of  the  main  building,  about  ten  feet 
square,  with  a  room  overhead.  In  time,  a  lean-to  was  added  to  the 
rear  of  the  house,  over  which  the  roof  extended  down  to  the  first  storey  ; 
in  this  was  a  kitchen  or  a  "  back  kitchen,"  a  buttery,  and  a  bedroom. 
This  was  for  some  time  a  prevailing  style  of  colonial  architecture. 
Later,  the  roof  was  changed  into  the  gambrel ;  two  chimneys  were 
built,  and  a  large  hall  ran  through  the  centre  of  the  house. 

The  better  houses  covered  a  large  area  of  ground,  but  they  were 
seldom  thoroughly  finished,  and  were  cold  and  comfortless,  generally 
square  (aside  from  the  lean-to),  and  built  with  heavy  timbers,  and  with 
stone  chimneys  ;  the  posts  and  rafters  were  hewn  of  great  size  and 
solidity,  and  the  beams  showed  overhead,  and  formed  a  narrow,  low 
bench  round  the  sides.  The  two  large  rooms  on  the  ground-floor  were 
often  twenty  feet  square  :  one  of  them  was  the  best  or  company  room, 
and  the  other  the  kitchen.  The  life  of  the  family  went  on  in  the 
kitchen,  the  best  room  was  more  rarely  used ;  it  contained  one  or  more 
I  km  Is,  and  often  a  bed  was  set  in  the  kitchen.  The  floors  were  of  stout 
plank,  with  a  trap-door  leading  into  the  cellar.  In  the  kitchen  stood 
the  dresser,  with  its  rows  of  burnished  pewter  plates.  The  fireplace 
was  a  vast  cavern,  often  three  feet  deep  and  eight  feet  wide.  Four- 
feet  wood  was  commonly  burned  in  it,  and  the  rolling  in  a  vast  back- 
log, to  keep  a  fire  all  tiny  and  leave  a  bed  of  coals  at  night,  was  one  of 
the  events  of  the  morning.  One  could  look  up  the  chimney  to  the  sky, 
and  in  winter  the  snow  would  fall  upon  the  hearth,  but  for  the  tremen- 
dous draught  which  rushed  toward  the  cavern  from  all  parts  of  the  house, 
and  sucked  up  all  the  warm  air.  It  was  possible  in  severe  weather  to  keep 
one  side  of  the  body  warm  by  sitting  close  to  the  roaring  fire.  At  the 
side  of  the  kitchen  chimney  was  the  vast  oven,  and  in  this  warm  corner 
might  be  seen  the  venerable  grandfather,  who  stropped  his  razor  on  the 
family  Bible,  shaving  himself,  and  telling  the  children  that  he  saw  his 
face  in  the  oven. 

The  windows  were  small,  with  panes  of  diamond  glass  set  in 
lead.  The  chimneys  had  closets,  both  over  the  mantel  and  on  each 
side ;  and  in  the  regions  above  stairs,  closets,  often  winding  and 
roomy,  were  places  of  mystery  to  the  children.  The  rooms  were  very 
low,  and  the  high  chests  of  drawers,  with  brass  trimmings,  reached 
from  floor  to  ceiling,  and  contained  a  multitude  of  drawers,  from  the 
size  of  a  button-box  to  a  trunk.  The  first  time-pieces  were  a  noon- 
mark  on  the  window-sill  and  a  sun-dial ;  but  the  tall,  mummy-like  clock, 
with  its  smiling  dial,  came  in  with  increased  wealth.  In  the  kitchen 
was  a  huge  wooden  settle,  with  a  high  back,  which  was  pushed  back 
against  the  wall,  or  drawn  close  to  the  fire,  so  that  the  high  back  would 
screen  those  sitting  on  it  from  the  wind  rushing  in  at  the  door.  Later 
might  be  seen  a  round  dining-table,  the  top  of  which  turned  back, 
disclosing  a  broad  arm-chair.  In  the  kitchen  the  family  usually 
assembled.  The  settle  kept  off  the  draughts  from  the  elders ;  the  chil- 
dren sat  on  blocks  in  the  chimney-corners.  A  tin  candlestick,  with  a 
long  back,  was  hung  on  a  nail  over  the  mantel.  In  the  earliest  days, 
"  candlewood,"  which  was  valuable  enough  to  appear  in  the  inventories 


356  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

of  estates,  was  generally  used  for  lights  ;  it  consisted  of  dry  pine-knots, 
saturated  with  pitch,  and  split  into  sizes  convenient  for  use.  The  walls 
were  adorned  with  crookneck  squashes,  flitches  of  bacon  and  venison, 
raccoon  and  fox  skins,  a  suspended  musket,  strings  of  dried  apples, 
chains  of  sausages  and  redpeppers.  There  was  a  small  recess  for 
hooks  —  venerated,  pious  works,  which  came  from  England,  of  course  — 
on  one  side  of  the  fireplace,  a  little  below  the  ceiling,  where  they 
acquired  a  brown  hue,  like  the  bacon.  Conspicuous  on  the  desk  or 
best  table  was  the  family  Bible,  with  its  register  of  marriages,  births, 
and  deaths,  well  kept  and  much  used. 

The  early  settlers  lived  very  well,  for  game  was  plenty, — but  the 
cooking  was  necessarily  simple.  Pounded  maize,  or  samp  (made 
without  going  to  mill),  and  hasty-pudding  were  common  dishes.  The 
corn-meal  required  an  hour's  cooking  to  make  the  pudding  good,  and 
it  was  the  business  of  the  youngsters  to  watch  and  stir  the  pot.  Suc- 
cotash, baked  beans,  and  boiled  Indian  pudding  entered  into  the  daily 
fare,  bean-porridge  was  a  common  breakfast  dish,  and  the  "johnny- 
cake,"  baked  on  a  board  before  the  fire,  was  omnipresent  at  the  New 
England  breakfast.  Pease  were  as  generally  cultivated  as  beans.  The 
puddings  were  of  monumental  size,  put  into  a  bag  at  night,  and  boiled 
till  dinner-time  next  day.  Potatoes  were  not  introduced  till  1720; 
turnips  were  common,  and  pumpkins  abundant.  The  drink  was  water, 
cider,  beer,  and  metheglin,  sirups  from  the  juice  of  berries,  and  cor- 
dials made  from  mints.  The  annual  fast  was  kept  with  strictness,  no 
food  being  taken  from  sunrise  to  sunset. 

Amusements  in  the  modern  sense  at  first  were  few  among  the  Pu- 
ritans, who  could  not  tolerate  cards,  dancing,  or  play-acting.  Music 
was  little  cultivated.  For  the  first  seventy  years  the  drum  was 
beaten  to  call  the  inhabitants  to  meetings  on  Sunday  and  to  lectures, 
and  the  fife  added  its  ear-piercing  pleasure  to  training-day  ;  and 
there  does  not  appear  to  have  been  much  singing  except  of  the  long- 
metre  psalms  through  the  long-metre  noses.  But  gradually,  human 
nature  would  have  its  way,  and  various  pastimes  were  in  vogue. 
House-raisings  were  occasions  of  jollity  and  some  drinking ;  all  the 
neighborhood  assembled,  and  the  raising  was  followed  by  games  and 
feasting.  It  was  common  for  the  young  man  about  to  marry  to  build  a 
house  for  his  bride ;  and  it  was  the  custom  for  the  bride  elect  to  drive 
one  of  the  pins  in  her  future  house.  Elections,  training-days,  and 
thanksgivings  were  holidays,  when  the  men  and  boys  indulged  in  ath- 
letic sports  of  a  boisterous  nature,  —  shooting  at  a  mark,  horse-racing, 
wrestling,  running,  leaping,  and  ball-playing.  There  were  rural  excur- 
sions to  gather  strawberries  or  wild  plums;  or  on  the  coast  to  roast 
oysters ;  and  the  ancient  woods  and  fields  saw  now  and  then  a  gay 
cavalcade  of  men  and  women  mounted  on  horses  of  every  grade,  riding 
double,  jostling  together  along  the  narrow  mads,  and  waking  the  echoes 
with  shouting  and  singing.  On  holidays  there  were  feasts,  much  mer- 
riment over  nuts  and  apples  and  cider,  and  games  of  blindman's-buff. 
In  winter  there  was  sleigh-riding,  the  occupants  well  tucked  up  in  the 
broad,  roomy  sleighs,  with  perpendicular  sides  and  sharp  bows ;  the 
merry  row  of  sleighs  racing  along  the  road,  exchanging  shouts  and 
greetings,  and  snowballs,  to  some  house  of  entertainment,  where  a 
dance  (in  later  times)  set  the  impatient  feet  flying.     Wedding  fes- 


DOMESTIC   AND   SOCIAL   LIFE   IN   COLONIAL   TIMES.  357 

tivities  were  sometimes  prolonged  two  or  three  days.  Between  the 
strict  Puritan  times  and  the  Revolution,  dancing  was  common,  —  not  in 
balls  and  midnight  revels,  but  neighborhood  dances  in  private  houses. 
A  note  is  made  of  a  wedding  in  New  London,  in  1769,  which  ninety- 
two  gentlemen  and  ladies  attended,  and  danced  ninety-two  jigs,  fifty- 
two  contra-dances,  forty-five  minuets,  and  seventeen  hornpipes,  and 
retired  at  forty-five  minutes  past  midnight.  There  arc  even  records  of 
ordination  balls  in  those  delightful  days  when  all  amusements  were 
entered  into  with  zest.  We  err  if  we  think  there  was  no  fun  in  these 
stalwart  young  fellows  and  sly,  pretty  lasses  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
—  to  say  nothing  of  the  eighteenth,  —  because  they  were  burdened  with 
such  names  as  Shadrach,  Jephthah,  Abinadab,  Zorobabel,  Consider, 
Friend,  Preserved,  Retrieve,  Yet-once,  Thankful,  Mindful,  Patience, 
Experience,  Temperance,  Deliverance,  Desire,  Faith,  Hope,  Love, 
Charity,  Silence,  Mercy.  It  were  pretty  to  see  Yet-once  lead  Desire 
down  a  contra-dance. 

In  the  Puritan  "days  the  apparel  of  both  sexes  was  simple,  though 
not  unbecoming,  and  generally  of  domestic  manufacture ;  as  a  rule,  we 
suppose  eacli  family  made  its  own,  and  many  houses  had  a  loom  for 
weaving  linen  and  wool,  but  in  Hartford  there  seem  to  have  been  pro- 
fessional weavers.  The  winter  garments  of  the  men  were  undressed 
homespun  cloth.  Anion--  (lie  fust  settlers  there  was  something  of  a 
military  stvle.  Swords  were  worn  in  full  dress  by  persons  in  both  civil 
and  military  capacity  ;  hats  had  a  broad  brim  and  a  steeple  crown,  and 
occasionally  a  costly  -black  beaverett "  was  seen.  The  poorer  class 
wore  buff  caps  knit  of  woollen,  gay  in  color,  and  with  a  heavy  tassel. 
The  coat  had  a  long,  straight  body  falling  below  the  knee,  no  collar, 
or  a  low  one,  displaying  the  stiff  stock  of  white  linen,  fastened  behind 
with  a  silver  buckle.  A  conspicuous  wristband  with  buttons  was 
common,  and  a  lew  wore  ruffs  in  the  bosom  and  at  the  wrists.  The 
small-clothes  terminated  above  the  knee  and  were  tied  with  ribbons, 
and  the  common  sort  were  made  of  dressed  deer's  leather ;  short, 
striped  trousers  of  linsey-woolsey  was  an  cvery-day  dress  of  the  com- 
mon people.  Red  stockings  were  in  vogue  ;  the  shoes  were  coarse, 
square-toed,  with  huge  buckles;  if  boots  were  worn,  they  had  short,  wide 
tops.  Long  hair  was  fashionable,  and  was  combed  back  from  the  fore- 
head, gathered  behind  in  a  queue,  and  tied  with  a  black  ribbon.  Wigs 
were  not  common;  the  powdered  wigs,  and  hats  trimmed  with  gold 
lace,  came  later.  The  ladies  had  fine  clothes,  dresses  of  flowing  bro- 
cade, embroidered  stomachers,  and  hanging  sleeves;  but  these  were 
reserved  for  civic  occasions.  They  came  to  meeting  in  short  gowns 
and  stuff  petticoats,  with  white  aprons  of  linen  or  muslin,  starched 
stiff.  The  gown-sleeve  was  short,  and  they  wore  mittens  that  left  the 
fingers  bare,  but  extended  to  the  elbow.  The  cloak  was  short,  and  a 
riding-hood  covered  the  head.  This  hood  was  taken  off  in  meeting,  as 
bonnets  were  when  they  were  worn.  The  matrons  wore  caps,  and  the 
young  women  had  their  hair  dressed  or  curled.  This  attire  was  grace- 
ful and  becoming  (says  Miss  Frances  M.  Caulkins,  whose  excellent 
histories  of  Norwich  and  New  London  have  been  freely  used  in  this 
paper),  in  comparison  with  the  short  waist,  low  neck,  the  high  head- 
cushion  with  its  wings  or  lappets  flaunting  in  the  wind,  and  the  huge 
calash,  of  the  next  century. 


358  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

In  the  middle  period  between  the  Puritans  and  the  Revolution  the 
dress  was  distinguished  neither  by  simplicity  nor  economy.  Ladies 
hoarded  household  linen  to  last  for  years  ahead  ;  and  the  wardrobes  of 
the  rich  were  extravagant,  for  the  time,  though  they  would  come  under 
the  title  of  "  nothing  to  wear "  to-day.  Widow  Elizabeth  White,  of 
Norwich,  in  1757,  left  behind  her  gowns  of  brown  duroy,  striped  stuff, 
plaid  stuff,  black  silk,  crape,  calico,  and  blue  camlet ;  a  scarlet  cloak, 
blue  cloak,  satin-flowered  mantle,  and  furbelow  scarf;  a  woollen  petticoat 
with  a  calico  border,  a  camlet  riding-hood,  long  silk  hood,  velvet  hood, 
white  hoods  trimmed  with  lace,  a  silk  bonnet,  aud  nineteen  caps,  and 
so  on,  with  fourteen  aprons,  and  a  silver  and  a  blue  girdle.  And  she 
had  rings,  and  a  few  silver  ornaments  and  cups.  The  next  generation 
was  much  richer  in  articles  of  ornament  and  display.  When  the 
daughters  of  General  Jabez  Huntington,  of  Norwich  (born  1757-1760), 
were  successively,  at  the  ages  of  fourteen  and  fifteen,  sent  to  a  fashion- 
able Boston  boarding-school,  their  outfit  was  required  to  be  rich  and 
extensive.  One  of  them  took  with  her  twelve  silk  gowns  ;  but  she  had 
not  been  long  in  Boston  when  her  instructress  wrote  to  her  parents  that 
another  dress  must  be  provided  for  her,  made  of  a  recently  imported 
fabric,  in  order  that  she  might  appear  in  society  according  to  her  rank. 

Before  the  Revolution,  wigs,  full  and  curled,  white  and  powdered, 
red  cloaks  or  roquelaures,  and  buckles  at  the  knees  and  in  the  shoes, 
were  worn  by  gentlemen.  Even  boys  were  seen  in  cocked-hats,  small- 
clothes, and  knee-buckles.  But  our  limits  do  not  permit  us  to  go  into 
those  days,  when  the  ladies  wore  long  trains,  a  rich  brocade,  with  open 
skirt  and  trail,  silk  stockings,  with  sharp-toed  slippers  and  high  heels, 
the  hair  combed  over  a  high  cushion  stuffed  with  wool  and  covered 
with  silk,  a  head-dress  that  made  necessary  the  wide  and  deep  calash, 
out  of  the  depths  of  which  came  the  fascinating  smiles  that  captivated 
the  cocked-hatted  and  periwigged  suitors. 

But  with  all  this  sumptuousness  of  apparel,  even  as  late  as  the  pre- 
Revolutionary  days,  there  was  more  simplicity  of  living  and  of  inter- 
course than  now.  Even  the  first  lady  of  the  place,  attired  in  a  white 
short-gown,  stuff  petticoat,  muslin  apron,  and  starched  cap,  would  take 
her  knitting  and  go  out  about  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  to  take  tea 
unceremoniously  with  some  neighbor,  perhaps  the  butcher's  or  black- 
smith's wife.  As  late  as  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  at 
least,  it  was  customary  for  the  girls  of  a  large  family,  even  among  the 
better  class,  to  go  out  to  work  by  the  day  or  week,  and  thus  contribute 
to  the  support  of  the  family. 

The  "  stores  "  of  the  pre-Rcvolutionary  period  kept  everything  sal- 
able, from  New  England  rum,  nails,  laces,  and  felt  hats,  to  "  London- 
lettered  gartering,"  "  barleycorn  necklaces,"  and  London  dolls.  Besides 
the  sort  of  dress  goods  with  which  we  are  familiar,  we  find  in  the 
advertisements  hum-hum,  wild-bore,  elastick^,  moreens,  durants,  cali- 
mancos,  tammys,  royal-rib,  shalloons,  erminetts,  stockinetts,  satinetts, 
russeletts,  German  serge,  duffles,  taffety. 

The  African  was  early  in  Connecticut,  both  as  a  slave  and  a  free- 
man. The  subject  does  not  concern  us  here,  except  in  its  social  aspects. 
Slavery  was  not  profitable,  its  terms  were  comparatively  easy,  and  the 
relation  practically  disappeared  during  the  Revolution.  Some  negroes 
were  certainly  held  in  servitude  as  early  as  1660.     The  blacks  were 


DOMESTIC  AND   SOCIAL  LIFE  IN   COLONIAL  TIMES.  359 

imitative  then  as  now,  and  contributed  something  to  the  variety  and 
picturesqueness  of  the  time.  They  had  "negro  trainings,"  —  parades 
of  companies  and  regiments  in  odd  uniforms  and  accoutrements,  usually 
borrowed  from  the  whites  ;  and  their  field-days,  under  the  command 
of  a  mounted  "  General,"  furnished  a  great  deal  of  amusement  to  the 
spectators.  Amusing  anecdotes  of  their  evolutions  and  of  the  words  of 
command  are  preserved ;  but  some  of  the  slaves  earned  their  freedom 
by  good  service  in  the  war. 

Decent  roads  were  about  the  latest  evidences  of  civilization  to  come 
in  the  colony.  Travel  was  necessarily  on  horseback.  It  was  near 
Revolutionary  time  before  the  great  two-wheeled  vehicle  called  a  chaise 
began  to  roll  over  the  bad  roads.  Madame  Knight,  who  made  the 
journey  on  horseback,  with  a  guide,  from  Boston  to  New  York,  in 
1704,  starting  the  2d  of  October,  makes  much  complaint  of  the  roads 
and  the  inns.  After  floundering  through  a  swamp  in  the  fog,  they 
reached  late  one  night  the  Billingscs,  where  she  was  to  lodge.  The 
guide  left  her  to  find  her  way  into  the  house  alone.  She  had  scarcely 
stepped  into  the  room,  when  she  was  interrogated  by  the  eldest  daughter 
of  the  house : — 

"  Law  for  uss,  what  in  the  world  brings  you  here  at  this  time  a 
night  ?  I  never  see  a  woman  on  the  rode  so  dreadfull  late  in  all  the 
days  of  my  versall  life.  Who  are  you  ?  Where  are  you  going  ?  I  'm 
scared  out  of  my  wits." 

When  the  guide  entered,  she  roared  out :  — 

"  Lawful  heart,  John,  is  it  you  ?  Where  in  the  world  are  you  going 
with  this  woman  ?     Who  is  she  ?  " 

Instead  of  replying,  John  sat  down  and  applied  his  mouth  to  a 
black  bottle,  leaving  his  passenger  to  the  torment  of  silly  questions. 
She  lodged  in  the  lean-to,  on  a  wretched  bed  so  high  that  she  had  to 
use  a  chair  to  climb  into  it.  The  next  day  she  dined  on  pork  and  cab- 
bage, the  sauce  of  which  looked  as  if  it  had  been  boiled  in  a  dye-kettle. 
She  crossed  the  Providence  ferry  in  a  canoe,  forded  the  next  stream  in 
a  terror  for  her  safety,  and  so  continued  on  through  trees  and  bushes 
and  dolesome  woods.  The  roads  were  no  better  as  she  advanced  ;  the 
road  in  Stonington  was  particularly  stony  and  uneven.  Here  she  fell 
in  with  an  old  man  and  his  daughter,  whom  she  accompanied  to  New 
London.  Jemima  was  a  girl  about  eighteen,  whom  her  father  had  been 
to  fetch  out  of  the  Narragansetts ;  they  had  ridden  thirty  miles  that 
day,  on  a  sorry,  lean  jade,  with  only  a  bag  under  her  for  a  pillion, 
which  the  poor  girl  often  complained  was  very  uneasy.  "  Wee  made 
Good  speed  along,  which  made  poor  Jemima  make  many  a  sow'r  face, 
the  mare  being  a  very  hard  trotter ;  and  after  many  a  hearty  and  bitter 
'  Oh,'  she  at  length  ow'd  out, k  Lawful  Heart,  father  !  this  bare  mare  hurts 
me  dingeely.  I  'me  direful  sore,  I  vow  ;'  with  many  words  to  that  pur- 
pose. '  Poor  Child,'  sas  Gaffer,  '  she  us't  to  serve  your  mother  so.'  '  I 
don't  care  how  mother  us't  to  do,'  quoth  Jemima,  in  a  passionate  tone ; 
at  which  the  old  man  Laught,  and  kik't  his  jade  o'  the  side,  which  made 
her  Jolt  ten  times  harder." 

Madame  Knight  makes  many  notes  on  the  people  as  she  passes 
along,  and  seems  to  think  they  would  be  benefited  by  education  and 
conversation,  for  they  have  mother-wit  enough.  "  They  are  generally 
very  plain  in  their  dress  throughout  all  the  colony,  as  I  saw,  and  follow 


360  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

one  another  in  their  modes ;  that  you  may  know  where  they  belong, 
especially  the  women,  meet  them  where  you  will." 

We  get  a  flattering  picture  of  this  region  later,  in  1788,  in  the 
"Travels  "  of  Brissot  de  Warville  :  "The  environs  of  Hartford  display  a 
charming  cultivated  country,  neat,  elegant  houses,  vast  meadows,  covered 
with  herds  of  cattle  of  an  enormous  size.  To  describe  the  neighborhood 
of  Hartford  is  to  describe  Connecticut.  Nature  and  art  have  here  dis- 
played all  their  treasures ;  it  is  really  the  Paradise  of  the  United 
States."  The  keen-scented  traveller  might  have  said  something  more 
complimentary  if  it  had  not  been  night  both  times  he  passed  through 
Hartford ;  perhaps  it  was  moonlight.  At  any  rate,  Connecticut  ap- 
peared to  him  like  one  continued  town :  On  quitting  Hartford,  you 
enter  Wethersfield,  —  a  town  not  less  elegant,  very  long,  consisting 
of  houses  well  built.  "  Wethersfield  is  remarkable  for  its  vast  fields 
uniformly  covered  with  onions,  of  which  great  quantities  are  exported 
to  the  West  Indies.  It  is  likewise  remarkable  for  its  elegant  meeting- 
house, or  church.  On  Sunday  it  is  said  to  offer  an  enchanting  spec- 
tacle, by  the  number  of  young,  handsome  persons  who  assemble  there, 
and  by  the  agreeable  music  with  which  they  intermingle  the  Divine 
service." 

Brissot  de  Warville  lost  his  heart  to  the  Connecticut  girls  ;  he  lost 
his  head  in  the  French  Revolution  :  — 

"  New  Haven  yields  not  to  Wethersfield  for  the  beauty  of  the  fair 
sex.  At  their  balls  during  the  winter  it  is  not  rare  to  see  an  hundred 
charming  girls,  adorned  with  those  brilliant  complexions  seldom  met 
with  in  journeying  to  the  South.  The  beauty  of  complexion  is  as 
striking  in  Connecticut  as  its  numerous  population.  You  will  not  go 
into  a  tavern  without  meeting  with  neatness,  decency,  and  dignity. 
The  tables  are  served  by  a  young  girl,  decent  and  pretty  ;  by  an  amia- 
ble mother,  whose  age  has  not  effaced  the  agreeableness  of  her  features  ; 
by  men  who  have  that  air  of  dignity  which  the  idea  of  equality  inspires, 
and  who  are  not  ignoble  and  base  like  the  greater  part  of  our  tavern- 
keepers.  On  the  road  you  often  meet  those  fair  Connecticut  girls, 
either  driving  a  carriage,  or  alone  on  horseback  galloping  boldly ;  with 
an  elegant  hat  on  the  head,  a  white  apron,  and  a  calico  gown,  —  usages 
which  prove  at  once  the  early  cultivation  of  their  women,  since  they 
are  trusted  so  young  to  themselves,  the  safety  of  the  road,  and  the 
general  innocence  of  manners.  You  will  see  them  hazarding  them- 
selves alone,  without  protectors,  in  the  public  stages.  I  am  wrong  to 
say  hazarding  ;  who  can  offend  them  ?  They  are  here  under  the  pro- 
tection of  public  morals  and  of  their  own  innocence  ;  it  is  the  conscious- 
ness of  this  innocence  which  renders  them  so  complaisant  and  so  good ; 
for  a  stranger  takes  them  by  the  hand  and  laughs  with  them,  and  they 
are  not  offended." 

We  may  well  end  our  scant  review  of  cololiial  social  life  with  this 
French  study  of  the  flower  of  it,  —  the  girls. 


C*«4  Jh**&4*u   /T^v^^r^ 


CHAPTEK    II. 

HARTFORD,   TOWN    AND    CITY. 


SECTION    I. 

THE   TOWN  SINCE  1781 

BY    MISS    MARY    K.    TALCOTT. 

The  Care  of  the  Poor.  —  Burying-Grounds. —  Bridges.  —  The  Town  Records. — 
Tower  Hill. — Other  Matters  of  Interest. 

A  PORTION  of  the  town  of  Hartford  was  incorporated  as  a  city, 
May  29,  1784,  and  the  limits  and  boundaries  are  given  in  the 
proper  place.  Almost  the  first  subject  of  importance  mentioned 
on  the  town  records  after  that  date  is  the  building  of  a  new  almshouse. 
Jan.  4,  1785,  Colonel  Thomas  Seymour,  John  Trumbull,  and  Chauncey 
Goodrich,  Esqs.,  were  appointed  agents  on  behalf  of  the  town  to  prefer  a 
memorial  to  the  General  Assembly,  asking  liberty  to  build  an  almshouse 
for  the  poor  of  this  town,  and  for  liberty  to  tax  themselves  for  a  build- 
ing, and  the  support  of  the  same.  Three  years  before  the  selectmen 
were  directed  to  set  out  a  small  piece  of  land,  and  to  build  a  small 
house  on  it,  "  for  the  use  of  Niel  McLean,  the  old  Soldier,  as  long  as  he 
lives,  between  the  Gaol  and  the  Lower  Mills,  on  the  Bank  of  the  River, 
to  remain  to  the  Town  for  a  poor-house  for  the  use  and  dispose  of  the 
Town."  Colonel  Jeremiah  Wadsworth,  Captain  Samuel  Wadsworth, 
Captain  Thomas  Hopkins,  and  Captain  John  Chenevard  were  appointed, 
Sept.  20,  1785,  a  committee  to  "  ascertain  how  much  of  the  town  lands 
adjacent  to  the  poorhouse  lately  built  are  necessary  to  be  taken  up  and 
used  for  the  accommodation  of  the  poor,  and  to  lay  out  the  same  for 
that  purpose."  Feb.  7,  1786,  a  tax  of  8d.  on  the  pound  was  levied  on 
the  inhabitants  to  defray  the  charges  for  supplying  the  almshouse,  and 
the  tax  was  continued  year  after  year. 

Probably  there  were  not  a  sufficient  number  of  paupers  to  fill  the 
house,  for  on  the  19th  of  December,  1796,  the  selectmen,  James  Bull, 
Miles  Beach,  and  Ebenezer  Faxon,  were  authorized  by  a  vote  of  the  town 
"to  sell  the  Alms  or  Poor  House  lately  erected,  with  the  adjoining  lands, 
at  auction,  to  the  highest  bidder."  June  5,  1797,  the  place  was  sold  to 
Ashbel  Spencer  for  £100,  and  the  boundaries  described  in  the  deed 
conveying  the  property  show  that  the  house  was  on  the  Windsor  road ; 
and  from  the  recollections  of  old  inhabitants  we  learn  that  the  house 


362  MEMORIAL   HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

Stood  south  of  the  State  arsenal,  and  opposite  the  old  North  Burying- 
Ground.  From  statements  made  by  old  residents  we  learn  that  the 
building  was  a  low,  one-story  wooden  building,  sixty  or  eighty  feet 
long,  with  a  gambrel  roof  and  dormer  windows,  standing  with  the  end 
on  the  street,  and  that  there  were  several  entrances  on  the  side.  From 
1797  to  1811  it  does  not  appear  that  the  town  had  a  poorhouse,  and 
the  presumption  is  that  the  poor  were  supported  by  contract.  Dec.  30, 
1808,  the  selectmen  were  authorized  to  petition  the  General  Assembly 
"  for  permission  to  establish  a  Work-House,  and  to  alter  the  location  of 
it  from  time  to  time  as  they  shall  see  fit ; "  but  apparently  nothing  was 
done  about  it,  for  in  January,  1812,  Enoch  Perkins,  Esq.,  was  appointed, 
together  with  the  selectmen,  to  petition  the  General  Assembly  for  au- 
thority to  establish  a  workhouse.  The  subject  of  an  almshouse  came 
up  also  at  the  same  time,  and  on  Dec.  31,  1811,  it  was  voted  that  a 
temporary  almshouse  should  be  established ;  and  the  selectmen  were 
directed  "  to  have  all  the  Town  poor  supported  at  the  place  or  places 
where  they  have  a  general  contract  for  the  support  of  the  Poor,  except 
in  some  special  cases."  According  to  the  recollections  of  old  inhabi- 
tants who  lived  in  that  vicinity,  the  building  bought  by  Ashbel  Spencer 
was  again  used  for  its  original  purpose,  and  it  was  probably  leased  by 
the  town  from  his  heirs,  and  occupied  as  the  almshouse  until  1822 ; 
but  the  accommodations  were  limited,  and  a  number  of  the  paupers 
were  sent  to  Wintonbury  (now  Bloomfield),  where  Captain  David  Grant 
had  the  care  of  the  State  poor.  They  may  also  have  been  supported  in 
other  localities,  as  General  Nathan  Johnson  states  in  a  report  made  in 
1835,  covering  the  sixteen  years  of  his  administration  as  town  trea- 
surer, that  in  1819  the  entirely  dependent  poor  were  supported  on 
contract,  at  an  expense  of  $1.25  per  week,  and  those  who  received 
partial  aid  exacted  large  supplies  as  a  compromise  for  not  demanding 
entire  support.  In  December,  1812,  the  dwelling-house  of  Ashbel  Sey- 
mour,1 and  the  buildings  appurtenant  thereto,  were  taken  by  the  town 
for  a  temporary  workhouse,  the  selectmen  to  be  the  overseers.  A  vote, 
passed  in  December,  1816,  directed  that  all  the  town  poor  should  be 
supported  at  one  place  by  contract,  and  the  selectmen  were  ordered  to 
take  proper  measures  for  executing  the  law  for  binding  in  service  all 
persons  "  reduced  to  want,  or  likely  to  be  reduced  to  want,  by  Idleness, 
Mismanagement,  or  Bad  Husbandry : "  and  also  "  to  cause  the  Conduct 
of  the  Negroes  in  this  Town  to  be  inspected,  and  to  bind  in  Service  all 
such  Negroes  as  are  by  Law  liable  to  be  bound  in  Service." 

March  21,  1822,  John  Hempsted,  Jeremy  Hoadley,  William  Ely, 
Michael  Olcott,  and  Nathaniel  Seymour  were  appointed  a  committee  to 
take  measures  to  procure  an  almshouse,  with  suitable  appurtenances 
for  a  workhouse ;  and  they  were  authorized  to  purchase  suitable  build- 
ings for  the  above  purpose,  together  with  a  sufficient  quantity  of  land, 
at  an  expense  not  exceeding  $5,000.  On  the^7th  of  June,  1822,  a  deed 
was  executed  by  the  Hartford  bank,  conveying  to  the  town  a  piece  of 
land,  lying  about  one  and  one  half  miles  northwestwardly  from  the 
State  House,  containing  eight  acres,  with  part  of  the  dwelling-house,  etc., 
which  had  belonged  to  Levi  Kelsey.  Other  deeds,  dated  a  few  days 
later,  convey  other  parts  of  the  Kelsey  farm,  which  apparently  passed 

1  Probably  on  Vanderbilt  Hill. 


THE  TOWN  SINCE  1784.  363 

entirely  into  the  possession  of  the  town,  with  the  dwelling-house  on  it. 
This  building  stood  about  twenty  rods  east  of  the  present  almshouse, 
directly  north  of  several  elms  now  standing  there,  and  it  was  used  as 
the  almshouse  for  a  number  of  years.  A  new  brick  structure  was  built 
on  these  lands  to  be  used  for  the  workhouse.  There  were  cells  in  this 
building,  for  the  solitary  confinement,  with  bread  and  water,  of  those 
prisoners  who  might  need  to  be  punished  in  this  manner.  The  regu- 
lations for  the  management  and  government  of  the  workhouse  and 
almshouse  were  framed  by  a  committee,  consisting  of  the  following 
persons :  Andrew  Kingsbury,  Nathan  Johnson,  William  Ely,  Seth  Terry, 
and  Theron  Deming.  All  persons  sentenced  to  the  workhouse  were  to 
be  "  employed  in  manufacturing  labor  on  the  Town  lands  adjoining,  or 
in  menial  labor  in  the  Alms  House,  as  might  suit  their  age,  sex,  or 
ability."  The  hours  of  labor  were  to  be  as  follows :  "  from  six  to  half- 
after  eleven  in  the  forenoon ;  from  one  to  seven  in  the  afternoon  in 
summer ;  in  Winter  from  nine  to  twelve  in  the  forenoon,  and  from 
one  to  sundown  in  the  afternoon ;  and  from  the  20th  of  September 
to  the  20th  of  March  they  shall  labor  in  the  evening  from  six  to  eight 
o'clock.  All  the  labor  pertaining  to  the  Institution  to  be  done  by  the 
poor  as  far  as  practicable  ;  a  suitable  person  to  be  chief  cook,  and  others 
to  be  cooks  and  washers."  The  Master  was  "  to  see  that  the  poor  statedly 
comb  their  hair,  wash  their  hands  and  faces,  and  at  suitable  times  their 
feet,  and  their  heads  when  occasion  requires."  The  hours  for  retirement 
were  to  be  nine  in  the  summer  and  eight  in  the  winter ;  and  the  time 
for  rising  was  to  be  at  sunrise  throughout  the  year.  "  The  whole  house- 
hold shall  strictly  observe  the  Sabbath  or  Lord's  Day.  The  poor  shall 
put  on  clean  and  decent  apparel  in  the  morning,  and  be  ready  for  re- 
ligious exercises.  The  Overseers  shall  endeavor  to  procure  Evangelical 
ministers  to  preach  statedly  at  the  house,  and  shall  cause  Bibles  and 
religious  tracts  to  be  distributed  among  the  Poor.  When  there  is  no 
preaching  on  the  Sabbath,  the  Master  shall  cause  such  as  are  best  able 
to  read  aloud  the  Bible  and  other  approved  Books  for  the  benefit  of  the 
others,  who  shall  attend  at  least  an  hour  and  a  half  in  each  part  of 
the  day  on  such  exercises ;  and  no  one  shall  be  permitted  to  roam 
abroad  in  the  lots  on  tbe  Sabbath.  Any  breach  of  the  Rules  by  any  of  the 
Poor  shall  be  punished  by  an  increase  of  task,  curtailment  of  the  quantity 
of  food,  shackling,  handcuffing,  solitary  confinement  not  exceeding  forty- 
eight  hours,  with  bread  and  water  only  for  food,  at  the  Discretion  of  the 
Master.  Visitors  to  be  admitted  only  on  Wednesdays,  between  nine  a.m. 
and  four  p.m."  A  burying-ground  was  to  be  laid  out  on  the  town  land 
for  "  such  as  may  die  in  the  house."  It  was  also  voted  that  on  the  intro- 
duction of  the  poor  into  the  almshouse,  the  overseers  invite  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Perkins,  of  this  town,  "to  perform  divine  service  there  on  the  occasion." 
In  November,  1828,  a  committee  was  appointed  to  consider  the  ex- 
pediency of  building,  near  the  almshouse,  an  hospital,  or  "  House  to 
receive  certain  persons  who  cannot  conveniently  be  received  into  the 
Alms  House ;  and  in  December  8800  was  appropriated  for  it.  In  1840 
the  subject  of  a  new  almshouse  was  broached,  and  on  the  11th  of  Janu- 
ary, 1841,  a  plan  was  laid  before  the  town-meeting,  with  an  estimate  of 
$15,000  for  the  expense  of  building.  The  report  was  accepted,  and  the 
selectmen  authorized  to  borrow  money  for  the  purpose  of  building. 
Jan.  24,  1842,  it  was  voted  that  the  selectmen  provide  convenient  and 


364  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF   HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

comfortable  accommodations  for  the  sick  at  the  new  almshouse.  They 
were  also  authorized  to  erect  a  new  fence,  and  to  dispose  of  the  wooden 
buildings  belonging  to  the  town. 

Dee.  4,  1848,  it  was  voted  to  build  a  suitable  building  for  a  hospital, 
near  the  almshouse,  and  that  the  old  almshouse  be  taken  down  and 
the  materials  used  for  that  purpose,  as  far  as  they  would  answer ;  and 
that  the  small  wooden  building  in  the  rear  of  the  almshouse,  now  used 
for  a  hospital,  be  removed  to  the  west  end  of  the  town-farm,  for  a  pest- 
house,  at  an  expense  not  exceeding  $800. 

Jan.  20,  1851,  Amos  M.  Collins,  Nathaniel  H.  Morgan,  and  Gurdon 
W.  Russell  were  appointed  a  committee  to  erect  an  addition  to  the 
north  wing  of  the  main  building  of  the  town-house,  for  the  safe  keeping 
of  the  male  prisoners,  and  their  separation  from  the  inmates  of  the 
almshouse,  and  the  sum  of  $3,000  was  appropriated  for  the  purpose. 
On  the  10th  of  March,  1851,  a  fire  broke  out  in  the  upper  story  of  the 
almshouse,  and  the  interior  of  the  building  was  entirely  destroyed, 
only  the  walls  being  left  standing.  At  that  time  there  were  about  forty 
inmates.  The  next  month  plans  "were  offered  and  accepted,  in  town- 
meeting,  for  rebuilding  and  repairing  the  almshouse  and  hospital,  and 
the  sum  of  $12,000  was  appropriated.  Before  the  end  of  the  year  the 
repairs  were  finished,  and  the  building,  with  the  outward  appearance  of 
that  of  1841,  has  been  used  until  the  present  day,  but  will  now  (1885) 
soon  be  superseded  by  a  new  building  in  another  location. 

Another  subject  mooted  in  1785  was  the  necessity  for  a  new  bury- 
ing-ground,  the  old  one  behind  the  Centre  Church  being  then  nearly 
full.1  The  first  plan  was  to  enlarge  that  ground  in  the  rear,  and  to 
sell  the  portion  of  the  lot  fronting  on  Main  Street  for  the  purpose  of 
erecting  stores,  in  order  to  obtain  the  money  fur  purchasing  additional 
land.  Dec.  27,  1785,  Captains  Samuel  Wadsworth,  John  Chenevard, 
Seth  Collins,  and  Jonathan  Bull  were  appointed  a  committee  "  to  lay 
out  so  many  Places  as  may  be  conveniently  taken  off  the  front  of  said 
Lott,  for  the  erection  of  Stores,  taking  special  care  to  leave  a  sufficient 
Pass-way,  and  not  interfere  or  come  too  near  the  meeting-house." 
Jan.  3,  1786,  the  committee  reported  with  a  "  Plann  of  the  burying- 
lott,"  and  they  were  directed  to  sell  those  pieces  of  land  selected,  at 
public  auction  or  private  sale,  as  they  thought  best,  And  a  month 
later  three  lots  twenty-five  feet  by  thirty,  a  little  north  of  the  North 
Meeting-House,  were  offered  at  public  auction,  at  Flagg's  Tavern,  "  a 
very  pleasant  and  commodious  stand  for  a  merchant  or  shopkeeper." 
March  22, 1786,  the  town  of  Hartford  conveyed  to  Charles  Hopkins  one 
of  the  above-mentioned  lots  of  land  "  in  the  Town  Piatt,"  near  the  North 
Meeting-House,  and  on  the  4th  of  April  the  remaining  two  lots  were  sold 
to  Jeremiah  Wadsworth.  He  built  thereon  a  brick  store,  afterward 
enlarged  by  Daniel  Wadsworth  and  Nathaniel  Terry,  and  still  later,  in 
1832,  purchased  by  the  Centre  Church, — the  same  building  which  is  now 
used  as  their  lecture-room ,  with  stores  underneath.  In  1787  the  select- 
men sold  to  Prosper  Hosmer  a  piece  of  land  twelve  feet  in  width  on  the 
street,  and  sixty-three  feet  in  length,  taken  off  from  the  northeast  part  of 
the  burying-ground,  "  not  necessary  for  interment."    The  selectmen  were 

1  "Whereas  it  is  represented  that  the  present  burying-Lott  must  soon  be  enlarged  for 
the  purpose  of  interment. "     Jan.  3,  1785. 


THE   TOWN   SINCE   1784.  365 

empowered  to  sell  to  James  Hosmer,  in  1796,  a  strip  of  land  four  feet 
in  width  and  sixty  feet  in  depth.  —  the  money  received  to  be  used  for 
the  purpose  of  purchasing  other  lands  for  burying-grounds.1  Between 
1786  and  1807  the  area  of  the  burying-ground  was  considerably  dimin- 
ished, as  a  number  of  lots  were  taken  from  it  and  sold.  When  the  First 
Church  built  a  new  brick  edifice  in  1806,  the  town  sold  to  the  society 
quite  a  large  piece  of  land,  as  the  new  building  was  placed  farther  back 
from  the  street  than  the  old  wooden  church.  In  the  later  deeds  a  con- 
dition is  inserted  that  cellars  shall  not  be  dug.  nor  the  soil  broken,  or 
dug  up  to  the  depth  of  more  than  two  feet.  When  one  recalls  the  state- 
ments of  old  inhabitants  that  coffins  were  placed  one  above  another  on 
account  of  the  crowded  condition  of  the  yard,  one  wonders  that  the 
town  should  have  been  so  willing  to  sell  portions  of  the  land.  Almost 
the  last  pieces  taken  off  from  the  burying-ground  were  the  two  small 
pieces  quit-claimed  to  Trinity  College,  in  1825,  on  the  east  side,  near 
Wadsworth's  and  Terry's  land.  The  town  allowed  the  city  to  erect  a 
brick  engine-house  and  hose-house,  twenty-two  feet  in  width  and  thirty 
feet  in  length,  on  the  burying-ground,  "  to  do  as  little  injury  to  the 
Burying-Yard  as  possible,"  in  1833;  and  staid  attendants  at  the  Centre 
Church  can  recall  the  excitement  caused  in  their  boyhood  by  an  alarm 
of  fire  during  church  services,  and  the  clattering  of  the  engine  over  the 
Btones  in  the  gangway  as  it  rushed  to  the  scene  of  action. 

Dec.  26,  1799,  Messrs.  John  Caldwell,  Daniel  Olcott,  John  Dodd,  and 
Elisha  Mix  were  appointed  a  committee  "  to  procure  some  convenient 
place,  or  places,  for  a  burying-ground,  for  the  use  of  the  First  and  Sec- 
ond societies  in  this  town."  A  lot  was  soon  decided  upon  for  the  south 
side;  and  in  1800  the  burying-ground  on  Maple  Avenue,  known  as  the 
"Old  South  Yard,"  was  opened,  and  the  first  burial  in  that  ground  was 
that  of  Walter,  son  of  Mr.  Levi  Robbins,  who  died  Oct.  5,  1801.2 

In  December,  1806,  Enoch  Perkins,  Andrew  Kingsbury,  George  Good- 
win, and  Amasa  Keyes  were  appointed  a  committee  u  to  purchase  one 
or  more  pieces  of  land  for  one  or  two  public  burying-grounds  in  such 
a  place  as  they  may  judge  best  for  the  convenience  of  the  inhabitants ;" 
and  they  wen-  authorized  to  sell  the  lands  belonging  to  the  town,  near 
the  new  brick  meeting-house  (the  Centre  Church),  for  the  purpose  of 
raising  money  for  purchasing  the  new  burying-grounds,  and  for  fencing 
the  other  burying-grounds  in  the  town.  The  committee  purchased  land 
of  Hezekiah  Bull,  on  the  Windsor  road,  the  present  old  North  cemetery, 
and  in  February,  1807,  they  were  authorized  to  sell  to  individuals  "par- 
ticular parcels  of  ground  in  the  burying-ground  for  family  burying- 
grounds."  The  first  interment  in  the  North  burying-ground  was  that 
of  Mrs.  Anna  Olcott,  who  died  Feb.  6,  1807,  aged  seventy-one. 

The  ancient  burying-ground  was  opened  for  burials,  in  a  few  in- 
stances, after  1806 ;  the  most  noteworthy  occasion  was  the  funeral  of 

1  It  is  evident  from  the  boundaries  given  in  the  deeds  from  the  town  of  these  lots,  and  in 
those  of  property  adjoining,  that  the  burying-ground  extended  formerly  from  the  ground  cov- 
ered by  the  Centre  Church  building  as  far  north  as  the  brick  building  next  to  Mr.  J.  B.  Hos- 
iner's  old  house.  The  lot  sold  to  Charles  Hopkins  adjoined  Hosmer's  land,  and  a  school-house 
stood  between  Hopkins's  store  and  that  built  by  Jeremiah  Wadsworth,  — now  the  Centre  Church 
lecture-room  building.  The  north  line  ran  west  from  the  main  street  in  a  straight  line  at  least 
two  hundred  and  twelve  feet.  (See  deed  from  John  Haynes  Lord  to  James  Hosmer,  30  2Sov. 
1782,  Town  Laud  Records,  xiv.  353.) 

2  According  to  the  inscription  on  his  stone  he  was  "the  first  that  died  out  of  the  family, 
and  the  first  who  was  buryed  in  this  ground." 


366  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF    HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

General  Samuel  Wyllys,  former  Secretary  of  the  State,  third  of  the  name 
who  held  that  office,  who  died  in  1823.1  His  remains  were  borne  to 
the  grave  with  military  and  masonic  honors,  the  Governor's  Foot  Guard 
assembling  to  do  honor  to  the  memory  of  their  founder  and  first  com- 
mander. Madam  Wadsworth,  widow  of  Colonel  Jeremiah  Wadsworth, 
was  also  buried  in  the  old  ground  in  1817,  by  the  side  of  her  husband. 
Dr.  William  Whitman,  town  clerk  for  many  years,  buried  in  1846,  was 
the  last  person  interred  there. 

A  feeling  of  respect  for  the  graves  of  our  ancestors  seemed  to  be 
awakened  in  1831,  and  it  was  voted,  March  8,  that  a  stone  wall  should 
be  erected  around  the  west  side  of  the  old  burying-ground,  and  also 
that  the  ground  should  be  put  in  order,  and  that  the  gravestones  that 
were  fallen  and  lying  in  the  yard  should  be  replaced  in  position.  Pre- 
vious to  that  time  the  burying-ground  was  so  open  that  it  was  used  as  a 
passage-way  by  people  going  to  the  meeting-house  from  the  streets  lying 
immediately  west;  and,  according  to  the  testimony  of  persons  now  living, 
many  of  the  stones  were  laid  down  to  make  a  path,  so  people  could  walk 
dry-shod  in  bad  weather.  The  monument  in  the  centre  of  the  ground, 
to  the  memory  of  the  first  settlers  of  Hartford,  was  erected  in  1836, 
and  the  Ancient  Burying-Ground  Association  now  have  charge  of  this 
cemetery,  and  the  old  stones  are  carefully  propped  up,  the  grass  cut, 
and  the  paths  kept  in  order. 

The  North  and  South  burying-grounds  proved  sufficient  for  the  needs 
of  our  population  until  1843,  when  a  piece  of  land  on  the  high  ridge 
near  Rocky  Hill,  called  Zion's  Hill,  was  selected  as  a  suitable  spot  for 
a  new  burying-ground,  and  two  tracts  of  land  were  purchased  by  the 
town,  of  Colonel  James  Ward  and  G.  M.  Bartholomew,  to  be  used  for 
that  purpose. 

These  are  town  cemeteries.  Those  owned  and  managed  by  private 
corporations  are  Cedar  Hill  on  Fairfield  Avenue,  some  three  miles  from 
the  City  Hall,  and  Spring  Grove  on  Main  Street,  next  the  North  Bury- 
ing-ground. Cedar  Hill  cemetery  is  on  high  ground  of  an  irregular 
surface,  and  has  been  used  since  1866.  It  was  laid  out  with  reference 
to  picturesque  effect,  and  contains  many  fine  monuments.  A  handsome 
memorial  chapel  has  been  built  there  by  Mrs.  C.  H.  Northam,  and  one  at 
Spring  Grove  cemetery  by  Mr.  T.  M.  Allyn. 

In  connection  with  this  subject  should  be  mentioned  the  hearse,  in 
old  days  a  town  institution,  and  the  hearse-house  also.  Until  the  end 
of  the  last  century  corpses  were  borne  to  the  grave  on  a  bier,  carried  by 
friends  and  neighbors.  A  hearse  was  constructed  for  the  town  by  Asa 
Francis,  about  1800 ;  and  on  May  23d  of  that  year  the  selectmen  were 
directed  to  refund  to  the  First  and  Second  societies,  and  to  the  Epis- 
copal and  Baptist  societies,  the  sums  advanced  by  them  respectively  for 
this  conveyance.  In  November,  1826,  the  selectmen  were  authorized  to 
procure  an  additional  "  Herse."  One  of  these  hearses  was  kept  for  a 
time  in  a  building  in  the  rear  of  Burr's  store,  on  the  north  corner  of 

1  There  are  no  gravestones  in  the  yard  in  memory  of  the  Wyllyses :  "one  of  the  latest 
male  memhers  being  asked  why  they  did  not  follow  the  custom  in  this  respect,  replied  in  the 
impulse  of  strong  pride  that  '  if  the  State  of  Connecticut  could  not  remember  the  Wyllyses 
without  a  monument,  their  memory  might  rot  ! '  The  graves  of  the  family  are  in  the  centre 
of  the  burying-ground,  near  the  monument  erected  to  the  memory  of  the  first  settlers."  — 
I.  W.  Stuart,  Hartford  in  the  Olden  Time. 


THE   TOWN   SINCE   1784.  367 

Main  and  Charter  streets.  One  of  them,  and  perhaps  both,  were  after- 
ward kept  in  a  small  building,  erected  for  the  purpose,  in  the  rear  of 
the  edifice  now  known  as  the  Centre  Church  lecture-room,  an  agreement 
being  made  to  that  effect  in  1832  between  the  town  and  the  First  Eccle- 
siastical Society.1  There  is  no  record  of  the  time  when  the  town  ceased 
to  keep  the  hearses,  and  the  gloomy  equipages  may  be  imagined  as 
slowly  falling  into  decay  and  mouldering  into  dust  in  the  congenial 
company  of  the  ancient  gravestones. 

The  intimate  connection  that  formerly  existed  between  Church  and 
State  is  shown  by  a  vote  of  the  town,  in  1808,  "  that  no  bills  for  sweep- 
ing meeting-houses  or  churches,  or  ringing  bells  for  the  meetings  of 
any  religious  society,  shall  in  future  be  allowed  by  the  selectmen  or 
paid  by  the  town." 

Long  after  this  time  the  custom  was  continued  of  ringing  the  church- 
bells  at  twelve  m.  and  nine  p.m.,  and  all  good  citizens  drank  their  cider, 
raked  up  their  fires,  and  retired  to  their  beds,  when  the  sound  of  the 
nine-o'clock  bell  was  heard.  Mrs.  Sigourney  describes  the  custom  as  it 
was  practised  in  1805,  when  she  first  visited  Hartford:2  "As  I  lay 
ruminating  and  reviewing  the  scenes  of  the  day,  I  heard  a  pleasant 
sound,  —  the  bells  from  the  steeples  of  the  North  and  South  churches 
ringing  for  the  hour  of  nine.  They  strike  alternately  two  strokes,  each 
waiting  for  the  other,  then,  joining,  tell  with  one  voice  the  day  of  the 
month  in  unison.  One  has  a  deep,  heavy  tone,  the  other  a  melodious 
one ;  and  their  concord  is  like  that  of  bass  and  treble  in  perfect  har- 
mony." Apparently  the  South  Church  continued  the  custom  of  striking 
the  day  of  the  month  after  ringing  the  nine-o'clock  bell,  after  the  other 
churches  had  dropped  the  ceremony.  As  the  century  approached  its 
third  quarter,  efforts  were  evidently  made  to  have  this  practice  discon- 
tinued, and  on  the  4th  of  December,  1848,  it  was  voted  that  the  ringing 
of  the  nine-o'clock  bell  in  the  South  meeting-house  be  given  up.  Nov. 
29,  1852,  $25  was  appropriated  for  ringing  the  Centre  Church  bell  at 
nine  p.m.  ;  the  same  sum  for  ringing  Christ  Church  bell  at  noon,  and 
$30  for  the  West  Hartford  bell,  notwithstanding  that  this  action 
was  in  flat  contradiction  to  a  vote,  March  10, 1851,  that  the  town  would 
pay  no  more  bills  for  ringing  the  public  bells.  In  1853  the  amount 
paid  for  the  bell-ringing  was  increased  to  $30  and  $40  respectively,  but 
in  1854  there  is  no  record  of  any  town  action  on  the  matter,  and  prob- 
ably the  custom  was  dropped. 

On  the  3d  of  December,  1849,  it  was  voted  that  the  several  ecclesias- 
tical societies  (except  West  Hartford  parish)  should  be  requested  to 
discontinue  the  practice  of  tolling  the  bells  fur  funerals. 

The  Great  Bridge  on  Main  Street  continued  as  in  former  times  to  be 
a  source  of  expense,  as,  being  on  a  high  trestle-work,  it  needed  frequent 
repairs.  Dec.  31,  1801,  a  committee  was  appointed  to  prepare  a  plan 
for  the  construction  of  a  new  bridge,  and  an  architect  was  consulted 
about  the  expense  of  building  one  of  stone.  The  deliberations  were 
long  and  protracted,  and  accompanied  by  creature  comforts,  for  on  the 
29th  of  December,  1802,  John  Ripley,  innholder,  presented  a  bill  of 

1  The  society  leased  the  land  to  the  town,  and  the  town  gave  the  society  the  right  to  use 
the  room  over  the  hearse-house. 

2  Letters  of  Life,  p.  84. 


368  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

£  1  14s.  6d.  against  the  town  "  for  entertaining  the  Committee  ap- 
pointed to  take  into  consideration  the  best  method  of  building  a  new 
bridge."  The  final  conclusion  of  the  matter  was  a  vote,  Jan.  5,  1804, 
"  that  a  wooden  Bridge  be  constructed  across  the  little,  or  Mill  River  ; " 
the  bridge  to  be  in  width  not  less  than  forty  feet  or  more  than  forty- 
four  feet.  Feb.  9,  1807,  $2,500  was  appropriated  for  the  purpose  of 
repairing  the  Great  Bridge,  and  a  floating  bridge  was  to  be  provided  for 
the  accommodation  of  public  travel  while  repairs  were  going  on. 

Then  there  arose  a  discussion  with  regard  to  the  South  Market, 
there  being  no  building  for  the  traffic,  the  venders  bringing  their  mer- 
chandise in  wagons,  and  the  sales  being  carried  on  in  the  open  air,  in 
that  part  of  the  street  near  the  south  end  of  the  bridge.  Complaints 
were  made  that  the  collection  of  wagons  and  carts  was  an  obstruction 
to  public  travel,  and  that  in  stormy  weather  the  arrangement  was  in- 
convenient and  uncomfortable.  A  proposition  was  made  in  1810 
that  another  bridge  should  be  constructed  on  the  west  side  of  the 
existing  bridge,  upon  a  single  arch,  and  on  that  superstructure  a  con- 
venient market-house  could  be  built ;  and  the  petitioners,  James  Ward 
and  others,  proposed  to  erect  the  same  at  their  own  expense,  and  pay  to 
the  town  an  annual  rent  of  $10,  the  usual  sum  for  which  the  land  on 
the  banks  of  the  river  had  been  leased  to  individuals.  The  petition 
was  granted,  the  addition  to  the  bridge  was  built,  and  for  about  twenty 
years  the  long  wooden  building  now  standing  on  the  north  side  of 
Sheldon  Street  did  duty  as  a  market  on  the  west  side  of  the  Great 
Bridge.  There  were  also  two  or  three  stores  on  either  end  of  the 
bridge,1  and  some  travelled  individuals  compared  the  structure  to 
London  Bridge. 

This  was  not  the  only  market,  for,  as  mentioned  elsewhere,  the 
Central  Market  stood  in  the  open  space  southeast  of  the  court-house. 
As  described  by  an  old  resident,  it  was  a  brick  building,  about  seventy- 
five  by  twenty-five  feet,  with  a  basement  for  winter  use.  The  sides  and 
ends  were  open,  the  roof  supported  by  brick  piers  about  two  feet  square, 
with  stalls  along  the  sides.  The  Central  and  the  South  markets  were 
superseded  by  the  City  Hall  Market  on  Market  Street,  and  the  Franklin 
Market  on  Main  Street,  just  south  of  the  bridge,  owned  by  the  city ; 
and  after  1832  the  markets  were  controlled  by  the  city  and  not  by  the 
town.  The  South  Market  was  not  removed  until  the  stone  bridge  was 
built,  when  the  proprietors  relinquished  all  their  interest  in  the  bed 
and  banks  of  the  river,  on  which  the  market  was  built. 

The  old  bridge  was  strengthened  by  the  building  of  stone  piers,  in 
1819,  in  the  bed  of  the  river,  for  the  support  of  the  bridge,  and  also  to 
protect  the  wood-work  from  the  ice. 

In  1831  it  was  decided  to  build  a  stone  bridge  in  place  of  the  wooden 
structure,  to  be  of  the  same  width  as  the  street,  and  the  sum  of  $16,000 
was  appropriated  for  its  erection ;  and  Messrs.  Henry  Hudson,  Henry 
Kilbourn,  and  James  Dodd  were  appointed  a  committee  to  erect  the 
bridge.  Dec.  11,  1832,  the  selectmen  were  authorized  to  borrow  more 
money,  raising  the  entire  amount  needed  for  the  construction  of  the 
bridge  to  the  sum  of  $30,000.  The  first  stone  in  the  foundation  of  the 
bridge  was  laid  June  18,  1833,  and  the  keystone  of  the  arch  inserted 

1  Frederick  Seymour,  at  the  "Red  Store,  south  end  of  the  bridge,"  advertises  West  India 
goods.  —  Connecticut  Courant,  1797. 


THE   TOWN   SINCE   1784. 


369 


on  the  21st  of  November  by  Elias  Rathbun,  the  contractor.  Main 
Street,  on  either  side  of  the  bridge,  was  raised  six  or  seven  feet,  so  that 
the  stores  were  left  several  feet  below  the  street.  The  old  wooden 
bridge  was  really  in  a  valley,  and  a  person  looking  down  Main  Street 
from  Exchange  Corner  would  see  only  the  top  of  a  vehicle  on  the  bridge. 
The  completion  of  the  work  was  regarded  with  much  satisfaction  by 
our  citizens,  and  the  thanks  of  the  town  were  presented  to  the  com- 
mittee "  for  their  skilful  and  faithful  service  gratuitously  rendered  in 
constructing  the  bridge  which  combines  strength  with  elegance  of  archi- 
tecture, and  is  alike  creditable  to  the  town  and  to  the  committee.''  The 
structure  is  one  hundred  feet  wide,  supported  on  a  single  arch  (at  the 


THE    PRESENT    STOXE    BRIDGE. 


time  it  was  built  the  largest  in  the  United  States),  seven  feet  in  thick- 
ness at  the  base,  and  three  feet  two  inches  at  the  centre ;  the  chord  or 
span  of  it  is  one  hundred  and  four  feet,  and  it  is  thirty  feet  nine  inches 
from  the  bed  of  the  river  to  the  top  of  the  arch.  Very  little  confidence 
was  felt  in  the  stability  of  the  bridge,  and  many  believed  that  the  arch 
would  fall  when  the  wooden  supports  were  removed.  After  the  bridge 
was  open  for  travel,  many  farmers  coming  in  from  the  country  would 
fasten  their  horses  on  the  south  side  of  the  bridge,  and  walk  across  to 
transact  their  business  ;  but  time  has  proved  the  strength  of  the  bridge, 
and  after  fifty  years  it  stands  as  firmly  as  ever. 

The  ferry  over  the  Connecticut  River,  at  the  foot  of  Ferry  Street, 
continued  to  be  the  means  of  communication  with  the  eastern  part 
of  the  State  for  more  than  twenty  years  after  the  beginning  of  this 
period.1  In  1804  John  Morgan  and  others  petitioned  the  General 
Assembly  for  leave  to  build  a  bridge  over  the  Connecticut  River  at 

1  In  1805  there  were  two  ferries  running,  one  crossing  to  Kilbourn,  then  Ferry,  Street,  in 
Hartford,  the  other  to  Ferry  Street,  then  Jones's  Lane.  Mrs.  Sigourney  speaks  of  the  boat  as 
large  and  fiat-bottomed,  with  four  oarsmen. 

VOL.  I.  —  24. 


•o 


MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 


or  near  "Sinking  Fund,"1  so  called,  and  the  town  appointed  John 
Caldwell  and  Nathaniel  Terry,  Esqs.,  agents  to  oppose  the  petition,  in 
behalf  of  the  town.  The  opposition  was  successful  for  a  time,  but 
in  18092  a  bridge  was  built  by  a  company  incorporated  as  the  Hartford 
Bridge  Company.  This  structure  was  open,  with  the  draw  on  the  east 
side,  instead  of  being  on  the  west  side  as  at  present ;  and  it  was  prob- 
ably not  as  well  built,  for  only  nine  years  after  its  erection,  March  3, 
1818,  during  a  violent  storm  of  several  days'  duration,  the  ice  lodged 
against  the  bridge,  and  one  half  of  the  second  arch  of  the  bridge  gave 
way,  and  fell  with  a  tremendous  crash,  and  the  part  left  standing  was 
much  injured.  The  bridge  was  rebuilt,  at  an  expense  of  1125,000, 
during  the  same  year.  The  "  Connecticut  Mirror,"  under  date  of  Dec.  7, 
1818,  announces,  "  with  great  satisfaction  the  completion  of  a  new  and 
stupendous  bridge,  greatly  improved  from  the  former  one,  974  feet  in 
length,  built  on  six  arches  of  more  than  150  feet  each,  strengthened  by 


VIEW   OF    HARTFORD    IN    1841. 
From  an  old  picture  belonging  to  Judge  S .  W.  Adams,  showing  the  ferry-boat  and  the  up-river  stern-wheel  steamboat. 


strong  geometrical  braces,  and  supported  by  six  heavy  stone  piers,  ex- 
clusive of  the  abutments.  One  entirely  new  pier  has  been  built,  and 
the  others  raised  several  feet.  The  timber  of  which  this  elegant  bridge 
is  constructed  was  standing  in  the  forests  near  Bellows  Falls,  in  Ver- 
mont, on  the  1st  July  last."  In  the  mean  time  the  ferry  had  continued 
running,  although  the  Bridge  Company  had  made  several  attempts  to 

1  The  territory  along  the  river  hank  between  Morgan  Street  and  the  track  of  the  New  York 
and  New  England  Railroad  was  known  as  Sinking  Fund.  This  name  arose  from  a  land 
speculation  started  in  the  nineties.  Certain  people  thought  real  estate  would  rise  in  that 
quarter,  and  so  they  bought  land,  and  built  wharves  along  the  river  bank  ;  but  the  specu- 
lation ended  in  failure. 

2  Winthrop's  Journal  tells  of  a  freshet  in  the  spring  of  1645,  which  broke  away  "  the  bridge 
at  Hartford  on  Connecticut."  It  is  thought  there  may  have  been  a  bridge  over  the  Connecticut 
Eiver  at  that  time,  although  a  Little  River  bridge  may  have  been  referred  to. 


THE  TOWN  SINCE   1784.  371 

suppress  it.  In  1817  the  Bridge  Company  made  a  proposition  that  the 
town  should  discontinue  the  ferry,  in  consideration  of  an  annual  stipend 
from  the  company,  or  a  portion  of  the  stock  in  the  bridge.  The  select- 
men were  instructed  by  a  vote  of  the  town  to  oppose  the  application 
made  to  the  General  Assembly  by  the  Bridge  Company  for  suppressing 
the  ferry ;  but  notwithstanding  their  efforts  the  legislature  passed  an 
act,  in  1818,  discontinuing  this  means  of  communication.  This  was 
done  on  condition  that  the  Bridge  Company  should  repair  the  bridge, 
as  before  described,  and  no  compensation  was  made  to  the  town.  In 
183G  the  ferry  was  re-established,  the  town  having  obtained  a  repeal  of 
part  of  the  act  of  1818.  This  ferry-boat  was  propelled  by  two  horses, 
one  on  each  side  of  the  boat ;  and  this  mode  of  crossing  the  river  was 
continued  until  1813,  when  a  contract  was  made  between  the  town  and 
the  Bridge  Company,  the  latter  agreeing  to  pay  the  town  the  sum  of 
$12,000.  This  contract  was  accompanied  by  a  condition  that  at  any 
time  after  the  term  of  twelve  years,  by  a  vote  of  the  town,  the  interest 
in  the  said  ferries  shall  revert  to  the  town,  they  refunding  to  the 
company  one  half  the  sum  paid. 

After  the  Main  Street  bridge  was  built,  no  more  expensive  bridges 
were  required  by  the  needs  of  the  population  or  the  growth  of  the 
town.  There  were  no  bridges  over  Little  River  from  Main  Street  west 
to  the  present  city  limits,  excepting  two  or  three  simple  wooden  struc- 
tures on  the  roads  leading  to  the  West  Division,  and  a  foot-bridge  at 
the  foot  of  Pearl  Street,  or  Workhouse  Lane,  as  it  was  called  in  1827, 
when  the  town  voted  that  the  bridge  should  be  built.  An  old  resi- 
dent gives  the  following  description  of  this  bridge :  "  On  either  shore 
was  a  round  stone  pier,  each  with  a  mill-stone  for  a  cap,  on  which 
rested  a  large  timber,  once  the  mast  of  some  large  vessel.  To  this 
mast,  at  proper  intervals,  were  cross-pieces  of  scantling  to  which  the 
flooring  was  nailed.  It  was  finished  with  a  suitable  hand-rail.  Stairs 
at  either  end  led  to  the  bridge,  which  was  about  ten  feet  above  the 
water.  Crossing  to  the  further  side  was  a  raised  plank  foot-walk,  that 
led  over  to  the  mill,  across  the  swampy  meadow." x  This  mill  was  the 
one  known  as  Imlay's  Mills,  but  still  earlier  called  the  Upper  Mills.  A 
fulling-mill  was  in  operation  at  this  place  before  1726,  carried  on  by 
Benjamin  Graham,  as  well  as  a  grist-mill  and  saw-mill.  In  1819  it 
was  voted  in  town-meeting  that  a  bridge  across  the  Little  or  Mill  River, 
from  Bliss  Street  to  the  foot  of  Pearl,  Ford,  or  Asylum  street,  was  a 
public  necessity ;  and  the  Ford  Street  bridge  was  built  the  next  year,  at 
a  cost  of  $15,000.  Three  years  later,  in  1853,  a  bridge  was  ordered  to 
be  built  over  the  Little  River,  at  the  south  end  of  Front  Street,  at  an 
expense  not  exceeding  $10,000 ;  and  Woodbridge  Street  was  opened, 
connecting  Front  Street  with  Charter  Street.  Since  that  time  four- 
teen bridges  have  been  built  in  different  parts  of  the  town,  varying  in 
size  and  importance. 

For  the  space  of  almost  two  hundred  years  after  the  settlement  of 
Hartford  the  town  records  were  kept  in  the  private  dwelling,  or  office, 
of  the  town  clerk  for  the  time  being,  as  is  now  the  case  in  many  coun- 
try towns.  It  is  true  that  before  1800  the  town  clerk  generally  held 
his  office  for  life ;  nevertheless  the  changes  were  sufficiently  frequent, 

i  Hartford  Evening  Post,  Feb.  23,  1884. 


372  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

during  two  centuries,  to  cause  the  loss  of  valuable  records,  which  would 
now  be  greatly  prized.1  In  1827  the  subject  of  building  a  town-house, 
convenient  for  the  town-meetings,  and  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  the 
town  records,  was  discussed.  In  November  of  that  year  William  H. 
Imlay,  Joseph  Trumbull,  and  Enoch  Perkins  were  appointed  a  com- 
mittee for  the  purpose  of  considering  the  proposition  for  the  erection  of 
a  fire-proof  building  for  the  preservation  of  the  public  records.  The 
next  year  it  was  proposed  that  a  depository  for  the  town  records  and 
an  office  for  the  town  clerk  should  be  obtained  in  the  "  new  Market- 
House  "  (City  Hall,  on  Market  Street),  by  agreement  with  the  city 
authorities ;  but  apparently  this  arrangement  was  not  completed  until 
1831,  when  the  Assessors  and  Board  of  Relief  were  also  accommo- 
dated in  the  City  Hall.  Three  or  four  years  later  the  purchase  of  a 
lot  on  Pearl  Street,  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  thereon  a  building  for 
the  town  clerk's  office  and  probate  office  was  agitated.  Dec.  31,  1835, 
the  town  purchased  of  Robert  Watkinson  a  piece  of  land  on  the  south 
side  of  Pearl  Street,  where  the  State  Savings  Bank  now  stands,  and  a 
small  one-story  building  was  erected  the  next  year,  containing  two 
rooms  for  offices  for  the  town  clerk  and  court  of  probate.  In  October, 
1839,  the  selectmen  were  authorized  to  lease  to  the  city  the  rear  por- 
tion of  this  land  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  a  building  for  the  Hook  and 
Ladder  and  Sack  and  Bucket  companies,  and  for  a  watch-house  ;  and  a 
quitclaim  deed  was  given  in  1844.  The  land  is  still  used  by  the  Fire 
Department.  In  1843  the  selectmen  were  instructed  to  erect  a  build- 
ing in  the  rear  of  the  town  clerk's  and  probate  office,  suitable  for 
keeping  fuel,  in  order  to  make  the  town  building  containing  these 
offices  fire-proof.  Eight  years  later,  in  1851,  it  was  proposed  to  en- 
large the  building  on  Pearl  Street,  by  putting  on  a  second  story,  — 
thus  giving  more  room  for  offices, —  and  also  to  put  in  a  furnace,  gas- 
meters,  and  "  a  bin  for  antricite  coal."  Nothing  about  enlarging  the 
building  was  done  then ;  but  on  the  14th  of  September,  1852,  Messrs. 
D.  F.  Robinson,  Noah  Wheaton,  and  Edson  Fessenden  were  appointed 
a  committee  to  make  alterations  in  the  town  clerk's  office,  and  to  put  in 
suitable  safes  for  the  books  of  the  town  and  probate  offices.  The  dis- 
cussion whether  it  was  best  to  make  alterations  in  the  old  or  to  build 
a  new  office  still  continued,  and  it  was  at  first  proposed  that  a  new 
building  should  be  erected  on  the  same  site,  at  an  expense  of  $10,000. 
Finally  it  was  decided  that  the  lot  on  the  corner  of  Pearl  and  Trumbull 
streets  should  be  purchased,  and  the  piece  of  land  on  which  the  Halls  of 
Record  now  stands  was  conveyed  to  the  town  by  George  W.  Corning 
and  others,  June  3,  1853,  and  in  the  same  year  the  old  lot  was  sold. 

Messrs.  Timothy  M.  Allyn,  Alonzo  W.  Birge,  and  Edwin  D.  Tiffany 
were  appointed,  Feb.  15,  1853,  a  committee  to  build  the  new  town 

1  The  town  clerks  of  Hartford,  with  their  tenure  of  office,  have  been  as  follows :  — 

1639.  John  Steele,  12  years.  1805.  Thomas  Chester,  9  years. 

1651.  William  Andrews,  8  years.  1814.  Elisha  Colt,  13  years. 

1659.  John  Allyn,  37  years.  1827.  William  Whitman,  12  years. 

1696.  Richard  Lord,  9  years.  1839.  Henry  Francis,  23  years. 

1705.  Hezekiah  Wyllys,  27  years.  1862.  Levi  Woodhouse,  3  years. 

1732.  George  Wyllys,  50  years.  1865.  George  S.  Rurnham,  2  years. 

1782.  Jonathan  Bull,  1  day.  1867.  Levi  Woodhouse,  5  years. 

1782.  George  Wyllys,  14  years.  1872.  Gurdon  Robins,  4  years. 

1796.  Samuel  Wyllys,  9  years.  1876.  John  E.  Higgins. 


THE   TOWN  SINCE   1784.  373 

clerk's  office,  and  the  sum  of  $15,000  was  appropriated  for  the  purpose. 
Sept.  25,  1854,  the  committee  reported  that  the  work  of  building  the 
Halls  of  Record  was  completed,  and  asked  to  be  discharged.  The  total 
expense  was  $22,384.55.  A  substantial  iron  fence  was  constructed 
around  the  building  during  the  next  year. 

It  is  well  known  that  that  part  of  the  city  now  called  Asylum  Hill 
formerly  bore  the  name  of  Lord's  Hill,  from  the  Lord  family,  who 
owned  land  there  almost  from  the  first  settlement,  but  it  is  not  so 
well  known  that  the  appellation  of  Tower  Hill  was  also  given  to  that 
locality.  This  latter  title  dates  as  far  back  as  1789,  when  it  appears  in 
a  deed  from  the  town  of  Hartford  to  Levi  Kelsey,  and  from  the  bounda- 
ries it  is  evident  that  the  land  conveyed  in  the  document  was  near  the 
present  Garden  Street  reservoir.  In  December,  1829,  a  vote  was  passed 
in  town-meeting  that  "  all  that  part  of  the  Town  lying  west  of  the  City 
line,  extending  to  West  Hartford  Society,  and  between  Talcott  Moun- 
tain road  and  Little  or  Mill  River,  should  be  called  Tower  Hill  District." 
In  the  By-laws  of  the  City  of  Hartford,  published  by  Hudson  &  Goodwin 
in  1812,  mention  is  made  of  Tower  Hill  Street,  extending  as  far  west 
as  the  house  of  Thomas  Chester;1  and  the  deed  conveying  the  prem- 
ises bought  by  the  Hon.  Julius  Catlin  in  1840  (the  Sigourney  place) 
describes  them  as  situated  on  Tower  Hill.  The  origin  of  this  name  is 
unknown,  but  it  would  seem  to  indicate  that  there  may  have  been  in 
ancient  times  a  tower  of  observation  on  some  part  of  that  tract  of  land 
now  known  as  Asylum  Hill.  In  the  early  days  of  Hartford  the  hill 
just  west  of  the  railroad  depot  was  called  Brick  Hill,  the  low  land 
north  and  east  of  it,  Brick  Hill  Swamp,  and  Gully  Brook  was  Brick  Hill 
Brook,  and  the  last-named  title  continued  until  quite  recent  times. 

Various  subjects  are  mentioned  in  the  town  records,  some  of  which 
—  as  the  vote  for  raising  money  for  the  new  State  House,  in  1788, 
and  the  vote,  in  1824,  authorizing  the  selectmen  to  offer  $5,000  to 
the  trustees  of  Washington  College  to  induce  them  to  locate  that  in- 
stitution here  —  belong  to  other  divisions  of  this  work.  I  will  men- 
tion, however,  that  this  latter  sum  was  raised  by  conveying  to  William 
H.  Imlay,  Charles  Sigourney,  Samuel  Tudor,  and  Cyprian  Nichols,  for 
the  benefit  of  the  college,  all  the  lands  belonging  to  the  town  on  the 
banks  of  the  Little  River,  leased  to  various  individuals,  and  two  small 
parcels  in  the  Old  Burying-Ground. 

I  stated  in  my  chapter  on  the  period  between  1688  and  1784  that 
the  last  considerable  portion  of  the  Town  Commons  was  parcelled  out  in 
1754 ;  nevertheless,  there  still  remained  some  common  and  undivided 
land,  as  shown  by  deeds  from  agents  chosen  by  the  proprietors,  laying 
out  land  to  divers  persons  as  legal  heirs  of  the  "  ancient  proprietors." 
These  deeds  bear  date  as  far  back  as  1756,  coming  down  to  1793,  and 
in  all  of  them  the  distribution  is  made  at  the  rate  of  one  acre  to  one 
pound  on  the  list  of  some  ancient  proprietor,  by  descent  from  whom  the 
grantor  derived  his  claim.  The  greater  portion  of  the  land  conveyed 
in  these  deeds  was  in  the  West  Division.  In  1806  Richard  Goodman 
and  Timothy  Burr,  in  behalf  of  the  Proprietors  of  the  Common  Lands, 
leased  to  Thomas  Williams  a  tract  of  land  on  the  east  side  of  Front 

1  This  was  afterward  the  residence  of  the  late  Bishop  Brownell,  and  is  on  the  corner  of 
Asylum  and  Ann  streets. 


374  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

Street,  near  the  creek.  The  proprietors  of  the  Common  Field  called  the 
North  Meadow  held  a  meeting  at  the  house  of  Charles  Sanford,  March 
26,  1810,  and  voted  to  lease  the  "Little  Lot"  on  the  east  side  of  Front 
Street  to  Hezekiah  Bull  for  the  term  of  nine  hundred  and  ninety-nine 
years.  Joseph  Pratt  and  Samuel  Trumbull,  in  behalf  of  the  proprietors, 
quitclaimed  the  same  lot  to  Henry  L.  Ellsworth,  September,  1821,  and 
this  is  the  last  appearance  on  the  Land  Records  of  the  ancient  proprie- 
tors of  Hartford. 

The  subject  of  inoculation  for  the  small-pox  was  considered  a  town 
affair,  and  on  the  9th  of  April,  1792,  Dr.  Daniel  Butler,  Dr.  Eliakim 
Fish,  and  Dr.  Lemuel  Hopkins  were  permitted  to  communicate  the 
small-pox  by  inoculation,  subject  to  such  regulations  as  the  selectmen 
may  propose.  In  1794  Starr  Chester  was  allowed  to  practise  inocula- 
tion at  the  house  recently  occupied  by  Colonel  Samuel  Talcott,  in  West 
Hartford.  Three  years  later,  Dec.  29,  1797,  liberty  was  granted  to 
Dr.  Eliakim  Elmer  to  erect  an  hospital,  and  carry  on  the  business  of 
inoculation.  In  1816  Dr.  Sylvanus  Fancher  was  employed  to  inocu- 
late all  the  inhabitants  who  desired  to  be  inoculated,  at  the  expense  of 
the  town,  and  later  the  selectmen  chose  him  to  inoculate  the  children 
in  the  schools. 

A  wild  hope  appears  to  have  arisen  in  the  breasts  of  some  specu- 
lators that  mineral  products  might  be  found  within  the  limits  of  Hart- 
ford ;  and  in  December,  1818,  the  selectmen  were  authorized  to  lease  to 
Sheldon  W.  Candee  and  his  associates  "  such  part  of  the  Town  lands  as 
they  may  think  expedient,  and  for  such  a  term  of  time,  for  the  purpose 
of  searching  for,  and,  if  found,  digging  Coal  and  other  Minerals."  The 
next  year  an  ineffectual  war  was  waged  against  that  pest  of  farmers, 
the  Canada  thistle,  and  a  committee  was  appointed  to  search  out  meas- 
ures for  preventing  its  spread,  and  towards  rooting  out  and  destroy- 
ing it. 

During  the  earlier  portion  of  this  period  some  of  the  elections  were 
held  in  the  South  Meeting-House,  frequently  in  the  evening,  and  the 
proceedings  were  lengthy  and  protracted,  as  each  officer  —  governor, 
lieutenant-governor,  etc.  —  was  voted  for  singly,  and  the  first  officer 
must  be  elected  before  the  next  one  could  be  named,  instead  of  taking 
the  whole  ticket  at  once,  so  that  our  grandfathers  were  often  detained 
until  midnight  considering  the  affairs  of  State.  The  town  meetings 
were  generally  held  at  the  court  house,  and  only  occasionally  in  the 
different  meeting-houses.  In  1836,  according  to  my  informant,1  who 
has  voted  in  Hartford  for  nearly  fifty  years,  the  elections  were  held  on 
the  second  floor  in  that  building,  in  the  space  afterward  occupied  by 
the  State  Library.  (According  to  another  account,  the  voters  passed 
up  the  stairways  in  single  file,  and  as  each  man  came  up  his  name  was 
taken,  and  if  he  were  qualified  he  was  allowed  to  deposit  his  vote  in  the 
ballot-box  ;  this  may  have  been  a  little  later.)  The  "  moderator " 
would  call  the  meeting  to  order,  and  after  stating  the  object  of  the 
meeting  would  call  for  ballots  for  the  officer  to  be  voted  for.  If  for  rep- 
resentative, he  would  call  for  votes  "for  him  whom  you  will  have  for  first 

1  N.  Starkweather,  Esq.,  to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  information  on  other  topics  in  this 
article. 


THE   TOWN   SINCE   1784.  375 

representative,"  as  they  were  elected  singly,  one  name  on  a  ballot,  and 
to  elect  required  a  majority,  not  as  now  a  plurality.  The  moderator 
would  make  frequent  calls  for  votes,  and  if  there  was  a  lull  he  would 
announce  that  the  polls  would  be  closed  in  five  minutes,  and  then  again 
in  two  minutes;  and  at  the  expiration  of  that  time  he  would  declare 
the  box  closed,  and  proceed  with  the  count.  If  there  had  been  no  elec- 
tion he  would  call  again  for  ballots  for  the  same  officer,  and  proceed  as 
before.  A  second  representative  was  elected  in  the  same  manner.  The 
time  allowed  for  voting  and  of  closing  the  ballot-box  was  entirely  con- 
trolled by  the  moderator.  At  that  time  there  was  no  registry  list,  and 
there  were  no  checks  to  fraudulent  voting  excepting  the  fact  that  the 
community  was  so  much  smaller  than  now  that  every  voter  was  well 
known.  Nevertheless,  in  1838  a  law  was  passed  requiring  that  at  an 
election  for  members  of  Congress  the  presiding  officer  should  cause  to 
be  recorded  the  names  of  all  persons  voting,  which  was  the  first  register- 
ing of  votes  we  ever  had.  As  early  as  1840  the  old  City  Hall  on  Market 
Street  was  adopted  as  the  place  of  voting.  A  partition  was  placed 
nearly  across  the  hall  a  little  in  front  of  the  platform,  with  a  narrow 
alley  leading  into  the  enclosure  on  the  east  side,  and  a  like  alley  leading 
out  on  the  west  side ;  and  voters  passed  around  in  single  file,  deposit- 
ing their  ballots  in  a  box  on  one  side.  The  elections  were  usually  held  at 
two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and  the  time  for  voting  was  limited,  being 
announced  beforehand  by  the  moderator,  and  included,  generally,  but  a 
small  portion  of  the  day.  The  town  was  divided  into  three  voting 
districts  in  1857.  The  voting-place  for  the  first  district  was  the  Halls 
of  Record ;  for  the  second  district,  the  engine-house  of  Company  No.  2, 
on  North  Main  Street ;  for  the  third,  the  engine-house  of  Company  No.  1, 
<>n  Main  Street. 

Fortunately  for  Hartford  the  catalogue  of  serious  accidents  need  not 
Ite  a  long  one.  The  most  striking  catastrophe  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, and  one  long  remembered  by  the  relatives  of  the  sufferers,  was  the 
explosion  by  which  the  brick  school-house  was  destroyed,  May  23, 1766, 
mentioned  in  a  previous  chapter.  Apparently  very  few  large  fires  took 
place  during  the  early  part  of  this  century.  The  conflagration  on 
Exchange  corner,  extending  from  16  State  Street  to  344  Main  Street, 
Oct.  21, 1832,  caused  the  greatest  destruction  of  property  by  fire  that  had 
occurred  up  to  that  time.  The  Exchange  buildings  were  four  stories 
in  height ;  on  the  first  floor  there  were  five  spacious  and  valuable  stores  j1 
the  upper  stories  were  occupied  by  Messrs.  Cooke  &  Co.  and  Barber 
<v  Robinson,  booksellers  and  publishers,  and  also  two  book-binderies; 
and  the  office  of  the  "New  England  Review"  was  on  the  third  floor.  A 
painting  representing  this  conflagration  is  now  owned  by  the  Hook  and 
Ladder  Company,  and  shows  us  five  fire-engines  at  work,  and  a  fire 
warden  driving  to  service  at  the  brakes  several  men  who  are  unwilling 
to  do  their  part,  with  his  badge  of  office,  a  pole  four  or  five  feet  long. 
Another  picture  is  in  existence  representing  a  somewhat  similar  scene 
when  the  Eggleston  block  was  burned,  on  the  corner  of  Main  and  Trum- 
bull streets,  Dec.  17,  1836.  The  American  Hall  in  the  American  Hotel 
building  was  nearly  destroyed  by  fire,  Feb.  11,  1849,  and  Harrington's 

1  Occupied  by  Messrs.  Allyn  &  Marsh,  wholesale  dry-goods  ;  Wm.  Jas.  Hamersley,  hard- 
ware ;  J.  0.  &  W.  Pitkin,  jewellers ;  H.  F.  Sumner,  bookstore  ;  Henry  Benton,  bookstore. 


376  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

diorama  of  the  Creation  and  Deluge,  which  had  been  exhibited  in  the 
hall  for  two  weeks,  was  entirely  consumed.  An  event  much  longer  re- 
membered, however,  was  the  destruction  of  Fales  &  Gray's  Car  Fac- 
tory, accompanied  with  the  loss  of  twenty-one  lives,  by  the  explosion  of 
a  steam-boiler,  March  2,  1854.  The  explosion  was  terrific,  breaking 
the  timbers  and  powerful  machinery,  shattering  everything  about  the 
building  in  pieces,  and  throwing  down  the  walls  for  the  space  of  one 
hundred  feet.  The  roof  and  walls  fell  in  a  huge  mass  over  the  men 
employed,  burying  them  beneath  the  ruins.  The  firemen  were  called 
out,  the  mayor  superintended  the  extrication  of  the  bodies,  and  the 
crumbling,  smoking  mass  was  removed  with  all  possible  despatch.  Nine 
men  were  killed  instantly,  twelve  more  died  shortly  after,  and  many 
others  were  badly  injured.  The  loss  was  estimated  to  be  from  $20,000 
to  $30,000.  The  boiler  was  a  new  one  of  fifty-horse  power,  built  of  the 
best  materials  and  with  the  greatest  care  ;  but  the  inquest  showed  some 
carelessness  on  the  part  of  the  engineer.  Subscription  papers  were  cir- 
culated for  the  benefit  of  the  families  of  those  killed,  and  for  the  badly 
injured.  The  structure  was  rebuilt,  and  seven  years  later  (March  15, 
1861)  while  occupied  by  the  Grove  Car  Works,  it  was  again  destroyed 
by  a  fire. 

Probably  the  greatest  loss  of  property  caused  by  fire  in  this  city  oc- 
curred when  Colt's  Armory  was  burned,  Feb.  5,  1864.  The  building 
destroyed  was  the  original  structure  erected  by  Colonel  Colt,  immedi- 
ately after  the  great  freshet  in  1854,  into  which  he  removed  his  works 
from  the  Porter  building  between  Grove  and  Potter  streets.  It  was 
built  of  Portland  stone,  facing  the  river,  five  hundred  feet  long,  sixty 
feet  wide,  and  three  stories  high.  A  newer  wing  of  the  same  dimen- 
sions, built  of  brick,  was  not  destroyed.  The  loss  was  at  least 
81,200,000. 

The  recent  history  of  the  town  has  been  uneventful,  and  where  it 
touches  on  the  great  Civil  War  the  facts  will  be  found  in  another  por- 
tion of  this  work. 

The  limits  of  the  city  are  now  coterminous  with  those  of  the  town, 
and  there  was  even  some  talk  a  few  years  since  of  giving  up  the  ancient 
town  government ;  but  the  project  was  defeated,  and  the  town  of  Hart- 
ford bids  fair  to  flourish  for  many  years  longer. 


C^Ziyiy  J^ '  Xi&^flj 


THE  CITY  OF  HARTFORD.  377 


SECTION   II. 

THE  CITY  OF  HARTFORD. 

BY    JAMES    P.  ANDREWS. 

Its  Incorporation.  —  Early   City  Government.  —  The   Streets.  —  Changes  in 
the  City  Limits  and  the  Management  of  Affairs. 

For  a  period  of  nearly  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  after  the  first 
settlers  came  to  Connecticut  no  city  existed  within  its  borders.  Coun- 
ties, towns,  and  ecclesiastical  societies  composed  all  the  subdivisions  of 
the  colony  or  State.  There  was,  in  fact,  no  reason  for  city  government. 
The  population  of  the  towns  was  for  the  most  part  small,  while  the 
township  limits  were  of  considerable  extent.  Cultivation  of  the  soil 
formed  the  chief  industry  of  the  people,  and  this  naturally  tended  to 
prevent  the  formation  and  growth  of  thickly  settled  communities. 
Trade  was  in  its  infancy,  manufacturing  had  scarcely  begun,  and  the 
inhabitants  of  the  town  found  little  difficulty  in  coming  together  on  an 
afternoon  to  discuss  and  settle  matters  of  local  interest.  But  shortly 
after  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  War  the  towns  of  New  Haven  and 
New  London  petitioned  the  General  Assembly  for  municipal  rights  and 
privileges.  Up  to  this  time  there  is  no  official  record  that  Hartford 
had  manifested  any  desire  to  become  a  city.  Presumably  the  resi- 
dents of  the  town  had  talked  the  question  over,  as  they  must  have 
been  interested  in  the  proposed  legislation  affecting  the  above-named 
towns.  At  all  events,  on  the  first  Tuesday  of  January,  1784,  a  town- 
meeting  was  held,  and  a  vote  passed  appointing  Colonel  Samuel  Talcott, 
Captain  Seth  Collins,  Mr.  Thomas  Goodwin,  Mr.  Chauncey  Goodrich, 
Mr.  John  Trumbull,  Colonel  Thomas  Seymour,  Mr.  Ebenezer  Wells, 
Noah  Webster,  Esq.,  Captain  John  Cook,  Mr.  Caleb  Bull,  Mr.  Barnabas 
Dean,  Mr.  Peter  Colt,  Captain  Jonathan  Bull,  and  Captain  Israel  Sey- 
mour, a  committee  "to  consider  and  fix  the  limits  of  that  part,  or  the 
whole  of  this  Town,  which  is  proposed  to  be  incorporated  into  a  city  ;  To 
draw  a  Memorial  to  the  General  Assembly,  Praying  for  such  incorpora- 
tion, and  prepare  a  Bill  in  form  accordingly."  This  committee  either 
refused  or  neglected  to  act ;  for  on  the  9th  of  January,  at  an  adjourned 
meeting,  Colonel  Thomas  Seymour  and  Mr.  Chauncey  Goodrich  were 
instructed  to  prefer  a  memorial  to  the  General  Assembly,  for  the  in- 
corporation of  a  part  of  the  town  as  a  city.  The  town  then  extended 
on  the  west  to  Farmington,  so  that  the  limitation  of  the  territory  to  be 
affected  by  the  charter  was  wise.  The  memorial  (dated  Jan.  8,  178-1) 
presented  to  the  General  Assembly  by  Messrs.  Seymour  and  Goodrich 
recited  — 

"  That  the  lands  in  and  near  the  Town  Piatt  are  so  subdivided  among  indi- 
viduals, that  the  Inhabitants  are  generally  turning  their  attention  to  extend  that 
Commerce  so  necessary  for  them,  so  beneficial  to  a  large  interior  Country.     Yet 


378  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF   HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

that  many  and  great  inconveniences  do  arise  for  want  of  a  due  regulation  of  the 
Internal  police  of  sd  Town  which  are  sensibly  felt,  as  well  by  strangers  as  the 
commercial  part  of  sd  Town ;  that  for  the  promotion  of  Trade  it  is  needless  to 
inform  your  Honors  that  a  full  Credit  and  a  strict  punctuality  in  performing  Con- 
tracts are  absolutely  necessary ;  and  that  it  is  a  matter  of  no  small  importance, 
that  wharves,  Streets,  &  Highways  be  commodious  for  Business,  &  kept  continu- 
ally in  good  Eepair ;  —  that  the  abovesd  regulations  cannot  take  place  unless  a 
part  of  sd  Town  &  its  Inhabitants  have  a  jurisdiction  of  their  own,  subordinate 
to  that  of  the  State,  enabling  them  to  make  bye-Laws  for  their  particular  com- 
mercial welfare  as  occasion  may  require." 

Favorable  action  was  taken  upon  the  memorial  in  the  upper  house ; 
but,  owing  to  opposition  by  numerous  residents,  the  lower  house  post- 
poned action  until  the  next  session,  held  at  Hartford  in  May,  1784. 
During  the  interval  each  party  worked  diligently,  —  the  one  to  secure, 
the  other  to  defeat,  the  charter.  On  the  assembling  of  the  legislature, 
a  remonstrance  signed  by  more  than  seventy  residents,  among  whom 
were  Samuel  Wads  worth,  Caleb  Spencer,  Pantry  Jones,  Hezekiah 
Marsh,  Jonathan  Wells,  John  Haynes  Lord,  Joseph  Sheldon,  and  Hugh 
Ledlie,  was  presented.     It  averred  that  the  signers 

"  Having  lived  under  the  constitution  and  government  of  this  State,  so  well 
adapted  to  the  genius,  happiness,  and  freedom  of  its  community,  with  power  and 
laws  to  guard  the  rights,  properties,  and  liberty  of  the  individuals  thereof,  whether 
of  the  landed,  mercantile  or  any  other  interests,  and  under  that  government  the 
several  towns  in  this  State  are  fully  authorized  and  invested  with  full  and  ample 
powers  to  make  and  inforce  such  laws  and  regulations  for  their  internal  police, 
which  are  necessary  and  beneficial  for  the  common  weal  of  the  State  (if  not  repug- 
nant to  the  laws  thereof).  That  we  conceive  a  change  and  alteration  in  creating 
and  supporting  a  corporation  with  city  privileges  in  this  town  or  any  part  thereof 
can  be  productive  of  neither  benefit  or  advantage  to  the  public  of  this  town  ^  but 
on  the  contrary  by  blending  the  power  of  incorporation  for  city  privileges  with 
the  incorporation  of  towns  and  thereby  altering  and  subverting  the  ancient  cus- 
toms of  the  community,  will  be  big  with  the  greatest  evils,  and  attended  with 
the  most  dangerous  consequences  to  the  government  of  this  State  (which  at  this 
time  there  are  too  many  willing  to  subvert),  and  much  expense,  trouble,  and 
confusion  will  necessarily  accrue." 

Some  of  the  remonstrants,  while  action  upon  the  matter  was  pend- 
ing before  the  General  Assembly,  complained  that  Captain  George 
Smith  and  others  "  have,  by  various  arts  and  misrepresentations  of  the 
design  and  tending  of  said  act  of  incorporation,  prevailed  on  lis  to  sign 
a  remonstrance  against  the  granting  of  said  memorial,  and  upon  appli- 
cation has  refused  to  erase  our  names  out  of  said  remonstrance."  May 
6,  1784,  a  new  petition  in  aid  of  the  charter  was  presented,  signed  by 
two  hundred  and  nine  residents.  It  was  granted  by  the  General  As- 
sembly on  the  29th  day  of  May,  1784,  and  the  limits  therein  designated 
became  the  limits  of  the  city.  These  limits^were,  by  present  bounds, 
substantially  as  follows :  Beginning  on  the  Connecticut  River,  a  trifle 
north  of  Charter  Oak  Street,  thence  in  a  straight  line  to  a  point  at  or 
near  the  junction  of  Congress  Street,  Maple  and  Retreat  avenues,  thence 
nearly  west  to  a  point  near  the  corner  of  Washington  and  Jefferson 
streets,  thence  northwest  to  about  the  corner  of  Lafayette  and  Park 
streets,  thence  north  a  straight  line,  passing  just  west  of  the  State  Capi- 
tol to  a  point  at  or  near  the  corner  of  Main  and  Belden  streets,  thence 


THE   CITY   OF   HARTFORD.  379 

due  east  to  the  Connecticut  River,  which  would  bring  the  line  at  the 
river  to  a  point  slightly  north  of  the  present  water-works.  This  was 
about  one  sixth  of  the  territory  of  the  town  as  it  then  existed. 

The  charter  provided  that  all  the  inhabitants,  being  freemen  of  this 
state,  and  dwelling  in  said  Hartford,  within  the  above  limits,  should  be 
a  body  politic  by  the  name  of  "  the  Mayor,  Aldermen,  Common  Coun- 
cil, and  Freemen  of  the  City  of  Hartford."  The  annual  city-meeting 
was  to  be  held  in  March  for  choosing  all  annual  officers  who  should 
continue  in  office  until  the  expiration  of  the  following  March.  The 
city  officers  provided  by  the  charter  were  a  mayor,  who  held  office  dur- 
ing the  pleasure  of  the  General  Assembly ;  four  aldermen  ;  not  more 
than  twenty  common  councilmen  ;  and  two  sheriffs,  —  all  of  whom  were 
to  be  freemen  of  the  city  and  chosen  by  ballot.  A  "  reasonable  time  " 
was  to  be  given  for  balloting,  and  then  one  of  the  sheriffs,  or  in  their 
absence  the  junior  alderman  present,  opened  the  box,  and  the  votes  were 
counted  by  the  mayor  and  aldermen,  or  such  of  them  as  were  present. 
With  regard  to  taxation  the  charter  provided  that  the  city  in  legal 
meeting  assembled  might  levy  taxes  on  the  polls  and  estate  within  the 
city  limits  for  such  purposes  as  the  city  deemed  proper,  agreeable  to 
the  charter  ;  but  this  power  could  not  be  exercised  for  the  purpose  of 
paving  streets  or  highways,  or  of  erecting  wharves  on  the  Connecticut 
River,  without  first  obtaining  authority  from  the  General  Assembly. 
The  city  treasurer  was  to  hold  office  during  the  pleasure  of  the  city, 
with  powers  similar  to  those  possessed  by  town  treasurers. 

A  city  court  was  instituted  having  cognizance  of  all  civil  causes 
wherein  the  title  to  land  was  not  concerned,  with  jurisdiction  equal  to 
that  of  the  County  Courts,  provided  the  cause  of  action  arose  within 
the  city  limits  and  one  or  both  parties  live  within  the  city.  This  juris- 
diction, with  some  additional  powers,  has  continued  to  the  present  time. 
The  court  may  now  try  eases  involving  title  to  land  within  the  city,  and 
its  jurisdiction  is  not  limited  by  the  value  of  property  or  amount  of 
claim  involved.  This  court,  composed  of  the  mayor  as  chief  judge  and 
the  two  aldermen  first  chosen,  as  side  or  assistant  judges,  met  on  the 
second  Tuesday  of  every  month.  From  its  judgment  an  appeal  lay  to 
(he  Superior  Court  wherever  in  similar  cases  an  appeal  would  lie  to  the 
Superior  Court  from  the  County  Court.  The  mayor  and  aldermen  had 
severally  the  powers  of  a  justice  of  the  peace  as  to  actions  arising 
within  the  city  limits,  and  an  appeal  lay  to  the  city  court.  The  city 
was  also  authorized  to  choose  a  clerk. 

With  regard  to  highways,  the  mayor,  aldermen,  and  common  council 
were  empowered  to  lay  out  new  highways,  streets,  and  public  walks,  and 
to  alter  those  already  laid  out,  to  exchange  highways  for  highways,  and 
to  sell  highways  for  the  purpose  of  buying  others.  The  Court  of  Com- 
mon Council,  composed  of  the  mayor,  aldermen,  and  common  council, 
were  authorized  to  make  "  bye-laws  "  concerning  the  erection  and  regu- 
lation of  markets,  commerce  in  the  city,  streets  and  highways,  nui- 
sances, landing-places,  wharves,  anchoring  and  mooring  vessels,  trees 
and  fruits,  trespasses  in  gardens,  public  walks  and  buildings,  sweeping 
chimneys  and  fire,  manner  of  warning  meetings,  property  qualifica- 
tions of  mayor  and  aldermen,  city  watch,  burial  of  the  dead,  restraint 
of  geese  and  swine  from  going  at  large,  and  several  other  minor  sub- 
jects.    No  by-laws  could  be  enacted  repugnant  to  the  laws  of  the  State, 


380 


MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 


and  all  by-laws  of  the  Court  of  Common  Council  were  required  to  be 
approved  by  the  city  in  lawful  meeting,  and  published  at  least  three 
successive  weeks  in  a  newspaper  before  the  same  had  any  force  or 
effect.  Furthermore  all  by-laws  were,  within  six  months,  liable  to  be 
repealed  by  the  Superior  Court  if  found  by  it  to  be  unreasonable  or 
unjust. 

At  the  time  the  charter  was  granted,  Matthew  Griswold  was  gov- 
ernor of  the  State,  Colonel  Jedediah  Elderkin  was  speaker  of  the  house, 
and  Colonel  Jesse  Root  and  Captain  Jonathan  Bull  were  representatives 
from  the  town.  On  the  fourth  Monday  of  June,  1784,  and  the  two  fol- 
lowing days,  the  first  city-meeting  was  held,  to  organize  a  government 
under  the  charter.  George  Wyllys,  the  town  clerk,  acted  as  modera- 
tor. William  Adams  was  first  elected  clerk,  and  following  his  elec- 
tion Thomas  Seymour  was  chosen  mayor.  The  following  named  were 
elected  as  the  first  Court  of   Common  Council :  Aldermen  —  Colonel 

Samuel  Wyllys,  Jonathan  Bull, 
Jesse  Root,  and  Captain  Samuel 
Marsh.  Councilmen — Captain 
John  Chenevard,  Barnabas 
Deanc,  Ralph  Pomeroy,  James 
Church,  Chauncey  Goodrich, 
Peter  Colt,  Captain  John  01- 
cott,  Captain  John  Caldwell, 
Zebulon  Seymour,  Zachariah 
Pratt,  Ashbel  Steel,  William 
Nichols,  John  Trumbull,  Bar- 
zillai  Hudson,  Captain  William 
Bull,  Caleb  Bull,  John  Morgan, 
Captain  Israel  Seymour,  Daniel 
Olcott,  and  Daniel  Hinsdale. 
The  treasurer  was  Hezekiah 
Merrill,  and  the  sheriffs  Cap- 
tain Joseph  Talcott  and  James 
Wells.  The  Court  of  Common 
Council  held  its  first  meeting, 
July  13,1784,  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  forenoon  ;  but  adjourned  after  appoint- 
ing a  committee  to  draw  up  a  code  of  by-laws,  rules,  and  regulations  for 
the  government  of  the  city.  The  meetings  were  held  in  the  old  State 
House,  a  two-story  wooden  structure  erected  in  1719,  and  located  on  the 
green  a  little  southeast  of  the  present  post-office.  Six  days  later  the 
committee  reported  a  long  list  of  by-laws.  City-meetings  were  to  be 
called  by  one  of  the  sheriffs  who  was  required  to  ring  a  bell  and  make 
public  proclamation  at  certain  points  in  the  city  at  least  three  days 
previous  to  the  day  of  meeting.  Inspectors  of  many  articles  of  mer- 
chandise were  to  be  appointed,  with  fees  ranging  from  one  cent  to  fifty 
cents.  Infractions  of  by-laws  were  punishable  by  a  fine  of  ten  pounds, — 
one  half  the  penalty  to  go  to  the  city,  and  one  half  to  the  prosecutor. 
These  by-laws  were  approved  in  city-meeting,  held  July  20,  1784,  and 
the  officers  therein  mentioned  were  appointed.  After  this  meeting 
little  business  was  done  until  Feb.  21,  1785,  when  Colonel  Samuel 
Wyllys  and  John  Trumbull,  Esq.,  having  been  appointed  a  committee 
to  select  a  design  for  a  city  seal,  reported  the  following :  "  Connecticut 


THE   FIRST    CITY   SEAL. 


THE  CITY  OF  HARTFORD. 


381 


River  represented  by  the  figure  of  an  old  man  crowned  with  rushes 
seated  against  a  rock,  holding  an  urn  with  a  stream  flowing  from  it ;  at 
his  feet  a  net,  and  fish  peculiar  to  the  river  lying  by  it,  with  a  barrel 
and  bales  ;  over  his  head  an  oak  growing  out  of  a  cleft  in  the  rock ; 
and  round  the  whole  these  words  :  '  Sigillum  Civitatis  Hartfordiensis,'  " 
which  was  accepted.  This  seal  was  adopted  and  used  by  the  city  until 
1852,  when  the  present  seal  was  adopted.  Feb.  22,  1785  (an  appropri- 
ate day),  the  freedom  of  the  city  was  voted  to  the  Marquis  de  Lafayette 
and  George  Washington  dc  Lafayette,  his  son,  and  the  first  city  tax 
laid,  one  penny  on  the  pound.  It  was  also  provided  that  the  city  clerk 
should  be  ex  officio  clerk  of  the  Court  of  Common  Council.  At  the 
annual  city -meeting  in  March,  1785,  the  number  of  councilmen  was 
reduced  to  twelve,  where  it  remained  for  some  years. 

The  city  took  early  action  in  reference  to  highways,  which  was  by 
no  means  unimportant.  In  the  erection  of  buildings  no  attention  had 
apparently  been  paid  to  highway  limits, 
until  the  evil  had  gone  so  far  in  certain 
instances  that  the  original  highway  was 
almost  wholly  occupied.  This  the  council 
attempted,  with  considerable  success,  to 
remedy. 

As  tending  to  show  the  area  of  the  set- 
tled portions  of  the  city  and  its  gradual 
extension,  it  may  prove  interesting  to  trace 
the  location  and  names  of  the  streets  for  a 
few  years  at  least.  John  C.  Parsons,  Esq., 
in  a  paper  read  at  the  two  hundred  and 
fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  First  Church  of 
Hartford,  says  :  — 

"From  1640  till  after  the  incorporation  of  the  city  in  1784,  one  hundred  and 
forty-four  years  passed,  during  which  hut  a  single  highway  was  added  to  the 
original  streets  of  the  town.  Again,  it  is  noticeable  that  the  limits  of  the  city 
for  nearly  seventy  years  after  its  incorporation  and  about  two  hundred  and 
twenty  years  from  its  settlement,  did  not  exceed  the  distributed  and  settled 
portion  of  the  town  in  1G40." 

The  condition  of  the  streets  was  deplorable,  however,  and  the  atten- 
tion of  the  common  council  was  immediately  directed  to  accomplish 
some  improvement.  At  a  meeting  of  the  council  in  September,  1784, 
a  committee,  previously  appointed,  recommended  that  the  streets  be 
named  and  numbered.  This  suggestion  was  approved,  and  later  in 
the  same  month  a  new  committee,  with  John  Chenevard,  Esq.,  as 
chairman,  reported  names  as  follows  :  — 

Main  Street,  from  present  Belden  Street  to  the  South  Green ;  State  House 
Square,  from  Main  Street  east  to  Mrs.  Olcott's  house  (now  Central  Row)  ;  State 
Street,  from  State  House  Square  to  present  Front  Street  (it  was  not  continued  to 
the  river  until  after  1800) ;  Front  Street,  from  Haynes's  corner  (now  the  site  of  the 
gas  works)  to  present  corner  of  Talcott  Street ;  Jones's  Lane,  present  Ferry  Street. 
The  present  Kilbourn  Street  was  first  called  Ferry  Street ;  Talcott  Street  was  first 
named  Talcott's  Lane  ;  the  present  north  end  of  Front  Street  was  then  known  as 
Meadow  Lane ;  from  Haynes  Lord's  west  to  the  prison,  which  then  stood  on  the 
present  southwest  corner  of  Pearl  and  Trumbull  streets,  Prison  Street ;  from  thence 


THE   PKESENT    CITY   SEAL. 


382  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

west  to  the  present  Ford  Street,  Workhouse  Lane,  —  the  workhouse  then  being 
located  near  the  site  of  the  old  jail ;  from  the  prison  north  to  Samuel  Burr's  (now 
Trumbull  Street),  Back  Street;  from  the  prison  to  the- present  Daniels's  dam, 
Maiden  Lane ;  from  the  dam  to  the  bridge  over  Main  Street,  Mill  Street ;  from 
the  bridge  to  Haynes's  corner  (present  Arch  Street),  School  Street ;  from  the  bridge 
to  Isaac  Sheldon's  (present  Sheldon  Street),  Water  Street;  from  Isaac  Sheldon's 
to  Dr.  Hempstead's  (present  Governor  Street  and  Wyllys  Street  to  the  South 
Green),  Cole  Street ;  from  Captain  Aaron  Bull's  east  to  Cole  Street,  Charter  Street; 
the  continuation  of  this  street  was  then  known  as  South  Meadow  Lane  ;  from 
the  South  Meeting-House  west  to  Ashbel  Steel's  (from  Main  Street  to  present  Cap- 
itol) Buckingham  Street ;  this  street  was  straightened  in  1828,  when  a  new  street, 
College  Street,  now  Capitol  Avenue,  was  opened  ;  from  the  bridge  west  to  Colonel 
Joseph  Bull's  (present  Elm  Street) ,  Tanner  Street ;  from  Ashbel  Steel's  to  James 
Steel's  (present  Lafayette  Street),  West  Street;  from  Ashbel  Steel's  to  the  upper 
mills,  Upper  Mill  Street ;  this  street  must  have  run  from  the  present  junction  of 
Trinity  and  Washington  streets  north  and  west  to  the  river  nearly  opposite  the 
present  railroad  shops.  What  is  now  Prospect  Street  then  had  an  existence, 
though  it  was  not  formally  laid  out  and  approved  until  1 786  ;  and  it  is  probable 
that  several  of  the  streets  named  were  not  then  legal  highways.  Prospect  Street 
was  in  1640  called  the  Chase  Lane.  In  1788  the  present  Talcott,  Commerce, 
and  Market  (then  Dorr)  streets  were  opened. 

The  first  city  map  was  made  by  Mr.  Solomon  Porter,  and  was  ex- 
hibited by  him  at  the  annual  city  meeting  in  March,  1791.  This  map 
shows  two  or  three  streets  in  addition  to  those  above  named ;  namely, 
Orient  Street  (present  Grove  Street),  Division  Street  (afterward 
Theatre  and  now  Temple  Street),  Creek  Street  (afterward  Bridge,  now 
Morgan  Street),  and  Potter's  Lane  (now  Potter  Street).  The  city  was 
early  impressed  with  the  necessity  of  convenient  streets,  and  before  the 
century  had  expired,  action  had  been  taken  to  prevent  the  lay-out  of  any 
street  less  than  forty  feet  in  width.  In  1806  Kinsley  Street  was  ordered 
opened  from  Main  to  Dorr  Street,  now  Market  Street.  In  1810  the  ex- 
pediency of  straightening  Theatre  Street  (now  Temple  Street)  and  con- 
tinuing it  to  the  river  was  discussed.  Apparently,  it  was  not  considered 
expedient.  In  1812  a  committee  of  the  common  council  reported  other 
names. 

Grove  Street,  same  as  now ;  Dutch  Street,  continuation  of  present 
Arch  Street  to  Dutch  Point ;  Back  Street  was  changed  to  Trumbull 
Street ;  Church  Street  from  Main  to  Trumbull  Street ;  Tower  Hill  Street, 
present  Asylum  Street  to  depot.  Prison  Street  was  then  given  its  pres- 
ent name,  Pearl  Street.  It  is  but  a  few  years  since  Market  Street  was 
straightened  and  widened  at  its  junction  with  State  Street;  but  as 
long  ago  as  1814  the  common  council  considered  the  matter  and  agreed 
to  an  act,  provided  the  changes  necessary  should  not  cost  the  city  more 
than  sixty  dollars.  The  committee  reported  that  the  expense  to  the  city 
would  be  one  hundred  and  thirty  dollars,  and  therefore  the  improvement 
was  indefinitely  deferred.  In  i815  Meadow^Lane  (Front  Street  north 
of  Talcott  Street)  was  opened.  In  1821  the  streets  now  known  as 
High,  Chapel,  and  Park,  were  named.  Mulberry  Street  was  named  in 
1828,  and  the  present  Gold  Street  was  called  Nichols  Lane.  The  fol- 
lowing year  steps  were  taken  with  a  view  to  extending  Chapel  Street 
west  to  the  railroad,  but  owing  to  strong  opposition  of  land-owners  the 
scheme  was  abandoned,  and  to-day  the  only  thoroughfare  connecting 
High  and  Ann  streets  north  of  Church  Street  is  the  narrow  alley-way 


THE  CITY  OF  HARTFORD.  385 

at  the  head  of  Walnut  Street,  sometimes  called,  the  "  Oriental  passage- 
way." Windsor  Street,  called  at  one  time  "Skinner's  Road,"  as  leading 
to  property  owned  by  I.  Lord  Skinner,  who  built  the  "  Pavilion,"  on 
Pavilion  Street,  was  ordered  to  be  opened  during  this  year,  and  Market 
and  Kilbourn  streets  received  their  present  names.  Since  1830  the 
growth  of  the  city  has  been  more  rapid,  and  the  number  of  the  streets 
has  increased  in  proportion.  In  1820  there  were  but  thirty-eight  streets 
in  the  city,  while  the  number  has  now  become  something  over  three 
hundred. 

In  1799  a  by-law  fixed  the  compensation  of  city  officers  as  follows : 
the  city  judge,  $2.50  per  day  ;  side  judges,  each,  $2 ;  city  sheriffs  for 
attending  on  court  and  jury,  $1  a  day  ;  the  city  treasurer  received  two 
and  one  half  per  cent  "  on  all  monies  received  by  him  into  and  paid 
out  of  the  treasury  "  ;  the  collector,  five  per  cent  on  amount  collected  ; 
the  auditor  received  $8  a  year ;  the  city  clerk,  $15  annually.  Occa- 
sionally the  common  council  considered  matters  not  usually  noticed  by 
such  bodies.  In  1811  Theodore  D wight  and  others  were  directed  "  to 
consider  the  means  of  restoring  persons  apparently  drowned,  and  to 
digest  and  report  to  the  Court  of  Common  Council  a  system  on  that 
subject." 

May  28, 1812,  Mayor  Seymour,1  who  had  held  that  office  continuously 
since  the  incorporation  of  the  city,  tendered  his  resignation  to  Governor 
Griswold,  and  on  the  8th  of  June  following  Chauncey  Goodrich  was 
elected  to  the  vacancy.  Mayor  Goodrich  died  in  August,  1815,  having 
held  office  under  the  city  in  some  capacity  (with  the  exception  of  two 
years)  from  1784.  Mr.  Jonathan  Brace  succeeded  him.  Under  its 
original  charter  the  city  might  locate  and  regulate  wharves  and  landing- 
places  on  the  river.  Accordingly,  in  1817  the  common  council  ordered 
that  the  public  wharf  at  the  foot  of  Ferry  Street  be  removed  in  order 
to  make  a  convenient  landing-place  for  open  boats.  This  is  now  the 
only  point  along  the  city  water  front  at  which  small  boats  can  readily 

1  The  following  is  a  list  of  the  Mayors  :  — 

Name.  Date  of  Election.  Vacated  Office. 

Hon.  Thomas  Seymour,  June     18,  1784,  May  28,  1812. 

Sept.      9,  1815. 

Nov.  22,  1824. 
March  28,  1831. 

April  27,  1835. 

June  15,  1835. 

Nov.  22,  1835. 

April  13,  1836. 

April  20,  1840. 

April  17,  1843. 

April  19,  1847. 

April  21,  1851. 

April  18,  1853. 

April  17,  1854. 

April  12,  1858. 

April  8,  1860. 

(resigned)       Jan.  27,  1862. 

April  14,  1862. 

April  11,  1864. 

April  9,  1866. 

April  1,  1872. 

April  6,  1874. 

April  1,  1878. 

April  5.  1880. 
Still  in  office. 


Chauncey  Goodrich, 

June 

8,  1812, 

Jonathan  Brace, 

Sept. 

9,  1815, 

Nathaniel  Terry, 

Nov. 

22,  1824, 

Thomas  S.  Williams, 

March  28,  183l| 

Henry  L.  Ellsworth, 

April 

27,  1835, 

Jared  Griswold, 

June 

15,  1835, 

Jeremy  Hoadley,  Sen.  Alderman,  Nov. 

23,  1835, 

Henry  Hudson, 

April 

18,  1836, 

Thomas  K.  Brace, 

April 

20,  1840, 

Amos  M.  Collins, 

April 

17,  1843, 

Phillip  Ripley, 

April 

19,  1847, 

Ebenezer  Flower, 

April 

21,  1851, 

Wm.  James  Hamersley, 

April 

18,  1853, 

Henry  C.  Deming, 

April 

17,  1854, 

Timothy  M.  Allyn, 

April 

12,  1858, 

Henry  C.  Deming, 

April 

9,  1860, 

Charles  Benton, 

Feb. 

10,  1862, 

Wm.  James  Hamersley, 

April 

14,  1862, 

Allyn  S.  Stillman, 

April 

11,  1864, 

Charles  R.  Chapman, 

April 

9,  1866, 

Henry  C.  Robinson, 

April 

1,  1872, 

Joseph  H.  Sprague, 

April 

6,  1874, 

George  G.  Sumner, 

April 

1,  1878, 

Morgan  G.  Bulkeley, 

April 

5,  1880, 

386  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF   HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

land,  and  its  value  is  demonstrated  in  winter  when  the  ice  permits  the 
passage  of  teams  over  the  river.  Not  long  after  this  certain  individuals 
became  impressed  with  the  idea  that  coal  in  abundance  was  to  be  found 
under  the  present  City  Hall  Square  ;  and  so  the  common  council  allowed 
Sheldon  W.  Candee  and  others  to  bore  in  the  northwest  corner  of  the 
square  "  in  search  for  coal "  for  sixty  days.  The  anticipations  were  not 
realized.  In  1821  Temple  Street  was  ordered  to  be  widened  and  ex- 
tended to  Front  Street.  The  extension  was  made,  but  the  old  portion 
of  the  street  was  never  widened. 

A  city  watch  was  early  instituted.  In  1797  the  council  divided  the 
city  into  four  watch  wards  and  appointed  Captain  James  Pratt,  Ezekiel 
Williams,  Ashbel  Wells,  and  Richard  Butler  watch  wardens.  Four 
persons  were  required  to  watch  each  night  in  the  week  from  ten  to  five 
o'clock.  The  purpose  originally  in  view  in  appointing  this  "  watch  " 
was  to  provide  against  fire  ;  but  in  1812  the  watch  was  directed  to  hand 
over  any  person  by  him  arrested  to  the  deputy  sheriff  or  constable,  with 
notice  of  the  offence  committed ;  so  that  while  they  were  not  techni- 
cally police  officers,  practically  they  were  such.  The  watchmen  and 
wardens  were  to  receive  one  dollar  for  every  night's  service ;  but  in  a 
few  days  the  council  limited  the  number  of  nights  in  a  year  upon  which 
the  watchman  could  draw  pay,  to  twelve.  In  1819  the  months  for  the 
watch  were  from  December  to  April,  each  watchman  receiving  one  dol- 
lar per  night ;  and  in  1820  the  watch  was  increased  to  five  men.  The 
fund  required  to  pay  these  men  was  raised  by  subscription.  In  1822  a 
tax  of  one  mill  on  the  dollar  was  laid  to  defray  this  expense.  In  1834 
twenty-five  special  constables  were  appointed ;  and  this  force,  together 
with  the  few  night  watchmen,  constituted  the  only  protection  the  city 
had  until  the  organization  of  the  police  department.  The  amend- 
ments of  the  charter  were  numerous,  but  as  stated  above  related  prin- 
cipally to  measures  against  fire  for  several  years.  In  1810  the  council 
was  empowered  to  order  the  construction  of  sidewalks  and  street 
crossings.  Power  was  granted  in  1815  to  license  and  regulate  carmen, 
truckmen,  butchers,  petty  grocers,  hucksters,  and  common  victuallers. 
In  1825  the  term  of  office  of  the  mayor  was  fixed  at  two  years,  "  subject, 
however,  to  be  removed  by  the  General  Assembly."  Prior  to  1835  the 
common  council  had  but  small  authority  in  respect  to  drainage.  In 
some  instances  where  public  health  required  it,  low  lands  had  been  filled 
up  or  a  temporary  drain  laid  ;  but  in  these  cases  the  expense  was  gen- 
erally defrayed  by  the  residents  immediately  interested,  without  expense 
to  the  city.  In  1835  power  was  given  the  council  to  order  the  construc- 
tion of  sewers,  and  the  cost  was  to  be  assessed  on  those  benefited.  In 
respect  to  criminal  jurisdiction  the  old  town  system  was  pursued  until 
the  establishment  of  the  police  court  in  1851.  Offenders  were  tried 
before  justices  of  the  peace  who  were  town  officers,  though  the  mayor 
and  senior  alderman  had  like  jurisdiction.  The  amendment  to  the  char- 
ter provided  that  the  judge  of  the  police  court  should  be  elected  by  the 
common  council,  and  for  some  years  this  mode  of  election  was  followed ; 
but  the  Supreme  Court  having  declared  this  course  unconstitutional,  the 
judge  has,  since  1871,  been  elected  by  the  legislature.  Complaints  were 
still  made  to  this  court  by  grand  jurors  of  the  town  until  the  office  of 
prosecuting  attorney  was  created  in  1875,  when  the  powers  of  grand 
jurors  ceased.     In  1836  the  mayor  ceased  to  be  judge  of  the  city  court, 


THE  CITY  OF  HARTFORD.  387 

and  the  Court  of  Common  Council  were  authorized  to  appoint  a  recorder. 
This  court  having  existed  prior  to  the  adoption  of  our  State  constitu- 
tion, its  provisions  requiring  the  legislature  to  elect  judges  does  not 
apply. 

In  1842  the  legislature  passed  an  amendment  to  the  charter,  allowing 
the  division  of  the  city  into  not  less  than  four  nor  more  than  six  wards 
for  the  election  of  members  of  the  Court  of  Common  Council.  Not  ob- 
taining the  approval  of  a  majority  vote  in  city-meeting,  this  amendment 
did  not  become  operative  until  the  city  election  of  1851.  In  1852  the 
council  was  given  control  of  gas  and  water  pipes.  The  following  year 
the  limits  of  the  city  were  for  the  first  time  extended.  This  extension 
was  first  proposed  in  a  city-meeting  in  February,  1849,  where  it  received 
favorable  consideration.  It  was  stated  that  it  would  add  1,100  to  the 
population  and  $14,000  to  the  tax-list.  This  extension  was  bitterly 
opposed  by  those  who  received  the  benefits  of  the  city  but  lived  outside 
its  limits,  and  for  three  or  four  years  they  succeeded  in  defeating  or 
postponing  the  passage  of  the  measure.  The  city  at  this  time  embraced 
but  a  little  over  six  hundred  acres.  The  territory  added  was  a  strip  on 
the  north  from  Beklen's  Lane  to  about  Capen  Street ;  on  the  south 
the  limits  were  extended  to  what  is  at  present  Wawarme  Avenue,  in- 
cluding the  Colt  property,  thence  west  to  Broad  Street,  just  north  of 
New  Britain  Avenue,  and  thence  nearly  north  in  a  straight  line  to  Gully 
Brook,  near  Capen  Street.  The  bill  was  approved  by  an  overwhelming- 
vote  in  city-meeting.  This  territory  was  divided  into  six  wards.  The 
same  year  the  council  was  empowered  to  lay  out  public  parks,  and  for 
the  first  time  was  permitted  to  establish  the  fire  limits  of  the  city. 

In  1854  the  town  of  West  Hartford  was  set  off.  In  1859  the  limits 
of  the  city  were  a  second  time  extended,  principally  on  the  west,  and  the 
corporate  name  changed  to  "  The  City  of  Hartford."  The  act  of  1859 
was  substantially  a  repeal  of  the  original  charter  and  the  enactment  of 
a  new  one  with  greater  powers  and  privileges.  In  1861  the  council 
was  authorized  to  expend  82,000  annually  in  improving  the  navigation 
of  the  Connecticut  River.  In  1862  further  powers  were  granted  the 
common  council  relating  to  the  internal  police  of  the  city.  The  follow- 
ing year  the  common  council  were  authorized  to  appropriate  sums  of 
money  for  public  celebrations  and  receptions  not  exceeding  five  hun- 
dred dollars  in  any  one  case.  Small  sums  had  before  that  time  been 
paid  from  the  city  treasury  for  such  purposes;  and  though  no  opposition 
had  been  made  by  tax-payers,  such  use  of  the  funds  of  the  city  was  of 
very  doubtful  legality.  Power  was  also  given  the  common  council  to 
establish  an  institution  called  the  "  Hartford  Home,"  for  vagrant  and 
neglected  children.  The  institution  contemplated  by  this  act  was  in  its 
main  features  and  scope  similar  to  the  "temporary  homes"  now  estab- 
lished in  the  different  counties.  In  1867  the  charter  was  amended  rela- 
tive to  highways,  parks,  building  lines,  sidewalks,  and  sewers  ;  and 
commissioners  of  relief  were  appointed  to  whom  an  appeal  lay  by  per- 
sons aggrieved  by  any  appraisal  of  damages  or  benefits  by  the  council. 
The  same  year  it  was  provided  by  the  legislature  that  no  city  tax  ex- 
ceeding six  tenths  of  a  mill  on  a  dollar  should  be  laid  or  levied  upon 
any  land  within  the  then  limits  of  the  city  used  exclusively  for  farming 
purposes,  unless  the  market  value  of  such  land  exceeded  six  hundred 
dollars  an  acre.    In  1869  the  city  was  divided  into  seven  wards  and  the 


388  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

board  of  street  commissioners  was  created.  This  board  was  to  there- 
after act  in  the  assessment  of  betterments  and  appraisal  of  damages 
instead  of  the  common  council ;  and  in  the  following  year  it  was  provided 
that  an  appeal  from  the  action  of  the  street  board  should  be  taken  to  a 
judge  of  the  Superior  Court  or  to  the  judge  of  the  Court  of  Common 
Pleas.  In  1872  an  amendment  provided  for  an  associate  judge  of  the 
police  court,  who  was  to  act  in  the  absence  or  disability  of  the  judge. 
The  year  previous  the  city  had  been  authorized  to  issue  bonds  to  the 
amount  of  one  million  dollars  for  the  purpose  of  purchasing  land  and 
constructing  a  State  House  ;  and  having  purchased  the  present  site  at 
an  expense  of  six  hundred  thousand  dollars,  the  legislature  granted  the 
right  to  the  city  to  issue  an  additional  one  hundred  thousand  dollars 
worth  of  bonds.  The  same  year  the  mayor  was  given  the  power,  "  by 
and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  board  of  aldermen,"  to  appoint 
the  members  of  the  boards  of  water,  street  police,  fire,  and  port  com- 
missioners. In  1871  the  limits  of  the  city  were  slightly  extended  on 
the  southwest,  and  in  1873  the  city  territory  was  enlarged  so  as  to  cover 
all  the  land  within  the  town  except  a  narrow  strip  on  the  north.  In 
1875  the  office  of  prosecuting  attorney  was  created,  and  all  complaints 
of  a  criminal  nature  were  to  be  brought  by  him  to  the  police  court. 
Prior  to  this  any  one  of  the  several  grand  jurors  of  the  town  issued  and 
prosecuted  criminal  complaints.  In  1876  the  eighth  ward  was  estab- 
lished, being  set  off  the  fourth  ward.  The  town  and  city  limits  were 
made  coincident  in  1881,  and  the  area  of  the  city  is  now  about  11,500 
acres,  and  considerably  larger  in  that  regard  than  any  other  of  the 
eleven  cities  in  the  State.  In  1882  an  attempt  was  made  to  consolidate 
the  town  and  city  government,  and  a  charter  was  prepared  with  that 
end  in  view  and  passed  by  the  legislature ;  but  owing  to  the  failure  of 
the  people  to  approve  it  by  a  majority  vote,  the  scheme  failed,  and  we 
still  have  two  governments  over  the  same  territory. 


THE   CONGREGATIONAL   CHURCH.  389 

SECTION    III. 

THE  CHURCHES  OF  HARTFORD.1 


THE   NOETH  CONGREGATIONAL   CHURCH. 

BY    THE    REV.    N.    J.    BURTON,    D.D. 

The  North  Church  of  Christ  in  Hartford,  which  changed  its  name 
to  the  Park  Church  when,  in  1866,  it  left  its  first  house  of  worship  on 
the  corner  of  Main  and  Morgan  streets  and  went  to  its  new  one  on 
Bushnell  Park,  was  organized  Sept.  24,  1824,  and  was  made  up  mostly 
of  members  of  the  First  Church,  who  forsook  their  old  nest  in  no  ill-will 
and  in  no  contention  for  principle,  but  simply  and  only  because  the 
edifice  of  that  church  could  not  accommodate  all  the  people  who 
wished  to  worship  there.  Their  first  minister  was  Carlos  Wilcox, 
who  was  installed  Nov.  30,  1824,  and  was  dismissed  May  31,  1826. 
Their  next  minister  was  Samuel  Spring,  who  was  installed  March  21, 
1827,  and  dismissed  Jan.  8,  1833.  Their  next  was  Horace  Bushnell, 
installed  May  22,  1833,  and  dismissed  Nov.  2, 1859.  He  was  followed 
by  George  N.  Webber,  who  was  installed  Nov.  2,  1859,  and  dismissed 
June  2,  1862.  Next  succeeded  George  B.  Spalding,  installed  Sept.  29, 
1864,  and  dismissed  March  23,  1869.  On  the  28th  of  March,  1870, 
the  present  pastor,  Nathaniel  J.  Burton,  was  installed. 

Carlos  Wilcox  died  in  1827,  in  his  thirty-third  year,  having  been 
frail  from  his  boyhood.  He  was  a  fervid,  spiritual,  eloquent  preacher, 
and  a  very  engaging  man.  He  completely  won  the  hearts  of  the  North 
congregation,  and  they  released  him  from  his  office  among  them  only 
as  they  were  forced  to  it  by  the  state  of  his  health.  He  was  born  in 
Newport,  New  Hampshire  ;  he  died  in  Danbury,  and  he  lies  in  the 
North  Cemetery,  Hartford.  For  brief  periods  he  served  churches  in 
Pittstown,  New  York,  and  in  Monroe,  Newtown,  Norwalk,  and  Danbury 
in  this  State.  In  1828  a  volume  of  his  sermons  and  his  poems,  with  a 
memoir  by  Edward  Hopkins,  was  published  in  Hartford.2 

Samuel  Spring  came  to  the  North  Church  from  the  pastorate  of  a 
church  in  Abington,  Mass.,  and  he  retired,'  after  six  years  of  service, 
against  the  unanimous  wish  of  his  church  publicly  expressed.  Imme- 
diately after  his  retirement  he  became  the  minister  of  the  Congrega- 
tional Church  in  East  Hartford,  and  there  the  remainder  of  his  active 
life  was  spent ;  there,  as  pastor  emeritus,  his  years  of  final  retirement 
were  passed ;  there,  in  1877,  at  the  age  of  more  than  fourscore  years 
he  died,  and  in  the  cemetery  of  that  village  he  was  buried.  He  was 
the  son  of  Samuel  Spring,  of  Massachusetts,  a  distinguished  Congrega- 

1  The  First  and  Second  Churches  are  the  subject  of  an  earlier  chapter. 
8  See  also  a  sketch  of  his  life,  in  Sprague's  "Annals  of  the  American  Pulpit,"  vol.  ii., 
Trinitarian  Congregational. 


390  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF  HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

tional  divine;  and  the  well-known  Rev.  Dr.  Gardner  Spring,  for  a  long- 
time pastor  of  a  Presbyterian  church  in  New  York  City,  was  his  brother. 
He  is  remembered  in  all  this  region  as  one  of  the  most  admirable  of 
men,  intellectually,  spiritually,  and  socially. 

Horace  Bushnell  was  a  man  whose  fame  is  in  all  the  churches,  and 
his  twenty-six  years  of  connection  with  the  North  Church  are  the  one 
great  title  of  that  church  to  universal  celebrity.  He  was  born  in 
Litchfield,  April  14,  1802,  and  he  died  in  Hartford,  Feb.  17,  1876,  and 
is  buried  in  the  North  Cemetery  of  that  city.  His  Hartford  pas- 
torate was  his  first  and  only  one.  His  people  were  fond  of  him  and 
proud  of  him  ;  and  when  he  resigned,  in  1859,  on  account  of  his  health, 
they  resisted  his  entire  separation  from  them  by  many  forms  of  resist- 
ance, urging  that  he  should  at  least  retain  a  formal  connection  with 
them,  and  pledging  themselves,  in  a  paper  signed  by  every  man  of  the 
church,  to  support  him  as  long  as  he  lived,  whether  able  to  labor  or 
not.  But  he  needed  a  release;  and  from  his  dismissal  in  1859,  to  1876, 
he  gave  his  strength  to  the  production  of  certain  great  works,  for  a 
list  of  which  see  another  article  in  this  history. 

Dr.  Bushnell  was  a  great  writer,  but  he  did  not  neglect  his  duties 
as  the  minister  of  the  North  Church,  and  his  service  there  was  fruitful 
in  many  ways.  His.  sermons  contained  an  amount  of  intellectual  and 
religious  material  which  could  hardly  be  paralleled,  and  they  were  put 
to  the  people  in  a  manner  to  make  a  great  and  abiding  impression. 
Still,  his  supreme  service  to  the  world  was  by  his  books.  He  was  not 
a  scholar ;  he  was  not  excessively  reverent  toward  precedents  and  old 
opinions ;  but  he  was  candid,  conscientious,  truth-loving,  intuitive, 
massive,  and  robust,  on  close  terms  with  God,  closer  and  closer  the 
longer  he  lived ;  and  he  expressed  himself  in  a  diction  which  was  won- 
derful for  its  combined  strength,  opulence,  and  beauty.  In  theology  he 
was  free,  courageous,  and  even  venturesome  at  times ;  so  that  many 
were  anxious  about  him  for  years  and  years,  and  some  were  disposed  to 
make  him  trouble.  He  was  tried  for  heresy  before  one  ecclesiastical 
body,  and  a  prolonged  effort  was  made  to  get  him  put  on  trial  before 
another ;  but  the  first  one  cleared  him,  and  the  second  one  never  could 
get  hold  of  him,  because  the  three  members  of  his  own  church  needed  — 
according  to  ecclesiastical  law  and  usage  —  to  make  complaint  of  him 
to  that  body  could  never  be  found.  Through  all  the  channels  of  public 
discussion  he  was  diligently  debated ;  but  as  time  went  on,  and  his 
constant  growth  in  the  grace  of  God  made  him  continually  a  more 
beautiful  and  beloved  figure  in  the  wrorld,  and  also  made  it  evident 
that  his  errors,  however  erroneous,  were  not  deadly,  at  least  in  his  own 
case,  the  public  unrest  subsided,  and  the  principal  thing  that  remained 
was  a  liberalization  of  theology  in  the  communion  to  which  Bushnell 
belonged,  and  a  visible  step  taken  towards  catholicity  and  catholic  truth. 
Dr.  Bushneirs  church  could  never  be  persuaded  that  he  had  made  any 
departure  from  essential  Christian  truth,  and  they  therefore  stood  by 
him  with  unwavering  unanimity.  On  the  other  hand,  they  retained  as 
their  own,  as  they  do  to  this  day,  the  creed  of  the  First  Church  in 
Hartford,  which  they  adopted  when  they  emerged  from  that  body. 

George  N.  Webber  was  called  to  service  in  the  North  Church  from 
a  pastorate  in  St.  Johnsbury,  Vermont,  and  after  leaving  Hartford  he 
served  as  a  professor  in  Middlebury  College,  Vermont ;  as  pastor  of 


THE   CONGREGATIONAL   CHURCH.  391 

the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  Troy,  New  York ;  and  as  a  professor  in 
Smith  College,  Northampton,  Mass.,  where  he  now  is. 

George  B.  Spalding  was  a  pastor  in  Vergennes,  Vermont,  when  called 
to  the  North  Church,  and  since  the  close  of  his  service  in  Hartford  he 
has  been  a  pastor  in  Dover  and  Manchester,  New  Hampshire,  and  in 
Syracuse,  New  York.     He  is  still  in  service  in  Syracuse. 

The  North  Church  is  now  sixty-one  years  old,  and  its  career  has 
been  a  quiet  and  even  one,  very  like  that  of  other  intelligent  and 
stanch  churches  of  the  New  England  Congregational  order,  except 
that  for  twenty-six  years  it  was  involved,  much  to  its  own  satisfaction, 
in  the  public  fortunes  of  one  of  the  ablest  and  most  magnetic  men  and 
ministers  hitherto  produced  by  the  Church  of  God  in  the  United  States 
of  America. 


/^ 


r^7i 


THE   FOURTH   CONGREGATIONAL   CHURCH. 

BY    TIIK    REV.    GRAHAM    TAYLOR. 

The  Fourth  Congregational  Church  was  added  to  its  predecessors 
in  1832.  That  period  is  memorable  for  the  general  quickening  of  reli- 
gious life  throughout  the  land.  The  churches  of  this  State  had  been 
deeply  stirred  by  the  fervent  evangelistic  ministry  of  Dr.  Asahel  Nettle- 
ton.  The  Rev.  Charles  G.  Finney  had  just  entered  upon  his  remarkable 
career  on  that  wider  field  through  which  he  swept  with  such  phenome- 
nal power.  Hartford  felt  and  responded  to  the  deep  religious  sentiment 
which  so  widely  prevailed.  One  form  in  which  it  manifested  itself  in 
this  city  was  the  deeper  sense  of  responsibility  felt  by  church-members 
for  the  spiritual  welfare  of  those  who  neglected  the  churches  or  were 
neglected  by  them.  It  aroused  some  in  each  of  the  three  churches  to 
put  forth  personal  and  practical  effort  to  reclaim  them.  Those  who 
thus  engaged  in  house-to-house  visitation,  tract  distribution,  and  the 
maintenance  of  religious  meetings  in  destitute  neighborhoods  soon 
naturally  associated  themselves.  At  first  they  had  no  more  formal 
organization  than  a  common  purpose  and  mutual  sympathy.  When 
their  work  outgrew  their  own  time  and  strength,  they  united  to  place 
a  missionary  upon  the  field,  and  secured  the  services  of  the  Rev.  E.  P. 
Barrows,  who  led  them  in  their  continued  labors  for  two  years. 

They  soon  needed  a  building  to  hold  their  audiences,  not  only  be- 
cause of  the  large  and  speedy  fruitage  of  their  toil,  but  also  because  the 
people  among  whom  they  labored  felt  excluded  from  the  regular  Sab- 
bath services  by  the  crowded  state  of  the  churches,  by  the  high  prices 
asked  for  seats  in  them,  and  by  their  own  circumstances  and  condition. 
But  it  was  still  simply  as  "a  few  Christian  friends"  that  they  banded 
together  to  purchase  "  the  old  Baptist  Meeting-House  "  on  Dorr  Street, 


392  MEMORIAL   HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

now  Market  Street.  It  had  been  erected,  and  for  thirty-three  years 
used,  by  the  congregation  of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  and  still  stands 
on  the  southeast  corner  of  Market  and  Temple  streets,  having  long  been 
known  as  Washingtonian  Hall.  The  purchase  was  made  for  three  thou- 
sand dollars,  which  was  subscribed  in  ten  shares  of  three  hundred  dol- 
lars each,  by  Henry  Hudson,  Barzillai  Hudson,  Robert  Anderson,  John 
Beach,  Silas  Andrus,  Lynde  Olmsted,  Peter  Morton,  D.  F.  Robinson, 
Richard  Bigelow,  and  Normand  Smith,  Jr.  These  and  their  associates 
opened  the  building  in  January,  1831,  as  the  Free  Church,  with  a  view 
of  gathering  in  the  people  who  did  not  avail  themselves  of  the  privi- 
leges of  the  gospel.  Toward  the  close  of  that  year  the  mission  workers 
felt  impelled  to  submit  to  the  churches  to  which  they  belonged  the  fol- 
lowing question :  "  Whether  it  was  not  the  duty  of  some  to  leave  the 
well-filled  houses  of  worship  and  form  themselves  into  a  new  church 
with  the  view  of  providing  the  means  of  grace  for  the  neglected  and 
the  increasing  population  of  the  city  ? "  A  joint  report  of  the  three 
churches  answered  their  inquiry  affirmatively.  In  accordance  there- 
with eighteen  members  from  the  First  Church,  two  from  the  Second, 
and  thirteen  from  the  North  were  solemnly  set  apart  by  these  three 
churches  as  the  Free  Church,  with  religious  services  at  their  house  of 
worship,  on  Jan.  10,  1832. 

The  Rev.  Horatio  Foote,  who  had  succeeded  Mr.  Barrows,  became 
acting  pastor  of  the  new  church.  Robert  Anderson  and  Normand 
Smith,  Jr.,  were  elected  its  first  deacons,  and  Wyllys  King  treasurer. 
By  its  organization  all  authority  and  control  over  both  its  temporal 
and  spiritual  interests  were  vested  in  one  body,  —  the  church.  But 
within  a  year  the  congregation  conformed  to  the  usual  method  of 
administration,  and  the  Ecclesiastical  Society  of  the  Free  Congrega- 
tional Church  was  incorporated  June  19,  1833.  As  its  name  indi- 
cated, the  seats  in  the  church  were  all  free,  and  the  expenses  were  met 
by  voluntary  subscriptions  and  offerings.  It  was  then  widely  believed 
that  by  thus  affording  equal  privileges  to  all  without  any  charge  what- 
ever the  chief  hindrance  in  gathering  in  the  masses  would  be  removed. 
Connected  as  it  was  with  the  personal  activity  of  the  whole  membership 
in  systematic  religious  visitation  and  ministration  among  the  people,  the 
plan  met  with  remarkable  success.  The  fervor  and  efficiency  of  their 
first  pastor,  the  Rev.  William  C.  Walton,  had  much  to  do  with  the  at- 
tainment of  this  result.  He  left  the  pastorate  of  a  Presbyterian  church 
in  Alexandria,  D.  C,  to  respond  to  the  call  of  the  church,  in  whose 
service  he  continued  from  October,  1832,  until  February,  1834,  when  he 
died  greatly  lamented.  A  church  of  nearly  two  hundred  members,  self- 
supporting  and  contributing  largely  to  other  benevolent  objects,  with  a 
new  and  large  sanctuary  in  course  of  erection  on  Main  Street,  all  re- 
mained to  attest  the  vigor  and  consecration  of  his  brief  ministry.  The 
Rev.  Charles  Fitch,  of  western  Massachusetts',  succeeded  to  the  pastorate 
June  19,  1834.  During  his  ministry  the  new  edifice  on  Main  Street, 
opposite  Temple,  known  since  its  abandonment  by  the  congregation  as 
The  Melodeon,  was  completed  and  occupied,  but  by  depleted  audi- 
ences. The  very  feature  which  it  was  thought  would  most  commend  it 
to  the  people  began  to  react  against  the  church.  A  popular  prejudice 
to  the  free-seat  plan  withstood  the  progress  and  threatened  the  very 
existence  of  the  church.     In  this  crisis  Mr.  Fitch  resigned  and  was  sue- 


THE  CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCH.  393 

cecded  on  the  9th  of  October,  1837,  by  the  Rev.  Isaac  N.  Sprague,  who 
had  been  pastor  of  a  free  church  in  New  York  City.  Notwithstanding 
the  devotion  of  people  and  pastor  to  the  free-church  idea,  the  adherents 
of  which  were  so  closely  allied  as  almost  to  form  a  distinct  guild  among 
the  churches  and  the  ministry,  the  necessity  of  radical  changes  in  the 
organization  became  apparent.  In  1838  the  seats  were  rented  in  part, 
and  the  Free  Church  became  the  Fourth  Congregational  Church.  In 
connection  with  these  changes  there  was  recorded  the  unanimous  desire 
of  the  congregation  to  retain  the  prominent  feature  with  which  they 
began  ;  namely,  to  make  it  a  church  for  the  masses.  From  the  date 
of  these  changes,  and  by  means  of  powerful  revivals  of  religion,  in  the 
results  of  which  the  other  churches  of  the  city  largely  shared,  the 
Fourth  Church  gained  much  in  membership  and  in  influence  within  and 
round  about  the  city.  Mr.  Sprague  accepted  a  call  to  the  city  of 
Brooklyn,  and  the  pastoral  relation  was  dissolved  Oct.  6,  1845.  He 
found  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  in  the  membership,  and  left  the 
names  of  six  hundred  and  thirty-one  on  the  roll. 

To  the  difficult  and  trying  work  of  the  next  eleven  years  the 
Rev.  William  W.  Patton  came  at  the  call  of  the  church  from  his  first 
and  brief  charge  in  South  Boston.  He  was  installed  Jan.  8,  1846.- 
Within  the  first  five  years  of  his  successful  ministry  the  congregation 
had  so  grown  in  courage  and  strength  as  to  erect  the  present  substan- 
tial and  commodious  church  edifice  on  Main  Street,  near  Trumbull. 
It  was  dedicated  April  3,  1850,  and  placed  the  church  in  more  favor- 
able position  for  gaining  its  share  of  the  church-going  people  of  the 
city.  The  congregation  grew  rapidly  in  numbers,  intelligence,  and 
pecuniary  ability  ;  but  the  pronounced  convictions  of  pastor  and  peo- 
ple upon  the  great  reform  movements  of  the  day  cost  the  church  years 
of  sacrifice  and  trial.  The  struggling  and  unpopular  temperance 
reform  was  early  and  warmly  espoused. 

The  Fourth  Church  first,  and  for  some  time  alone  among  the 
churches  of  the  city,  openly  took  sides  with  the  Antislavery  cause ; 
and  never  through  all  the  great  conflict  for  freedom  did  it  waver  in  its 
loyalty  to  liberty  nor  falter  in  its  allegiance  to  the  rights  of  the  slave. 
In  the  closing  years  of  Mr.  Patton's  pastorate  the  church  again  shared 
largely  in  the  fruits  of  the  great  revival  which  followed  the  labors  of 
Dr.  Finney. 

Dr.  Patton  resigned,  Jan.  4,  1857,  to  accept  the  presidency  of  How- 
ard University  at  Washington,  D.  C.  The  Rev.  N.  J.  Burton  was  called 
from  Fair  Haven,  and  was  installed  July  7, 1857.  He  served  the  church 
with  distinguished  ability  for  twelve  years,  and  from  its  pulpit  rendered 
conspicuous  service  to  the  national  cause  during  the  War  of  the  Rebel- 
lion. The  relation  existing  between  him  and  the  church  was  dissolved 
by  council,  March  14,  1870,  and  he  became  pastor  of  the  Park  Church 
of  this  city.  In  November  of  the  same  year  the  Rev.  C.  Maurice  Wines, 
from  the  Harvard  Church,  Brookline,  Mass.,  was  installed  to  the  sixth 
pastorate.  Upon  his  resignation  in  1874  the  Rev.  H.  D.  Northrop 
became  the  acting  pastor,  in  which  capacity  he  conducted  the  church 
through  the  five  most  critical  years  of  its  history.  Large  accessions 
were  received  during  this  period  from  the  union  evangelistic  meetings, 
in  which  the  church  co-operated,  under  the  leadership  of  the  evangelists 
Moody  and  Sankey. 


394  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

Rev.  Graham  Taylor,  the  present  pastor,  was  called  from  the 
Reformed  Church,  Hopewell,  New  York,  and  was  installed  May  14, 1880. 
The  semi-centennial  anniversary  was  celebrated  Jan.  10,  1882,  and 
was  commemorated  by  the  liquidation  of  the  accumulated  indebtedness 
of  years,  and  by  the  publication  of  a  historical  manual.  Impelled  by 
its  original  impulse  and  devoted  to  its  first  works,  the  church  is  ful- 
filling its  evangelistic  mission  with  more  thorough  organization,  larger 
co-operation,  and  more  widely  extended  agencies  than  have  been  before 
employed.  It  reports  two  hundred  and  fifty  families,  three  hundred 
and  forty  members,  and  three  hundred  and  fifty  in  the  Sunday  school. 


OTHER   CONGREGATIONAL   CHURCHES. 

BY    THE    REV.    F.    S.    HATCH. 

The  Talcott  Street  Church,  first  composed  of  seven  members  who 
came  by  letter  from  the  Congregational  churches  in  the  vicinity,  was 
organized  on  the  28th  day  of  August,  1833.  The  Rev.  Joel  Hawes,  D.D., 
pastor  of  the  First  Church,  conducted  the  service,  assisted  by  the  pastor 
of  the  Second  Church.  For  a  time  the  church  was  without  a  settled 
pastor,  and  was  supplied  by  several  ministers!  July  16,  1840,  the 
Rev.  J.  W.  C.  Pennington  was  installed  pastor  of  the  church.  The 
present  pastor  is  the  Rev.  W.  W.  Mallory.  The  society  owns,  free 
of  incumbrance,  the  house  of  worship  used  by  the  church. 

Pearl  Street  Church.  —  The  idea  of  establishing  a  new  Congrega- 
tional Church  in  Hartford  occupied  the  minds  of  several  persons,  and 
was  frequently  mentioned  for  a  considerable  time  before  any  formal 
action  was  initiated.  But  on  Friday  evening,  Jan.  17,  1851,  twelve 
gentlemen,  well  known  in  local  circles,  met  at  the  office  of  the  Society 
for  Savings,  to  discuss  the  matter.  Only  one  of  these  citizens,  Mr. 
Newton  Case,  is  now  living.  It  was  unanimously  agreed  that  the  city 
required  additional  accommodations  for  public  worship,  and  that  the 
time  had  come  when  measures  should  be  taken  to  form  a  new  Congre- 
tional  church  and  society.  Other  meetings  were  held  in  rapid  succes- 
sion. All  the  Congregational  pastors  in  the  city  were  consulted,  and 
favored  the  enterprise ;  the  only  serious  question  was  concerning  loca- 
tion. Several  building-sites  were  proposed.^  One  on  the  corner  of  Ann 
and  Asylum  streets,  known  as  the  Bishop  Brownell  lot,  was  favored 
by  some  who  foresaw  the  growth  of  the  city  toward  its  western  line. 
The  matter  was  finally  settled  by  the  action  of  several  gentlemen  who 
purchased  a  lot  of  land  on  Pearl  Street,  and  held  it  for  the  use  of  a 
religious  society  should  one  be  formed. 

The  first  public  meeting  was  held  on  the  3d  of  March  in  the  lecture- 
room  of  the  First  Church,  and  was  "  numerously  and  respectably  at- 


THE  CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCH.  395 

tended."  This  gathering  favored  the  enterprise  by  a  unanimous  vote  ; 
plans  were  at  once  laid  to  procure  money  to  build  a  house  of  worship. 
Forty  thousand  dollars  was  the  amount  deemed  necessary  to  purchase 
the  Pearl  Street  lot  and  erect  a  suitable  structure  thereon.  Albeit  W. 
Butler,  a  warm  supporter  of  the  whole  project,  and  chairman  of  the 
building  committee,  headed  the  subscription-list  with  one  tenth  the 
amount  required,  and  subsequently  loaned  to  the  society,  without  in- 
terest, several  thousand  dollars,  that  the  conditional  subscriptions 
might  not  lapse. 

A  building  lot  and  fund  being  secured,  active  measures  were  imme- 
diately taken  to  build  a  house  of  worship.  Several  cities  were  visited 
and  many  church  buildings  examined.  The  committee  at  length  agreed 
upon  a  plan  drawn  by  Mr.  Minard  Lafever,  of  New  York,  which  was 
substantially  carried  out  by  the  society.  The  building  is  constructed 
entirely  of  Portland  stone,  and  its  spire,1  rising  two  hundred  and 
fifteen  feet  from  the  street,  and  tapering  from  foundation  to  capstone, 
is  the  most  graceful  structure  in  the  city.  Besides  the  audience- 
room,  seating  a  thousand  people,  the  building  has  a  large  lecture-room 
and  parlors.  It  cost,  including  the  lot,  upward  of  forty  thousand  dol- 
lars, and  is  now  valued  at  about  three  times  that  sum. 

The  corner-stone  was  laid  Aug.  2,  1851,  about  six  months  after 
the  first  meeting  to  consider  the  project.  The  chairman  of  the  society's 
committee,  the  Rev.  W.  W.  Turner,  delivered  the  address,  and  Dr. 
Hawes  and  Dr.  Buslmell  participated  in  the  service.  The  address  gave 
the  reasons  for  a  new  Congregational  church  in  Hartford,  and  affirmed 
that  the  corner-stone  was  "  not  laid  in  strife  or  contention,  in  heresy  or 
schism."  The  building  was  dedicated  Dec.  1,  1852,  Dr.  Stiles,  of  New 
Haven,  preaching  the  sermon. 

An  ecclesiastical  societv  was  organized,  accord ing  to  the  laws  of 
Connecticut,  March  29,  1851.  The  church  was  formed  Oct.  15,  1852, 
ninety-one  persons  agreeing  to  the  articles  of  faith.  W.  W.  Turner  is 
the  fust  name  appended  to  the  articles.  He  was  the  first  deacon  chosen, 
and  is  still  retained  in  that  office.  The  search  for  a  pastor  was  promptly 
begun.  The  Rev.  Roswell  D.  Hitchcock,  now  Dr.  Hitchcock  of  the  Union 
Theological  Seminary  in  New  Fork,  was  the  first  minister  called,  but  he 
declined  and  accepted  a  professorship.  The  first  pastor  of  the  church 
was  the  Rev.  Elias  R.  Beadle.  He  was  installed  Dec.  1,  1852,  and  re- 
tained the  pastorate  until  March  18, 1863.  His  ministry  was  remarkably 
successful,  and  he  was  greatly  beloved  by  his  own  people  and  through- 
out the  city.  The  council  terminating  the  pastoral  relation  did  so  with 
great  reluctance,  and  placed  upon  the  records  the  statement  that  no 
reasons  for  the  resignation  were  assigned  by  either  party. 

The  second  pastor  was  the  Rev.  J.  L.  Jenkins.  He  was  installed 
April  13,  1864,  and  retired  from  the  pastorate  Dec.  4,  1866.  This 
brief  term  of  service  seems  to  have  sprung  from  some  incompatibility 
between  the  parties,  but  the  council  warmly  commended  the  pastor  and 
gave  the  church  no  censure. 

The  Rev.  W.  L.  Gage  was  installed  Feb.  26,  1868.  He  remained 
pastor  for  more  than  sixteen  years,  resigning  in  1884.  He  gave  as  a 
reason  for  this  resignation  his  impression  that  after  so  long  a  pastorate 

1  It  is  shown  in  the  picture  of  the  Connecticut  Mutual  Life  Insurance  Company's  building, 
given  elsewhere. 


396  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

a  new  voice  and  new  methods  of  work  might  be  productive  of  greater 
good.  He  retired  with  unanimous  expressions  of  affection  from  his 
people  and  the  most  hearty  recommendations  of  the  council. 

His  successor,  the  Rev.  William  De  Loss  Love,  Jr.,  was  installed 
May  6,  1885,  and  is  now  pastor  of  the  church.  The  membership  of  the 
church  is  four  hundred  and  thirty-eight. 

•Asylum  Hill  Congregational  Church.  —  At  a  meeting  of  the  City 
Missionary  Society,  held  at  Pearl  Street  Church,  in  October,  1860,  Mr. 
David  Hawley,  the  city  missionary,  called  attention  to  the  fact  that 
the  inhabitants  of  the  west  part  of  the  city  had  no  convenient  church 
privileges.  The  following  month  a  Sunday  school  was  opened  in  the 
school-rooms  of  the  West  Middle  district,  on  Asylum  Hill.  A  weekly 
prayer-meeting  was  established  soon  after,  and  maintained  for  more 
than  a  year.  From  these  germs  the  Asylum  Hill  Church,  now  one 
of  the  strongest  religious  organizations  in  the  city,  has  grown  up  to 
its  present  position. 

The  definite  movement  for  the  organization  of  a  church  was  initiated 
in  February,  1864.  A  meeting  wras  called  to  consider  the  whole  ques- 
tion, and  was  attended  by  about  twenty  heads  of  families.  After  prayer 
and  conference  together  it  was  unanimously  agreed  that  the  time  for 
action  had  come.  The  advice  of  the  churches  in  the  city  was  sought, 
and  they  were  entirely  of  one  voice  in  favor  of  the  enterprise.  Progress 
from  this  point  was  rapid.  On  the  25th  of  June  an  ecclesiastical  soci- 
ety was  organized  according  to  the  statutes  of  Connecticut,  and  twenty- 
nine  gentlemen  signed  the  articles  of  association.  Officers  were  at 
once  chosen.  J.  M.  Allen  was  the  first  clerk  of  the  society,  Erastus 
Collins  chairman  of  the  society's  committee,  and  James  S.  Tryon  treas- 
urer. Samuel  Coit  was  chairman  of  the  building  committee.  The 
corner-stone  of  the  church  edifice  was  laid  May  5,  1865,  and  the 
building  was  completed  for  the  dedication  June  15,  1866.  The  ex- 
cellent organ  and  the  bell  were  procured  subsequently.  The  stone  spire, 
rising  two  hundred  and  thirty  feet  from  the  ground,  and  costing  about 
820.000  was  given  in  1875  by  Roland  Mather,  Esq.;  it  completes  one 
of  the  most  attractive  buildings  in  the  city.  The  entire  length  of  the 
church  and  chapel  is  one  hundred  and  eighty-four  feet.  The  large 
audience-room  contains  one  hundred  and  eighty-six  pews,  and  will  seat 
about  one  thousand  persons.  The  chapel  accommodates  two  hundred 
and  fifty  people.  The  structure  is  in  the  Gothic  style,  and  is  built  of 
Portland  stone.  George  Kellogg  is  chairman  of  the  society's  com- 
mittee. 

The  church  was  organized  the  23d  of  March,  1865,  and  duly  recog- 
nized, according  to  Congregational  custom,  by  the  city  churches.  The 
Rev.  J.  H.  Twichell  was  installed  pastor  December  13th  of  the  same 
year.  He  remains  pastor,  ranking  second  in-order  of  continued  service 
among  the  pastors  of  the  city.  The  church  has  grown  steadily  since 
its  organization.  It  began  with  a  hundred  and  fourteen  members.  Its 
membership  is  now  five  hundred  and  eighty. 

The  Windsor  Avenue  Congregational  Church  is  also  the  out- 
growth of  a  Sunday  school.  This  school  was  organized,  June  10,  1864, 
in  a  house  on  the  corner  of  Wooster  and  Pavilion  streets.     A  weekly 


THE  ASYLUM  HILL  CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCH,  ON  ASYLUM  AVENUE. 


THE   CONGREGATIONAL   CHURCH.  399 

prayer-meeting  followed,  and,  as  the  numbers  inereased,  clergymen 
in  the  city  and  students  of  the  Theological  Seminary  preached  Sunday 
evenings.  March  23,  1870,  a  church  was  constituted,  consisting  of 
sixty-two  members.  Oct.  31,  1871,  Frank  H.  Buffum  was  ordained 
and  installed  pastor.  He  was  dismissed  July  11, 1873,  to  take  another 
charge.  His  successor,  James  B.  Gregg,  was  ordained  and  installed 
Sept.  29,  1874.  During  his  successful  pastorate  the  church  grew  and 
was  strengthened  ;  the  debt  of  the  society  was  also  paid.  Mr.  Gregg, 
having  accepted  a  call  to  Colorado  Springs,  was  dismissed  in  the  spring 
of  1882.  The  Rev.  Charles  E.  Stowe  is  now  pastor  of  the  church ;  he 
was  installed  Jan.  10,  1883.  The  present  membership  of  the  church 
is  two  hundred  and  seventy-one.  The  corporation  is  known  as  the 
Pavilion  Congregational  Society.  It  was  organized  Dec.  10,  1870, 
and  owns  the  house  of  worship  occupied  by  the  church.  This  build- 
ing is  constructed  of  brick,  is  modern  in  its  form  and  conveniences, 
and  is  particularly  well  adapted  to  church  purposes ;  it  was  dedicated 
June  26,  1872. 

Wethersfield  Avenue  Congregational  Church.  —  In  I860  a 
Sunday  school  was  organized  in  the  Wethersfield  Avenue  School-house. 
The  school  outgrew  its  accommodations,  and  an  edifice  for  religious 
services  seemed  desirable.  An  ecclesiastical  society  was  formed  June 
1,  1868.  A  lot  was  purchased,  and  a  comfortable  church  edifice 
erected,  costing  about  sixteen  thousand  dollars.  It  is  built  of  wood,  in 
the  early  English  style,  and  is  sufficient  for  the  immediate  wants  of  the 
congregation.  Religious  services  were  held  on  Sunday  conducted  by 
the  Rev.  J.  C.  Bodwell,  D  D.,  who  was  assisted  by  students  from  the 
Theological  Seminary.  Later  the  Rev.  George  E.  Sanborne  ministered 
to  the  people.  May  28,  1873,  a  church,  consisting  of  twenty-three 
members,  was  formed,  by  advice  of  a  council.  George  W.  Winch  sup- 
plied the  church  for  a  year,  and  was  succeeded  by  the  first  installed 
pastor,  the  Rev.  E.  C.  Starr,  who  was  settled  May  16,  1876,  and  dis- 
missed four  years  later.  The  present  pastor,  the  Rev.  George  Curtiss, 
began  his  labors  with  this  people  May  7, 1881.  The  membership  of  the 
church  is  fifty-eight. 


400  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF   HARTFORD  COUNTY. 


THE  BAPTIST  CHURCH. 

BY    REV.    A.    J.    SAGE,    D.D., 

Formerly  Pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church. 

In  1767  Deacon  Nathaniel  Drake,  Jr.,  of  Windsor  (Second  Society),  a 
young  man,  was  imprisoned  in  Hartford  for  non-payment  of  the  minis- 
ter's rates  and  the  tax  for  building  a  meeting-house.  The  account 
given  in  Stiles's  "  History  of  Windsor,"  p.  439,  which  is  taken  mainly 
from  a  volume  printed  in  1767  by  Ebenezer  Frothingham  of  Middle- 
town,1  adds  that  he  was  imprisoned,  although  he  was  a  Baptist ;  that 
he  had  pleaded  the  privilege  of  a  Baptist  through  all  the  courts  with- 
out relief  until  at  last  the  Assembly  had  given  him  a  mark  in  his  hand, 
and  that  notwithstanding  this  his  persecutions  had  continued.  The 
"  although "  refers  to  the  Acts  of  Exemption  for  Baptists,  passed  in 
1729  and.  1745;  but  the  expression  "  a  mark  in  his  hand"  cannot  be 
explained. 

This  is  the  earliest  mention  of  a  Baptist  in  Hartford.  Although 
few  Separate  churches  joined  the  Baptist  denomination,  and  the  two 
orders  were  distinct  in  their  origin,  Baptists  were  confused  with  Sepa- 
rates in  the  popular  mind,  unjustly  incurring  the  odium  attached  to 
the  latter ;  and  Hartford,  whose  peace  had  never  been  disturbed  by 
Separatism,  looked  coldly  on  the  first  public  efforts  of  her  Baptist 
citizens. 

John  Bolles  (died  1830),  "the  Nathanael  of  his  day,"  and  univer- 
sally respected  for  his  integrity  and  vigor  of  character,  is  regarded  as 
the  father  of  the  cause  in  Hartford.  It  had  been  his  practice  to  walk  to 
Suffield,  weekly,  to  attend  church  ;  but  in  1789  he  and  others,  all  mem- 
bers of  the  Suffield  church,  formed  a  church  in  Hartford.  The  first 
baptism  was  administered  August  5,  and  on  Sunday,  September  7,  after 
a  preliminary  meeting  at  the  house  of  Luther  Savage,  public  worship 
was  celebrated  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Bolles.  A  church  of  sixteen 
members  was  constituted  March  23,  1790,  under  advice  of  a  council ; 
Mr.  Bolles  was  the  first  deacon,  and  the  Rev's  John  Winchell  and 
Adam  Hamilton  frequently  preached.  The  Rev.  Stephen  Smith  Nel- 
son, an  alumnus  of  Rhode  Island  College  (now  Brown  University), 
a  refined  and  scholarly  man,  became  the  first  pastor  in  1796,  and  was 
ordained  soon  after.2  His  pastorate  ended  in  1801.  The  church  first 
appears  in  the  minutes  of  the  Association  in  1800,  with  a  membership 
of  one  hundred  and  twelve.     In  1807  the  number  was  fifty-eight. 

The  first  meeting-house  was  built  about  1794,  at  the  corner  of 
Temple  and  Market  streets,  and  was  subsequently  occupied  by  Congre- 

1  "A  Key  to  Unlock  the  Door  that  leads  into  Take  a  Fair  View  of  the  Religious  Constitu- 
tion established  by  Law  in  the  Colony  of  Connecticut." 

2  He  married,  Oct.  15,  1798,  Miss  Emilie,  daughter  of  Mr.  Ephraim  Eobins.  The 
"Courant"  calls  him  "Pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church." 


THE  BAPTIST   CHUECH.  401 

gationalists  and  by  Jews.1  The  first  sessions  of  Washington  (Trinity) 
College  were  held  there  while  the  Baptists  occupied  the  building.  After 
Mr.  Nelson's  resignation  the  Rev.  David  Bolles,  the  Rev.  Eber  Maffit, 
and  Deacon  Ephraim  Robins  supplied  the  pulpit.  The  Rev.  Henry 
Grew  (1807-1811),  an  earnest  and  devoted  but  eccentric  man,  denied 
the  right  of  the  unregenerate  to  join  in  the  singing  in  public  services. 
He  was  once  seen  standing  bareheaded  outside  of  a  house  in  Village 
Street,  having  refused  to  stay  inside  where  prayer  was  being  offered 
before  some  unconverted  persons.  After  the  severe  fashion  of  the  day, 
he  was  excluded  from  the  church  in  1811  for  various  conscientious  ob- 
stinacies and  peculiarities.  The  Rev.  Elisha  Cushman,  ordained  1813, 
was  pastor  until  1825, —  an  eloquent  preacher,  who  increased  the  mem- 
bership from  ninety-two  to  two  hundred  and  sixty-eight.  The  Rev. 
Cyrus  P.  Grosvenor  (1825-1827)  was  known  for  his  literary  tastes 
and  his  Antislaverv  sentiments. 

The  Rev.  Barnas  Sears  (1827-1829),  afterward  D.D.  and  LL.D., 
was  subsequently  a  professor  in  Madison  University  and  in  Newton 
(Mass.)  Theological  Seminary,  Secretary  of  the  Massachusetts  Board 
of  Education,  President  of  Brown  University  for  twelve  years,  and 
finally  the  first  manager  of  the  Pcabody  Educational  Fund.  He  was 
also  author  of  numerous  works  and  editor  of  others. 

The  pastorate  of  the  Rev.  Gustavus  Fellowes  Davis,  D.D.,  begin- 
ning in  1829,  was  ended  by  his  death  on  the  11th  of  September,  1836. 
No  Baptist  pastor  in  Hartford  has  been  more  highly  respected  and 
affectionately  remembered.  On  his  appearance  in  the  Association, 
largely  through  his  influence  and  through  other  concurrent  circum- 
stances, a  new  interest  in  education  and  in  Sunday  schools  was  mani- 
fested. Dr.  Davis  was  the  chief  agent  in  collecting  funds  for  the 
Connecticut  Literary  Institute  at  Sumeld.  He  was  appointed  a  trustee 
of  Washington  College  in  1831.  He  was  chaplain  of  the  legislature 
during  two  of  its  sessions.  In  1831  a  new  house  of  worship,  known, 
after  the  removal  of  the  church  and  society  to  a  new  building,  as  Touro 
Hall,  was  completed  on  Main  Street.  It  was  soon  filled  to  overflowing, 
and  it  being  found  necessary  to  establish  a  new  church,  the  first  sep- 
arate meeting  of  a  colony  was  held  in  a  hall  on  Main  Street  near  the 
Little  River,  May  11,  1834.  On  Sunday,  October  21,  the  South  Baptist 
Church  was  organized  and  recognized.  The  pastorship  of  Dr.  Davis  is 
regarded  as  marking  the  beginning  of  the  substantial  prosperity  of 
the  Baptist  cause  in  Hartford.  His  death  was  looked  upon  as  a  public 
calamity.  He  was  a  warm  friend  of  Mrs.  Sigourney,  who,  on  wit- 
nessing a  baptismal  service  conducted  by  him  in  the  Little  River,  in 
front  of  her  residence,  now  the  home  of  the  Hon.  Julius  Catlin,  on 
Asylum  Hill,  composed  a  poem,  from  which  the  following  stanzas  are 
selected :  — 

1  "Notice.  Proposals  will  be  received  from  any  person  willing  to  contract  for  erecting 
a  Tower  and  Spire,  for  the  Baptist  Meeting-House  in  this  city — the  dimentions  of  which 
must  be  as  follows,  viz.  :  The  Tower  to  be  14  feet  square,  and  in  height  and  diameter  in  pro- 
portion to  the  Tower.  The  whole  to  be  done  in  a  plain,  but  workmanlike  manner.  The 
proposals  must  include  all  the  materials,  together  with  the  erecting  and  finishing  the  same 
complete.  The  payment  to  be  made  in  a  valuable  tract  of  New  Land,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Connecticut  Kiver.  Proposals  will  likewise  be  received  for  finishing  the  inside  of  said  house. 
Payment  as  above.  Apply  to  John  Bolles,  Samuel  Beckwith,  Ebenezer  Moore,  Luther  Sav- 
age, Zecheriah  Mills,  Committee.     Hartford,  Mch.  12."  —  Courant,  March  19,  1798. 

VOL.  I. —26. 


402  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

THE   BAPTISM. 

'T  was  near  the  close  of  that  blest  day  when  with  melodious  swell, 
To  crowded  mart  and  lonely  shade  had  spoke  the  Sabbath  bell, 
And  on  a  broad,  unruffled  stream,  with  bordering  verdure  bright, 
The  westering  sunbeam  richly  shed  a  tinge  of  crimson  light. 

"When,  lo !  a  solemn  train  appeared,  by  their  loved  pastor  led, 
And  sweetly  rose  the  holy  hymn,  as  toward  the  stream  they  sped ; 
And  he  its  cleaving  crystal  breast  with  graceful  movement  trod, 
His  steadfast  eye  upraised  to  seek  communion  with  his  God. 

And  then  advanced  a  lordly  form  in  manhood's  towering  pride, 
Who  from  the  gilded  snares  of  earth  had  wisely  turned  aside ; 
And  following  in  His  steps  who  bowed  to  Jordan's  startled  wave, 
In  deep  humility  of  soul  this  faithful  witness  gave. 

Who  next?    A  fair  and  fragile  form  in  snowy  robe  doth  move, 
That  tender  beauty  in  her  eye  that  wakes  the  vow  of  love. 
Yea  !  come,  thou  gentle  one,  and  clothe  thyself  with  strength  divine, 
This  stern  world  hath  a  thousand  darts  to  vex  a  breast  like  thine. 

Then,  with  a  firm,  unwavering  step,  the  watery  path  she  trod, 
And  gave,  with  woman's  deathless  trust,  her  being  to  her  God ; 
And  when,  all  drooping  from  the  flood,  she  rose  like  lily's  stem, 
Methought  that  spotless  brow  might  wear  an  angel's  diadem. 

Yet  more  !     Yet  more !     How  meek  they  bow  to  their  Eedeemer's  rite, 
Then  pass  with  music  on  their  way,  like  joyous  sons  of  light ! 
But  lingering  on  those  shores,  I  stayed  till  every  sound  was  hushed, 
For  hallowed  musings  o'er  my  soul,  like  spring-swoln  rivers,  rushed. 

"'T  is  better,"  said  a  voice  within,  "to  bear  a  Christian's  cross, 
Than  sell  this  fleeting  life  for  gold  which  death  shall  prove  but  dross ; 
Far  better,  when  yon  shrivelled  skies  are  like  a  banner  furled, 
To  share  in  Christ's  reproach  than  gain  the  glory  of  the  world." 

The  hymn  by  the  same  author,  "  Pastor,  thou  art  from  us  taken,"  was 
written  on  the  occasion  of  Dr.  Davis's  death. 

While  the  Rev.  Henry  Jackson,  D.D.,  was  pastor,  from  1836  to  1838, 
the  church  shared  in  the  powerful  revivals  that  visited  the  city.  He  was 
afterward,  and  until  his  death,  pastor  in  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  and 
was  there,  as  here,  highly  esteemed.  The  venerable  William  Bentley 
then  supplied  the  pulpit  for  a  year.  The  Rev.  Jeremiah  S.  Eaton 
served  here  (his  first  pastorate)  from  1839  to  1844,  and  added  large 
numbers  to  the  church.  He  was  afterward  pastor  at  Portland,  Maine, 
where  he  died.  His  widow  was  an  efficient  pastoral  assistant  in  the 
church  in  Hartford  from  1871  to  1878. 

The  Rev.  Robert  Turnbull,  D.D.  (1845-1869),  had  previously  served 
in  Danbury,  in  Detroit,  at  the  South  Baptist  Church  in  Hartford,  and  in 
Boston.  As  a  preacher  he  excelled  in  the  beauty  of  his  language,  the 
glow  of  his  fancy,  and  in  a  pure  and  fervent  mysticism.  His  personal 
life  was  gentle,  modest,  and  simple,  and  he  was  esteemed  and  loved 
throughout  the  city.  He  was  editor  for  two  years  of  the  "Christian 
Review."  After  the  close  of  his  pastorate  Dr.  Turnbull  preached  in 
New  Haven,  but  in  1873  became  Superintendent  of  Missions  for  the 
Baptists  of  Connecticut.  He  died  Nov.  20,  1877,  and  was  buried  in 
Spring  Grove  cemetery,  not  far  from  the  grave  of  Dr.  Davis. 

The  present  elegant  church-building  was  dedicated  May  23,  1853. 
After  Dr.  Turnbull's  resignation  the  church  was  without  a  pastor  until 
the  Rev.  A.  J.  Sage,  D.D.,  formerly  a  professor  in  the  University  of 


THE  BAPTIST  CHURCH. 


403 


Rochester,  assumed  the  pastorship,  Jan.  1,1872,  continuing  it  to  July  1, 
1884.  He  is  now  a  professor  in  the  Baptist  Theological  Seminary  at 
Morgan  Park,  near  Chicago.  His  successor,  the  Rev.  Lester  L.  Potter, 
formerly  of  Springfield,  Mass.,  was  installed  June  19,  1885. 

The  first  pastor  of  the  South  Baptist  Church  was  the  Rev.  Henry 
Stanwood,  a  man  of  high  Christian  character,  who  remained  two  years. 
During  his  pastorship  the  first  meeting-house  was  erected  on  the  south- 
east corner  of  Main  and  Sheldon  streets.  Dr.  Turnbull  preached  here, 
April  2,  1837-1839.  The  Rev.  Edmund  Turney  was  ordained  pastor 
in  1841,  and  remained  one  year.  Among  positions  afterward  held  by 
him  were  those  of  President  of  the  Fairmount  Theological  Seminary, 
Cincinnati,  and  of  the  Baptist  National  Institute  for  Freedmen  in  Wash- 
ington, where  he  died.  He  was  a  superior  teacher  and  a  successful 
pastor.  The  Rev.  Robert  Raymond,  pastor  from  Sept.  12, 1842,  to  1846, 
is  now  Professor  of  Elocution  in  Boston  University.  The  Rev.  J.  L. 
Stone  supplied  the  pulpit  for 
one  year.  The  Rev.  J.  N. 
Murdock,  D.D.,  formerly  of 
Lockport,  New  York,  served 
from  May,  1849,  to  December, 
1857.  The  present  imposing- 
place  of  worship  was  dedi- 
cated April  23,  1854.  Dr. 
Murdock  has  since  been  the 
honored  secretary  of  the 
American  Baptist  Missionary 
Union,  the  offices  of  which  are 
in  Boston.  The  Rev.  William 
Fittz  was  pastor  for  a  year 
and  a  half  from  Sept.  5, 1858. 
Before  and  after  this  he  was 
pastor  in  Rhode  Island.  The 
Rev.  C.  B.  Crane,  from  Roch- 
ester Theological  Seminary, 
was  ordained  Oct.  17,  1860. 
In  1878  he  became  pastor  of 
the  First  Baptist  Church  in 
Boston,  and  in  1885,  at  Con- 
cord, New  Hampshire.      Dr. 

Crane  is  especially  remembered  for  his  attractive  social  qualities,  and 
for  the  freshness  and  intellectuality  of  his  thought.  The  Rev.  Hugh 
0.  Pentecost,  who  succeeded  him  May,  1878-1881,  increased  the  mem- 
bership greatly.  Mr.  Pentecost  has  since  been  a  pastor  in  Brooklyn, 
Long  Island,  and  in  New  York  City.  The  Rev.  W.  W.  Everts,  Jr.,  for- 
merly of  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  was  pastor  from  July  1, 1881  to  1884. 
He  is  now  a  pastor  in  Philadelphia.  His  successor,  the  Rev.  Kittridge 
Wheeler,  was  installed  in  1885. 


SOUTH    BAI'TIST    CHURCH. 


The  Asylum  Avenue  Church,  constituted  Nov.  2, 1872,  was  composed 
of  eighty-seven  members,  fifty-eight  of  whom  came  from  the  First  Church, 
and  eighteen  from  the  South.      Its  house  of  worship  was  dedicated 


404  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

October  7.  The  Rev.  Forrest  F.  Emerson,  its  pastor  from  1873  to  1879, 
when  he  united  with  the  Congregational  denomination,  was  highly  es- 
teemed for  his  social  qualities,  literary  ability,  and  powerful  preaching. 
His  successor,  the  Rev.  George  M.  Stone,  D.D.,  was  settled  in  1879. 

The  Washington  Avenue  Church  was  organized  in  1870 ;  occupied 
its  new  building,  now  called  Morgan  Chapel,  in  1871,  and  was  served 
by  Rev.  Amasa  Howard  till  1876,  when,  for  financial  and  other  reasons, 
the  growing  church  suspended  its  meetings.  The  Rev.  D.  F.  Lamson, 
from  Worcester,  preached  in  the  chapel  under  the  direction  of  the 
other  churches,  during  the  years  1882  and  1883.  In  January,  1883, 
the  church  was  reorganized,  taking  the  name  of  the  Memorial  Church  ; 
and  a  pastor,  the  Rev.  H.  P.  Smith,  was  settled  in  1884. 

The  Windsor  Avenue  Church  was  formed  in  1871,  and  occupied  a 
new  chapel  on  Suffield  Street,  but  was  dissolved  in  1879,  the  members 
being  received  mostly  into  the  First  Church.  Its  pastors  were  the  Rev. 
George  A.  Simonson  and  the  Rev.  W.  H.  Randall.  Two  small  churches 
of  colored  people  have  within  a  few  years  been  united,  under  the  name 
of  the  Union  Church.  The  church  building  is  on  Wooster  Street,  and 
the  present  pastor,  the  Rev.  A.  M.  Harrison,  was  settled  in  1883. 

An  association  of  the  churches  of  Hartford  and  vicinity  was  formed 
at  Danbury  in  1790,  and  was  called  the  Danbury  Association  until  1813, 
when  it  took  the  name  of  the  Hartford  Baptist  Association.  Its  manu- 
script records  contain  many  instances  of  oppression  under  the  old  laws 
during  the  latter  part  of  the  last  and  the  opening  of  the  present  century. 
In  1789  the  Baptists  took  steps  to  prevent  any  abridgment  of  the  priv- 
ileges granted  to  dissenters,  and  in  1791  met  in  Hartford,  chiefly  to 
petition  the  legislature 

"That  for  the  future  there  be  no  religious  establishment,  and  that  all  Chris- 
tians of  all  denominations  have  full  religious  liberty." 

Similar  petitions  were  presented  yearly  until  1818,  when  rendered  no 
longer  necessary.  Deacon  Daniel  Bestor,  of  Suffield,  frequently  repre- 
sented the  Association  before  the  legislature. 

Thomas  Jefferson  was  a  favorite  candidate  for  the  Presidency  among 
the  Baptists  in  the  State,  on  account  of  his  efforts  to  promote  religious 
liberty  in  Virginia,  where  the  denomination  had  suffered  bitterly,  and 
on  his  election  a  committee  from  the  Hartford  (Danbury)  Association 
presented  a  congratulatory  address.  Hence  the  familiar  expression  of 
those  days,  "  a  Democrat  and  a  Baptist."  In  1816  it  was  voted  to  pe- 
tition the  legislature  for  a  grant  of  $10,000  for  the  education  of  "  pious 
young  men  "  for  the  ministry,  and  that  same  year  the  legislature  appro- 
priated certain  moneys  to  dissenting  denominations  "  for  the  support  of 
the  gospel  in  their  several  societies ;  "  but  as  at  the  next  meeting  of  the 
Association  the  general  sentiment  was  against  receiving  State  aid  for 
the  support  of  the  gospel,  no  funds  were  accepted  by  the  Baptists. 

The  Connecticut  Baptist  Convention  was  organized  and  held  its 
first  meeting  in  Hartford  in  1823.  In  1885  this  convention  reported 
the  Baptists  of  Connecticut  as  numbering  21,785 ;  the  number  in 
Hartford  being  1,649. 


THE  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.  405 


THE  EPISCOPAL   CHURCH. 

BY    THE    REV.    W.    F.    NICHOLS. 

The  history  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  Hartford  is  the  history  of 
a  single  parish,  —  that  of  Christ  Church,  —  until  1841 ;  then  of  an  ex- 
tension into  six  additional  parishes  and  a  mission,  1841-1870 ;  and 
finally  of  an  adjustment  of  church  life  and  work  to  the  changes  in  the 
city  and  times,  1870  to  the  present. 

With  the  permission  of  Mr.  Charles  J.  Hoadly,  M.A.,  we  shall  gather 
freely  from  his  full  "  Annals  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  Hartford  to 
the  year  1829," l  the  facts  of  the  period  he  covers.  There  is  no  evi- 
dence of  any  organization  of  Churchmen  until  the  end  of  1761  or  the 
beginning  of  1762,  though  as  early  as  1664,  William  Pitkin,  John  Sted- 
man,  and  Robert  Reeve,  of  Hartford,  together  with  certain  others,  had, 
as  members  of  the  Church  of  England,  complained  that  they  were 
deprived  of  spiritual  privileges  by  the  ministry  of  the  country,  and 
asked  that  they  might  not  be  compelled  to  contribute  to  the  sup- 
port of  ministers  so  depriving  them.  On  the  6th  of  October,  1762, 
John  Keith,  William  Tiley,  William  Jepson,  Hezekiah  Marsh,  and 
Thomas  Burr2  purchased  of  Charles  Caldwell  a  lot  for  an  Episcopal 
Church,  which  included  the  northeast  corner  of  the  lot  on  which  Christ 
Church  now  stands,  and  extended  to  the  north  of  it,  —  Church  Street 
not  being  opened  until  about  1794.  Foundations  for  a  church  were 
laid  ;  but  owing  to  the  disturbances  of  the  times  they  and  the  lot  were 
sold.  Litigation,  however,  followed  the  sale,  and  in  1772  the  land  was 
restored  to  the  parish  by  order  of  the  Superior  Court,  it  having  in  the 
mean  time  passed  into  the  possession  of  Mr.  Samuel  Talcott,  Jr.  There 
is  a  tradition  that  in  1792,  when  the  work  of  building  the  church  was 
begun  anew,  Prince  Brewster,  the  mason,  a  member  of  the  parish,  said, 
in  the  presence  of  sundry  persons  who  were  gathered  about, "  I  lay  this 
stone  for  the  foundation  of  an  Episcopal  church,  and  Sam  Talcott  and 
the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it." 

The  oldest  recorded  acts  of  the  parish  are  those  of  a  meeting  held 
Nov.  13,  1786,  at  which  a  new  organization  was  effected,  the  articles  of 
association  placing  it  "  under  the  Direction  and  Government  of  the 
Rt.  Revd.  Bisp.  Seabury,  and  the  Episcopal  Clergy  of  the  State  of  Con- 
necticut." The  following  were  the  signers :  William  Adams,  John 
Morgan,  John  Thomas,  Jacob  Ogden,  Samuel  Cutler,  Thomas  Hilldrup, 
John  Jeffery,  George  Burr,  Stacy  Stackhouse,  Cotton  Murray,  Isaac 
Tucker,  William  Burr,  Elisha  Wadsworth,  John  Avery,  Aaron  Bradley. 
William  Imlay  and  John  Morgan  were  chosen  wardens ;  William 
Adams,  clerk ;  and  Samuel  Cutler,  John  Thomas,  Jacob  Ogden,  and 
John  Jeffery,  vestrymen.  John  Morgan  was  warden  until  1820.  He 
projected  the  bridge  across  the  Connecticut,  and  the  street  leading  to  it 

1  Christ  Church,  Hartford.     Semi-Centennial,  1879,  pp.  41-83. 

2  Thomas  Burr  was  the  grandfather  of  Alfred  E.  and  Frank  L.  Burr,  of  the  "  Hartford 
Times." 


406  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

bears  his  name.  More  than  ^£300  was  then  raised  for  building  a  church, 
the  contributions  including  "£10  in  pure  spirit,"  "  1  hhd.  Melossis," 
"Noah  Webster,  Jr.,  <£3;"  the  last-named  subscription  being  paid  in 
seven  dozen  of  Mr.  Webster's  famous  spelling-books.  After  some  delay 
the  church  was  built,  and  consecrated  by  Bishop  Jarvis,  Nov.  11,  1801 ; 
an  account  of  the  service  being  given  in  the  "  Courant "  of  Nov.  16, 
1801.  The  church  was  a  frame  building,  90  feet  by  44,  with  a  spire, 
and  the  conventional  double  rows  of  round-top  windows.  Within,  there 
were  galleries  and  square  pews  ;  one  of  the  square  pews,  with  a  canopy 
over  it,  being  known  as  the  "  Governor's  pew." 

This  first  church  *  was  occupied  until  1829,  when  the  present  stone 
church  was  consecrated,  on  the  23d  of  December,  by  Bishop  Hobart,  of 
New  York,  acting  for  Bishop  Brownell,  who  was  absent  from  the  dio- 
cese. "  In  our  day,"  said  Bishop  Clark,  in  his  sermon  at  the  semi- 
centennial celebration  of  the  consecration  of  the  church,  "  churches 
have  been  erected  which  far  surpass  this  building  in  splendor  and 
grandeur  of  design ;  but  none  of  them  are  as  far  in  advance  of 
Christ  Church,  Hartford,  as  this  was  of  all  others  that  existed  at  the 
date  of  its  consecration."  In  1836  a  brick  chapel  was  built  in  the  rear 
of  the  church ;  the  tower  was  completed  in  1840,  and  on  the  23d  of 
December,  1879,  at  the  semi-centennial  of  the  consecration  of  the  church, 
a  new  chancel,  chapel,  and  parish  building  —  the  gift  of  Mrs.  James 
Goodwin  and  Miss  Mary  Goodwin  —  were  opened  by  Bishop  Williams. 
In  1883  a  dwelling  was  bought,  and  rebuilt  for  a  rectory. 

The  first  services  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  Hartford  were  held 
under  the  fostering  care  of  the  English  "  Society  for  the  Propagation  of 
the  Gospel."  The  Rev.  Messrs.  Viets,  Peters,  Dibblee,  Learning,  and 
Jarvis  are  known  to  have  occasionally  officiated  in  Hartford.  An  early 
map  of  Main  Street  has  the  name  of  "  Abraham  Beach,  Episcopal 
minister,"  who,  it  is  said,  wrote  the  prospectus  of  the  "  Connecticut 
Courant;"  but  Mr.  Hoadly  finds  no  tradition  of  his  ministrations  here. 
In  1795  Mr.  Calvin  Whiting  officiated  as  lay  reader.  The  first  rector 
was  the  Rev.  Menzies  Rayner,  1801-1811,  and  the  following  is  the  list 
of  rectors  since :  the  Rev's  Philander  Chase,  1811-1817,  afterward 
Bishop  of  Ohio  and  Illinois  ;  Jonathan  M.  Wainright,  1817-1819,  after- 
ward provisional  Bishop  of  New  York ;  T.  C.  Brownell,  D.D.,  Bishop 
of  the  Diocese,  1819-1821 ;  N.  S.  Wheaton,  1821-1831,  afterward  Pres- 
ident of  Trinity  College ;  Hugh  Smith,  1832-1833 ;  George  Burgess, 
1834-1847,  afterward  Bishop  of  Maine;  Peter  S.  Chauncey,  1848-1850; 
Thomas  M.  Clark,  1851-1855,  Bishop  of  Rhode  Island ;  R.  M.  Aber- 
crombie,  1856-1861;  George  H.  Clark,  1862-1867;  Robert  Meech, 
1867-1874;  W.  F.  Nichols,  1877-. 

The  beginning  of  the  second  period  of  which  we  have  spoken,  that 
of  church  extension,  had  the  way  prepared  for  it  by  a  vote  of  the  mem- 
bers of  Christ  Church  parish,  at  a  meeting  held  Feb.  16,  1839.  The 
preamble  referred  to  "  the  progress  of  the  town  and  the  general  pros- 
perity of  the  Episcopal  Church;"  and  the  resolution  declared  "  That  in 

1  Six  localities  were  considered  before  the  lot  for  the  present  church  was  decided  upon,  to 
wit:  1.  Lot  next  east  of  Hartford  Bank;  price,  $11,500.  2.  Lot  on  west  side  of  Main  Street, 
near  the  present  Roberts  Block;  price,  $13,500.  3.  Lot  on  west  side  of  Trumbull  Street,  oppo- 
site Pratt  Street ;  $8,000.  4.  Lot  on  Market  Street,  where  the  old  City  Hall  stands  ;  $8,500. 
5.  Lot  on  southwest  corner  of  Asylum  aud  Trumbull  Streets;  $12,000.  6.  Present  lot ;  cost, 
$9,500. 


THE   EPISCOPAL   CHURCH.  407 

the  opinion  of  this  meeting  the  time  has  arrived  when  it  is  expedient 
to  attempt,  in  reliance  on  the  favor  of  Divine  Providence,  the  establish- 
ment of  another  parish  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  this  city." 
St.  John's  Parish  was  accordingly  organized,  March  18,  1841.  The 
corner-stone  of  the  new  church  was  laid  the  14th  of  the  following  July, 
and  the  church  was  consecrated  by  Bishop  Brownell,  April  20,  1842. 
Under  its  first  rector,  the  Rev.  Arthur  Cleveland  Coxe,  the  parish  soon 
took  rank  as  a  prosperous  and  important  work.  It  has  always  been 
known  widely  for  its  good  works  and  influences,  and  among  its  rectors 
have  been  some  of  the  most  prominent  clergymen  of  the  Episcopal 
Church.  Following  Mr.  Coxe,  who  resigned  in  1854,  have  been :  the 
Rev's  E.  A.  Washburn,  D.D.,  1854-1863,  afterward  of  Calvary  Church, 
New  York ;  W.  C.  Doane,  D.D.,  1863-18(37,  now  Bishop  of  Albany ;  L.  H. 
Mills,  1868-1872  ;  Matson  Meier-Smith,  D.D.,  1873-1876  ;  A.  D.  Miller, 
1876-1882 ;  and  J.  W.  Bradin,  1882-.  The  present  Bishop  of  Connec- 
ticut, the  Rt.  Rev.  Dr.  Williams,  was  consecrated  in  St.  John's  Church, 
Oct.  29, 1851. 

The  city  missionary  work  of  the  Episcopal  Church  took  definite 
shape  with  the  starting  of  mission  services  in  a  hall  on  Market  Street, 
Dec.  15,  1850.  The  services  were  soon  changed  to  a  hall  on  Temple 
Street;  and  July  25,  1854,  the  corner-stone  of  St.  Paul's  Church,  on 
Market  Street,  was  laid.  This  was  consecrated  June  26,  1855.  A 
"  Church  City  Missionary  Society  "  was  at  first  formed  to  carry  on  the 
work;  but  Jan.  12,  1857,  a  parish  was  duly  organized  with  the  name  of 
St.  Paul's  Parish.  The  Rev.  Charles  R.  Fisher  had  charge  of  the  work 
from  the  beginning,  and  —  save  for  a  brief  interval  filled  by  the  services 
of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Hermann  —  continued  in  it  until  the  day  of  his 
death,  Nov.  24, 1876,  twenty-six  years  in  all;  winning  for  himself,  by  his 
faithfulness  in  it,  the  title  of  "  Father  Fisher." 

The  rapid  growth  of  the  city  westward  led  to  the  organization  of 
Trinity  Parish,  Sept.  26,  1859.  A  building  which  had  been  used  as  a 
place  of  worship  by  the  Unitarians  was  bought,  and  removed  from  its 
place  on  Asylum  Street,  stone  by  stone,  to  its  present  site  on  Sigourney 
Street;  the  corner-stone  being  laid  Oct.  23,  1860.  The  church  was 
consecrated  May  20,  1861,  with  the  name  of  Trinity  Church.  The 
following  have  been  its  rectors  :  the  Rev's  Pelham  Williams,  1861- 
1863;  S.  G.  Fuller,  1863-1865;  Francis  Goodwin,  1865-1871;  E.  E. 
Johnson,  1871-1883 ;  and  S.  O.  Seymour,  1883-.  The  parish  is  the 
centre  of  church  life  for  a  section  of  the  city  occupied  by  the  wealthier 
inhabitants,  and  has  from  the  beginning  been  conspicuous  for  its  mis- 
sionary efforts,  having  started  and  sustained  the  flourishing  mission  at 
Parkville,  and  having  provided  for  years  services  in  a  school-house  at 
Blue  Hills.  This  parish  added  a  chancel  to  the  church  in  1875,  and 
built  a  rectory  in  1882. 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  services  which  were  carried 
on  at  Parkville  under  the  direction  of  the  earlier  rectors  of  Trinity 
Church.  During  the  rectorship  of  the  Rev.  Francis  Goodwin  a  com- 
modious brick  chapel  was  built  for  the  mission,  and  it  was  consecrated 
Nov.  11,  1868.  The  clergymen  in  special  charge  of  the  mission  have 
been  the  Rev's  James  B.  Goodrich,  Clayton  Eddy,  and  J.  H.  Barbour, 
in  the  order  named ;  and  the  work  has  grown  to  have  an  important 
influence  upon  the  whole  immediate  community. 


408 


MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 


The  extension  of  the  church  into  other  sections  of  the  city  followed, 
under  the  stimulus  of  a  missionary  and  colonizing  spirit  which  pre- 
vailed in  the  five  years  from  1865  to  1870.  Sunday  schools  were 
started,  —  one  in  the  neighborhood  of  Colt's  armory,  and  another  in 
the  cabinet  of  Trinity  College,  —  and  mission  services  were  begun  in 

the  northern  part  of  the 
city.  Under  the  charge 
of  the  Rev.  H.  W.  Nelson, 
Jr.,  the  Sunday  school  near 
the  Colt's  armory  devel- 
oped into  a  flourishing  par- 
ish in  the  year  1866,  which 
took  the  name  of  "  The 
Church  of  the  Good  Shep- 
herd;" and  a  beautiful 
stone  church  —  a  full  de- 
scription of  which  was  pub- 
lished in  a  pamphlet  by 
Messrs.  Brown  &  Gross,  in 
1869  — was  built  and  given 
to  the  parish  by  Mrs.  Sam- 
uel Colt,  as  a  memorial  to 
her  deceased  husband  and 
children.  The  corner- 
stone was  laid  Sept.  4, 
1867,  and  it  was  conse- 
crated Jan.  25, 1869.  After 
an  incumbency  of  twelve 
years,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Nelson 
resigned  in  1876,  and  was  succeeded  by  the  present  rector,  the  Rev.  J. 
Henry  Watson,  May  6, 1877.  The  church  has  the  only  chime  of  bells 
in  the  city,  and  its  rare  beauty  has  made  it  one  of  the  principal  objects 
of  interest  for  visitors  to  the  city. 

The  Sunday  school  started  in  the  cabinet  of  the  former  buildings  of 
Trinity  College  in  1867,  owed  its  origin  to  the  Rev.  Prof.  J.  T.  Hunt- 
ington. After  a  short  time  it  was  removed  to  a  point  farther  south,  on 
Washington  Street ;  and  in  1868  a  lot  was  bought  at  the  corner  of  Park 
and  Washington  streets,  on  which  a  church  was  built,  which  was 
dedicated  Nov.  15,  1868.  In  the  mean  time  a  parish  had  been  organ- 
ized, which  was  called  the  Parish  of  the  Incarnation,  and  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Huntington  became  its  rector.  He  resigned  in  1870,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded the  same  year  by  the  Rev.  Cyrus  P.  Knight ;  after  whose  resig- 
nation, in  1878,  Mr.  Huntington  again  became  rector.  In  1869  the 
capacity  of  the  church  was  doubled  by  the  building  of  transepts  and  a 
chancel,  —  an  Easter  offertory  of  nearly  six  thousand  dollars  being 
given  for  the  purpose.     In  1880  a  parish-room  was  added. 

The  mission  services  in  the  northern  part  of  the  city,  which  had 
been  continued  from  their  beginning,  July  4,  1869,  led  to  the  erection 
of  a  church  on  a  spacious  lot  given  for  the  purpose  by  Mrs.  William 
Mather.  The  church  was  opened  for  service  St.  Thomas's  Day,  Dec.  21, 
1872,  the  corner-stone  having  been  laid  Sept.  27,  1871.  A  parish 
was  organized  in  July,  1870.     The  church  is  a  memorial  to  the  late 


CHURCH  OF  THE  GOOD  SHEPHERD. 


THE   EPISCOPAL   CHURCH.  409 

Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Brownell,  the  third  bishop  of  the  diocese.  The  Rev. 
C.  H.  B.  Tremaine,  who  had  seen  the  work  grow  into  a  settled  parish 
under  his  indefatigable  labors,  resigned  the  rectorship  in  1875,  and  was 
succeeded  by  the  Rev.  E.  C.  Gardner  in  1876.  He  resigned  in  1881, 
and  was  succeeded  by  the  present  rector,  the  Rev.  P.  H.  Whaley. 

That  which  marks  the  third  period  named  —  that  is,  the  adjustment 
of  the  church  to  changes  in  the  city  and  in  the  times  —  has  shown 
itself  in  various  ways :  by  the  absorption  of  the  city  missionary  work 
of  St.  Paul's  into  the  other  parishes,  more  particularly  into  Christ  and 
St.  John's  churches  ;  by  the  provision  of  rooms  for  work  and  social 
gatherings  in  several  of  the  parishes ;  by  the  reorganization  of  the 
Parish  of  the  Incarnation,  June  3,  1878,  with  the  name  of  St.  James's 
Church ;  by  the  re-occupation  of  St.  Thomas's  Church,  July  15,  1883, 
after  holding  services  for  a  while  in  a  chapel ;  by  the  establishment  of 
church  institutions  ;  and  by  the  increase  of  church  privileges. 

The  general  institutions  that  have  grown  up  with  the  extension  of 
the  church  in  the  city  are  :  The  Widows'  Home,  No.  133  Market  Street, 
incorporated  1860,  the  gift  of  Mr.  George  Beach,  and  the  Church 
Home,  No.  76  Bellevue  Street,  incorporated  in  1876.  There  are  also 
two  church  schools  in  the  city.  The  Church  City  Mission  Society, 
organized  in  1850,  and  the  Church  Guild  of  Hartford,  organized  in 
1867,  although  now  superseded,  have  left  permanent  results. 

From  the  first,  Hartford  has  been  an  important  centre  of  life  for  the 
whole  Protestant  Episcopal  Church.  The  establishment  in  it  of  Wash- 
ington—  now  Trinity  —  College  is  spoken  of  elsewhere.  For  many 
years  the  Bishop  of  the  Diocese  made  it  his  home.  Seven  of  those  who 
have  been  rectors  of  its  parishes  have  been  consecrated  to  the  episco- 
pate. Some  of  the  earliest  foreign  missionaries  were  ordained  in  and 
sent  from  Hartford,  and  it  has  furnished  a  noted  and  unfailing  source 
of  contributions  for  domestic  missions  in  all  parts  of  the  United  States. 
The  Church  Scholarship  Society,  the  Society  for  the  Increase  of  the 
Ministry,  and  the  Bureau  of  Relief  have  their  headquarters  in  Hartford. 

It  is  impossible  in  a  brief  sketch  to  give  the  names  of  the  large 
number  of  faithful  laity  of  the  church  in  Hartford.  They  have  been 
called  to  fill  national  and  State  offices,  and  have  associated  many  hon- 
ored names  with  the  literary,  professional,  and  mercantile  life  of  the 
city.  They  are  found  among  the  originators  and  supporters  of  all  the 
general  Christian  institutions  of  the  city.  The  Hartford  Sunday-School 
Society,  organized  in  1818,  the  Retreat  for  the  Insane,  the  Hartford 
Hospital,  the  Orphan  Asylum,  the  Union  for  Home  Work,  and  the  Old 
People's  Home  number  the  laity  of  the  church  among  their  earliest, 
most  constant,  and  most  generous  benefactors.  There  have  been  the 
following  complete  individual  gifts  :  The  Church  of  the  Good  Shepherd, 
by  Mrs.  Elizabeth  H.  Colt ;  the  Elizabeth  Chapel,  by  Dr.  G.  W.  Russell ; 
the  Chancel  Chapel  and  Parish  Building  of  Christ  Church,  by  Mrs. 
James  Goodwin  and  Miss  Mary  Goodwin ;  the  Northam  Memorial 
Chapel  and  the  Northam  Hall  at  Trinity  College,  by  Mr.  C.  H.  Northam; 
the  Market  Street  Widows'  Home,  by  Mr.  George  Beach  ;  and  large 
legacies  to  Trinity  College  and  other  institutions,  by  Mr.  Chester 
Adams,  Mrs.  S.  B.  Wendell,  Mrs.  Susan  R.  Northam,  and  others. 


410  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 


THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC   CHURCH. 

BY    THOMAS    MCMANUS. 

In  1785  Dr.  John  Carroll,  a  priest  of  Baltimore,  and  brother  of  the 
Hon.  Charles  Carroll,  of  Carroliton,  reported  to  the  Propaganda,  that 
the  number  of  Catholics  in  the  United  States  was  about  twenty-five 
thousand,  and  the  number  of  priests  was  twenty-four. 

The  Diocese  of  Baltimore  was  created  in  1789,  and  comprised  all  of 
the  then  existing  United  States ;  on  the  15th  of  August,  1790,  the  Rev. 
John  Carroll  was  consecrated  its  first  bishop,  and  until  1808  he  was 
the  only  Roman  Catholic  bishop  in  this  country.  In  that  year  four  new 
diocesan  sees  were  erected ;  namely,  Boston,  New  York,  Philadelphia, 
and  Bardstown. 

The  Diocese  of  Boston  comprised  all  of  New  England,  and  was  until 
1825  governed  by  Bishop  John  B.  Cheverus,  who  was  translated  to 
Montauban,  and  afterward  to  Bordeaux,  where  he  was  Cardinal  Arch- 
bishop. The  Right  Rev.  Benedict  J.  Fenwick  was  bishop  of  Boston 
from  1825  until  1846.  In  1843  the  States  of  Connecticut  and  Rhode 
Island  were  made  a  new  diocese,  with  Hartford  as  the  episcopal  see, 
and  the  Right  Rev.  William  Tyler  was  consecrated  the  first  bishop  on 
the  17th  of  March,  1844.  Bishop  Tyler  found  in  Connecticut,  on  his 
arrival  here,  three  priests,  four  church  buildings,  and  about  five  thou- 
sand souls.  The  laity  was  made  up  principally  of  emigrants  from 
Ireland  and  their  families,  although  there  was  in  Hartford  a  respec- 
table number  of  Catholics,  who  like  Bishop  Tyler  himself,  were  converts 
from  Protestantism  and  natives  of  New  England. 

Mass  was  celebrated  in  Hartford  in  June,  1781,  by  Abbe  Robin,  the 
chaplain  who  accompanied  the  French  auxiliaries  under  Count  de  Ro- 
chambeau,  in  their  march  across  Connecticut  from  Providence  to  Phil- 
lipsbourg.  This  event  occurred  on  some  day  between  the  22d  and  25th 
of  June ;  since  it  appears  from  the  Count  W.  de  Deuxpont's  Journal  of 
his  "  Campaigns  in  America,"  that  the  French  army  halted  during 
those  days  in  Hartford.  An  eye-witness  to  the  ceremony,  informed 
the  pastor  of  the  Roman  Catholic  church  at  Hartford  of  the  fact  fifty 
years  afterward,  and  pointed  out  to  him  the  very  spot  where  the  Mass 
was  said,  on  the  meadows  now  belonging  to  the  estate  of  Colonel 
Samuel  Colt.  It  is  more  than  probable  that  outside  the  soldiers  them- 
selves there  were  no  Catholics  present  at  the  Mass. 

In  1813  the  Rev.  Dr.  Matignon,  a  French  ecclesiastical  refugee,  was 
stationed  at  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  Boston,  and  having  occasion 
to  make  the  journey  to  New  York,  passed  through  Hartford.  Reaching 
here  on  Saturday  night,  he  was  obliged  to  remain  until  Monday  morning. 
The  Puritan  strictness  that  prohibited  travel  on  the  Lord's  Day  did  not 
prohibit  the  courtesy  of  inviting  strangers  to  occupy  the  local  pulpits. 
Dr.  Strong,  pastor  of  the  First  (Centre)  Church,  extended  the  hospitali- 
ties of  his  church  and  pulpit  to  the  good  priest,  and  tradition  says  that 
Dr.  Matignon  preached  therein  on  a  Sunday  evening.     A  few  Catholics 


{/?<* 


**?*{  > 


:- 


THE   ROMAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.  411 

had  come  to  Connecticut  by  the  year  1823,  and  had  settled  in  and 
around  Hartford,  —  chiefly  young  men  and  women  who  were  employed 
in  the  service  of  farmers  and  families.  Colonel  James  Ward  and  Mr. 
Samuel  Tudor  interested  themselves  in  behalf  of  the  Catholics;  and 
when  Bishop  Cheverus  visited  this  place  in  that  year  (1823),  they  ob- 
tained for  him  the  use  of  the  Hall  of  Representatives  in  the  old  State 
House,  where  he  celebrated  Mass  and  preached  a  sermon.  Occasional 
visits  were  made  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Power,  of  New  York,  at  which  times 
Mass  was  celebrated  in  a  house1  that  stood  on  the  west  side  of  Main 
Street  overlooking  the  old  Centre  Church  burying-ground.  In  1828 
Bishop  Fenwick  sent  the  Rev.  R.  D.  Woodley,  his  nephew,  to  this  city 
to  reside,  as  the  first  parish  priest  of  Hartford  and  the  first  resident 
priest  of  Connecticut. 

During  the  following  two  years,  several  priests  were  sent  to  Hart- 
ford, some  of  them  in  the  capacity  of  assistants  ;  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
parish  extending  from  New  York  to  Rhode  Island,  and  from  Long 
Island  Sound  to  the  interior  of  Vermont  and  New  Hampshire.  Among 
these  were  Fathers  O'Cavanagh,  Welch,  McCool,  and  McDermott.  In 
1830  the  Rev.  James  Fitton  was  appointed  pastor,  and  held  the  posi- 
tion until  1837,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  John  Brady. 
Father  Fitton  lived  to  participate  in  the  centennial  celebration  of  the 
first  Mass  in  Connecticut,  at  St.  Peter's  Church,  Hartford,  on  Sunday, 
June  26,  1881,  on  which  occasion  he  delivered  the  historical  discourse. 
He  died  at  Boston  on  the  14th  of  September,  1881. 

In  November,  1828,  Bishop  Fenwick  purchased  a  small  lot  of  land 
on  the  east  side  of  Maiden  Lane  (now  Welles  Street),  intending  to 
build  a  church  thereon.  This  lot  is  some  twelve  rods  south  from  the 
present  junction  of  Mulberry  and  Welles  streets.  Before  the  work 
began,  an  opportunity  to  do  better  presented  itself,  the  church  building 
that  had  been  occupied  by  the  Episcopalians  being,  offered  for  sale. 
This  edifice  was  of  wood,  and  stood  on  the  north  corner  of  Church  and 
Main  streets.  One  of  the  conditions  of  its  sale  was  that  it  should 
be  removed  from  that  site.  Bishop  Fenwick  made  the  purchase,  and 
the  building  was  drawn  over  to  a  small  lot  only  a  few  feet  larger  than 
the  church  itself,  on  the  north  side  of  Talcott  Street.  A  brick  base- 
ment was  built  underneath,  and  one  half  was  divided  into  apartments 
for  the  pastor's  residence. 

On  the  17th  of  June,  1830,  this,  the  first  Roman  Catholic  church  in 
Connecticut,  was  dedicated  by  Bishop  Fenwick,  by  the  title  of  "  The 
Church  of  the  Most  Holy  Trinity."  Father  Fitton  soon  established  a 
parochial  school  in  the  basement,  and  Miss  Agnes  Whiting,  of  Boston, 
was  the  teacher.  A  newspaper  entitled  the  "  Catholic  Press,"  published 
by  Alfred  Tally  at  his  office  on  the  corner  of  Main  and  Pearl  streets, 
was  removed  to  this  basement,  but  proved  a  financial  failure  ;  and  in 
1832  it  was  transferred  to  Philadelphia,  and  continued  for  many  years 
under  the  name  of  the  "  Catholic  Herald." 

Father  Brady  resided  in  the  church  basement  until  1840,  when  he 
built  a  residence  for  himself  next  east  of  the  church.  In  1839  he  pur- 
chased a  small  lot  for  a  cemetery  at  the  extreme  western  end  of  the 
Old  North  Cemetery,  and  in  1848  he  added  another  piece  of  equal  size. 

1  It  was  No.  204  Main  Street.  See  Fitton's  "  Sketches  of  the  Establishment  of  the 
Church  in  New  England,"  pp.  190-193. 


412  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

In  1842  he  founded  a  temperance  society  that  for  many  years  included 
every  adult  member  of  his  congregation.  A  literary  and  debating 
society  was  also  established  at  the  same  time,  which  flourished  for  many 
years,  holding  its  semi-weekly  meetings  in  the  basement  of  the  church. 

The  benevolent  societies  founded  under  Father  Brady  have  shown 
greater  vitality.  St.  Patrick's  Society  was  chartered  in  1842  and  St. 
John's  Society  in  1848,  and  both  are  still  flourishing. 

In  the  fall  of  1843  the  States  of  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island  were 
made  into  a  new  diocese,  with  Hartford  as  the  episcopal  city,  and  Bishop 
William  Tyler  was  consecrated  its  first  bishop  on  the  17th  of  March, 
1844,  in  the  cathedral  at  Baltimore.  He  came  to  this  city  on  the  12th 
of  April  of  that  year,  but  resided  here  only  a  few  months.  The  city 
of  Providence  was  much  larger  than  Hartford,  and  contained  many 
more  Catholics,  besides  two  churches,  and  the  bishop  obtained  the 
necessary  permission  to  make  that  city  his  residence.  During  the 
remainder  of  his  life  he  seldom  had  occasion  to  visit  Hartford,  and 
the  people  here  saw  him  not  oftener  than  once  or  twice  a  year.  He 
died  in  Providence,  June  18,  1849,  in  the  forty-fifth  year  of  his  age. 
Bishop  Tyler  was  a  native  of  Derby,  Vermont,  and  became  a  Catholic 
when  about  fifteen  years  of  age. 

In  1847  Father  Brady  visited  Ireland  for  the  purpose  of  once  again 
seeing  his  mother,  and  returned  after  an  absence  of  seven  months,  his 
place  here  in  the  mean  time  being  filled  by  Father  Riordan,  a  talented 
young  priest  from  the  south  of  Ireland,  who  was  transferred  to  Spring- 
field, Mass.,  on  Father  Brady's  return.  In  1848  Father  Mathew,  the 
Apostle  of  Temperance,  visited  Hartford  and  remained  a  week,  preach- 
ing every  evening  and  administering  the  pledge  to  thousands. 

In  1849  Father  Brady  purchased  the  lot  on  the  corner  of  Church 
and  Ann  streets,  and  immediately  began  the  erection  of  a  stone  edifice 
which  was  completed  and-  dedicated  in  December,  1851,  by  the  title 
of  "  St..  Patrick's  Church ; "  and  after  this  date  the  old  church  on 
Talcott  Street  was  used  only  for  early  service  on  week-days.  On  the 
morning  of  May  12,  1853,  it  was  discovered  to  be  on  fire,  and  in  a 
couple  of  hours  was  entirely  destroyed,  together  with  the  baptismal 
records,  that  were  kept  in  the  vestry.  The  marriage  records  were  by 
good  fortune  in  the  pastor's  house,  and  so  escaped  destruction. 

The  Rev.  Bernard  O'Reilly,  of  Rochester,  New  York,  succeeded 
Bishop  Tyler,  and  was  consecrated  Nov.  10,  1850.  Like  his  predeces- 
sor, he  elected  to  reside  in  Providence.  He  was  a  good  scholar,  an 
indefatigable  worker,  and  spared  no  pains  to  furnish  his  diocese  with 
priests,  religious  orders,  teachers,  and  educational  and  benevolent  insti- 
tutions. He  visited  Europe  in  December,  1855,  for  the  purpose  of  pro- 
curing teachers  for  the  boys  of  his  diocese,  and  Jan.  23,  1856,  he  sailed 
from  Liverpool  on  the  steamer  "  Pacific"  for, home.  The  fate  of  the 
steamer  and  her  passengers  is  an  unsolved  mystery.  Nothing  was  ever 
known  concerning  the  ship  from  the  day  it  sailed  from  England. 

In  1851  a  community  of  the  "  Sisters  of  Mercy  "  was  established  in 
Hartford,  who  occupied  a  house  on  Franklin  Street  for  a  few  years,  re- 
moving thence  to  Trumbull  Street,  where  they  remained  until  the  con- 
vent building,  next  west  of  St.  Patrick's  Church,  was  completed  in  the 
spring  of  1855.  Besides  visiting  the  sick  and  distressed,  they  took 
charge  of  the  orphans  and  also  of  the  girls  in  the  parochial  schools. 


THE   ROMAN   CATHOLIC   CHURCH.  413 

In  1852  a  tract  of  ten  acres  was  purchased,  lying  west  of  Spring- 
Grove  Cemetery,  and  appropriated  for  burial  purposes  and  known  as 
Cathedral  Cemetery. 

Father  Brady  became  involved  in  a  controversy  with  his  bishop  in 
the  summer  of  1854,  that  resulted  in  his  suspension  from  duty,  and 
caused  great  uneasiness  and  discomfort  among  the  Catholic  people  of 
Hartford.  As  is  too  often  the  case,  many  of  the  people  took  sides  with- 
out comprehending  the  merits  of  the  questions  in  dispute,  and  thus 
contributed  not  a  little  to  prolong  the  unfortunate  condition  of  affairs. 
Towards  the  end  of  the  summer  the  differences  between  Father  Brady 
and  his  superior  were  becoming  apparently  reconciled.  On  Sunday, 
Nov.  12,  1854,  Father  Brady  sat  in  the  vestry  of  St.  Patrick's  Church 
during  Mass,  and  heard  the  Rev.  Lawrence  Mangan,  his  former  curate, 
who  had  been  in  charge  of  the  parish  during  his  suspension,  announce 
to  the  people  that  the  Very  Rev.  James  Hughes,  formerly  of  Provi- 
dence, would  be  their  future  pastor.  Father  Brady  at  the  time  was 
daily  expecting  to  be  reinstated,  and  the  shock  of  this  disappointment 
was  too  much  for  him  to  endure.  He  went  home,  took  to  his  bed,  and 
on  the  following  Thursday,  November  16,  the  people  of  Hartford  were 
startled  by  the  news  of  his  death.  Two  days  after,  he  was  buried  in 
front  of  the  eastern  entrance  of  the  church.  The  grave  was  unmarked 
by  any  monument  for  several  years.  At  length  a  modest  brown  stone 
tablet  and  cross  were  placed  over  it  at  the  eastern  door. 

Father  Hughes  was  about  twenty-six  years  of  age  when  he  came  to 
Hartford,  and  he  had  been  for  some  time  the  vicar-general  of  the 
diocese.  He  at  once  commenced  the  erection  of  St.  Catharine's  Orphan 
Asylum,  next  west  of  St.  Patrick's  Church.  The  parochial  schools  were 
kept  in  the  basement  until  1865,  when  the  present  school  building  on 
Franklin  Street  was  erected,  and  soon  afterward  St.  James's  Orphan 
Asylum  for  boys  was  built. 

After  the  death  of  Bishop  O'Reilly  the  see  remained  vacant  until 
March  14,  1858,  when  the  Rev.  Francis  P.  McFarland,  pastor  of  St. 
John's  Church,  Utica,  New  York,  was  consecrated  bishop  in  the  cathe- 
dral at  Providence,  and  like  his  two  predecessors  he  selected  that  city 
as  his  residence. 

In  1852  a  young  priest  named  Peter  Kelly  was  ordained  at  St. 
Patrick's  Church,  and  for  some  months  was  stationed  here  as  assistant 
to  Father  Brady.  In  the  fall  of  1859  Bishop  McFarland  divided  Hartford 
into  two  parishes,  with  Little  (Park)  River  as  the  dividing  line,  and  as- 
signed Father  Kelly  as  pastor  over  the  territory  on  the  south  side.  The 
announcement  was  made  to  the  people  by  the  bishop  on  Sunday  night, 
and  by  the  following  Sunday  the  priest  and  people  of  the  new  parish 
had  provided  the  church,  having  purchased  the  Old  South  school-house 
on  Main  Street  and  converted  the  upper  floor  into  galleries.  Mass 
was  said  there  for  the  first  time  in  just  one  week  from  the  day  of  the 
bishop's  announcement  of  the  new  parish.  Without  interference  in 
the  old  part,  an  addition  was  built  doubling  the  capacity,  and  the 
whole  was  completed  and  dedicated  Dec.  4,  1859,  by  the  title  of  "St. 
Peter's."  The  adjoining  premises  on  the  north  were  purchased  for  a 
pastoral  residence,  and  in  1861  a  parochial  school-house  was  built  in 
rear  of  the  church  and  furnished  with  competent  teachers.     Father 


414  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

Kelly,  in  the  fall  of  1862,  was,  at  his  own  request,  transferred  to  Provi- 
dence, Rhode  Island,  and  the  Rev.  John  Lynch,  of  Birmingham,  was  sent 
to  St.  Peter's.  In  1865  he  built  the  present  stone  edifice  of  St.  Peter's 
church,  surrounding  the  old  one,  and  so  skilfully  managed  the  work 
that  no  interruption  of  Divine  service  was  necessary.  From  the  even- 
ing when  Bishop  McFarland  first  announced  the  erection  of  the  parish 
to  the  present  time,  no  Sunday  has  passed  that  Mass  has  not  been  cele- 
brated under  the  roof  of  this  church. 

Father  Lynch  literally  wore  himself  out  with  hard  labor,  —  a  fate  by 
no  means  uncommon  to  the  priests  of  this  diocese.  By  spring,  1869, 
he  was  so  broken  in  health  that  his  friends  insisted  on  his  resting  for  a 
time,  and  he  visited  Europe,  returning  in  early  spring,  1870.  During 
his  absence  the  Rev.  John  Cooney  was  in  charge  of  his  parish  until  the 
appointment  of  the  Rev.  Lawrence  Walsh,  who  was  here  at  the  time  of 
Father  Lynch's  return.  Father  Lynch  went  back  to  Birmingham,  where 
he  labored  as  industriously  as  ever,  though  an  invalid,  until  he  was 
called  to  his  reward  in  October,  1878. 

In  February,  1872,  the  new  diocese  of  Providence  was  erected,  em- 
bracing Rhode  Island  and  part  of  Massachusetts,  in  consequence  of 
which  Bishop  McFarland  removed  his  residence  to  his  episcopal  city  of 
Hartford.  His  home  was  on  the  corner  of  Woodland  and  Collins  streets, 
and  his  door  was  hospitably  open  to  all  citizens.  In  a  surprisingly  short 
time  he  became  acquainted  with  his  own  people  and  with  a  very  large 
portion  of  the  non-Catholics.  He  possessed  wonderful  powers  of  fasci- 
nation, and  reminded  one  very  much  of  Governor  Thomas  H.  Seymour, 
whom  he  greatly  resembled  in  voice  and  conversational  manner.  The 
bishop  brought  with  him  as  chancellor  the  Rev.  Joseph  B.  Reid,  a 
young  priest  who  was  an  invalid.  In  looking  about  for  a  suitable  site 
for  his  contemplated  cathedral  he  fixed  his  choice  on  the  Morgan  Farm, 
so  called,  on  Farmington  Avenue,  and  purchased  it  from  the  owner, 
Major  James  Goodwin,  in  the  summer  of  1872.  He  began  soon  the 
foundations  for  the  convent  building  and  pro-cathedral.  The  corner- 
stone was  laid  in  May,  1873,  and  the  cathedral  chapel  was  completed 
and  dedicated  on  Thanksgiving  Day  in  that  same  year,  while  the  con- 
vent portion  was  not  ready  for  occupancy  until  early  in  the  spring  of 
1874.  As  soon  as  the  chapel  was  ready,  the  parish  of  St.  Joseph's  was 
formed,  embracing  the  western  portion  of  the  city.  The  first  pastor 
was  the  Rev.  E.  M.  Hickey,  and  after  him  the  Rev.  M.  Kelly,  who  re- 
mained until  the  death  of  Bishop  McFarland  and  the  coming  of  his 
successor.  Bishop  McFarland's  health  began  to  fail  in  the  fall  of  1873. 
In  the  spring  of  1874  he  visited  Aiken,  South  Carolina,  and  afterward 
Richland  Springs,  Virginia,  but  without  avail.  He  was  able  to  officiate 
and  preach  until  about  the  middle  of  the  summer,  but  soon  became  un- 
able to  leave  the  house,  and  finally  died  from  weakness  and  exhaustion, 
Oct.  12,  1874.  His  body  was  buried  in  front  of  the  west  wing  of  the 
convent  building.  The  grave  is  marked  by  a  little  arbor,  conspicuous 
from  the  street.  He  left  all  that  he  possessed,  including  his  extensive 
and  valuable  library,  to  his  cathedral  church  and  its  institutions,  ex- 
cepting a  few  insignificant  sums  given  as  mementos  to  his  brothers. 
His  memory  is  venerated  by  his  people  as  that  of  a  saint. 

Bishop  McFarland  had  twice  declined  the  office  of  bishop,  and  it  was 


ST.    JOSEPH  S    CATHEDRAL,    FARMIXGTOX   AVENUE. 


y 


THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH.  417 

finally  forced  upon  him  by  mandamus.  His  successor,  the  Very  Rev. 
Thomas  Galberry,  was  president  of  the  Augustinian  Convent  at  Villa 
Nova,  near  Philadelphia.  He  received  his  appointment  to  the  vacant 
see  in  February,  1875,  but  declined  the  honor.  He,  also,  was  com- 
pelled to  accept,  and  was  consecrated  in  St.  Peter's  Church,  Hartford, 
March  19,  1876. 

On  Saturday  night,  Jan.  23, 1875,  St.  Patrick's  Church  was  destroyed 
by  fire.  It  was  rebuilt  on  the  old  foundations  more  magnificently  than 
before.  The  basement  was  ready  for  occupancy  in  the  spring  of  1876, 
and  the  completed  church  was  dedicated  on  the  26th  of  November  of  the 
same  year.  Before  the  basement  was  ready  a  part  of  the  people  were 
accommodated  in  the  Chapel  Hall  over  the  school-house  on  Franklin 
Street,  and  High  Mass  on  Sundays  was  celebrated  in  Allyn  Hall. 

Bishop  McFarland  in-  1872  brought  to  this  city  the  Rev.  Joseph 
Schaale,  to  minister  to  the  wants  of  the  German  Catholics.  He  pur- 
chased a  lot  on  the  northwest  corner  of  Winthrop  and  Ely  streets,  and 
a  German  congregation  was  organized  by  the  name  of  "  The  Church  of 
the  Sacred  Heart."  As  yet  it  lias  been  impossible  to  build  a  church. 
Mr.  John  Allen,  a  Protestant  citizen  of  Hartford,  who  recognized  the 
great  inconvenience  that  the  Catholic  people  living  west  of  the  New 
Trinity  College  suffered  because  of  their  remoteness  from  the  nearest 
church,  generously  gave  to  the  pastor  of  St.  Peter's  parish  a  site  for  a 
building  of  suitable  size.  Father  Walsh  immediately  began  work,  and 
it  was  dedicated  Nov.  30, 1876,  by  the  title  of  "  Church  of  St.  Lawrence 
O'Toole."  It  was  attended  from  St.  Peter's  until  1881,  and  afterward 
from  St.  Joseph's,  until  the  latter  part  of  1883  when  it  was  made  a 
parish  church,  the  Rev.  John  F.  Lenihan  pastor. 

Bishop  Galberry  began  the  cathedral  on  Farmington  Avenue  in 
the  summer  of  1876,  and  the  corner-stone  was  laid  April  29,  1877. 
On  the  following  day  he  left  for  Rome,  where  he  participated  in  the 
ceremonies  of  the  Golden  Jubilee,  —  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  con- 
secration, as  bishop,  of  Pope  Pius  IX.,  returning  to  Hartford  in  Sep- 
tember. On  the  10th  of  February,  1878,  he  dedicated  the  basement  of 
St.  Joseph's  Cathedral.  The  parochial  school  building  on  the  corner 
of  Capitol  Avenue  and  Broad  Street  was  begun  by  him,  but  he  did  not 
live  to  witness  its  completion.  He  was  attacked  with  a  violent  hemor- 
rhage from  the  lungs  and  stomach  while  on  his  way  to  New  York, 
October  9,  and  on  the  arrival  of  the  train  was  taken  to  the  Grand 
Union  Hotel,  where  he  expired  Oct.  10,  1878.  His  body  was  buried 
in  the  crypt  of  St.  Joseph's  Cathedral.  The  Very  Rev.  Lawrence  S. 
McMahon,  of  New  Bedford,  Mass.,  was  appointed  his  successor,  and 
was  consecrated  in  St.  Joseph's  Cathedral,  Aug.  10,  1879. 

Father  Kelly  in  1862  arranged  with  the  committee  of  the  South 
School  district  to  give  the  use  of  the  school  building  and  furniture, 
the  committee  to  pay  the  expense  of  the  teachers.  For  a  while  the 
arrangement  worked  satisfactorily.  The  children  were  all  Catholics, 
and  at  first  the  teachers  were  also  Catholics.  As  vacancies  occurred, 
their  places  were  filled  by  Protestant  teachers.  After  the  summer 
vacation  of  1865  a  young  woman  was  appointed,  who,  without  any  in- 
structions from  the  committee,  began  to  use  the  Protestant  Bible  as  a 
text-book.  When  ordered  by  the  committee  to  desist  she  defied  them. 
She  was  removed  to  another  school  in  the  district,  but  refused  to  go, 

VOL.  i. — 27. 


418  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

raising  the  cry  that  this  was  an  attempt  to  degrade  her ;  and  she  in- 
sisted on  provoking  the  children  and  parents  by  her  extreme  zeal,  and 
actually  induced  the  non-Catholics  of  the  district,  with  scarcely  an 
exception,  to  sustain  her.  They  ordered  the  committee  to  reinstate 
her,  Bible  and  all ;  and  when  the  committee  refused,  they  were  com- 
pelled by  mandamus,  and  the  consequence  was  the  breaking  up  of 
the  arrangement  with  the  district.  Since  then  the  school  has  been 
under  the  care  of  the  Sisters  of  Mercy.  At  first  these  teachers  were 
brought  from  St.  Catharine's  Convent,  on  Church  Street ;  but  afterward 
they  were  provided  with  a  home  on  Charter  Oak  Place,  where  they  re- 
mained till  1875,  when  they  were  removed  to  the  house  now  used  as  a 
pastoral  residence,  and  they  occupied  it  until  the  completion  of  their 
present  convent,  in  December,  1880. 

Father  Lawrence  Walsh  remained  pastor  of  St.  Peter's  Church  until 
July,  1876,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Thomas  Lynch,  who  was 
succeeded  in  January,  1877,  by  the  Rev.  Michael  Tierney,  who  remained 
until  May,  1883,  when,  in  consequence  of  the  death  of  Dr.  Hugh  Carmody, 
of  New  Britain,  he  was  appointed  to  the  charge  of  that  entire  city,  and 
the  Rev.  Thomas  Broderick,  formerly  of  New  London,  was  appointed  to 
St.  Peter's. 

The  Sisters  of  Mercy  in  1878  purchased  a  farm  of  thirty-three  acres 
at  Mount  St.  Augustine,  on  Quaker  Lane,  in  West  Hartford,  and  estab- 
lished thereon  a  boarding-school  for  boys  under  fifteen  years  of  age. 
The  institution  now  has  about  fifty  pupils,  and  is  in  a  flourishing  con- 
dition. The  Sisters  have  erected,  in  addition  to  the  buildings  that  were 
on  the  place  at  the  time  of  the  purchase,  a  fine  three-story  school- 
house  with  kitchen,  refectory,  and  dormitories,  and  also  an  additional 
dwelling-house  for  the  farmer  and  his  family.  Two  years  afterward 
they  purchased  the  place  in  the  northern  part  of  West  Hartford,  on 
the  old  Albany  Turnpike,  famous  as  the  birthplace  of  the  celebrated 
authoress,  Rose  Terry  Cooke,  and  here  they  have  established  a  home 
for  the  aged  and  destitute.  This  latter  place  contains  one  hundred  and 
fifteen  acres,  and  is  known  as  St.  Mary's  Home.  A  few  old  men 
and  some  fifteen  or  twenty  old  women  here  find  a  home  and  care  at  the 
hands  of  the  Sisters.  Some  are  absolutely  indigent,  but  most  of  them 
are  supported  in  part  by  their  friends  and  in  part  by  the  labor  of  the 
Sisters  themselves. 

The  Sisters  of  Mercy  have  charge  of  the  Orphan  Asylums  and  sev- 
eral of  the  schools  in  the  county.  Besides  St.  Joseph's  Academy  for 
young  ladies,  in  St.  Joseph's  Convent  building,  which  is  also  the  mother 
house  of  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  for  the  diocese,  they  have  charge  of  St. 
Catharine's  Convent  and  Asylum  for  Girls,  and  St.  James's  Asylum  for 
Boys,  both  situated  on  Church  Street,  Hartford,  and  belonging  to  St. 
Patrick's  parish ;  the  Sacred  Heart  Convent  of  Mercy,  at  St.  Peter's 
parish,  and  also  the  entire  parochial  schools  of  St.  Joseph's  parish,  on 
the  corner  of  Broad  Street  and  Capitol  Avenue  ;  those  of  St.  Peter's 
parish,  on  Main  Street ;  and  the  girl's  parochial  school  of  St.  Patrick's 
parish,  on  Franklin  Street.  Since  1866  the  boy's  school  of  St.  Patrick's 
has  been  under  charge  of  the  Christian  Brothers,  the  only  religious 
community  in  the  county  besides  the  Sisters  of  Mercy.  The  "Sisters" 
have  also  a  house  in  New  Britain,  —  St.  Thomas's  Convent,  —  and  they 


THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH.  419 

have  charge  of  the  parochial  schools  of  the  city.  They  have  another 
house  at  Thompsonville,  entitled  "  Our  Lady  of  the  Sacred  Heart  Con- 
vent," and  the  ladies  there  too  have  charge  of  the  parochial  schools. 

As  the  limits  for  this  article  will  not  allow  a  specific  mention  of 
even  the  most  important  events  connected  with  the  establishment  of 
parishes  in  different  towns  in  the  county,  I  can  only  mention  them 
by  name.  New  Britain  and  Windsor  Locks  were  the  first  places  after 
Hartford  to  have  churches  and  pastors.  The  pastor  of  New  Britain 
soon  had  churches  erected  at  Collinsville  and  TarifTville,  while  Father 
Smith,  of  Windsor  Locks,  followed  rapidly  with  one  at  Thompsonville, 
and  a  few  years  afterward  at  Poquonnock.  In  1864,  besides  those 
already  mentioned,  there  were  churches  at  Bristol,  Broad  Brook,  Farm- 
ington,  Manchester,  and  Southington ;  but  these  were  all  mission 
churches  attended  to  by  the  priests  of  the  contiguous  large  parishes. 
During  the  past  twenty  years  several  of  the  old  churches  have  been  re- 
built or  replaced,  and  there  have  been  churches  established  in  the  fol- 
lowing additional  places :  South  Manchester,  Hazardville,  Windsor, 
Unionville,  Rocky  Hill,  Wethersfield,  Glastonbury,  East  Hartford,  Ken- 
sington, Bloomfield,  Plainville. 


420  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD  COUNTY. 


OTHER  DENOMINATIONS. 

by  the  rev.  f.  s.  hatch. 

Methodist  Episcopal.  —  Universalist.  —  Unitarian.  —  Jewish.  —  Presbyterian.  — 
Catholic  Apostolic. — Lutheran. 

The  first  Methodist  sermon  known  to  have  been  preached  in  Hart- 
ford was  delivered  by  the  Rev.  Jesse  Lee,  the  founder  of  New  England 
Methodism,  June  21,  1789.  His  reception  in  Hartford  was  so  cordial 
that  his  hopes  were  raised  and  he  visited  the  town  again  in  March, 
April,  and  June  of  1790.  About  that  time  other  preachers  entered  the 
field.  Freeborn  Garrettson,  a  presiding  elder  whose  district  embraced 
portions  of  New  York,  New  England,  and  Canada,  preached  several 
times  in  the  court-house,  though  once  u  some,  called  the  gentry,  be- 
haved so  ill  that  he  broke  up  the  meeting  and  declined  to  preach  by 
candlelight."  At  the  October  conference  in  New  York  a  new  circuit 
was  established  which  included  Hartford.  This  circuit  was  in  charge 
of  Nathaniel  B.  Mills,  a  young  man  of  twenty-four  years. 

Sometime  during  the  last  three  months  of  1790  the  first  Methodist 
Society  in  Hartford  was  formed  by  the  Rev.  Jesse  Lee.  The  original 
members  of  the  church  are  unknown,  but  Mr.  Winship  and  Dr.  Joseph 
Lynde,  who  entertained  the  itinerants,  were  undoubtedly  among  the 
number.  In  1791  Bishop  Ashbury  visited  Hartford  and  preached  in  a 
Congregational  —  probably  the  Centre  —  church.  Two  or  three  years 
afterward  Hartford  became  the  head  of  a  new  district,  with  the  Rev. 
George  Roberts  as  its  presiding  elder.  From  about  this  time  the  inter- 
ests of  Methodism  in  Hartford  began  to  decline.  There  was  occasion- 
ally a  preaching  service  in  the  Centre  or  South  Church,  in  the  "  old 
playhouse"  on  Temple  Street,  in  a  private  house,  or  in  a  barn;  but 
not  until  1820  were  there  any  signs  of  active  life.  In  that  year  a  great 
awakening  occurred  in  connection  with  the  labors  of  the  Rev.  J.  N. 
Maffit.  More  than  a  hundred  persons  united  with  the  Methodist 
Society.  In  1821  a  chapel  was  erected  on  the  corner  of  Chapel  and 
Trumbull  streets,  and  Benoni  English  was  appointed  pastor  of  the 
church.  At  that  time  the  membership  of  the  church  was  one  hundred 
and  twenty-eight.  In  the  years  immediately  following  it  fell  to  ninety- 
one,  but  in  the  great  revival  of  1837-1838  rose  again  to  three  hundred 
and  sixty-eight. 

In  1860  the  society  dedicated  a  new  and  commodious  house  of  wor- 
ship on  Asylum  Street.  It  has  since  been  refitted,  and  is  still  occupied 
by  the  society.     The  Rev.  George  Van  Alstyne  is  pastor  of  the  church. 

The  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Zion's  Church  was  organized  in 
1836  and  erected  a  house  of  worship  in  1857,  costing  six  thousand 
dollars.  The  Rev.  G.  H.  S.  Bell  is  pastor  of  this  church,  which  now 
numbers  a  hundred  and  fifty  members. 

The  South  Park  Church  is  the  outgrowth  of  a  mission  projected  in 
the  south  of  Hartford  by  the  First  Methodist  Church  in  1850.    A  school- 


OTHER   DENOMINATIONS.  421 

house  was  early  purchased  and  remodelled,  and  in  1869  a  church  was 
organized  and  a  chapel  built.  The  present  tasteful  church-building:, 
near  the  South  Park,  was  dedicated  in  1875.  A  new  Sunday-school 
chapel,  the  gift  of  William  Boardman,  is  now  in  process  of  erection. 
The  membership  of  the  church  is  three  hundred  and  twenty-five.  The 
Rev.  Samuel  M.  Beiler  is  pastor. 

The  North  Methodist  Church  was  also  started  as  a  mission  in  1869. 
In  1871  a  chapel  on  Windsor  Avenue  was  dedicated,  and  in  1874  the 
church  also.  Financial  embarrassments  hinder  the  progress  of  the 
society,  and  the  membership  is  small.  The  Rev.  David  6.  Downey  is 
now  pastor  of  this  church. 

The  German  Methodist  Church  holds  its  meetings  in  Warburton 
Chapel,  and  a  goodly  congregation  is  held  together  by  Pastor  Brock- 
ineyer. 

The  total  number  of  Methodist  church-members  in  Hartford  is  not 
less  than  seven  hundred. 

The  Rev.  Richard  Carrique  gathered  in  the  State  House  the  first 
Universalist  congregation  in  Hartford,  in  1821.  Three  years  afterward 
he  left  his  people  occupying  a  building  of  their  own  in  Central  Row,  on 
the  site  of  Central  Hall.  His  immediate  successor  was  the  Rev.  John 
Bisbee,  whose  pulpit  eloquence  is  still  a  tradition  in  the  denomination. 
Twelve  men  have  followed  him  in  the  pastorate,  some  of  whom  are  of 
special  mark.  The  tendency  to  short  pastorates  was  broken  by  the  Rev. 
C.  A.  Skinner,  who  remained  ten  years.  His  successor,  the  Rev.  W.  H. 
Dearborn,  was  next  longest  in  the  pastorate.  He  was  installed  in  1877, 
and  still  continues  in  office.  The  society  was  organized  in  1827  and  the  • 
church  in  1840,  with  sixteen  communicants.  The  membership  is  now 
about  two  hundred,  while  the  parish  includes  a  hundred  and  seventy 
families.  The  Sunday  school  began  with  the  society,  and  now  numbers 
three  hundred  and  thirty-nine.  Abner  Church  is  senior  deacon  and 
L.  L.  Ensworth  chairman  of  the  society's  committee.  Jeremiah  Fowler 
has  been  clerk  of  the  parish  more  than  forty  years  and  Sunday-school 
librarian  nearly  as  long.  In  1860,  during  the  pastorate  of  the  Rev.  Asher 
Moore,  the  present  house  of  worship  on  Main  Street,  opposite  the  Cen- 
tre Church,  was  built.  It  is  of  brick  with  stone  trimmings,  seats  nearly 
a  thousand  persons,  and  has  very  spacious  grounds.  The  value  of  the 
property  is  about  seventy-five  thousand  dollars. 

On  the  13th  of  April,  1880,  at  a  meeting  held  at  the  house  of  James 
H.  Wells,  a  Unitarian  Association  was  organized.  A  constitution 
was  adopted,  under  the  name  of  the  Hartford  Unitarian  Association, 
and  officers  were  chosen  as  follows :  J.  H.  Wells,  president ;  Hezekiah 
Huntington,  vice-president ;  Plowden  Stevens,  secretary  ;  Jonathan 
Goodwin,  treasurer  ;  C.  M.  Emerson,  0.  E.  Williams,  Edward  Watkin- 
son,  Joseph  Sheldon,  and  Henry  Seymour,  committee  and  directors. 
The  object  of  this  Association,  as  declared  by  the  constitution,  was 
"  To  diffuse  the  knowledge  and  promote  the  interests  of  pure  Chris- 
tianity by  the  purchase  and  distribution  of  books  and  tracts."  On  the 
27th  of  July,  1844,  the  First  Unitarian  Congregational  Society  of  Hart- 
ford was  organized  at  the  house  of  Dr.  Seth  Saltmarsh,  and  James  H. 
Wells  was  appointed  moderator,  Seth  Saltmarsh,  clerk,  and  T.  M.  Allyn, 


422  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

treasurer.  The  declaration  of  faith  submitted  to  the  original  meeting 
set  forth  belief  in  one  God  the  Father,  in  Jesus  Christ  as  Lord  and 
Saviour,  in  the  Bible  as  a  rule  of  faith  and  practice,  and  in  liberty  of 
opinion  and  worship.  The  first  pastor  was  the  Rev.  Joseph  Harring- 
ton, Jr.,  installed  April  23,  1846.  Among  the  eminent  clergymen  who 
assisted  in  this  service  were  the  Rev.  F.  D.  Huntington,  now  a  bishop 
of  the  Episcopal  Church,  Dr.  Robbins  and  Dr.  Gannett  of  Boston,  and 
Dr.  Putnam  of  Roxbury.  In  1852  Mr.  Harrington,  against  the  unani- 
mous desire  of  his  people,  resigned,  to  take  charge  of  a  similar  work 
in  San  Francisco.  His  successor  was  the  Rev.  Frederick  Hinckley, 
who  served  in  the  pastorate  for  three  years,  resigning  in  1856.  Reg- 
ular services  were  given  up  in  1858.  In  1877  preaching  began  under 
the  direction  of  the  Rev.  Martin  K.  Schermerhorn,  and  on  the  1st  of 
May,  1878,  the  Rev.  John  C.  Kimball  became  pastor,  continuing  until 
the  present  time.  Service  was  originally  held  in  Union  Hall;  but  in 
a  short  time  the  building  committee  secured  a  lot  on  the  northeast  cor- 
ner of  Trumbull  and  Asylum  streets,  and  on  the  24th  of  May,  1845, 
the  corner-stone  of  the  new  building  was  laid,  the  Rev.  Henry  W.  Bel- 
lows, of  New  York,  officiating.  In  consequence  of  embarrassments 
this  property  was  sold  in  1860,  and  the  building  was  taken  down  and 
carried  out  stone  by  stone  to  Asylum  Hill,  where  it  was  set  up  on 
Sigourney  Street,  and  is  now  Trinity  (Episcopal)  Church.  The  organi- 
zation was  kept  up  and  the  funds  carefully  guarded  by  the  committee, 
—  Henry  Kellogg,  Horace  Cornwall,  Charles  Cheney,  Jonathan  Good- 
win, and  Milo  Hunt.  After  1877  the  services  were  mainly  held  in  the 
old  State  House;  but  on  the  3d  of  April,  1881,  their  new  building  on 
Pratt  Street  was  dedicated  as  Unity  Church  and  Hall,  the  pastor 
preaching  the  sermon.  It  is  one  of  the  most  agreeable  audience-rooms 
in  Hartford,  seats  six  hundred  and  twenty-six  people,  and  is  paid  for. 
The  society  also  has  an  invested  fund  of  about  thirty-five  thousand 
dollars.  W.  E.  Dickinson  is  president  of  the  society  ;  D.  H.  Gale,  Milo 
Hunt,  and  Horace  Cornwall,  committee,  and  H.  Cornwall,  Milo  Hunt, 
and  A.  F.  Tiege,  committee  of  the  board  of  trustees.  The  society,  or 
church,  —  for  there  is  but  one  organization,  —  numbers  one  hundred 
and  fifteen  members. 

The  first  trace  of  Jews  in  Hartford  is  found  in  a  vote  of  the  town- 
meeting  in  1661  "  that  the  JeAvs  then  in  town  have  liberty  to  reside 
here  seven  months."  Probably  they  continued  to  "  reside  "  in  Hartford, 
but  their  first  meeting-house  was  delayed  until  1847.  It  was  on  the 
corner  of  Wells  and  Main  streets.  Later  the  congregation  occupied 
Touro  Hall,  on  the  site  of  the  present  Cheney  building.  The  syna- 
gogue now  owned  by  them  is  on  Charter  Oak  Street,  and  was  erected  in 
1876.  It  cost  about  fifty  thousand  dollars,  and  is  admirably  adapted 
to  its  purpose.  George  Keller  was  the  architect.  Mr.  M.  L.  Strauss, 
cantor  and  reader,  still  a  citizen  of  Hartford,  was  prominent  in  estab- 
lishing synagogue  worship  here.  The  first  Rabbi  was  Dr.  Isaac  Mayer, 
who  introduced  more  modern  forms  of  worship.  Dr.  Solomon  Deutsch, 
the  eminent  Oriental  scholar,  was  the  officiating  Rabbi  before  his  resi- 
dence in  New  York.  Connected  with  the  synagogue  is  a  Sabbath 
school,  a  benevolent  society  for  men,  one  for  women,  and  a  burying- 
ground  organization. 


OTHER   DENOMINATIONS.  423 

For  many  years  the  Presbyterians  of  Hartford  identified  themselves 
with  the  Congregational  churches.  Some,  however,  longed  for  their 
own  ordinances.  These  met  frequently  in  private  houses  for  prayer  and 
consultation.  One  of  them,  Mr.  Robert  Calhoun,  induced  the  Rev. 
Andrew  Stevenson,  of  New  York,  to  visit  them.  On  the  10th  of  Novem- 
ber, 1850,  he  held  the  first  public  Presbyterian  services  in  the  city, 
preaching  morning  and  afternoon  to  good  congregations  in  the  Wash- 
ington Temperance  Hall.  The  Rev.  John  Little,  of  New  York,  also 
preached  for  them.  In  1850  the  presbytery  of  Connecticut  was  organ- 
ized by  the  (0.  S.)  Presbyterian  Church.  It  heard  of  the  services  held 
in  Hartford,  and  at  a  meeting  in  New  Haven,  June  24,  1851,  appointed 
the  Rev.  James  Ely,  under  a  commission  from  the  Board  of  Mission,  to 
visit  Hartford  and  if  practicable  gather  a  congregation.  He  began 
regular  services  on  the  13th  of  July  in  Oilman's  saloon,  in  the  third 
story  of  a  building  on  Main  Street.  In  five  weeks,  more  convenient 
quarters  were  obtained  in  the  Washington  Temperance  Hall,  and  after- 
ward in  Wadsworth  Hall,  —  Main  and  Welles  streets.  The  Rev.  Mr. 
Ely  induced  Mr.  Thomas  S.  Childs,  a  licentiate  and  a  graduate  of 
Princeton  Seminary,  to  take  charge  of  the  new  congregation,  while  he 
endeavored  to  obtain  the  funds  necessary  to  sustain  the  new  entei  prise. 
He  was  so  far  successful  that  in  May,  1852,  the  old  South  Baptist 
Church,  on  the  corner  of  Main  and  Sheldon  streets,  since  remodelled 
for  business  purposes,  was  secured,  and  the  first  payment  made.  The 
presbytery  met  in  the  city  on  the  4th  of  November,  organized  a  church 
of  thirty-two  members,  and  ordained  Mr.  James  McMillen,  Jr.,  and 
Joseph  Parks  as  ruling  ciders.  In  the  following  June  Mr.  Thomas 
S.  Childs  was  ordained  as  its  pastor.  The  young  minister  was  faithful 
and  persevering.  He  had  to  contend  with  many  difficulties,  in  poor 
health,  and  with  a  church  burdened  with  debt.  His  earnest  appli- 
cation to  the  Presbyterians  of  New  York  resulted  in  the  removal  of  a 
large  portion  of  the  mortgage  on  the  property.  The  church  continued 
to  increase  until  1862,  when  the  introduction  of  an  instrument  of  music 
was  the  occasion  of  forty-eight  communicants  retiring  and  organizing 
the  United  Presbyterian  Church,  which  held  services  in  a  chapel  on  the 
corner  of  Park  and  Squire  streets.  This  organization  continued  until 
1869,  when  most  of  its  members  returned.  Dr.  Childs  resigned  in 
October,  1865.  In  January,  1866,  the  Rev.  J.  Aspinwall  Hodge,  who 
for  eight  years  had  been  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  church  at  Mauch 
Chunk,  Penn.,  was  called,  and  entered  at  once  upon  his  work.  The 
church  took  a  new  start.  The  remaining  mortgage  was  soon  raised, 
and  an  effort  was  made  to  repair  the  building.  Mrs.  John  Warburton, 
of  the  Centre  Congregational  Church,  offered  to  subscribe  five  thousand 
dollars  if  the  congregation  would  erect  a  substantial  building  on  a  more 
eligible  site.  The  lot  on  the  corner  of  College  and  Clinton  streets  was 
secured.  The  chapel  was  dedicated  Feb.  28,  1868,  and  the  church, 
May  17,  1870.  It  is  built  of  Connecticut  granite,  trimmed  with  Port- 
land and  Ohio  stone,  at  the  cost  of  about  seventy-one  thousand  dollars. 
Superintending  the  building  and  collecting  the  needed  funds  became 
part  of  the  pastor's  work.  This  was  nearly  completed,  when  he  was 
prostrated  by  a  sunstroke.  After  a  few  months'  rest  in  Europe  the 
pastor  returned  to  his  work,  which  he  still  continues.  There  have  been 
no  marked  revivals  in  the  history  of  this  church  except  in  the  winter  of 


424  MEMORIAL   HISTORY  OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

1877-1878,  when  Mr.  Moody  visited  Hartford,  but  new  members  have 
been  received  at  almost  every  communion.  There  are  at  present  six 
ruling  elders  and  two  hundred  and  fifty-three  communicants. 

The  Catholic  Apostolic  congregation  was  organized  in  October,  1868, 
and  the  first  eucharist  was  celebrated  on  the  twenty-first  of  that  month. 
Its  peculiarity  is  the  belief  that  the  primitive  form  of  the  church,  with 
its  ministries  and  spiritual  gifts,  was  to  be  permanent ;  that  it  was 
lost  through  unbelief  and  is  now  restored  by  the  immediate  act  of  God. 
The  growth  of  the  body  has  been  slow,  though  steady ;  but  the  congre- 
gation in  Hartford  is  still  small,  and  holds  its  meetings  in  a  private 
house  prepared  for  the  purpose,  No.  21  Spring  Street.  This  congre- 
gation has  been  from  its  organization  under  the  charge  of  the  Rev.  S. 
J.  Andrews  who  is  now  assisted  by  the  Rev.  S.  H.  Allen  and  the  Rev. 
G.  W.  Connitt,  George  W.  Cheney  and  W.  M.  Brigham  being  deacons. 

The  Lutheran  Church  of  the  Reformation  was  organized  in  1880.  It 
owns  and  occupies  the  building  on  Market  Street  formerly  belonging  to 
St.  Paul's  (Episcopal)  Church.  It  was  erected  in  1854-1855.  Satur- 
days a  German  school  occupies  the  basement  of  the  building.  The 
services  are  in  the  German  language,  and  the  Rev.  Edmund  F.  A. 
Houtel  is  pastor  of  the  church. 

The  Morgan  Street  Sunday  School  was  organized  in  1852,  and  has 
a  chapel  for  its  religious  work.  Warburton  Chapel  was  built  in  1866, 
and  is  controlled  by  a  board  of  trustees.  Its  history  is  a  part  of  the 
mission  work  of  the  First  Congregational  Church.  Harbison  Avenue 
Chapel,  occupied  for  Sunday-school  purposes,  was  erected  in  1875.  In 
the  same  year  Elizabeth  Memorial  Chapel  was  erected  on  the  grounds 
of  the  Retreat  for  the  Insane,  for  the  use  of  the  inmates  of  that  institu- 
tion. It  is  a  beautiful  structure,  fitted  for  its  purpose.  These  build- 
ings shelter  no  distinct  ecclesiastical  organization.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  Second  Advent  Church  and  the  First  Spiritualist  Society  of  Hart- 
ford have  organization  and  regular  meetings,  but  owning  no  church 
property  their  services  are  held  in  halls  hired  for  the  purpose. 


THE  AMERICAN  ASYLUM.  425 

SECTION  IV. 

INSTITUTIONS    OF   LEARNING. 


THE  AMERICAN  ASYLUM. 

BY     EDWAKD     M.     GAILAUDET,     LL.D., 

President  of  the  National  Deaf  Mute  College,  Kendall  Green,  Washington,  D.C. 

The  American  Asylum  at  Hartford,  for  the  education  and  instruc- 
tion of  the  deaf  and  dumb,  was  incorporated  by  act  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  State  of  Connecticut  in  May,  1816,  as  "  The  Connecticut 
Asylum  for  the  Education  and  Instruction  of  Deaf  and  Dumb  Persons." 
But  the  origin  of  the  institution  antedates  this  act. 

In  the  autumn  of  1807  Alice,  an  infant  daughter  of  Dr.  Mason  F. 
Cogswell,  of  Hartford,  became  totally  deaf  while  suffering  from  an 
attack  of  spotted  fever.  Only  a  very  limited  power  of  speech  remained 
for  a  little  time,  so  that  the  child  soon  became  practically  a  mute.  The 
father's  interest  to  secure  an  education  for  his  stricken  child  was  natu- 
rally very  great ;  and  in  1815,  when  Alice  was  nearly  ten  years  old, 
Dr.  Cogswell  sought  the  co-operation  of  a  few  of  his  friends  and  neigh- 
bors in  an  effort  to  establish  a  school  for  deaf-mutes  in  Hartford. 

On  the  13th  of  April,  1815,  Ward  Woodbridge,  Daniel  Wadsworth, 
Henry  Hudson,  the  Hon.  Nathaniel  Terry,  John  Caldwell,  Daniel  Buck, 
Joseph  Battell  (of  Norfolk),  the  Rev.  Dr.  Nathan  Strong,  and  the  Rev. 
Thomas  H.  Gallaudet  met  at  the  house  of  Dr.  Cogswell,  on  his  invita- 
tion, to  take  steps  towards  the  organization  of  such  a  school.  The 
meeting  was  opened  with  prayer  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Strong ;  and  after 
considerable  discussion  all  agreed  that  the  first  thing  to  be  done  was 
to  secure  the  services  of  a  competent  person  who  should  visit  Europe 
for  the  purpose  of  acquiring  the  art  of  instructing  deaf-mutes. 

Dr.  Cogswell  and  Mr.  Woodbridge  were  appointed  a  committee  to 
obtain  subscriptions  to  meet  the  necessary  expenses,  and  to  find  a  suit- 
able man  who  would  be  willing  to  undertake  the  enterprise.  So  great 
was  the  interest  excited  in  the  novel  undertaking,  that  Mr.  Woodbridge 
in  a  single  day  secured  pledges  of  sufficient  amount  to  meet  the  ex- 
pense. And  for  the  x 
person  to  go,  all  in-             f/ 


terested  were  agreed      ^~y         /Y    J^^  >V^>        s-Ssr~^7~ 
in  naming  the^Rev.     C>>       -//-   ^ /Z^^&Z^&fr' 

Thomas    H.   Gallau- 
det, —  of  Yale,  1805,  —  who  had  recently  graduated  from  the  Andover 
Theological    Seminary,  and  was  most   favorably  known   in   Hartford 
as  a  young  man  of  finished  education,  fine  abilities,  and  high  social 
standing. 

Mr.  Gallaudet,  though  at  first  very  unwilling  to  turn  away  from  his 
sacred  calling,  was  at  length  persuaded  to  devote  himself  to  the  mission- 
ary work  (for  so  he  regarded  it)  which  opened  to  him,  and  on  the  25th 
of  May  sailed  from  New  York  for  Liverpool. 


426  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

Encountering  obstacles,  which  proved  insurmountable,  in  his  efforts 
to  gain  in  Great  Britain  a  knowledge  of  the  art  of  teaching  deaf-mutes, 
he  proceeded  to  France,  and  was  cordially  received  by  the  Abbe  Sicard, 
the  director  of  the  famous  Institution  for  Deaf -Mutes  at  Paris,  founded 
some  years  earlier  by  the  Abbe  de  l'Epee. 

Here  every  facility  was  accorded  Mr.  Gallaudet ;  and  when  he  was 
nearly  ready  to  return  to  America,  one  of  Sicard's  pupils  —  then  a 
teacher  in  the  Paris  school,  Laurent  Clerc  by  name — offered  his  ser- 
vices as  an  instructor  in  the  school  to  be  established  in  America. 
Mr.  Gallaudet  returned  to  America  in  August,  1816,  bringing  Mr.  Clerc 
with  him. 

During  Mr.  Gallaudet's  absence  little  had  been  done  toward  the 
organization  of  the  Asylum  beyond  the  securing  of  the  act  of  incorpora- 
tion, in  which  the  gentlemen  who  met  at  Dr.  Cogswell's  house  in  April, 
1815,  —  excepting  Mr.  Gallaudet,  —  with  fifty-four  others,  prominent 
citizens  of  Hartford  and  vicinity,  were  named  as  corporators.  These 
sixty-three  persons  had  contributed  the  sum  of  $2,340,  nearly  all  of 
which  was  expended  in  defraying  the  expense  of  Mr.  Gallaudet's  trip 
to  Europe  and  the  cost  of  Mr.  Clerc's  journey  from  Paris  to  Hartford. 

Mr.  Gallaudet's  energies  during  the  autumn  and  winter  following 
were  devoted  to  the  raising  of  funds  for  the  new  undertaking;  and  in 
these  efforts  Mr.  Clerc  rendered  valuable  assistance,  being  a  living 
demonstration  of  the  fact  that  a  very  high  degree  of  education  was 
possible  to  deaf-mutes.  The  responses  to  Mr.  Gallaudet's  appeals  were 
quick  and  ample.  Private  benevolence  furnished  upwards  of  $12,000, 
and  the  legislature  of  Connecticut  appropriated  $5,000.  With  these 
sums  in  hand,  the  directors  of  the  Asylum  issued  their  prospectus  on 
the  21st  of  March,  1817,  announcing  that  the  Asylum  would  be  ready 
to  receive  pupils  on  the  15th  of  April.  The  institution  was  opened  on 
that  day,  in  the  south  part  of  the  building  now  known  as  the  City 
Hotel,  on  Main  Street.  At  the  end  of  the  first  week  seven  pupils  were 
in  attendance,  and  on  the  1st  of  June  there  were  twenty-one.  By  the 
autumn  of  1818,  the  number  of  pupils  having  risen  to  nearly  sixty,  it 
appeared  to  the  directors  that  their  work  was  likely  to  become  national, 
and  it  was  thought  arrangements  might  be  made  to  educate  the  deaf  of 
the  whole  country  in  the  institution  at  Hartford.  It  seemed  proper, 
therefore,  that  the  aid  of  Congress  should  be  invoked.  Accordingly,  on 
the  25th  of  January,  1819,  the  directors  voted  :  "  That  the  Hon.  Nathaniel 
Terry  and  the  Hon.  Thomas  S.  Williams  be  authorized  and  requested 
to  present  a  petition  to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  praying  for 
a  grant  of  money  or  lands  for  the  benefit  of  this  institution." 

In  the  effort  which  followed,  Messrs.  Terry  and  Williams  were  aided 
by  the  Hon.  Timothy  Pitkin  and  their  other  colleagues  from  Connecti- 
cut, and  by  many  other  influential  and  philanthropic  members  of  Con- 
gress, prominent  among  whom  was  the  Hon.  Henry  Clay,  then  Speaker 
of  the  House.  Congress  responded  by  an  appropriation  of  an  entire 
township  of  land,  comprising  more  than  twenty-three  thousand  acres. 
In  consideration  of  this  national  bounty,  and  of  the  probable  national 
character  that  would  thereafter  attach  to  the  work  of  the  institution, 
it  was  thought  best  that  its  name  should  be  changed.  Such  change 
was  authorized  by  the  legislature  of  Connecticut,  and  the  institution 
assumed  the  name  it  now  bears. 


THE   AMERICAN  ASYLUM. 


427 


That  the  term  "  asylum"  should  ever  have  been  attached  to  the  insti- 
tution is  greatly  to  be  deplored.  Adopted  as  it  was  by  a  majority  of  the 
earlier  schools  for  the  deaf  in  this  country,  its  use  has  been  perniciously 
misleading  as  to  their  character ;  for  the  term  might  with  equal  pro- 
priety be  applied  to-day  to  Trinity  College  or  to  Mount  Holyoke  Female 
Seminary.  All  the  State  institutions  which  once  made  the  word 
"asylum"  a  part  of  their  corporate  names  —  excepting  only  that  of 
Texas  —  have  discarded  it;  and  it  is  most  sincerely  to  be  hoped  that 
before  another  historical  sketch  of  the  venerable  mother  school  at 
Hartford  shall  be  written, 
the  objectionable  term  will 
have  its  place  only  as  a 
matter  of  history. 

The  munificent  grant  of 
Congress  to  the  Asylum  was 
judiciously  converted  into 
cash  through  the  agency  of 
William  Ely,  Esq.,  and  the 
moneys  thus  secured  were 
invested  under  the  direction 
of  the  board.  The  income 
of  these  funds  has  been 
used  to  enable  the  Asylum 
to  receive  pupils  at  about 
one  half  the  actual  cost  of 
their  education.  The  last 
annual  statement  as  to  the 
condition  of  the  fund  — 
April,  1884  —  showed  the 
assets  of  the  Asylum  to  be 
$383,251.73,  including  cer- 
tain personal  bequests 
amounting  to  $7,233 ;  and 
the  cash  income  from  invest- 
ments during  the  previous 
year  was  $18,544. 

In  1821  the  permanent 
buildings  of  the  Asylum 
were  completed  and  opened 
for  use  on  the  site  now  oc- 
cupied by  the  institution. 

In  1825  the  States  of 
Massachusetts,  New  Hamp- 
shire, Vermont,  and  Maine 
sent  commissioners  to  con- 
fer with  the  directors  with 
a  view  of  agreeing  on  some 
terms  that  might  be  perma- 
nent for  the  education  in 
the   Asylum   of    deaf-mutes 

from  those  States.     These  negotiations  were  successful,  and  beneficia- 
ries from  the  States  above  named,  as  well  as  from  Rhode  Island,  have 


428  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

been  since  received  as  pupils  without  interruption.     The  arrangements 
still  continue. 

In  1830  Mr.  Gallaudet,  whose  labors  as  an  instructor,  as  principal 
executive  officer,  as  the  representative  of  the  institution  before  legisla- 
tures and  the  public  in  general,  and  as  a  member  of  the  board  of 
directors,  had  been  unremitting  and  most  exhausting,  felt  himself  con- 
strained, on  account  of  failing  health,  to  sever  his  connection  with  the 
institution,  except  in  his  position  as  a  director.  That  the  Asylum 
should  have  had,  as  its  ruling  and  directing  spirit  during  its  formative 
period,  a  man  in  whom  were  combined  such  strength  of  character,  such 
patience,  such  tact  and  judgment,  such  social  and  Christian  culture, 
such  enthusiasm,  and  such  disinterested  benevolence  as  were  proved  to 
exist  in  Mr.  Gallaudet,  was  an  inestimable  blessing.  And  although  he 
was  a  paid  officer,  whose  time  and  strength  were  understood  to  have 
been  purchased  by  the  institution,  the  amount  of  his  salary,  never 
large,  fell  so  far  short  of  being  a  compensation  for  his  services,  that  the 
voice  of  posterity  does  no  more  than  justice  to  his  memory  when  it  places 
him,  as  the  acknowledged  founder  of  the  Asylum,  and  of  deaf-mute 
education  in  America,  high  on  the  roll  of  the  world's  benefactors. 

Mr.  Gallaudet  was  succeeded  in  the  office  of  principal  by  Mr.  Lewis 
Weld,  a  graduate  of  Yale  in  1818,  who  had  been  for  four  years  an 
instructor  in  the  Asylum,  and  for  eight  years  the  principal  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Institution  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb.  During  the  period 
of  Mr.  Weld's  principalship  the  buildings  of  the  Asylum  were  enlarged 
and  improved.  The  number  of  pupils  increased  from  119  in  1830  to 
193  in  1853. 

In  1844  Mr.  Weld  visited  Europe  for  the  purpose  of  examining  the 
prominent  schools  for  the  deaf  in  that  part  of  the  world,  that  the 
Asylum  might  have  the  benefit  of  any  improvements  which  might  be 
found  there.1 

Having  discharged  the  duties  of  his  position  for  more  than  twenty- 
three  years  with  dignity  and  ability,  Mr.  Weld  died  in  office  on  the  30th 
of  December,  1853. 

He  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  William  W.  Turner,  a  graduate  of 
Yale  in  1819,  for  thirty-two  years  an  instructor  in  the  Asylum.     Mr. 

Turner  was  the  first  teacher  of 
the  Gallaudet  High  Class.  He 
also  acted  as  steward  for  sixteen 
years,  while  performing  full  duty 
as  a  teacher.  Under  Mr.  Turner's 
administration,  which  continued 
until  August,  1863,  the  prosperity  and  prestige  of  the  Asylum  was  fully 
maintained.  The  number  of  its  pupils  increased  to  253.  The  buildings 
were  a  second  time  enlarged  and  improved. 

In  1857  Mr.  Clerc,  having  completed  a  service  of  forty-one  years 
as  an  instructor  in  the  Asylum,  and  being  seventy-one  years  of  age, 
resigned  his  position.  As  a  mark  of  appreciation  of  his  long  and  suc- 
cessful labors,  the  directors  voted  him  a  pension  sufficient  for  his 
comfortable  support,  which  was  continued  until  his  death,  in  1869. 

1  In  the  summer  of  1852  a  class  for  the  advanced  instruction  of  the  more  intelligent 
pupils  was  organized,  and  named  the  Gallaudet  High  Class,  in  honor  of  the  founder  of  the 
Asylum,  whose  death  had  occurred  the  year  previous. 


ffajfr    i/wir^U?-^ 


JS %  4- 


THE  AMERICAN  ASYLUM.  429 

Mr.  Turner  resigned  the  principalship  in  1863,  and  was  succeeded 
by  the  Rev.  Collins  Stone,  a  graduate  of  Yale  in  1832,  for  nineteen 
years  an  instructor  in  the  Asylum,  and  for  eleven  years  the  superin- 
tendent of  the  Ohio  Institution  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb. 

During  Mr.  Stone's  term  of  office  earnest  efforts  were  made  in 
various  quarters  —  notably  in  Massachusetts  —  to  bring  into  disrepute 
the  method  of  instruction  which  had  been  followed  in  the  Asylum  from 
its  establishment.  Two  institutions  were  opened  —  one  in  Massachu- 
setts and  one  in  New  York  —  in  which 
the  teaching  of  articulation  was  to 
occupy  the  place  of  prominence. 
Mr.  Stone  so  ably  defended  the 
value  of  the  method  maintained  by  his  predecessors,  —  namely,  the 
manual  method,  —  that  although  the  States  of  New  England  were  will- 
ing to  allow  their  beneficiaries  to  enter  the  articulating  schools  if  this 
was  desired  by  their  parents  and  friends,  they  did  not  withdraw  their 
confidence  or  their  patronage  from  the  Asylum.1 

Mr.  Stone's  successful  principalship  was  terminated  by  his  sudden 
death  in  December,  1870,  when  he  was  instantly  killed,  being  struck 
by  a  locomotive  while  driving  across  the  tracks  in  Hartford.  He  was 
followed  in  office  by  his  son,  Edward  C.  Stone,  a  graduate  of  Yale  in 
1862,  who  had  been  four  years  an  instructor  in  the  Asylum,  and  for 
two  years  superintendent  of  the  Wisconsin  Institute  for  the  Deaf  and 
Dumb.  During  Mr.  E.  C.  Stone's  administration  increased  attention 
was  paid  to  the  subject  of  articulation.     The  system  of  Visible  Speech, 

adapted  to  the  teaching  of  deaf- 
mutes  by  Professor  A.  Graham 
Bell,  was  introduced  under  the 
personal  direction  of  Professor 
Bell.  In  his  early  death,  which 
occurred  in  December,  1878,  Mr.  E.  C.  Stone  was  mourned  as  one 
who  "  loved  his  work  for  the  work's  sake,  and,  while  shrinking  from 
the  public  gaze,  sought  earnestlv  and  faithfully  to  discharge  every 
duty." 

Mr.  E.  C.  Stone  was  succeeded  in  office  by  Mr.  Job  Williams,  a 
graduate  of  Yale  in  1864,  who  had  been  an  instructor  in  the  Asylum 
for  nearly  thirteen  years.  Under  the  scholarly  management  of  Mr. 
Williams  the  ancient  reputation  of  the  Asylum  has  been  handsomely 
maintained  ;  and  to 
him  belongs  the  hon- 
or of  having  demon- 
strated the  superior- 
ity of  the  combined 
system  of  instruc- 
tion, in  an  unanswer- 
able paper  read  before  the  Conference  of  Principals  held  in  July,  1884, 
at  Faribault,  Minn.     The  substance  of  this  paper,  with  the  important 

1  Mr.  Stone,  though  opposing  the  elevation  of  articulation  teaching  to  the  place  of  high- 
est importance,  was  willing  to  give  it  what  he  believed  to  be  its  proper  sphere  in  a  school  for 
the  deaf.  He  therefore  did  not  hesitate,  when  public  sentiment  demanded  it,  to  introduce 
the  teaching  of  speech  into  the  Asylum,  and  he  inaugurated  measures  that  have  since  led  to 
most  gratifying  results  in  this  department  of  deaf-mute  instruction. 


430  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF  HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

facts  it  narrates,  may  be  found  in  the  sixty-eighth  Annual  Report  of 
the  Asylum. 

It  has  been  the  uniform  policy  of  the  Asylum  to  employ  highly 
educated  men  and  women  as  teachers,  a  large  proportion  of  college 
graduates  being  always  found  in  the  corps  of  instructors.  In  its  aim 
to  make  its  graduates  self-supporting  members  of  society,  the  Asylum 
has  been  eminently  successful ;  and  this  result  is  no  doubt  in  large 
measure  due  to  the  fact  that  industrial  instruction,  introduced  as  early 
as  1823,  has  formed  an  essential  feature  in  the  training  of  the  pupils. 

The  institution  has  had  as  pupils  2,357  deaf  children  and  youth, 
ninety  per  cent  of  whom  have  come  from  New  England. 

The  management  of  the  finances  of  the  Asylum  has  been  brilliantly 
successful.  The  large  fund  derived  from  the  sale  of  lands  donated  by 
Congress  has  been  preserved  unimpaired.  The  commissioners  of  the 
fund  have  been  William  Ely,  1824-1839 ;  and  Seth  Terry,  1839-1864. 
The  treasurers  have  been  Ward  Woodbridge,  1816-1817  ;  James  H. 
Wells,  1817-1837;  James  B.  Hosmer,  1837-1864;  Roland  Mather, 
1864,  —  the  last-named  gentleman  acting  also  as  commissioner  of  the 
fund.  The  presidents  of  the  corporation  have  been  John  Cotton 
Smith,  William  Phillips,  Daniel  Wadsworth,  Nathaniel  Terry,  Thomas 
S.  Williams,  William  W.  Ellsworth,  Calvin  Day,  and  Francis  B.  Cooley. 
The  secretaries  of  the  corporation  have  been  William  W.  Ellsworth, 
Jonathan  Law,  Seth  Terry,  Daniel  P.  Hopkins,  Barzillai  Hudson,  John 
C.  Parsons,  and  Atwood  Collins. 

The  history  of  the  Asylum  would  be  incomplete  without  mention  of 
the  fact  that  many  of  the  now  flourishing  schools  for  the  deaf  in  the 
country  have  received  important  and  direct  assistance  from  the  Asylum. 
Repeatedly  have  gentlemen  from  distant  States  been  trained  at  the 
Asylum  to  be  teachers  and  principals.  Many  times  has  the  Asylum 
parted  with  valued  instructors  that  new  schools  might  have  the  benefit 
of  their  experience.  It  is  not,  therefore,  merely  on  the  fact  of  priority 
of  organization  that  the  just  claim  of  the  Asylum  to  be  called  the 
mother  school  for  the  deaf  in  America  is  based. 


Cj,    kAX^  .  <y  ^lXcw^m-^DG" 


THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY.  431 


THE  HARTFORD   THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY, 

BY    THE    REV.    WILLIAM    THOMPSON,    D.D., 

Dean  of  the  Faculty. 

The  Theological  Institute  of  Connecticut  was  chartered  the  first 
Wednesday  of  May,  1834,  and  was  formally  opened  the  following 
September.  A  convention  of  thirty-six  Congregational  ministers  was 
held  in  East  (now  South)  Windsor,  Sept.  10,  1833,  "  for  the  purpose 
of  consultation,  and  taking  such  measures  as  may  be  deemed  expedient 
for  the  defence  and  promotion  of  evangelical  principles."  The  more 
prominent  members  of  the  body  were  Drs.  Samuel  Spring,  Asahel 
Nettleton,  Nathaniel  Hewitt,  Daniel  Dow,  G.  A.  Calhoun,  Joseph 
Harvey,  and  the  Rev.  Cyrus  Yale. 

This  conference  was  an  expression  of  the  wide-spread  alarm  created 
by  the  speculations  and  dogmas  known  as  "  the  New  Haven  Divinity." 
The  famous  "  Concio  ad  Clerum,"  preached  Sept.  10,  1828,  by  Dr.  Na- 
thaniel W.  Taylor,  Professor  in  the  Theological  Department  of  Yale 
College,  brought  to  public  notice  some  of  the  views  held  by  himself  and 
his  associates,  which  were  regarded  by  many  as  at  variance  with  the 
teachings  of  Holy  Scripture.  In  the  leading  religious  quarterly  of  New 
England,  the  "  Christian  Spectator,"  the  new  doctrines  were  advocated 
with  great  ability  and  earnestness.  The  more  thoroughly  they  were 
examined  by  many  leaders  of  religious  thought  in  New  England  and 
elsewhere,  the  more  clearly  did  they  seem  to  be  "  antagonistic  to  bib- 
lical doctrines  respecting  the  Divine  government,  human  depravity, 
regeneration,  and  the  essential  difference  between  the  motives  that 
govern  renewed  and  unrenewed  men."  Such  was  the  judgment  of 
Jeremiah  Evarts,  Governor  John  Cotton  Smith,  Drs.  Tyler,  Nettleton, 
Humphrey,  Griffin,  Ebenezer  Porter,  Woods,  and  other  eminent  men  in 
the  denomination. 

At  the  East  Windsor  Convention,  September,  1833,  "  The  Pastoral 
Union  of  Connecticut "  was  organized  on  the  basis  of  a  Calvinistic 
creed.  Its  constitution  provided  for  the  establishment  of  a  theological 
seminary,  and  measures  were  at  once  adopted  to  execute  this  design. 
The  founders  of  the  seminary  defended  their  action  on  several  grounds ; 
but  more  decisive  than  all  other  considerations  was  the  prevalence 
of  religious  errors,  threatening,  as  many  believed,  great  and  lasting 
damage  to  the  churches. 

The  founders  of  the  seminary  sought  in  several  ways  to  guard  against 
the  perversion  of  consecrated  funds  and  other  perils  developed  in  the 
history  of  kindred  institutions.  They  vested  the  control  of  the  semi- 
nary not  in  a  self-perpetuating  corporation,  but  in  a  board  of  trustees 
chosen  annually  by  the  Pastoral  Union,  and  required,  as  a  condition  of 
holding  office,  to  give  their  assent  to  the  creed  of  the  Institute.  By 
this  means  the  seminary  is  brought  into  a  close  relation  with  the 
churches. 

The  institution  was   located   at  East  Windsor,  the   birthplace  of 


432  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

Jonathan  Edwards,  and  the  corner-stone  of  the  first  edifice  was  laid 
by  Dr.  Perkins,  of  West  Hartford,  May  13,  1834. 

When  the  regular  course  of  instruction  began,  the  following  autumn, 
sixteen  students  were  in  attendance.  Dr.  Bennett  Tyler  was  the  first 
professor  of  Theology,  Dr.  Jonathan  Cogswell  the  first  professor  of 
Church  History,  and  Professor  William  Thompson  gave  instruction  in 
Hebrew  and  Greek  Exegesis. 

For  several  years  the  current  expenses  of  the  seminary  were  defrayed 
by  small  gifts  from  persons  of  moderate  means.  At  first  the  trustees 
were  inclined  to  depend  on  such  aid  rather  than  the  proceeds  of  per- 
manent funds.  The  experiment  proved  unsatisfactory,  and  a  legacy 
of  eleven  thousand  dollars  from  Miss  Rebecca  Waldo,  of  Worcester, 
Mass.,  in  1839,  was  welcomed  as  a  pledge  of  necessary  endowments. 
Donations  varying  from  one  dollar  to  seven  thousand  dollars  were  re- 
ceived during  the  next  few  years  for  the  support  of  professors  and  the 
increase  of  the  library.  In  1849  a  second  professorship  was  endowed  by 
the  bequest  of  Mr.  Chester  Buckley  and  his  wife,  of  Wethersfield.  The 
attempt  to  set  aside  the  will  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Buckley  was  thwarted  by 
the  late  Hon.  Seth  Terry,  of  Hartford.  The  result  of  the  contest  was 
singularly  fortunate.  The  compromise  planned  by  Judge  Terry  secured 
to  the  heirs-at-law  considerably  more  than  the  sums  specified  in  the 
will,  and  to  various  public  institutions  and  charities  a  large  proportion 
of  what  was  bequeathed  them. 

The  third  professorship  was  endowed  partly  by  Dr.  Asahel  Nettleton, 
with  the  proceeds  of  "  Village  Hymns." 

By  far  the  most  munificent  contributor  to  the  funds  of  the  seminary 
was  the  late  Mr.  James  B.  Hosmer,  of  Hartford.  Besides  founding  the 
professorship  of  New  Testament  Exegesis,  he  gave  one  hundred  thousand 
dollars  for  the  erection  of  the  edifice  on  Broad  Street  which  bears  his 
name ;  and  as  the  residuary  legatee  the  institution  has  received  from 
his  estate  a  large  addition  to  its  permanent  fund. 

Liberal  gifts  have  been  made  by  the  late  Mr.  Richard  Bond,  of  Boston 
Highlands,  and  Messrs.  S.  S.  Ward,  Roland  Mather,  and  Newton  Case, 
of  Hartford.  To  the  last-named  gentleman  the  seminary  is  indebted 
for  the  rapid  growth  of  its  library  since  the  opening  of  Hosmer  Hall. 
By  a  donation  of  five  thousand  dollars,  Mr.  Joseph  Carew,  late  of  South 
Hadley  Falls,  Mass.,  provided  for  an  annual  course  of  lectures  from 
gentlemen  appointed  by  the  Faculty.  The  same  amount  has  recently 
been  given  by  five  individuals  to  found  a  Lectureship  of  Foreign  Mis- 
sions, with  the  expectation  that  it  will  be  enlarged  into  a  Professorship 
of  Missions. 

In  aid  of  needy  students,  twenty-two  scholarships  have  been  endowed 
by  friends  in  different  parts  of  New  England,  varying  from  one  thousand 
to  two  thousand  dollars  each. 

The  original  charter  allowed  the  trustees^to  hold  property  to  the 
amount  of  fifty  thousand  dollars.  In  1859  the  General  Assembly 
granted  the  Institute  power  to  hold  any  estate,  provided  the  annual 
income  thereof  shall  not  exceed  twelve  thousand  dollars.  By  a  second 
amendment  in  1880,  the  charter  now  covers  property  to  the  amount  of 
one  million  dollars,  with  the  usual  condition. 

Students  were  furnished  with  ample  facilities  for  physical  exercise 
at  East  Windsor.     Seventy  acres  of   choice   land  on  the   river  were 


THEOLOGICAL   SEMINARY.  433 

offered  for  their  use  free  of  rent.  Each  student  had  also  the  free  use 
of  a  box  of  tools  in  a  workshop  to  be  used  in  cold  and  stormy  weather. 
With  little  knowledge  of  agriculture  and  none  at  all  of  the  use  of 
carpenters'  tools,  and  with  various  other  drawbacks,  it  was  not  sur- 
prising that  the  young  men  soon  left  their  broad  acres  and  well-stocked 
workshop  for  more  congenial  recreation.  Connected  with  Hosmer  Hall 
is  a  well-equipped  gymnasium. 

The  establishment  of  a  classical  school,  as  well  as  a  theological  semi- 
nary, was  authorized  by  the  charter,  and  was  deemed  an  important 
branch  of  the  enterprise  at  East  Windsor. 

It  was  found  that  a  large  percentage  of  the  pupils  in  the  best  acade- 
mies of  Massachusetts  were  from  Connecticut.  In  1850  there  was  an 
earnest  call  for  a  first-class  training-school  in  this  State.  East  Windsor 
Hill  Academy  was  organized  in  1851.  Two  members  of  the  theological 
faculty  were  in  the  governing  board.  Mr.  Paul  A.  Chadbourne,  after- 
ward President  of  Williams  College,  was  chosen  principal  of  the 
academy,  and  from  the  first  a  high  standard  of  scholarship  and  morals 
was  maintained.  Its  graduates,  who  entered  our  best  colleges,  took  a 
high  rank,  and  when  at  the  end  of  ten  years  its  funds  were  reduced, 
the  trustees  chose  to  discontinue  the  school  rather  than  permit  its  good 
name  to  be  tarnished. 

The  disadvantages  incident  to  the  location  of  the  seminary  at  East 
Windsor  Hill  had  been  embarrassing  from  the  first,  and  at  the  end  of 
twenty  years  they  awakened  grave  apprehensions  among  its  firmest 
friends.  The  isolation  of  the  place,  sufficiently  characteristic  in  1834, 
had  become  extreme  in  1854.  The  lack  of  social  and  church  life,  and 
of  a  literary  atmosphere  in  the  surrounding  community,  aggravated  the 
discomfort  of  separation  from  the  outer  world. 

Seeing  no  reason  to  expect  any  marked  improvement  in  the  condi- 
tion of  the  seminary  if  it  remained  at  East  Windsor  Hill,  the  trustees 
invited  the  corporation  of  Yale  College  to  consider  a  proposal  for 
uniting  the  two  seminaries.  The  small  and  declining  number  of  stu- 
dents in  both  institutions  compelled  their  guardians  to  ask  how  an 
impending  calamity  could  be  avoided.  A  conference  was  held,  and 
upon  nearly  all  the  proposed  conditions  of  union  the  parties  were  of 
one  mind.  While  they  were  seeking  agreement  on  the  last  preliminary 
under  discussion,  the  New  Haven  gentlemen  intimated  that  "  due  regard 
to  certain  very  obvious  personal  relations  and  sympathies  compelled 
them  to  ask  a  delay  of  definite  action  until  such  time  as  Providence 
should  seem  to  indicate."  A  few  years  later,  in  1864,  the  Clerical 
Fellows  of  Yale  College  appointed  a  committee  to  resume  negotiations 
for  uniting -the  two  seminaries.  Important  changes  had  taken  place 
since  1856,  which  seemed  to  render  the  scheme  more  feasible  than 
when  it  was  first  proposed.  But  it  met  with  a  second  defeat.  The 
removal  of  the  seminary  from  East  Windsor  to  Hartford  had  been 
definitely  agreed  upon.  The  transfer  was  made  in  September,  1865. 
The  temporary  use  of  two  spacious  dwelling-houses  on  Prospect  Street 
was  secured,  and  two  others  were  subsequently  occupied  by  students. 
This  arrangement  continued  fourteen  years,  when  the  new  edifice  on 
Broad  Street  was  completed.  By  the  resignation  of  Dr.  Lawrence, 
the  Faculty  consisted  of  Professors  Yermilye  and  Thompson  when  the 
institution  was  transferred  to  its  new  home. 

VOL.   I.  —  28. 


434  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

Before  the  institution  had  become  fully  adjusted  to  its  new  surround- 
ings in  the  city,  propositions  were  made  for  its  amalgamation  with  two 
Western  seminaries.  A  similar  overture  came  from  another  quarter. 
It  is  presumed  that  no  more  proffers  of  this  kind  will  be  made. 

The  largest  number  of  students  belonging  to  the  seminary  before  its 
removal  to  Hartford  was  thirty-four;  the  catalogue  of  1884  contains 
fifty-four  names.  The  library  at  that  time  consisted  of  seven  thousand 
volumes  ;  it  now  has  forty-two  thousand.  The  three  professorships 
of  1834  have  increased  to  five,  to  which  has  lately  been  added  an  Asso- 
ciate Professorship  of  Sacred  Music  and  Hymnology. 

Of  those  who  have  studied  at  this  institution  a  larger  proportion 
than  of  those  connected  with  any  other  Congregational  seminary  in  the 
country  have  entered  home  and  foreign  mission  fields. 

The  theological  position  of  the  seminary  is  Calvinistic,  and  in  harmony 
with  the  accredited  formularies  of  New  England  Congregationalism. 

Faculty,  1886. 

William  Thompson,  D.D.,  Professor  Emeritus  of  the  Hebrew  Language  and 
Literature,  Dean  of  the  Faculty. 

Matthew  B.  Riddle,  D.D.,  Hosmer  Professor  of  New  Testament  Exegesis. 

William  S.  Karr,  D.D.,  Riley  Professor  of  Christian  Theology. 

Chester  D.  Hartranfc,  D.D.,  Waldo  Professor  of  Biblical  and  Ecclesiastical 
History. 

Lewellyn  Pratt,  D.D.,  Professor  of  Practical  Theology. 

Edwin  C.  Bissell,  D.D.,  Nettleton  Professor  of  the  Hebrew  Language  and 
Literature,  and  Instructor  in  Cognate  Languages. 

Waldo  S.  Pratt,  A.M.,  Associate  Professor  of  Sacred  Music  and  Hymnology. 


Ernest  C.  Richardson,  A.M.,  Librarian. 
F.  C.  Robertson,  Instructor  in  Elocution. 


^^.^^^y, 


i/^^^i^t^* 


y 


TRINITY   COLLEGE. 


435 


TRINITY  COLLEGE. 

BY    PROFESSOR   SAMUEL    HART,    D.D. 

The  Episcopalians  of  Connecticut  were  enabled  to  complete  their 
ecclesiastical  organization  soon  after  the  close  of  the  War  of  Indepen- 
dence, by  securing  the  consecration  of  a  bishop.  One  of  the  first 
matters  to  which  they  then  gave  their  attention  was  the  establishment 
of  educational  institutions  which  should  be  under  the  auspices  of  their 
church.      A  resolution   adopted   by  the   Convocation  in  1792  led  to 


TRINITY  COLLEGE  IN  1829. 

the  foundation  of  the  Episcopal  Academy  of  Connecticut  at  Cheshire, 
which  for  some  years  did  the  work  of  a  school,  a  college,  and  a  theo- 
logical seminary.  It  was  often  known  as  Seabury  College,  but  its 
supporters  failed  in  all  their  attempts  to  secure  for  it  a  charter  which 
might  empower  it  to  confer  degrees.  The  overthrow  of  the  Standing 
Order  and  the  adoption  of  the  State  Constitution  in  1818  opened  the 
way  for  new  efforts.  The  Rev.  Dr.  T.  C.  Brownell,  a  graduate  of 
Union  College,  and  for  ^ 
more  than  ten  years  a  f  f 
tutor  and  professor  there, 
was  elected  Bishop  of  Connecticut  in  1819.  Plans  were  again  laid 
for  securing  a  charter  for  a  college;  and  they  introduced  a  new 
element  into  the  religious  and  political  controversies  which  were  then 
agitating  the  State.  In  1822  eighteen  clergymen  met  at  Bishop  Brown- 
ell's  residence  in  New  Haven,  to  consult  as  to  the  steps  to  be  taken  in 
the  matter.  On  the  18th  day  of  May,  1823,  a  numerously  signed  peti- 
tion was  presented  to  the  legislature ;  three  days  later  the  act  of  incor- 
poration of  Washington  College  passed  the  lower  house  ;  and  it  soon 


436 


MEMORIAL  HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 


received  the  sanction  of  the  upper  house  and  the  approval  of  the  gov- 
ernor. It  seems  to  have  been  assumed  that  the  new  institution  would 
be  called  Seabuiy  College,  —  the  name  which,  as  has  just  been  said, 
was  frequently  given  to  the  academy  at  Cheshire ;  but  others  than 
Episcopalians  had  united  in  the  petition,  a  third  of  the  corporators 
were  not  Churchmen,  a  clause  of  the  charter  forbade  that  any  religious 
test  should  ever  be  required  of  any  officer  or  student,1  and  it  was  felt 
that  prejudice  would  be  disarmed  if  the  college  was  given  the  honored 
name  of  Washington.  The  charter  was  to  take  effect  whenever  $30,000 
should  be  subscribed  for  an  endowment ;  and  the  institution  was  to  be 
located  in  such  town  within  the  State  as  should  be  selected  by  the 
trustees. 

The  passage  of  the  act  of  incorporation  was  received  by  the  citizens 
of  Hartford  with  great  joy,  as  was  testified  by  the  lighting  of  bonfires 

and  the  firing  of   cannon.     Within  a 
year  about  $50,000  were  raised  for  the 
new  college ;  and  the  citizens  of  Hart- 
ford having  surpassed  those  of  other 
towns  in  the  competition  in  liberality 
to  which  they  had  been  invited,  —  more 
than  three  fourths  of  the  sum   men- 
tioned   having    been    contributed    by 
them,  —  that  city  was  selected  as  the 
seat  of  the  institution.     An  ample  and 
beautiful  site  of  some  fourteen  acres 
was    secured   on   an   eminence    about 
half  a  mile  west  of  the  State  House ; 
and  in  June,  1824,  two  buildings  were 
begun.     They  were   erected   of   Port- 
land brown  stone,  in  the  Ionic  order 
of   architecture,   and   were   afterward 
known   as    Seabury  Hall   and   Jarvis 
Hall.      The    former,    containing    the 
chapel,  the   library,  the   cabinet,  and 
other  public  rooms,  was  designed  by 
Professor  S.  F.  B.  Morse  ;   the  latter, 
a  dormitory  block,  by  Samuel  Willard, 
of    Boston,    the    architect  of    Bunker 
Hill  Monument.     They  were  ready  for 
occupation  in  the  autumn  of  1825. 
On  the  6th  day  of  May,  1824,  Bishop  Brownell  was  elected  Presi- 
dent of  the  College.     In  the  August  following,  a  Faculty  was  chosen, 
consisting  of  the  Rev.  George  W.  Doane  (afterward  Bishop  of  New 
Jersey),  Professor  of  Belles  Lettres  and  Oratory;  Dr.  Frederick  Hall, 
Professor  of  Chemistry  and  Mineralogy ;  Dr.  George  Sumner,  Professor 
of  Botany ;  and  Mr.   Horatio  Hickok,  Professor  of   Agriculture  and 
Political  Economy  (probably  the  first  incumbent  of  a  chair  of  political 
economy   in    this   country) ;    together   with    Mr.    Hector   Humphreys 


DINING-HALL    MAXTEL-PIECK 


1  The  religions  test  at  Yale  College,  to  which  strenuous  objection  had  been  made  by  the 
petitioners  for  the  new  institution,  was  repealed  by  the  corporation,  at  a  special  meeting  in 
Hartford,  on  the  day  before  the  petition  for  Washington  College  was  presented  to  the  General 
Assembly. 


TRINITY   COLLEGE.  437 

(afterward  President  of  St.  John's  College,  Maryland)  as  Tutor.  In 
182G  Mr.  Humphreys  was  elected  the  first  Professor  of  the  Ancient 
Languages,  and  in  1828,  the  Rev.  Horatio  Potter  (now  Bishop  of  New 
York)  was  chosen  Professor  of  Mathematics  and  Natural  Philosophy. 
When  they  announced  the  names  of  the  members  of  the  Faculty,  the 
trustees  also  published  the  proposed  course  of  instruction,  which  was 
conformed  to  that  prescribed  by  the  older  colleges  of  New  England  for 
the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts,  no  provision  being  made  for  any  theo- 
logical or  other  professional  instruction.  It  was  proposed,  however, 
to  receive  students  who  might  not  be  prepared  to  undertake  the  full 
course  of  study  for  a  degree,  and  to  allow  them  ,k  to  pursue  such  particu- 


TRINITY  COLLEGE  IN  1869. 

lar  studies  as  might  be  suited  to  their  circumstances,"  and  for  such 
length  of  time  as  might  be  desired.  This  was  nearly  if  not  quite  a 
new  feature  in  American  college  education,  and  it  attracted  a  consid- 
erable number  of  students. 

At  the  opening  of  the  college,  Sept.  23,  1824  (when,  the  buildings 
not  being  completed,  it  was  temporarily  accommodated  with  rooms  in 
the  city),  nine  undergraduates  were  admitted;  before  the  close  of  the 
year  the  number  had  increased  to  twenty-eight ;  and  in  1827-1828 
there  were  eighty-seven  students  in  the  institution.  The  beginning  of 
an  excellent  library  was  soon  made ;  and  when  the  Rev.  Dr.  S^F.  Jarvis, 
who  became  connected  with  the  college  in  1828,  placed  his  valuable 
collection  of  books  at  the  service  of  the  officers  and  students,  it  was 
said  that  the  library  was  only  second  in  value  to  that  of  Harvard  Col- 
lege. Students  in  science  were  assisted  in  their  studies  by  good  philo- 
sophical apparatus,  a  valuable  mineralogical  cabinet,  and  a  botanical 
garden.  The  war  of  pamphlets  did  not  cease  at  once,  the  special 
champion  of  the  college  in  reply  to  a  vigorous  opponent's  "  Considera- 
tions "  being  the  JRev.  Dr.  Nathaniel  S.  Wheaton,  who  had  already 
shown  his  interest  in  the  college  by  making  a  visit  to  England  to  ask 
for  contributions  for  the  supply  of  the  library  and  of  philosophical  appa- 
ratus. The  college  met  with  a  fair  share  of  prosperity  ;  yet  it  is  to  be 
remembered  that  it  owed  its  existence  to  the  generous  liberality  of  a 
small  number  of  persons.     At  the  end  of  ten  years  the  whole  amount 


438 


MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 


of  donations  was  a  little  more  than  8100,000,  of  which  $11,500  was 
the  gift  of  the  State  ;  while  the  annual  income,  besides  the  amount  of 
fees  paid  by  the  students,  was  about  $1 ,500. 

An  honorary  Doctorate  in  Divinity  was  conferred  in  1826  upon  the 
saintly  Alexander  Jolly,  Bishop  of  Moray  in  Scotland;  but  the  first 

Commencement  was  held  in 
August,  1827,  in  the  Centre 
Church,  when  ten  young  men 
received  the  degree  of  Bache- 
lor of  Arts.1  On  the  4th  of 
June,  1825,  the  students 
founded  a  literary  society 
known  as  the  Athenaeum  ; 
and  in  1827,  nineteen  of  its 
members,  among  whom  was 
the  poet  Park  Benjamin,  with- 
drew to  form  another  society 
under  the  name  of  the  Par- 
thenon. A  third  literary  so- 
ciety, the  Theta  Beta  Phi, 
organized  in  1828,  had  but 
a  short  life ;  but  the  Athenae- 
um and  the  Parthenon  con- 
tinued in  active  existence  till 
1870,  when  they  were  dis- 
banded and  their  libraries 
merged  in  that  of  the  college. 
The  Whately  Debating  Soci- 
ety is,  however,  a  "  survival  " 
of  the  Parthenon.  In  1832 
a  Missionary  Society  was 
founded,  its  first  president 
being  George  Benton,  after- 
ward a  faithful  missionary  to 
Greece  ;  it  is  still  in  active 
existence.  The  Alumni  or- 
ganized themselves  into  an 
Association  on  the  3d  day  of  August,  1831. 

Bishop  Brownell  was  obliged  to  give  much  of  his  time  to  the  admin- 
istration of  the  college  ;  and  though  he  had  great  affection  for  the 
institution  and  great  "interest  in  academic  work,  he  concurred  in  the 
judgment  of  his  Convention  that  it  was  desirable  that  he  should  devote 
himself  exclusively  to  the  pastoral  work  of  the  Diocese.  On  the  3d 
day  of  October,  1831,  he  resigned  the  presidency,  and  on  the  18th  of 
December  he  retired  from  his  duties.  Yet,  x&  a  member  of  the  corpo- 
ration and  as  chancellor,  he  maintained  an  active  interest  in  the  wel- 
fare of  the  college,  until  his  death,  in  1805  ;  and  when  he  could  no 
longer  be  present  at  its  public  exercises,  the  Commencement  procession 

1  It  appears  that  three  Commencements  were  held  in  the  Centre  Church.  The  new  Christ 
Church  was  completed  in  1829  ;  and  the  Commencements  from  1830  to  1860  inclusive  were  held 
in  it.  The  Commencement  exercises  in  1861  were  in  St.  John's  Church  ;  from  1862  to  1867 
inclusive,  in  Allyn  Hall;  and  since  1867,  in  Roberts's  Opera-House. 


STATUE    OF    BISHOP    15KOWXELL, 
COLLEGE    CAMPUS. 


TRINITY   COLLEGE. 


439 


would  halt  at  his  residence  to  salute  him  and  receive  his  salutation. 
The  college  is  itself  his  monument ;  and  the  colossal  statue  which 
adorns  the  campus,  the  gift  of  a  son-in-law,  will  remind  future  genera- 
tions of  the  debt  which  it  owes  to  him. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Wheaton  was  immediately  chosen  to  succeed  Bishop 
Brownell  in  the  presidency  of  the  college.  He  worked  for  its  interests 
with  the  same  self-denying  zeal  which  he  had 

shown  at  the  time  of  its  foundation.     He  made      ~rfrJ'» '#&+&*»)  * 
successful  efforts  to  secure  further  endowments  ; 

the  Hobart  Professorship  was  founded  by  gifts  of  $20,000  from  indi- 
viduals and  corporations  in  the  State  of  New  York  ;  the  Seabury  Pro- 
fessorship was  established,  its  beginning  being  from  a  legacy  of  Nathan 


VIEW    OF    PROPOSED    BUILDINGS,    TRIXITY    COLLEGE. 


Warren,  Esq.,  of  Troy;  and  other  sums  were  liberally  contributed. 
Dr.  Wheaton's  own  gifts  to  the  college  were  both  liberal  and  judicious  ; 
and  they  were  freely  bestowed  all  through  his  life  and  at  his  death. 
It  was  owing  to  his  judgment  and  taste  that  the  grounds  of  the  college 
were  tastefully  laid  out,  and  that  such  excellent  use  was  made  of  the 
natural  advantages  of  its  site.  In  faithful  labor,  in  generous  benefac- 
tions, in  noble  example,  no  one  has  done  more  for  the  college  than 
was  done  by  Dr.  Wheaton. 

On  his  resignation  of  the  presidency,  in  1837,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Silas 
Totten,  who  had  been  for  four  years  Professor  of  Mathematics  and 
Natural  Philosophy,  was  chosen  to  succeed  him;  and  his  administra- 
tion extended  over  eleven  vears.     He  was  able  to  secure  considerable 


440 


MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 


additions  to  the  funds  of  the  college,  especially  for  the  establishment 
of  scholarships;  and  in  1845  to  complete  the  original  plans  for  the 
buildings  by  the  erection  of  a  second  dormitory  block,  which  was  called 
Brownell  Hall.  In  the  same  year  the  Connecticut  Beta  of  the  Phi  Beta 
Kappa  was  organized  at  the  college  under  authority  conveyed  to  Pro- 
fessor John  Brocklesby ;  and  this  society  has  never  failed  to  do  an  ex- 
cellent work  in  encouraging  diligent  scholarship  and  sound  learning 
among  the  students. 

The  name  of  Washington  College  had  never  been  satisfactory  ;  and 
it  was  probably  adopted  at  the  first,  as  was  suggested  above,  at  a  time 
when  all  kinds  of  objections  were  made  to  the  foundation  of  a  new  col- 
lege, chiefly  on  the  ground  that  it  was  quite  unobjectionable.     It  does 

not    seem  to  have  been  pro- 


.11 


% 


BISHOP    SEABURY's    MITRE. 


posed  at  any  time  to  revive 
the  name  of  Seabury  College ; 
but  a  name  was  taken  which 
was  associated  not  only  with 
sound  faith,  but  also  (and  this 
seems  to  have  been  the  chief 
reason)  with  sound  learning 
and  extended  scholarship,  es- 
pecially at  the  University  of 
Cambridge  in  England.  The 
Alumni  at  their  meeting  in 
1844  proposed  that  a  change 
should  be  made  in  the  name 
of  the  college  ;  and  on  the 
8th  of  May  in  the  following 
year  the  corporation  voted 
that  it  was  expedient  that  the 
name  should  be  altered  to 
Trinity  College,  and  the  con- 
sent of  the  General  Assem- 
bly of  the  State  was  soon  obtained.  In  the  same  year  the  trustees, 
acting  under  a  clause  in  the  original  charter,  organized  a  Board  of 
Fellows,  to  have  the  superintendence  of  the  course  of  study  and  disci- 
pline ;  and  the  Alumni  and  other  graduates,  not  being  members  of  the 
corporation,  were  organized  into  the  House  of  Convocation.  In  1883 
the  name  of  this  body,  at  its  own  request,  was  changed  to  that  of 
the  Association  of  the  Alumni. 

In  August,  1848,  Dr.  Totten  resigned  his  position  as  president ;  and 
the  announcement  of  the  election  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  John  Williams,  a 
graduate  of  the  college  in  the 
class  of  1835,  was  received  with 
great  enthusiasm.  Dr.  Williams, 
it  need  not  be  said,  was  a  man 
of  remarkable  natural  abilities 
and  rare  attainments,  well  cal- 
culated for  an  academic  position, 
and  in  his  presidency  he  did 
good  service  to  the  college  and  to  the  general  cause  of  education.  By 
his  efforts,  it  should  also  be  noted,  the  library  funds  were  considerably 


Jfe: 


£%?&*</ 


'.■    >;    i    ™ 


TRINITY  COLLEGE.  443 

increased.  In  1851  Dr.  Williams  gathered  about  himself  and  other 
learned  clergymen  in  the  college  a  number  of  young  men  studying 
for  holy  orders  ;  and  this  informal  theological  department  led  to  the 
foundation  of  the  Berkeley  Divinity  School,  which  was  chartered  in  1854 
and  located  in  Middletown.  In  i851  Dr.  Williams  was  elected  Assist- 
ant Bishop  of  Connecticut ;  and  two  years  later,  his  episcopal  duties 
increasing,  he  resigned  the   presidency  of  the  college. 

To  him  succeeded,  in  1853,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Daniel  R.  Goodwin ;  in  1860, 
Dr.  Samuel  Eliot ;  and  in  1864,  the  Rev.  Dr.  John  B.  Kerfoot.  They 
were  all  men  of  scholarly  attainment, 
who  left  their  mark  on  the  institu- 
tion ;  and  though  the  college  felt  the 
depressing  effects  of  the  Civil  War, 
and  was  weakened  in  numbers  by  *""~  ' 
sending  a  goodly  delegation  into  the  national  service,  yet  it  maintained 
and  advanced  its  standard  of  scholarship,  and  the  beneficence  of  friends 
made  liberal  additions  to  its  general  funds,  besides  founding  the 
Scovill  Professorship  and  increasing  the  endowment  of  the  library. 
Dr.  Kerfoot  withdrew  from  the  college  on  being  elected  to  the  Bishopric 
of  Pittsburgh,  in  January,  1866. 

In  June,  1867,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Abner  Jackson,  President  of  Hobart 

College,  a  graduate  in  the  class  of  1837,  was  chosen  to  fill  the  vacant 

-,  place.     He  was  well    known  in 

y^  ~2s/J?Q  y  academic  life,  and  brought  a  ripe 

C_^^S      >^2x>^€$*i>>-t——  -     experience  to  his  work.     Under 
yf~^  his  administration,  in  1871-1872, 

/y  for  the  first  time  the  number  of 

of  undergraduates   reached  a  hun- 

dred. In  1871,  by  the  legacy  of  Mr.  Chester  Adams,  of  Hartford,  the 
college  received  about  $60,000,  the  largest  gift  thus  far  from  any 
individual  donor.  A  gift  of  the  Hon.  Isaac  Toucey  also  provided  for  the 
foundation  of  four  valuable  scholarships  for  necessitous  students  for 
the  ministry. 

When  the  city  of  Hartford,  in  1871,  decided  to  offer  to  the  State  a 
site  for  a  new  capitol,  it  was  proposed  to  purchase  the  college  campus 
for  that  purpose.  The  trustees  twice  rejected  the  proposition  which 
was  made  by  the  city ;  but  at  last,  in  February,  1872,  they  voted  to  sell 
the  college  site  in  consideration  of  $600,000,  reserving  the  right  to  use 
the  grounds,  with  Seabury  Hall,  Jarvis  Hall,  and  part  of  Brownell  Hall 
(if  possible),  for  five  or  six  years.  In  1873,  a  site  of  some  eighty  acres 
on  the  slope  of  the  trap  dyke  about  a  mile  to  the  south  of  the  old  cam- 
pus, commanding  an  extended  and  beautiful  view  in  every  direction,  was 
purchased  by  the  college ;  and  President  Jackson  visited  England  and 
secured  from  Mr.  Burges  elaborate  plans  for  the  erection  of  a  complete 
suite  of  college  buildings  in  four  quadrangles.  But  before  the  work  had 
been  begun,  Dr.  Jackson  died,  on  the  19th  of  April,  1874,  being  the 
only  officer  of  instruction  in  the  college  who  had  died  in  office. 

To  his  successor,  the  Rev.  Dr.  T.  R.  Pynchon,  a  graduate  in  the  class 
of  1841,  and  for  many  years  professor  in  the  college,  fell  the  task  of 
modifying  the  plans  and  carrying  them  out  in  part.  The  original  de- 
sign had  been  altered  so  as  to  provide  for  two  quadrangles  each  three 
hundred  feet  square,  having  between  them  a  third,  six  hundred  feet  by 


444 


MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 


three  hundred ;  but  it  was  found  necessary  to  change  entirely  the  gen- 
eral appearance  and  arrangement  of  the  part  of  the  buildings  which  it 
was  possible  to  erect  at  once,  in  order  to  provide  for  the  immediate 
-  *  needs  of  the  college  from 

]y/      j.     <1&  rf/j  y  the  funds  which  were  at 

//i^erV  -  ^l  *  C/^^^v^WZO  ,       its  disposal.    Ground  was 
r  broken     on     Commence- 

ment day,  1875,  with  impressive  ceremonies  ;  and  two  large  blocks  of 
buildings  —  Seabury  Hall,  intended  in  large  part  for  public  rooms,  and 
Jarvis  Hall,  for  officers'  and  students'  dormitories  —  forming  nearly 
the  whole  west  side  of  the  long  quadrangle,  were  ready  for  occupation 
in  1878.  The  erection  of  Northam  Hall  in  1881,  joining  these  build- 
ings, completing  the  western  range  of  the  quadrangle,  and  crowning 
it  with  its  lofty  towers,  has  added  greatly 
to  the  external  appearance  of  the  build- 
ings. Their  style  is  in  the  secular  Gothic 
of  the  early  French  type ;  and  they  are 
probably  unsurpassed  in  solidity  and  elabo- 
ration of  work  by  any  other  similar  build- 
ings. The  completion  of  the  plan,  providing 
separate  buildings  for  the  Chapel,  the  Li- 
brary, the  Museum,  the  Dining-Hall,  etc., 
has  been  left  to  future  years.  Northam 
Hall  takes  its  name  from  its  munificent 
donor,  Mr.  Charles  H.  Northam,  of  Hart- 
ford, who  added  to  this  gift  a  legacy  pro- 
viding for  the  endowment  of  a  professor- 
ship and  for  an  addition  of  $75,000  to  the 

general  funds  of  the  college.  The  sum  total  of  his  gifts,  together  with 
a  legacy  from  his  widow,  does  not  fall  far  short  of  a  quarter  of  a  mil- 
lion of  dollars.  Under  President  Pynchon's  administration  large  and 
valuable  additions  were  made  to  the  library  and  the  cabinet  of  the 
college.     He  retired  from  the  presidency  in  1883. 

He  has  been  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  George  Williamson  Smith, 
who  has  been  most  enthusiastically  received.  During  the  year  just 
passed,  a  change  has  been  introduced  into  the  regular  curriculum  of 
studies,  whereby  one  fourth  of  the  work  of  the  last  two  years  is  made 


SEAL    OF    THE   COLLEGE. 


£fr*-cZ*Z^> 


elective,  and  carefully  arranged  courses  are  provided  for  instruction 
in  science  and  in  letters.  It  is  hoped  and  believed  that  the  college 
will  never  fail  to  maintain  a  high  standard  ^6f  liberal  culture  ;  and 
that  her  Alumni  will  always  continue  to  exert  a  wide  influence  in 
the  learned  professions  and  in  the  business  of  life,  carrying  out  the 
full  meaning  of  the  motto  which  the  college  bears  on  its  seal :  "  Pro 
Ecclesia  et  Patria." 


THE    CAPITOL    AND    BUSHXELL    PARK, 
FROM    THE    MULBERRY    STREET   BRIDGE. 


PARKS   AND   PUBLIC   WORKS.  447 


SECTION   V. 

PARKS  AND  PUBLIC   WORKS. 

BY    WILLIAM   A,.    AYRES. 

Parks    and   Public    Grounds.  —  Fire    Department. — Water    Supply.  —  Street 

Lighting. 

It  is  safe  to  say  that  without  Horace  Bushnell  Hartford  could  have 
had  no  such  park  as  that  which  bears  his  name.  It  was  he  who  saw 
the  need  and  the  opportunity,  and  who  hammered  public  feeling  into 
shape.  The  spot  he  selected  was  unpromising  to  any  one  without  his 
prophetic  imagination.  It  was  apparently  an  out-of-the-way  place, 
occupied  by  dirty  buildings  and  waste  pasture,  given  up  to  uncleanness 
and  the  hardest  kind  of  prosaic  neglect  and  dirt.  He  saw  more  or  less 
clearly  what  might  be  made  of  it,  and  he  anticipated  the  probable  growth 
of  the  city  which  would  make  it  a  central  breathing-spot,  easily  acces- 
sible, and  fittest  in  situation  of  all  the  places  that  could  be  suggested. 
He  worked  hard  for  it,  and  lived  long  enough  to  see  it  laid  out  and  well 
advanced  toward  the  development  that  has  caused  it  to  be  named  the 
most  beautiful  park  of  its  size  in  the  tSiited  States.  His  personal 
influence  was  what  carried  the  scheme  through  in  the  face  of  opposition 
and  distrust.  The  park  was  laid  out  in  1853.  Not  many  years  before, 
the  railroad  tracks  had  run  across  the  northern  part  of  it.  There  were 
a  few  houses  upon  it,  the  only  one  of  any  consequence  being  that  of 
James  Ward,  which  stood  north  of  the  large  elm-tree  that  is  now  within 
the  park  and  opposite  the  First  Regiment  Armory.  Most  of  it  was  waste 
land,  undulating  in  surface,  well  studded  with  trees,  having  ajew-sherls  " 
along  the  northern  part,  and  a  small  collection  of  poor  houses  near 
Imlay's  Mill,  which  stood  not  far  from  the  present  tool-house  on  the 
bank  of  the  river  in  the  west  park.  Elm  Street,  instead  of  following  its 
present  line,  tended  to  the  north  all  the  way  west  from  Daniels's  Mjll, 
the  north  line  being  a  little  south  of  the  large  elm-tree  above  mentioned. 
From  this  point  the  street  curved  more  to  the  north,  passing  what/  is 
now  Ford  Street  not  far  from  the  position  of  the  Putnam  monument. 
At  a  point  about  due  south  of  the  stepping-stones  it  curved  sharply  to 
the  north,  and  then  west,  to  the  mill.  This  part  of  it,  as  well  as  the 
present  Trinity  Street  and  Lafayette  Street,  was  all  known  as  Cooper's 
Lane.  There  was  a  ford  for  horses  and  wagons  from  Pearl  Street,  run- 
ning a  little  west  of  the  present  Ford  Street  bridge,  and  another  near 
the  present  bridge  above  the  stepping-stones.  Near  the  river  on  the 
south  side  and  west  of  Ford  Street  the  land  was  low  and  wet,  rising 
abruptly  to  the  upper  level  near  the  edge  of  which  Cooper's  Lane  ran 
to  the  mill.  Across  this  low  land  and  over  the  river  between  the  two 
fords  ran  a  long  foot-bridge,  much  higher  where  it  crossed  the  river 
than  on  either  side.  The  place  was  also  encumbered  with  railroad  em- 
bankments.    The  park  as  at  first  laid  out  contained  about  twenty-five 


448 


MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OP   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 


acres,  lying  chiefly  within  the  curve  made  by  the  Park  River  from  above 
the  Imlay  dam  to  Daniels's  dam.  When  Trinity  College  was  removed, 
and  the  present  State  Capitol  built,  all  the  land  north  of  Capitol  Avenue 
in  that  immediate  vicinity  became  practically  a  part  of  the  park.  The 
enclosure  is  very  fortunate  in  the  natural  contour  of  the  surface,  which 
is  sufficiently  varied,  and  lies  for  the  most  part  in  slopes  and  hollows 
that  present  graceful  outlines  and  much  variety.  It  was  fortunate  also 
in  the  number  and  variety  of  its  trees,  and  in  the  beauty  of  many  indi- 
vidual specimens.  Subsequent  additions  have  made  the  variety  of  trees 
represented  almost  unique  for  a  tract  of  so  small  area,  and  they  have 
generally  been  set  with  an  excellent  eye  to  effect.     The  way  in  which 


THE    MEMORIAL    ARCH. 

(By  permission  of  the  Publishers  of  "  Harper's  Magazine.") 


natural  contours  of  land  and  trees  standing  in  the  place  have  been 
treated  is  specially  worth  notice  ;  and  it  is  through  these  and  the  excel- 
lence of  the  lawn  that  the  park  obtains  much  of  its  attractiveness. 
Little  has  been  done  in  the  way  of  monuments  or  works  of  art.  A  fine 
bronze  statue  of  General  Putnam,  by  J.  Q.  A.  Ward,  stands  on  what  is 
known  as  the  West  Park, —  that  part  which  lies  west  of  Ford  Street ;  and 
one  of  Dr.  Horace  Wells,  by  T.  H.  Bartlett,  stands  on  a  temporary  ped- 
estal in  the  East  Park,  and  commemorates  his  discovery  of  anaesthesia. 
Beyond  this  there  is  nothing  except  the  handsome  soldiers'  monument, 
begun  in  1884,  which  stands  at  the  Ford  Street  entrance.  It  is  original 
in  design,  and  shows  on  a  triumphal  arch  of  brown  stone  a  very  excel- 
lent use  of  terra-cotta  in  the  form  of  a  frieze,  which  represents  scenes 
from  the  War  of  the  Rebellion.  As  a  matter  of  record  it  may  be  noted 
that  Bushnell  Park  contains  about  a  hundred  and  fifty  species  of 
trees,  —  perhaps  the  largest  variety  to  be  found  growing  in  the  open  air 
within  equal  limits.     Two  oak-trees  from  acorns  of  the  Charter  Oak 


PARKS   AND   PUBLIC   WORKS. 


449 


grow  in  the  park,  —  one  in  the  triangle  near  the  Trumbull  Street 
bridge,  and  one  near  Clinton  Street. 

For  a  number  of  years  the  place  was  known  simply  as  "  the  park," 
and  often  goes  by  that  name  still.  Properly  and  suitably,  however,  it 
is  Bushnell  Park.  The  name'  was  given  it  by  vote  of  the  common 
council,  Feb.  14,  1876,  at  which  time  also  resolutions  were  passed  rec- 
ognizing the  work  Dr.  Bushnell  had  done  to  secure  and  develop  it.  He 
then  was  lying  ill  with  what  proved  to  be  his  last  sickness.  He  died 
three  days  later. 

The  other  public  parks  are  all  small,  the  most  important  being  the 
South  Green,  or  South  Park,  at  the  junction  of  Main  Street  and  Wetk- 
ersfield  Avenue,  li  dates  back  to  the  earliest  clays  of  the  settlement, 
when  there  was  a  divergence  of  ways  at  this  point.  It  was  fenced  in 
1816,  and  lying  at  the  end  of  the  nearly  straight  stretch  of  Main  Street, 
and  at  a  point  where  six  streets  meet,  has  always  been  a  sort  of  natu- 
ral mark  and  limit.     In  addition  to  this  there  are  Washington  Street 


VIEW    OF    THE    CAPITOL. 


Park,  at  the  north  end  of  Washington  Street  (laid  out  as  a  park  in 
1881)  ;  Village  Street  Park,  at  Windsor  and  Village  streets ;  the  Tun- 
nel Park,  at  the  junction  of  Main  Street  and  Albany  Avenue  (laid  out 
in  1875)  ;  Windsor  Street  Park,  between  Avon,  Front,  North,  and  Wind- 
sor streets  (ordered,  but  not  laid  out)  ;  and  the  Franklin  Avenue  Park, 
laid  out  in  1876,  at  the  junction  of  Franklin  Avenue  and  Maple  Avenue. 
All  these  last  are  inconsiderable.  The  chairmen  of  the  Park  Commis- 
sion which  has  charge  of  all  these  grounds,  including  that  about  the 
city  hall,  have  been  William  L.  Collins,  Fred.  S.  Brown,  S.  R.  McNary, 
and  Sherman  W.  Adams. 


450  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

With  the  parks  must  be  classed  the  City  Hall  Square.  No  exact 
information  as  to  its  original  dimensions  can  be  had.  It  was  first 
known  as  Meeting-House  Yard,  and  kept  the  name  for  a  hundred  years. 
Old  records  give  an  approximate  idea  of  its  size  and  shape,  and  from 
these  it  seems  to  have  been  almost  twice  as  large  as  now,  extending  to 
the  north,  south,  and  east.  The  uncertainty  as  to  its  exact  boundaries 
is  a  natural  result  of  the  conditions.  The  town  as  a  corporation  owned 
all  the  land  in  the  plantation,  and  allotted  it  among  the  inhabitants.  It 
took  what  seemed  a  suitable  piece  for  public  purposes,  and  there  was 
no  need  for  too  exact  measurement  or  record.  It  has  been  suggested 
that  some  common  division,  such  as  is  illustrated  in  the  ten-acre  field, 
might  have  been  intended ;  but  no  computation  that  agrees  at  all  with 
the  limits  as  approximately  known  lends  any  authority  to  the  supposi- 
tion, and  it  is  rather  to  be  believed  that  it  was  laid  out  without  any 
regard  to  exact  area.  A  map  compiled  from  old  records  by  William  S. 
Porter,  who  was  both  an  antiquarian  and  a  surveyor,  and  whose  conclu- 
sions have  thus  a  double  support,  shows  the  square  in  1640,  four  years 
after  the  actual  settlement,  as  extending  much  less  than  half-way  to 
Kinsley  Street  on  the  north,  to  a  point  somewhat  below  the  building  of 
the  Hartford  Trust  Company  on  the  south,  and  a  little  way  to  the  east. 
Here  the  first  meeting-house,  a  temporary  affair,  was  built  near  the 
south  side  of  the  square.  About  four  years  later  a  large  and  better 
building  was  put  up  on  the  east  side  of  the  square  very  near  the  pres- 
ent front  line  of  the  American  Hotel.  This  was  used  for  about  ninety 
years.  Near  the  church  was  a  public  market,  and  near  the  northeast 
corner  were  the  jail  and  the  burying-ground,  neither  of  which  can  be 
exactly  located.  The  stocks  and  the  whipping-post  were  also  on  this 
square.  According  to  some  traditions  the  burying-ground  was  nearly 
where  the  post-office  now  stands ;  but  others  make  it  farther  north, 
about  at  the  rear  of  the  present  "  Courant "  building.  In  connection 
with  this  it  is  remembered  that  workmen  excavating  for  the  cellar  of 
this  building  found  a  quantity  of  human  bones.  This  burying-ground, 
whatever  its  exact  location,  was  used  only  a  few  years,  and  in  1640  the 
town  bought  of  Richard  Olmsted  a  part  of  his  lot  for  a  burying-ground. 
This  was  the  beginning  of  the  old  cemetery  in  the  rear  of  the  Centre 
Church.  At  first  it  extended  to  Main  Street.  The  jail  was  established 
very  early  in  the  history  of  the  settlement,  and  is  mentioned  as  existing 
in  1640.  The  public  market  came  a  little  later.  This  was  ordered  in 
1643,  and  Wednesday  was  made  market-day.  The  market  continued 
in  use  at  nearly  the  same  place  until  1829,  when  the  (old)  City  Hall 
market  was  opened  on  Market  Street.  Without  having  been  as  impor- 
tant as  public  markets  are  in  some  other  places,  this  seems  to  have  met 
more  public  favor  than  the  market  in  New  Haven,  of  which  President 
Dwight,  of  Yale,  wrote  in  his  "  Travels  in  New  England  :  "  — 

"The  market  in  this  town  [New  Haven]  is  moderately  good.  .  .  .  A  few 
years  since  a  new  market  was  established  in  a  convenient  part  of  the  town.  The 
consequence  was  that  all  the  customary  supplies  were  furnished  abundantly  and 
of  the  best  quality.  Unfortunately,  however,  several  respectable  citizens  opposed 
the  establishment  so  strenuously  and  perseveringly  as  finally  to  destroy  most  of 
its  good  effects.  There  is  something  very  remarkable  in  the  hostility  of  the  New 
England  people  to  a  regular  market.  Those  who  buy  and  those  who  sell  manifest 
this  opposition  alike." 


PARKS   AND   PUBLIC   WORKS. 


451 


Without  opposition  so  pronounced  as  seems  to  have  been  met  in 
New  Haven,  it  is  probable  that  the  public  market  was  at  no  time  after 
the  earlier  days  thoroughly  popular  here. 

In  1719  the  first  State  House  was  built  in  the  centre  of  the  west 
front  of  the  square.  Previously  the  meetings  of  the  legislature  had 
been  in  the  meeting-house.  In  1792  the  legislature  appointed  a  com- 
mittee to  build  a  new  brick  State  House.  It  was  placed  in  the  rear  of 
the  old  one,  and  is  the  present  city  hall.  It  was  occupied  in  1796,  and 
continued  in  use  by  the  legislature  until  the  occupancy  of  the  present 


STATE    HOUSE    SQUARE,  AS    IT    NOW    APPEARS. 


State  House  in  January,  1879.  The  Government  building  commonly 
known  as  the  post-office  building,  from  its  principal  use,  stands  cast  of 
the  city  hall,  and  was  begun  in  1 878  and  occupied  in  1X82.  In  connec- 
tion with  the  erection  of  this  building  there  was  a  new  lay-out  of  the 
land  immediately  about  it,  so  as  to  take  something  from  the  open  square 
for  the  post-office  enclosure.  About  the  time  the  post-office  was  finished, 
the  old  iron  fence,  which  in  1834  the  legislature  had  ordered  placed 
around  the  then  State  House,  was  removed,  and  in  October,  1882,  it- 
was  sent  to  be  put  up  at  the  Old  People's  Home,  on  Jefferson  Street. 
It  was  originally  furnished  at  a  cost  of  about  $8,000.'  In  its  place  a 
low  stone  coping  was  run  around  the  enclose.  At  the  same  time  new 
walks  were  laid,  and  the  space  between  the  city  hall  and  the  post-office 
was  covered  with  a  granolithic  pavement.  It  is  noted  that  the  central 
part  of  the  present  square  was  originally  much  higher  than  now.  The 
probable  cutting  away  from  time  to  time  is  estimated  at  fifteen  feet. 

As  long  as  the  buildings  stood  separate  the  chief  danger  from  fire 
was  in  foul  chimneys.  Chimney-viewers  were  appointed  almost  as  soon 
as  the  settlement  was  made,  and  there  was  a  fine  of  two  shillings  and 
sixpence  for  leaving  chimneys  dirty.  The  inspectors  made  their  visits 
monthly.     Later,  every  householder  was  required  to  have  the  chimneys 

1  See  History  of  Oornmerce  and  Banking,  p.  308. 


452  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

of  his  house  cleaned  by  sweeping  or  burning  (at  suitable  times)  once  a 
month,  and  there  was  a  line  of  one  dollar  for  neglect.  It  was  further 
provided  that  if  any  chimney  should  "  take  fire  and  burn  in  such  a  man- 
ner that  the  flames  shall  be  visible  at  the  top  thereof,"  the  occupant  of 
the  house  should  pay  a  fine  of  two  dollars.  But  the  regular  burning  at 
suitable  seasons  was  specially  exempted  from  the  application  of  this  law. 
That  is,  a  man  might  burn  out  his  chimney  on  purpose,  and  could  be  fined 
for  not  doing  it ;  but  if  he  allowed  it  to  burn  accidentally  he  was  fined. 
It  does  not  appear  when  provision  was  first  made  for  regular  appliances 
for  extinguishing  fire  ;  but  in  1789,  five  years  after  the  granting  of  the 
city  charter,  a  fire  department  was  formed,  and  a  committee  appointed 
to  procure  engines  and  other  suitable  apparatus.  In  the  following  year 
it  was  voted  to  pay  firemen  one  shilling  and  sixpence  a  day  for  not 
more  than  eight  days  in  the  year ;  but  this  rule  was  repealed  five  years 
later.  From  that  time  until  1864  the  fire  department  was  made  up  of 
volunteer  companies,  which  were  by  degrees  brought  under  a  tolerably 
complete  system.  Fire-wardens  were  first  appointed  in  1790.  In  1795 
it  was  voted  to  appropriate  a  sum  not  exceeding  ftl,800  for  the  pur- 
chase, from  Joseph  Pratt,  of  a  lease  for  nine  hundred  and  ninety-nine 
years  of  a  "  suitable  lot  of  land  on  the  north  side  of  Church  Street,  next 
east  of  Charles  Sigourney's  lot,  for  an  engine-house,"  and  for  building 
the  house. 

Early  in  the  present  century  every  householder  was  required  by- 
law to  keep  a  leather  bucket  which,  on  an  alarm  of  fire,  he  must  carry 
to  the  spot  for  use  in  passing  water  from  hand  to  hand  along  a  line  of 
men  from  the  well  or  other  source  of  supply  to  the  scene  of  the  fire. 
This  ride  was  coexistent  with  the  use  of  hand  fire-engines.  It  gradually 
fell  into  disuse  as  the  engines  became  better  and  the  fire  companies 
more  thoroughly  trained.  The  last  enumeration  of  fire-buckets  was 
made  in  1828,  and  showed  only  about  sixteen  hundred  fit  for  use,  in 
place  of  about  three  thousand  required  under  the  rule.  In  1843  the 
council  authorized  the  purchase  for  the  city  of  "  such  fire-buckets  as 
are  fit  for  use,  which  its  citizens  may  have  provided  according  to  law." 
New  fire-buckets  were  also  to  be  ordered.  This  was  nearly  thirty  years 
after  the  large  double-deck  engine,  worked  by  forty  men,  had  been 
bought,  and  when  there  were  several  independent  fire  companies  in  the 
city.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  as  early  as  1799  fire  limits  were  established 
within  the  more  thickly  settled  portion  of  the  city,  within  which  limits 
"  all  meeting-houses  and  dwelling-houses,  and  all  other  buildings  hav- 
ing a  chimney,  fire-place,  or  stove,"  must  have  the  outer  walls  built 
wholly  of  brick,  or  of  stone  and  mortar. 

Within  the  memory  of  many  who  are  still  alive  the  ordinary  course 
of  events  at  a  fire  was  substantially  this :  when  the  alarm  was  raised 
every  one  was  at  liberty  to  run  through  the  ^streets  shouting  "  Fire  ! " 
The  people  turned  out  generally  ;  indeed,  it  was  long  the  law  that  every 
able-bodied  male  between  fifteen  and  sixty  years  of  age  should  attend 
and  do  his  part.  The  fire-buckets,  that  hung  ready  at  every  house,  were 
carried  to  the  spot,  a  double  line  of  men  was  formed  between  the  place 
of  the  fire  and  the  nearest  water-supply;  the  fire-wardens,  carrying  white 
wands  as  a  badge  of  authority,  directed  the  work  and  compelled  the  un- 
willing ;  the  fire-engines,  drawn  by  men,  or  later  by  horses,  hurried  to 
the  place ;  the  bells  rang  constantly ;  there  was  much  tumult  and  dis- 


PARKS    AND   PUBLIC    WORKS.  453 

order,  and  much  vigorous  work.  Along  the  double  row  of  men  full 
buckets  passed  from  hand  to  hand  to  the  fire,  and  empty  buckets  came 
back  to  be  filled.  The  terribly  severe  work  of  pumping  called  for  con- 
stant relays  of  men,  —  a  demand  that  can  be  understood  when  it  is 


A    FIRE    IX    THE    MITCHELL    BUILDING,    OX    STATE    STBEET. 

(From  an  old  Picture  drawn  by  J.  G.  Kellogg,  for  the  certificates  of  the  Firemen's  Benevolent  Society.) 

remembered  that  on  some  machines  two  minutes  was  the  time  for  a 
man  to  work  before  being  relieved.  With  all  this  the  spectators  crowded 
in,  and  often  seriously  impelled  the  work.  The  firemen  were  liable  to 
get  into  lights,  for  the  spirit  of  rivalry  ran  high  after  the  volunteer 
department  was  pretty  well  organized.  They  wore  large  helmets  and 
capes,  such  as  are  still  used  in  many  places ;  and  the  department  came 
to  be  a  power  in  many  ways  before  it  yielded  in  1864  to  the  paid  ser- 
vice. For  the  latter  part  of  the  period  the  duties  first  assigned  to  the 
fire-wardens  were  chiefly  done  by  the  fire-engineers.  There  were  steam 
lire-engines  shortly  before  the  change  to  a  paid  department. 

The  city  ordinances  as  revised  in  1856  contain  much  that  throws 
light  on  the  subject.  The  ordinances  as  to  fires  and  firemen  cover  some 
fifty  pages,  and  much  of  this  space  is  occupied  with  details  as  to  the 
older  parts  of  the  system,  now  wholly  past.  As  to  the  fire-wardens,  it 
was  provided,  among  other  things,  as  follows  :  — 

"  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  fire-wardens,  whenever  a  fire  shall  break  out  in 
said  city,  forthwith  to  repair  to  said  fire,  there  to  form  the  citizens  into  lines  for 
conveying  water  from  such  place  or  places  as  the  engineer  shall  direct ;  .  .  .  and 
in  order  that  the  fire-wardens  and  assistants  and  aids  may  be  the  more  readily 
distinguished  at  fires,  each  of  them  shall  carry  in  his  hand  a  white  staff  or  wand 


454  MEMORIAL  HISTORY   OF  HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

of  at  least  five  feet  in  length.  ...  No  person  without  permission  of  a  fire  warden 
shall  depart  until  the  fire  shall  be  extinguished."  (Chap.  ii.  sec.  2,  pp.  129,  130.) 

Persons  violating  this  provision  could  be  fined  not  less  than  one  dol- 
lar nor  more  than  five  dollars.  It  was  further  provided  (sec.  4,  same 
chapter)  that  any  person  who  disobeyed  a  warden  at  a  fire  should  be 
liable  to  be  held  in  custody  "  during  the  fire,  or  for  any  shorter  term, 
.  .  .  provided  that  no  more  force  shall  be  used  by  such  fire-warden  or 
his  assistants  than  shall  be  necessary  for  the  purpose  aforesaid." 

There  were  various  rewards  for  early  attendance  at  a  fire.  Thus, 
when  an  alarm  of  fire  was  given,  the  first  one  who  rang  a  bell  desig- 
nated for  the  purpose,  and  continued  to  ring  it  until  duly  ordered  to 
cease,  received  one  dollar  "  as  the  reward  of  his  diligence  and  activity." 
The  engine  company  which  first  arrived  at  any  fire  received  five  dol- 
lars as  a  "  reward  for  their  diligence  and  activity,"  and  the  first  hose 
company  three  dollars  (sec.  52,  p.  145).  There  was  also  an  elaborate 
system  of  penalties  for  neglect  or  disobedience  on  the  part  of  citizens 
or  firemen.  The  whole  population  was  subject  to  duty  at  any  fire. 
The  same  section  winch  contained  the  clauses  already  cited  as  to  the 
powers  of  fire-wardens  began  thus  :  — 

"  That  every  able-bodied  male  residing  in  this  city,  between  the  ages  of  fifteen 
and  sixty  years,  upon  every  alarm  that  may  be  made  on  account  of  fire  in  said 
city,  shall  forthwith  repair  to  the  place." 

Part  of  the  rules  already  mentioned  were  repealed  in  1843,  when  the 
fire  department  as  an  organization  was  quite  well  developed.  About 
that  time  there  were  several  forms  of  engine.  One  machine,  and  that 
perhaps  best  remembered  by  the  older  residents  of  the  city,  was  that 
bought  in  1815,  and  known  as  Deluge  No.  5.  It  was  a  "double-decker," 
and  was  worked  by  forty  men,  part  of  whom  stood  on  the  machine  itself 
and  part  on  the  ground.  The  brakes  ran  across  the  ends  of  the  en- 
gine, and  at  each  end  was  a  folding  platform  which  opened  outwards 
and  made  a  place  for  the  men  to  stand.  When  nut  in  use  these  folded  in 
on  the  machine,  which  thus  avoided  any  unusual  width.  Another,  in- 
troduced some  time  after,  had  a  slow  stroke,  and  was  much  less  exhaust- 
ing to  the  men  who  operated  it.  In  1852  it  was  ordered  that  the  fire 
department  should  consist  of  380  regular  working  firemen  over  eighteen 
years  of  age,  besides  the  engineers  and  110  volunteer  firemen.  Each 
class  was  enlisted  for  one  year,  but  the  110  volunteers  were  required  to 
perform  duty  at  fires  only.  These  men  were  to  be  divided  into  seven 
engine  companies,  two  hose  companies,  one  hook-and-ladder  company, 
and  one  sack-and-bucket  company.  Each  engine  company  was  to  have 
40  regular  working  firemen  and  10  volunteer  firemen  ;  the  hose  com- 
panies, 12  firemen  and  10  volunteers  ;  the  hopk-and-ladder  company,  35 
firemen  and  10  volunteers;  and  the  sack-and-bucket  company,  40  fire- 
men and  10  volunteers.  The  regular  fireman  received  five  dollars  a 
year  and  a  certificate  of  exemption  from  military  duty  and  his  city 
poll-tax.  On  the  other  hand,  absence  from  any  fire,  or  neglect  to 
obey  an  order,  involved  a  fine  of  one  dollar. 

Until  the  citj7  water  was  introduced  in  1855  the  supply  for  buckets 
and  engines  was  obtained  from  wells  and  from  certain  large  cisterns 
built  between  1789  and  1850.     There  were  seventeen  in  all,  built  of 


PAEKS   AND   PUBLIC   WORKS.  455 

brick  and  holding  about  fifteen  thousand  gallons  each.  In  the  main 
they  were  supplied  by  rain-water  led  from  the  roofs  of  neighboring  build- 
ings. They  were  located  as  follows :  Main  Street,  near  Nos.  32,  91,  93, 
126,  217,  300,  413,  480, 645  ;  State  Street,  east  end  of  State  House  Yard 
(City  Hall  Square) ;  Temple  and  Kinsley  streets,  in  yard  west  of  the 
old  city  hall ;  Front  Street,  near  Nos.  104,  217  ;  Trumbull  Street,  near 
Nos.  70, 105, 139  ;  Mill  (now  Wells)  Street,  Park  River,  west  end,  No.  47; 
Elm  Street,  Park  River,  west  end,  No.  40  ;  Washington  Street,  near 
No.  155 ;  Wads  worth  Street,  near  No.  36.  Most  of  these  are  still  in  exist- 
ence and  available.  Those  on  Kinsley  Street  and  Washington  Street 
have  been  discontinued. 

The  paid  fire  department  in  substantially  its  present  form  was  or- 
dered by  the  Council  in  October,  1864,  and  the  board  took  possession  the 
1st  of  December  of  the  same  year.  Before  that  time  the  chief  engineer 
and  his  assistants,  with  the  foremen  and  assistants  of  the  companies,  had 
formed  the  "  Board  of  the  Fire  Department."  Under  the  new  system 
a  city  board  of  six  members  was  created.  There  was  a  chief  engineer 
and  three  assistant  engineers.  There  were  four  steam  fire-engines  and 
two  hose  companies.  The  first  board  was  composed  of  R.  S.  Lawrence, 
W.  S.  Bronson,  Joseph  S.  Woodruff,  Samuel  H.  Havens,  Albert  W. 
Roberts,  and  A.  M.  Gordon.  The  cost  during  the  last  full  year  of  the 
old  system,  which  ended  April  1,  1864,  was  $22,450.27.  Three  years 
later  the  expense  was  only  $18,000.  The  yearly  payments  for  working 
expenses  have  increased  more  rapidly  than  the  population,  and  in  1884 
were  -162,762.30.  In  this  year  there  were  seven  steamers,  including 
two  propellers,  and  a  corresponding  supply  of  hose-carriages,  hose,  and 
other  apparatus.  In  1868  the  fire-alarm  telegraph  system  was  put  in 
operation,  and  now  has  fifty-five  signal-boxes  and  about  thirty-five  miles 
of  wire. 

On  the  introduction  of  the  paid  system  there  was  a  great  falling-off 
in  the  yearly  number  of  fires.  The  figures  for  the  decades  preceding 
and  following  the  change,  which  was  made  late  in  1864,  were  as  fol- 
lows :  1855,  46  ;  1856,  28  ;  1857,  62 ;  1858,  70  ;  1859,  110  ;  1860,  80  ; 
1861,  47;  1862,  40;  1863,  34;  1864,  53;  1865,  39;  1866,  35;  1867, 
14;  1868,23;  1869,28;  1870,30;  1871,  37;  1872,  43;  1873,  32 ;  1874, 
22.  The  total  for  the  former  decade  was  570,  and  for  the  latter  281. 
This  was  in  the  face  of  a  considerable  increase  of  population  and  of 
buildings. 

The  engineers  of  the  department  since  its  organization  in  1789  have 
been:  Miles  Beach,  1789-1805;  James  Ward,  1805-1820;  Jeremy 
Hoadlv,  1820-1825;  J.  M.  Goodwin,  1825-1833;  William  Hayden, 
1833-1843;  A.  S.  Stillman,  1843-1846;  R.  G.  Drake,  1846-1848; 
Charles  Benton,  1848-1850  ;  Erastus  Hubbard,  1850-1852  ;  John  Car- 
ter, 1852-1854 ;  J.  G.  Parsons,  1854-1856  ;  Joseph  Pratt,  1856-1858 ; 
S.  H.  Havens,  1858-1860  ;  Edward  Norton,  1860-1862  ;  Horace  Billings, 
1862-1864 ;  Jared  B.  Butler,  July  1864  to  Dec.  1864 ;  Henry  P.  Sey- 
mour, 1864-1868  ;  Henry  J.  Eaton,  1868- 

The  Hartford  Aqueduct  Company  was  chartered  in  1797,  but  did 
nothing.  In  1801  the  Gleason  and  Cowles  Aqueduct  Company  was 
chartered,  and  there  was  another  Hartford  company  of  a  similar  nature 
in  1803.  It  is  commonly  said  that  the  Hartford  Aqueduct  Company 
laid  the  wooden  pipes  from  near  Cedar  Hill,  but  it  does  not  seem  to  be 


456  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

certain  that  the  work  was  done  for  this  company.  These  pipes,  early 
in  the  present  century,  brought  water  from  the  famous  well  on  the  Dolly 
Babcock  farm,  on  Park  Street,  and  probably  from  a  spring  near  the 
David  Clark  place,  on  Cedar  Hill.  Some  such  supply  had  been  long  de- 
manded because  of  complaints  as  to  the  character  of  the  well-water  in 
certain  regions.  In  the  north  part  of  the  city  the  well-water  was  hard 
and  somewhat  impregnated  with  sulphur ;  and  toward  the  river,  where 
many  of  the  best  families  then  lived,  wells  were  liable  to  be  affected  by 
the  water  of  freshets.  The  aqueduct  was  made  of  bored  logs,  reamed 
and  tapered  at  the  ends,  so  that  they  could  be  driven  together,  making 
a  tight  joint.  The  work  was  done  by  a  Vermonter  named  Cutler,  who 
while  engaged  in  it  was  engaging  himself  to  the  daughter  of  Captain 
Robbins.  He  married  her,  and  Mr.  Robbins  put  money  into  the  aque- 
duct scheme  and  lost  it.  The  work  was  completed,  and  it  is  supposed 
that  about  two  hundred  persons  used  the  water  for  a  number  of  years. 
It  gradually  fell  into  disuse.  The  supply  was  not  what  had  been  antici- 
pated, probably  because  the  pipes  were  too  small,  having  only  a  two- 
inch  bore.  The  system,  however,  remained  in  pretty  good  order.  In 
1850,  many  years  after  it  had  been  abandoned,  the  cellar  of  Bartlett's 
tavern  on  Ferry  Street  was  found  one  morning  full  of  water,  and  it 
appeared  that  an  old  plug  connecting  with  this  aqueduct  had  blown  out, 
and  the  water  had  poured  in  as  promptly  as  it  would  have  done  forty 
years  before.  These  pipes  ran  from  the  sources  above  mentioned  down 
Lafayette  Street,  across  Bushnell  Park,  crossing  Park  River  near  where 
the  Plimpton  Company's  stamped-envelope  works  now  stand ;  thence 
down  Pearl  Street  to  Main,  where  branches  led  north  and  south  ;  and 
thence  to  the  lower  part  of  the  city  near  the  river.  There  was  much 
opposition  to  the  project  at  its  inception. 

The  same  feeling,  on  a  large  scale,  was  manifest  when,  between  forty 
and  fifty  years  later,  the  agitation  for  an  adequate  system  of  public 
water-works  began.  There  had  been  some  recent  discussion  of  the 
subject  when,  in  January,  1847,  Dr.  Bushnell  preached  his  famous  ser- 
mon which,  under  the  title  "  Prosperity  our  Duty,"  was  eminently 
suggestive,  and  suitable  to  the  time.  Its  text  was  the  passage  :  "This 
same  Hezekiah  also  stopped  the  upper  water-course  of  Gihon,  and 
brought  it  straight  down  to  the  west  side  of  the  city  of  David.  And 
Hezekiah  prospered  in  all  his  works."  In  it  he  especially  disclaimed 
having  preached  a  discourse  on  the  water  project,  and  it  is  true  that 
it  does  not  directly  and  explicitly  deal  with  the  question ;  but  its  ap- 
plication was  too  clear  to  escape  the  notice  even  of  the  heedless,  and 
it  was  admirably  suggestive  in  the  time  in  which  it  was  delivered. 
It  was  at  that  time  proposed  to  bring  water  in  a  canal  from  Windsor 
Locks,  and  use  the  power  furnished  from  the  canal  to  pump  part  of 
the  water  to  a  suitable  reservoir.  Soon  after  the  council  appointed  a 
committee  to  report  on  this  plan.  The  report  was  adverse.  Sev- 
eral years  passed,  during  which  all  sorts  of  plans  and  sources  of 
supply  were  suggested.  The  plan  adopted,  after  much  discussion,  pro- 
vided for  a  supply  from  the  Connecticut  River  at  Hartford,  the  water  to 
be  pumped  by  a  Cornish  engine  and  delivered  in  a  reservoir  to  be  built 
on  Lord's  Hill.  Another  locality  for  the  reservoir  favored  by  many 
was  on  Clark  Street.  The  work  was  beset  with  difficulties  from  the 
outset.     The  engineer  had  made  estimates  that  it  was  found  must  be 


PARKS   AND   PUBLIC   WORKS.  457 

far  below  the  actual  cost ;  the  Hartford  firm  of  Woodruff  &  Beach, 
which  built  pumpmg-engines  and  had  been  neglected  in  awarding  the 
contract,  used  what  influence  it  had  to  call  attention  to  defects  in 
estimates  and  plans  of  construction ;  contracts  were  made  requiring 
payments  at  fixed  dates,  and  the  bonds  authorized  by  the  city  were  not 
yet  on  the  market.  This  was  in  1854,  the  surveys  having  been  begun 
in  October,  1853,  and  ground  broken  in  June,  1854.  The  first  board 
of  water  commissioners  succeeding  the  incorporators,  who  had  partly 
bought  the  land  and  made  certain  contracts,  came  into  office  in  1854. l 
It  was  composed  of  Ezra  Clark,  Jr.,  E.  K.  Root,  E.  M.  Reed,  Daniel^ 
Phillips,  and  Hiram  Bissell.  Mr.  Clark  was  the  president  of  the  board. 
Their  first  annual  report,  dated  April  23,  1855,  was  such  a  document 
as  is  not  often  seen.  In  reciting  the  condition  of  things  when  the  board 
took  office,  it  gave  particulars  that  were  unpleasant  to  many  persons. 
It  announced  the  discharge  of  the  engineer  for  incompetence,  suggested 
that  the  common  council  had  not  used  reasonably  good  judgment, 
showed  how  a  technically  irregular  sale  of  bonds  had  been  necessary, 
how  one  member  of  the  board  had  put  in  his  own  money  to  help  the 
credit  of  the  city,  how  an  injunction  on  the  delivery  of  bonds  sold  had 
been  obtained  on  a  technicality,  and  how  this  had  reduced  the  market 
value  of  the  bonds,  cost  the  city  several  thousand  dollars  in  premiums, 
and  hurt  the  city  credit.  The  council  declined  to  receive  the  report, 
and  no  copy  was  printed  that  year.  The  year  following  five  hundred 
were  printed  with  other  public  documents,  apparently  without  any  order 
to  that  effect,  although  they  were  paid  for  by  the  council.  One  act  of 
this  board  was  to  annul  the  contract  for  a  Cornish  engine  and  order  a 
Woodruff  &  Beach  engine,  at  a  cost  of  $17,500  in  place  of  $21,000, 
which  was  to  have  been  paid  for  the  Cornish  engine. 

Nathan  Starkweather  was  made  chief  engineer  in  March,  1855,  and 
under  his  direction  the  original  water-supply  system  was  built.  The 
pumps  were  started  Oct.  23, 1855.  The  water  was  taken  from  the  Con- 
necticut through  a  24-inch  pipe  which  extended  out  into  the  channel  of 
the  river,  having  its  orifice  about  six  feet  below  the  surface.  This  pipe 
led  to  a  well,  from  which  the  water  was  drawn  by  the  pumps. 

Within  a  year  it  was  found  that  the  reservoir  was  too  small,  and 
this  was  mentioned  in  the  1857  report.  This  also  contains  a  complaint 
of  the  enormous  waste  of  water.  During  the  year  covered  by  this  re- 
port the  largest  amount  pumped  in  any  month  was  16,836,280  gallons 
in  January,  1857,  and  the  least,  2,625,800,  in  March,  1856.  Water  was 
supplied  to  725  families,  112  stores,  75  offices,  12  restaurants,  8  hotels, 
33  private  stables,  12  livery  stables,  44  manufactories,  and  18  markets, 
—  the  income  from  these  being  $9,517.  Other  charges  for  water  sup- 
plied to  the  Hartford  and  Xew  Haven,  and  the  Providence  and  Fishkill 
railroads,  the  fire-hydrants,  street  watering  and  building  purposes, 
brought  the  receipts  up  to  $14,792.  The  commissioners  announced 
their  expectation  that  within  two  years  the  income  from  water-rents 
would  meet  all  expenses.  This  hope  was  not  realized.  In  the  1858 
report  the  number  of  families  supplied  had  increased  to  1,457,  and  the 
rents  were  $18,964.98.  In  the  1859  report  it  was  noted  that  up  to  date 
about  23  miles  of  pipe  had  been  laid,  and  that  of  2,911  buildings  on  the 

1  The  incorporators  were  Thomas  Belknap,  Calvin  Day,  John  Carter,  E.  K.  Boot,  and 
E.  K.  Hunt.     They  were  chosen  in  May,  1853. 


458  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

line  of  pipe,  1,976  used  the  city  water.  A  revision  of  the  rates  charged 
was  advised.  The  average  daily  consumption  was  661,245  gallons, 
which  was  said  to  be  at  least  twice  that  probably  used  for  legitimate 
purposes,  the  rest  being  wasted.  Tests  showed  that  in  November  the 
use  of  water  between  10  p.m.  and  7  a.m.  was  about  two  thirds  the  aver- 
age use,  indicating  a  great  waste.  The  1860  report  alluded  to  a  plan 
for  an  additional  water-supply  which  would  be  submitted  to  the  council, 
and  not  far  from  the  time  the  report  was  printed  this  plan  was 
communicated  to  the  council  in  a  special  report.  In  brief,  it  suggested 
a  reservoir  at  West  Hartford  and  a  supply  by  gravity,  substantially  as 
afterward  carried  out.  The  1861  report,  in  alluding  to  this  subject, 
said :  "  There  is  no  time  for  delay ;  the  exigency  of  the  city  demands 
action,  final  and  definite."  It  had  become  evident  to  those  at  all  famil- 
iar with  the  subject  that  a  supply  depending  on  a  single  pumping-engine, 
and  a  reservoir  holding  little  more  than  a  week's  supply,  was  inadequate 
to  the  needs  of  the  city,  whether  the  actual  consumption  was  legitimate 
or  wasteful.  The  1862  report  announced  a  surplus  revenue  for  the 
first  time,  the  amount  being  81,031.65.  On  May  27,  1861,  the  common 
council  referred  to  the  water-board  the  inquiry  as  to  an  additional 
water-supply.  The  board  employed  Professor  Benjamin  Silliman,  of 
Yale,  to  look  into  the  quality  of  the  Trout  Brook  water  and  the  probable 
adequacy  of  a  supply  from  that  source.  Mr.  McRae  Swift,  a  well-known 
civil  engineer,  was  also  employed  to  report  on  the  matter  from  an  engi- 
neering standpoint.  Professor  Silliman's  report  was  in  every  way 
favorable.  Mr.  Swift  advised  either  increasing  the  pumping  facilities 
or  adopting  the  West  Hartford  plan,  and  favored  the  latter.  At  this 
time  it  was  proposed,  in  case  the  pumping  system  were  developed,  to 
build  a  reservoir  on  Zion  Hill.  Tbe  estimates  were  made  on  a  daily 
consumption  of  2,000,000  gallons,  nearly  twice  that  then  recorded. 
Nothing  came  of  all  this  at  the  time.  In  1863  the  pumps  were  repaired 
and  the  engine  regulated  to  a  higher  speed,  so  as  to  give  an  increase  of 
about  25  per  cent  in  the  pumping  capacity.  On  Nov.  9,  1863,  the 
council  directed  the  water-board  to  obtain  plans  and  estimates  for  an 
increased  supply  from  the  Connecticut  River.  Mr.  William  E.  Wor- 
then,  of  New  York,  was  employed,  and  reported  a  plan  for  the  addition 
of  a  pumping-engine  with  twice  the  capacity  of  that  then  in  use,  the 
two  to  be  capable  of  delivering  6,000,000  gallons  a  day,  and  a  reservoir 
of  35,000,000  gallons  capacity  to  be  placed  on  Zion  Hill.  The  total 
cost  was  estimated  at  $230,000.  This  plan  was  then  laid  aside,  and  in 
October,  1864,  the  city  voted  in  favor  of  a  supply  by  gravity  from  West 
Hartford.  The  land  (eighty  acres)  was  secured  at  once  and  the  work 
begun. 

It  may  be  noted  that  the  progress  of  the  movement  to  secure  a  sup- 
ply from  West  Hartford,  as  above  outlined,  omits  a  host  of  details.  As 
early  as  May  21, 1860,  the  common  council  had  voted  that  the  water 
commissioners  be  authorized  to  bring  water  from  West  Hartford  accord- 
ing to  a  plan  already  proposed  by  them.  This,  however,  needed  to  be 
ratified  by  a  vote  in  a  city  meeting.  After  various  conferences  and 
amendments,  the  matter  was  voted  on  at  a  city  meeting,  April  13,1863, 
and  the  Trout  Brook  scheme  was  carried,  2,501  to  831.  Then  it 
appeared  that  the  charter  authorized  votes  at  a  city  meeting  for  the  choice 
of  city  officers  only.     At  the  May  session  of  the  legislature  that  year  a 


PARKS  AND  PUBLIC   WORKS.  459 

resolution  was  passed  which  practically  supplied  this  deficiency  in  the 
charter,  and  a  new  election  was  ordered  for  July  7,  1863.  At  this  the 
Trout  Brook  scheme  was  defeated,  843  to  1,091,  and  it  was  after  this 
vote  that  Mr.  Worthen  was  employed  and  made  his  report  for  a  new 
pumping-engine.  A  vote  to  carry  this  plan  into  effect  was  indefinitely 
postponed  in  both  branches  of  the  council,  March  28,  1864,  and  the 
water-board  was  directed  to  apply  to  the  legislature  for  leave  to  bring 
water  from  West  Hartford.  Six  .weeks  later,  a  new  council  having 
come  in,  this  vote  was  rescinded,  and  on  May  27  the  council  again  di- 
rected the  board  to  press  the  petition.  This  last  resolution,  however, 
was  vetoed  by  the  mayor,  and  lost  on  reconsideration,  June  27.  In 
August  a  preamble  and  resolutions  providing  for  an  additional  supply 
from  the  Connecticut  River  were  tabled,  and  September  24  were  re- 
jected, and  the  final  resolution  in  favor  of  the  West  Hartford  scheme 
passed,  the  necessary  city  meeting  being  ordered  for  October  3.  At 
this  the  Trout  Brook  plan  was  adopted,  1,510  to  508.  The  difficulties 
of  the  board  were  not  ended.  There  was  an  injunction  from  Childs 
Goodwin,  of  West  Hartford,  which  made  no  great  difficulty;  and  then 
in  March,  1865,  another,  granted  on  the  application  of  Messrs.  Lawson 
C.  Ives,  J.  F.  Judd,  and  ten  others,  of  Hartford,  restraining  the  city  and 
the  board  from  "purchasing  any  pipe  or  land  or  other  materials,  or 
making  any  contract,  or  doing  any  other  act  for  the  purpose  of  bringing 
the  water  from  Trout  Brook  to  the  city,  or  for  taking  the  same  from 
any  other  place  but  the  Connecticut  River."  All  obstacles  were  not 
removed  until  late  in  July  of  1865,  from  which  time  the  work  contin- 
ued without  further  interruption.  On  Jan.  2, 1867,  at  2  p.m.,  the  water 
wras  let  on  from  West  Hartford,  and  the  pumps,  which  had  long  been 
running  far  beyond  their  proper  capacity,  were  stopped.  For  the  last 
part  of  the  time  they  had  been  furnishing  over  2,000,000  gallons  a  day. 

This  first  reservoir,  now  the  distributing  reservoir  for  the  whole 
system,  was  built  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  George  Marsh  and  Mr. 
Samuel  M.  Gray,  the  latter  succeeding  as  engineer  on  the  death  of  the 
former.  It  is  on  the  Farmington  road,  five  miles  from  Hartford,  has 
an  elevation  of  260  feet  above  low  water  at  Hartford,  covers  32  acres, 
and  has  a  capacity  of  145,000,000  gallons.  The  main  pipe  laid  at  this 
time  was  the  wrought-iron  and  cement,  which  proved  unsatisfactory, 
and  after  causing  trouble  for  a  number  of  years  was  in  great  part 
replaced  by  cast-iron  pipe. 

The  reservoir  stood,  as  built,  less  than  a  year.  Gravelly  soil  had 
been  used  in  its  construction,  and  when,  on  the  night  of  Sept.  5,  1867, 
there  came  a  rain-storm  said  to  be  the  most  violent  remembered  in  that 
region,  the  torrent  of  water  running  off  the  road  at  the  side  of  the 
dam,  together  with  the  water  from  the  overflow  sluice,  cut  the  outer 
bank  and  caused  an  extensive  landslide.  The  dam  was  thus  weakened. 
A  new  reservoir  was  at  that  time  partly  completed  some  distance  up 
the  stream.  This  held  considerable  water,  and  its  dam  then  gave  way, 
letting  this  body  of  water  down  into  Reservoir  No.  1,  raising  the 
water  at  once  about  four  feet  above  the  line  of  its  established  level. 
The  waste-way  relieved  it  so  slowly  that  for  several  hours  the  water 
stood  against  the  upper  part  of  the  already  weakened  dam,  and 
subjected  the  whole  structure  to  an  additional  pressure  corresponding  to 
the  increased  depth.     The  water  began  to  work  through  the  upper  part 


460  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF    HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

of  the  dam,  and  presently  formed  a  channel  connecting  with  the  land- 
slide above  mentioned.  The  report  of  the  board  says,  as  to  what 
happened  afterward :  "  So  rapid  was  the  action  thereafter,  that  in 
twenty-two  minutes  from  the  first  starting  of  the  small  current  the 
whole  dam  was  cut  asunder  down  to  its  base,  and  all  the  water — about 
200,000,000  gallons  —  discharged  from  the  reservoir."  The  escape  of 
this  great  quantity  of  water  caused  no  loss  of  life,  and  perhaps  less 
damage  to  property  than  might  have  been  anticipated.  The  claims  on 
account  of  private  property  were  only  about  $7,000,  and  the  town  of 
West  Hartford  estimated  its  loss  in  bridges,  etc.,  at  about  811,000.  All 
claims  were  settled  for  less  than  $11,000.  The  dam  was  so  far  repaired 
that  water  could  be  supplied  to  the  city  by  the  5th  of  December  in  the 
same  year. 

The  reservoir  mentioned  as  partly  finished,  and  contributing  by  its 
breakage  to  the  destruction  of  Reservoir  No.  1,  was  that  known  on  the 
maps  then  made  as  No.  3.  No.  2  was  to  be  on  Mine  Brook,  an  affluent 
of  Trout  Brook  ;  No.  3,  on  the  same  brook  higher  up,  and  No.  4  on  Trout 
Brook,  nearly  a  mile  above  Reservoir  No.  1.  This  reservoir  was  fin- 
ished in  1869,  and  as  built  held,  when  full,  185,000,000  gallons.  It  was 
first  filled  in  May,  and  the  first  flow  over  the  waste-way  was  early  in 
June.  In  the  autumn  of  1870  the  dam  was  raised  five  feet,  adding 
about  100,000,000  gallons  to  the  capacity  of  the  reservoir.  In  the  1871 
report,  as  in  all  before  it,  attention  was  called  to  the  great  waste  of 
water  and  the  rapidly  increasing  consumption,  and  it  was  suggested 
that  a  new  reservoir  be  built.  The  disappointment  which  had  been  ex- 
perienced as  to  obtaining  a  sufficient  supply  was  partly  due  to  the  fact  of 
the  greatly  increased  consumption,  and  partly  to  an  apparent  failure  to 
understand  that,  though  the  available  watershed  might  yield  more  than 
could  be  used,  most  of  it  would  run  to  waste  through  coming  at  times 
when  the  reservoirs  were  already  full. 

In  November,  1871,  a  contract  for  new  pumps  at  the  pumping-station 
was  made.  They  were  to  be  ready  in  four  months,  but,  in  fact,  were 
not  ready  to  run  until  Sept.  27,  1873.  There  had  been  a  very  dry  sea- 
son, and  the  supply  of  water  from  West  Hartford  gave  out  just  four 
hours  before  the  pumps  wTere  started.  During  this  interval  the  only 
source  of  supply  available  was  the  Garden  Street  reservoir,  which  had 
been  filled,  and  was  kept  as  a  reserve  in  case  of  fire.  In  consecmence 
of  this  the  proposition  for  an  additional  reservoir  was  pushed  with  more 
vigor,  and  the  work  of  building  No.  4  was  begun  in  1875.  By  Novem- 
ber water  began  to  be  stored,  and  the  work  was  finished  November  22, 
in  the  same  year.  It  contains  154,000,000  gallons.  It  was  built  by 
Seth  E.  Marsh,  then  president  and  engineer  of  the  board,  with  Henry 
W.  Ayres  as  assistant  engineer  in  charge  of  the  work. 

The  report  for  1877  announced  that  for  the  first  time  in  its  history 
the  department  was  fully  self-sustaining,  the  cash  receipts  paying  all  ex- 
penses, including  $24,124.14  for  construction,  the  interest  on  the  bonds, 
and  over  $9,000  extra  repairs,  and  leaving  a  surplus  of  nearly  $4,000 
in  the  treasury. 

Beginning  in  August,  1874,  there  was  a  prolonged  drought,  which 
continued  into  the  summer  of  1876.  The  pumps  were  run  from  August, 
1874,  almost  every  day  until  December,  and  then  from  Jan.  7,  1876, 
until  March  of  the  same  year.     This,  with  the  constantly  increasing 


PARKS   AND   PUBLIC   WORKS.  461 

consumption  of  water,  led  to  the  construction  of  another  reservoir. 
This  was  placed  on  an  independent  watershed,  lying  in  the  towns  of 
West  Hartford,  New  Britain,  and  Farmington,  and  has  a  capacity  about 
equal  to  that  of  all  those  previously  built.  It  was  finished  Nov.  1,1879. 
In  1884  a  supplementary  reservoir  holding  100,000,000  gallons  was  built 
on  Mine  Brook,  to  save  the  overflow  from  the  upper  reservoirs.  In  the 
same  year  the  pumping-engine  was  repaired,  and  put  in  so  good  condi- 
tion as  to  pump  as  much  water  in  fourteen  hours  as  it  had  previously 
furnished  in  twenty-four  hours.  The  Brandy  Brook  canal,  connecting 
with  the  Farmington  reservoir,  was  completed,  and  adds  the  water  from 
a  drainage  area  of  about  two  miles. 

The  system  thus  elaborated  during  twenty  years  is  in  brief  as  fol- 
lows :  There  is  a  pumping-engine  which  takes  water  from  the  Connecti- 
cut River  and  can  furnish  3,000,000  gallons  a  day.  This  is  now  merely 
a  reserve.  The  main  supply  comes  by  gravity  from  a  system  of  five 
reservoirs  on  two  different  watersheds,  having  an  aggregate  storage 
capacity  of  about  1,300,000,000  gallons.  Four" of  these  — Nos.  1,  2,  3, 
and  5  —  are  on  the  watershed  first  utilized,  and  one  —  the  Farmington 
reservoir  —  on  the  second.  The  numbering  lias  been  changed  from  that 
first  adopted,  the  present  Nos.  2  and  3  having  been  originally  3  and  4 
respectively.  The  capacity,  depth,  elevation  above  the  Connecticut 
River,  and  date  of  completion  of  these  reservoirs  are :  — 


Capacity. 

Depth. 

Elevation. 

Date. 

No.  1  (Distributing) 

145,000,000 

34 

260 

1867 

No.  2 

285,000,000 

41 

395 

1869 

No.  3 

145,000,000 

36 

400 

1875 

No.  5 

100,000,000 

23 

315 

1884 

Farmington 

600,000,000 

20 

287 

1879 

with  Hash 

-boards 

675,000,000 

The  water  from  the  Farmington  reservoir  is  carried  through  an  open 
canal  three  and  a  half  miles  to  the  distributing  reservoir,  and  is  thor- 
oughly aerated  on  the  way.  Along  this  canal  are  numerous  catch-basins, 
which  add  materially  to  the  supply.  The  works  take  the  watershed 
of  some  eleven  square  miles. 

With  all  the  complaints  as  to  the  waste  of  water,  the  introduction  of 
meters  has  been  slow.  In  the  1868  report  their  use  was  first  suggested. 
Nothing  more  was  heard  of  their  introduction  for  some  time,  and  early 
in  1879  there  were  only  nineteen  in  use.  About  two  hundred  were  in 
use  in  1884. 

The  presidents  of  the  water  board  have  been :  Ezra  Clark,  1854; 
Hiram  Bissell,  1855-1871;  Ezra  Clark,  1872  {pro  tern.'),  1873;  Seth 
E.  Marsh,  1874-1878 ;  E.  J.  Murphy,  1878-1880  ;  Ezra  Clark,  1882- 
Mr.  Marsh  died  in  September,  1878,  and  was  succeeded  by  Mr.  Mur- 
phy, who  in  the  autumn  of  1880  left  this  to  go  into  other  business. 
The  office  of  president  was  then  vacant  until  April,  1882,  there  being 
a  deadlock  in  the  board ;  and  during  this  time  Mr.  Rodney  Dennis 
served  as  president  pro  tern.  The  engineers,  in  addition  to  those  men- 
tioned in  connection  with  the  earlier  work,  have  been  Mr.  Seth  E. 
Marsh,  who  was  engineer  as  well  as  superintendent ;  Mr.  Murphy,  who 
acted  in  the  same  capacity  during  his  term  as  president ;  Mr.  Samuel 
Nott,  who  served  'in  1880-1882,  when  there  was  no  president ;  and 


462  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

Mr.  Henry  W.  Ayres,  who  was  assistant  engineer  under  Mr.  Marsh,  and 
has  been  engineer  in  charge  since  early  in  1882.  The  total  cost  of  the 
works  to  March,  1885,  was  $1,603,428.57.  At  this  date  the  bonded  debt 
was  $937,000,  and  the  department  had  for  years  been  self-supporting, 
and  had  for  several  years  paid  off  $20,000  or  more  of  bonds  annually. 

The  first  very  imperfect  lighting  of  the  city  was  by  oil-lamps,  which 
were  few  and  feeble.  This  was  first  done  at  the  public  expense  in 
1821.  After  a  time  burning-fluid  was  substituted  to  some  extent.  In 
1848  the  Hartford  City  Gaslight  Company  was  chartered,  and  the  first 
public  gas-lamps  were  lighted  Nov.  14,1849.  There  had  been  no  active 
opposition  to  the  project,  but  there  was  comparatively  little  interest  in 
it,  and  very  few  lamps  were  at  first  used.  Under  the  agreement  the 
Gas  Company  began  work  with  what  was  known  as  a  6-inch  apparatus, 
the  inlet  and  outlet  pipes  being  of  this  diameter,  the  holder  having  a 
capacity  of  60,000  cubic  feet,  and  four  miles  of  pipe  being  laid.  In 
1855  the  year's  supply  of  coal  for  carbonization  was  600  tons.  It  is  now 
over  10,000  tons,  the  holders  store  800,000  feet,  there  are  78  miles  of 
street  mains,  and  4,400  meters  are  supplied.  There  are  802  street  gas- 
lamps  and  180  naphtha-lamps.  About  500  gas-lamps  have  within  two 
years  been  displaced  by  electric  lights.  The  original  price  of  gas  was 
$4  a  thousand  feet.  It  was  gradually  reduced  to  $2.40,  this  being  the 
rate  just  before  the  war.  With  the  rise  of  prices  in  war-time  the  old 
rate  of  $4  was  restored.  This  was  maintained  for  several  years,  when 
reductions  began,  and  eight  have  been  made,  bringing  the  price  in  1885 
to  $1.60. 

Electric  arc  lights  were  first  used  experimentally  in  1881.  In  1883 
the  Thompson-Houston  system  was  introduced,  and  a  local  company 
formed.  After  much  opposition  the  council  ordered  thirty  of  these 
lamps  put  up,  and  since  that  time  the  number  has  been  increased  to 
ninety,  these  being  put  in  under  a  rule  that  each  must  displace  six  gas- 
lamps  and  cost  no  more  than  the  sum  previously  paid  for  the  gas.  A 
considerable  number  besides  these  are  maintained  by  private  individuals 
either  in  or  in  front  of  their  places  of  business.  The  total  cost  of 
public  lighting  in  1884  was  $43,039.12,  of  which  $33,555.89  was  for  gas, 
$6,213.58  for  electrics,  and  $3,269.65  for  naphtha-lamps. 

In  1879  the  Hartford  Steam  Company  was  chartered  to  make  at  a 
central  station,  and  furnish  through  pipes,  steam  for  heating  and  for 
power.  In  the  winter  of  1881  the  system  was  put  in  operation.  After 
a  time  it  was  found  to  be  a  losing  business  on  account  of  waste  and 
leakage ;  and  the  furnishing  of  power,  which  had  involved  carrying 
steam  at  a  high  pressure,  was  discontinued.  It  is  still  retained  for 
heating,  and  about  a  hundred  and  twenty-five  customers  are  supplied, 
many  of  whom  represent  blocks  or  large  public  buildings.  Some  few 
attempts  were  made  to  use  this  steam  in  cooking.  The  Gas  Company 
has  done  a  considerable  business  of  this  kind,  and  has  placed  about 
eight  hundred  stoves  for  cooking;  or  heating. 


ydf .  Cc  .  CL<^£*r 


Oy^ 


ARCHITECTURE   IN   HARTFORD.  463 


SECTION   VI. 

ARCHITECTURE  IN  HARTFORD. 

BY    WILLIAM    C.    BROCKLESBY. 

Almost  the  first  building  erected  in  Hartford  was  for  "  Christian 
worship."  The  church  was  primitive  in  character,  twelve  feet  in 
height  from  ground  to  eaves ;  plain  windows  pierced  the  four  wooden 
sides,  and  a  lofty  pyramidal  roof  formed  the  crowning  feature.  Rec- 
ords inform  us  that  in  the  present  Centre  (First)  Congregational  Church 
are  timbers  that  had  been  used  in  this  first  colonial  church  building. 
Among  the  earliest  houses,  that  of  the  Rev.  Thomas  Hooker,  one  of 
the  founders,  may  be  cited  as  a  type.  It  was  a  frame  building,  paral- 
lelogram in  shape,  with  continuous  ridge  from  gables  at  either  end, 
two  stories  in  height,  the  second  slightly  overhanging  the  first;  the 
sides  were  sheathed  or  boarded  horizontally,  and  the  windows  fewer 
in  number  than  at  a  later  period.  To  vary  the  uniformity  of  the  front 
a  central  projection  extending  through  both  stories  was  thrown  out, 
and  contained  at  the  ground  line  the  main  entrance.  In  these  early 
houses  the  chimney-stack  occupied  a  central  position,  as  the  open  fire- 
place did  in  the  household,  and  represented  in  quantity  of  material  the 
aggregation  of  several  modern  chimneys.  The  Hooker  house  stood 
"  on  the  north  side  of  the  high  and  romantic  banks  of  Mill  (now  Park) 
River." 

In  the  course  of  a  few  years  a  variety  in  the  style  of  house-building 
was  made  very  apparent  both  in  roof-construction  and  in  general  de- 
tails, the  treatment  of  the  main  entrance  doorway  presenting  an  inter- 
esting study.  Not  only  do  we  find  the  overhanging  second  story 
adhered  to,  —  a  feature  imported  from  the  old  country,  —  but  it  is 
observed  also  that  the  typical  house  is  in  better  proportion  than  its 
predecessors,  as  instanced  by  the  introduction  of  the  sloping  roof-line, 
destined  to  long  service  in  the  future.  Rose  Terry  Cooke  succinctly 
describes  the  front  of  a  house  of  this  period  as  containing  "  nine  win- 
dows and  a  door."  This  distribution  of  openings  was  an  architectural 
"  happy  thought,"  and  was  booked  for  many  years. 

The  "  gambrel  roof  "  treatment  was  also  in  great  favor  in  the  colo- 
nial times,  and  in  and  about  the  city  are  to  be  found  good  examples  of 
this  type.  In  point  of  accommodation  it  had  good  advantages,  while  its 
picturesqueness  was  unquestioned.  To  the  '"gambrel  roof"  we  should 
justly  return  thanks,  as  it  introduced  dormer  windows.  These  at  first 
were  disposed  along  the  front,  three  in  number,  and  finished  with 
delicately  moulded  pediments,  the  central  window  having  a  circular 
treatment  in  contrast  to  its  flanking  neighbors.  The  perfectly  plain 
casements  of  the  nine  front  windows  suffered  a  change  later.  The 
opening  above  the  entrance  door  received  marked  attention.  Here  was 
introduced  a  triple  window,  the  central  one  having  a  circular  head  with 


464 


MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 


A   COLONIAL    DOORWAY. 
(Front  Door  of  the  Churchill  House,  in  Newington,  built  in  1754. 


vol.  ii.  p.  328.) 


transom  light,  the  sash  divided  by  radiating  muntins.     The  effective 
introduction  of  collonnettes  was  a  feature  of  the  design,  the  carving  of 

the  caps  being  generally  most  excel- 
lent and  the  mouldings  of  the  entab- 
lature members  of  almost  minute 
proportions. 

The  quaint  porch  at  the  front  door 
was  an  interesting  study.  The  sup- 
porting columns  were  at  first  after 
the  Doric  style  with  plain  shaft 
and  moulded  cap  and  base ;  and,  in 
the  refinement  of  treatment  which 
characterized  Ionic  work  where  in- 
troduced, the  house-builders  of  mod- 
ern times  may  learn  a  lesson  when 
they  look  upon  the  deformities  of 
"  classic  "  porches,  whose  badly  pro- 
portioned columns  stand  up  to  defy 
alike  good  taste  and  sound  judg- 
doorway  of  123  main  street.  ment.     A  pleasing  example  of  door- 


ARCHITECTURE   IN   HARTFORD. 


465 


way  treatment  is  shown  in  the  accompanying  illustration  of  what  is  now 
No.  123  Main  Street.  In  place  of  a  porch  a  broken  pediment  is  intro- 
duced, supported  by  pilasters  standing  on  plinths.  The  pilasters  are 
fluted,  and  above  the  neck-moulding  are  quaint  incised  rosettes.    Three 

other  doorways  are  given  herewith,  illus- 
trative of  different  styles.  One  is  on 
Main  Street,  corner  of  Church ;  the  sec- 
ond, Main,  corner  of  Capitol  Avenue  ;  and 
the  third  is  on  Front  Street. 

One  of  the  early  historic  houses  of 
Hartford  was  the  Daniel  Wadsworth 
mansion.  Encumbered  with  some  mod- 
ern appendages  marring  its  colonial  archi- 
tecture, it  is  still  to  be  seen  shorn  of  its 
pristine  grandeur,  standing  on  the  south 
side  of  Buckingham  Street,  near  Main 
St  net.    It  formerly  stood  on  Main  Street, 


where  the  Wadsworth  Athenaeum  was  after- 
ward built,  and  on  the  20th  day  of  September, 
1780,  it  was  the  scene  of  the  famous  interview 
between  General  Washington  and  Count  de 
Rochambeau,  at  which  the  plans  for  the  York- 
town  campaign  were  discussed  and  arranged. 

The  Talcott  house,  also  located  on  Main 
Street  (Xo.  459),  is  another  example  of  the  pe- 
riod. It  was  built  in  1770  by  Colonel  Samuel 
Talcott,  and  is  still  standing.  A  curious  bit  of 
detail  to  be  noticed  upon  its  front  is  a  deli- 
cately moulded  course,  cornice-like  in  charac- 
ter (midway  between  the  stories  at  chamber-floor  line),  with  its  bev- 
elled upper  portion  shingled.  The  sketch  on  the  next  page  shows 
the  quaint  staircase,  still  in  existence. 

Many  fine  specimens  of  domestic  architecture  during  early  times 
were  to  be  found  upon  what  are  now  known  as  Morgan,  Front,  Temple, 


466 


MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF  HARTFORD   COUNTY. 


and  Grove  streets.  The  Barnabas  Deane  house,  on  Grove  Street,  was 
built  in  1778.  State  Street  was  one  of  the  principal  business  locations, 
but  boasted  also  a  number  of  fine  residences ;  while  the  houses  of  gen- 
erous proportions  which  were  built  and  some  of  which  are  still  stand- 
ing- upon  the  present 
Prospect  Street  af- 
forded other  examples 
of  the  early  colonial 
style,  and  were  con- 
spicuous for  their 
lofty  porches  with 
supporting  columns. 
To  the  student  exam- 
ining the  ornamental 
detail  work  of  this 
class  of  buildings  the 
fact  is  revealed  that 
where  carving  is 
found,  its  execution 
is  almost  invariably 
excellent  and  shows 
evidence  of  skilled 
workmanship. 

It  is  a  mooted 
question  as  to  the 
exact  location  of  the 
first  brick  house  in 
Hartford.  There  were 
several  the  date  of 
whose  erection  was 
nearly  the  same. 
Among  these  one  oc- 
cupied the  site  of  the 
present  "  Courant " 
building,  north  of 
what  was  then  called 
"  Meeting-House  Square ; "  another  stands  on  Governor  Street,  then 
known  as  Cole  Street,  which  is  remarkable  as  showing  the  first  intro- 
duction of  black  brick  in  construction  ;  and  one  is  on  Main  Street,  at  the 
north  corner  of  the  present  Mulberry  Street,  also  remarkable,  but  for  a 
different  reason.  In  it  Noah  Webster  compiled  and  published  his 
"  Elementary  Spelling  Book."  In  a  remodelled  form  this  building  is 
still  standing.  The  first  bricks  ever  used  in  Hartford  were  laid  in  the 
walls  of  the  "  House  of  Hope,"  in  1633,  more  familiarly  known  as  the 
"  old  Dutch  fort,"  on  the  south  bank  of  "  Little  river  "  at  its  junction 
with  the  "  Great  river"  (Connecticut),  and  were  in  size  and  color  not 
unlike  the  buff  bricks  now  made  at  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin.  A  specimen 
of  the  1G33  brick  is  owned  by  a  Hartford  citizen. 

Another  of  the  early  brick  houses  was  the  building  formerly  standing 
on  the  southeast  corner  of  the  present  Grove  and  Main  streets.  It  was 
a  large  square  structure  crowned  with  lofty  pyramidal  roof,  and  was 
erected  by  Captain  Thomas  Hopkins ;  and  it  is  reported  that  the  shingles 


STAIRCASE    IN    THE   TALCOTT    HOUSE. 
(Drawn  by  Miss  Mary  K.  Talcott.) 


ARCHITECTURE   IN  HARTFORD.  469 

and  also  the  bricks1  used  in  construction  were  imported  by  him  from 
Holland.  The  front  was  characterized  by  a  generous  doorway  with  early 
Dutch  door  divided  horizontally,  and  the  windows  were  built  with  splayed 
caps  of  brick,  the  sash  being  glazed  with  the  miniature  lights  which 
are  alike  the  despair  and  the  envy  of  modern  times. 

A  mention  of  the  early  brick  structures  in  Hartford  would  be  incom- 
plete without  a  word  regarding  the  "  Mansion  house  "  on  the  north  side 
of  Kinsley  Street,  not  an  object  of  special  interest  to  the  average  passer- 
by of  to-day,  but  to  relic-hunters  a  pleasing  revelation.  The  house  was 
built  by  Dr.  Kinsley,  and,  as  a  record  informs  us,  from  brick  made  by 
himself  in  a  brick-pressing  machine  which  he  invented.  The  building- 
is  about  forty-five  feet  by  forty  feet,  and  faces  to  the  east,  this  front  being- 
characterized  by  a  liberal  doorway  with  elliptical  arched  head,  above  a 
basement  story  standing  up  eight  feet  or  more  from  the  street.  Many  of 
the  windows  have  splayed  caps  of  marble  ten  inches  high,  the  sills  being 
of  the  same  material ;  but  the  strongest  interest  attaches  to  the  bricks 
themselves,  as  we  find  that  they  are  in  some  instances  of  ornamental 
forms,  noticeably  in  a  water-table  course,  where  a  moulded  projection  is 
seen,  and  also  in  two  courses  marking  the  location  of  floors  within.  Here 
is  shown  a  species  of  enriched  running  guilloche  ornament  with  rosettes. 
Near  the  ground  line  the  bricks  are  of  unusual  dimensions,  measuring 
four  inches  in  height  by  sixteen  inches  in  length.  On  one  of  these,  in 
lieu  of  a  corner-stone,  is  found  the  brief  legend,  "  A.  Kinsley,  1796." 

The  fust  inn  of  Hartford  was  opened  about  1644.  It  stood  on  Main 
Street,  nearly  opposite  the  present  Centre  Church,  and  was  the  identical 
building  from  which,  forty -three  years  later,  the  famous  charter  was 
stolen  at  the  General  Court  session  and  hidden  in  the  oak  on  Wyllys 
Hill.  At  Bennett's  Hotel  General  Lafayette  was  entertained  in  1825, 
and  later,  on  the  8th  of  February,  1842,  Dickens  and  his  wife  were  wined 
and  dined  on  the  same  site,  the  building  being  then  known  as  the  City 
Hotel.  While  the  early  inns  and  taverns  partook,  from  an  architectural 
point  of  view,  more  of  the  nature  of  private  houses  than  public  build- 
ings, they  were  to  the  owner  like  Charles  Lamb's  "  poor  cough,"  "  the 
best  he  could  do,"  and  what  they  may  have  lacked  in  imposing  archi- 
tectural effect  they  made  up  in  homely  accommodation,  good  cheer,  and 
hospitable  entertainment  at  the  numerous  "  assemblies  "  gathered  be- 
neath their  roof.  The  customs  connected  with  the  inns,  their  estab- 
lishment by  law,  and  the  rules  by  which  they  were  governed,  fill  many 
a  curious  and  interesting  page  of  history,  unfortunately  beyond  the 
province  of  this  article.  Suffice  it  to  say  they  were  many  in  number, 
and  were  located  conveniently  in  and  about  Hartford. 

The  first  State  House  in  Hartford  was  a  wooden  structure,  built  in 
1720,  and  it  stood  on  Main  Street,  in  front  of  the  present  City  Hall,  the 
site  of  the  present  post-office  (or  a  portion  of  it)  being  then  occupied 
by  the  old  meeting-house.  The  State  House  contained  on  the  second 
floor  two  rooms  for  meetings  of  the  General  Assembly  on  the  north 
and  south  sides,  with  an  intervening  room  for  consultations,  there 
being  no  public  offices  within  the  walls.  A  peculiarity  in  construction 
was  that  the  second  floor  was  supported  by  columns,  and,  all  cross- 

1  A  few  of  these  bricks  were  put  into  the  walls  of  the  building  now  standing  on  that  site. 


470  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

partitions  being  thus  done  away  with,  the  first  floor  formed  a  large 
open  hall  or  "  lobby."  This  peculiarity  of  having  a  generous  lobby  in 
legislative  buildings  has  been  handed  down  to  modern  times.  The 
State  House  had  a  frontage  of  seventy  feet,  with  a  depth  of  thirty  feet. 
It  was  approached  both  from  the  front  and  from  the  side,  an  entrance 
being  located  midway  on  the  south.  The  height  from  floor  to  ceiling- 
was  twenty-four  feet,  and  the  space  above  the  ceiling  was  utilized  for 
the  storage  of  the  arms  carried  by  the  militia.  The  building  was  re- 
moved, in  1796,  to  Church  Street. 

The  erection  of  the  second  State  House,  now  known  as  the  City 
Hall,  was  begun  in  1794,  and,  two  years  later,  completed,1  at  a  cost  of 
about  $52,000,  from  plans  by  Charles  Bulfmch,  an  architect  of  note, 
who  designed  the  Washington  Capitol.  This  was  the  first  public  build- 
ing in  which  brick  and  stone  were  used  in  construction  of  exterior 
walls,  the  latter  material  coming  from  Portland,  in  this  State,  and  being 
introduced  in  basement  and  first  story.  The  structure  was  simple  in 
plan,  including  a  central  portion,  with  flanking  wings  on  the  north  and 
south.  These  provided  accommodation  upon  the  second  floor  for  the 
General  Assembly,  and  the  chambers  were  lofty  apartments  (whose 
height  virtually  included  the  third  story),  and  contained  much  elabo- 
rated detail  of  the  classic  order.  The  eastern  part  of  the  building,  on 
the  same  floor  with  the  legislative  halls,  was  a  spacious  hallway,  while 
in  a  corresponding  portion  on  the  west  was  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of 
State.  The  ground  or  first  story  of  the  State  House  contained  in  the 
north  wing  the  superior  court-room,  and  across  the  wide  hallway  which 
bisected  the  building  were  found  the  offices  of  several  city  functionaries. 
At  a  later  date  (1822)  the  cupola  which  surmounts  the  roof  was  added. 
This  feature  supports  a  figure  of  Justice  holding  the  scales.  The 
eastern  facade,  which  for  many  years  was  the  more  prominent,  was 
marked  by  a  pediment  supported  through  the  upper  stories  by  lofty 
columns  of  wood,  and  it  overlooked  a  miniature  park,  which,  we  regret 
to  say,  is  not  in  existence  at  the  present  day.  Like  many  another  olden- 
time  structure,  the  State  House  has  felt  the  hand  of  modern  innovation, 
and  though  on  its  exterior  it  preserves  to  a  great  extent  its  individu- 
ality, alterations  from  the  original  have  been  made  from  time  to  time 
within. 

The  Arsenal  building  shot  up  in  1813,  and  presented  a  new  archi- 
tectural study,  a  Gothic  structure,  of  which  its  greatest  praise  is  that  it 
formed  a  variety.  The  details  were  weak,  and  the  building  created  less 
impression  than  its  warlike  adjuncts  and  surroundings. 

Vastly  different  in  character  was  another  Gothic  design,  Christ 
Church,  executed  some  dozen  years  later,  from  plans  by  architect  Ithiel 
Town.  In  this  building  fidelity  to  detail  was  strongly  characteristic, 
and  this  specimen  of  Perpendicular  Gothic  ^vas,  when  we  stop  to 
consider  the  meagre  progress  which  the  art  had  then  made  in  this  part 
of  the  country,  almost  phenomenal,  and  was  a  happy  augury  of  archi- 
tectural success.     Dr.  Nathaniel  Wheaton,  the  rector,  was  intimately 

1  It  was  very  difficult  to  raise  money  to  complete  the  building.  The  lottery  for  the  pur- 
pose was  a  failure.  In  1795  General  Andrew  Ward,  of  Guilford,  and  Colonel  Jeremiah  Halsey, 
of  Norwich,  offered  to  finish  it  for  the  "Gore  lands"  on  Lake  Erie.  It  was  an  unprofitable 
transaction  for  them.  The  building  was  occupied  in  May,  1796.  It  was  not  painted  white 
until  1827.  The  Hartford  Convention  of  1815  and  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1818 
were  held  there.     Jackson,  Monroe,  Polk,  Johnson,  and  Grantvisited  it 


ARCHITECTURE   IN   HARTFORD.  471 

connected  with  the  building  of  the  church,  and  it  is  said  portions  of  the 
design  and  detail  work  were  executed  at  his  hand.  The  edifice  is  seventy- 
six  feet  by  one  hundred  feet,  exclusive  of  the  central  tower,  twenty-two 
feet  square,  and  rising  in  dignified  and  stately  lines  to  a  height  of  one 
hundred  and  thirty-five  feet,  In  this  building  the  Portland  stone,  des- 
tined in  after  years  to  become  such  an  important  factor  in  building 
projects,  was  used  in  random  courses  for  the  walls ;  the  wise  precau- 
tion, however,  of  laying  it  on  its  natural  bed  was  not  adopted.  The 
well-designed  details  of  exterior  finish  were  all  carried  out  in  the 
same  stone ;  and  although  it  is  not  wholly  completed  according  to 
the  original  drawings,  it  holds  its  own,  and,  viewed  by  a  professional 
eye,  is  superior  to  many  a  later  church-design  found  within  the  city. 
The  interior  still  retains  the  side  galleries,  but  the  west  end  was  modi- 
fied in  1879,  when  a  recess  chancel  was  added,  and  a  commodious 
parish  building  was  erected  in  the  rear  of  the  church,  with  a  frontage 
upon  Church  Street.  Of  late  years  a  series  of  peculiarly  rich  stained- 
glass  windows  have  been  put  in  place  along  either  side  of  the  church. 

In  a  special  article  devoted  to  that  subject  extended  mention  is  made 
of  the  First  Congregational  Church,  more  generally  known  as  the 
Centre  Church.  As  an  example  of  the  style  then  in  vogue,  it  is  well 
worthy  of  attention;  and  a  study  of  the  spire,  which  tradition  says  had 
its  counterpart  in  the  old  country,  is  of  more  than  passing  interest. 

Beyond  a  doubt  two  of  the  architectural  lions  of  Hartford  are  to  be 
seen  upon  Main  Street,  in  front  of  the  Phoenix  Bank.  To  many  a 
citizen  they  recall  an  old  building  landmark,  the  original  Phoenix 
Bank.  This  was  the  first  marble  building1  erected  in  the  city,  and 
occupied  the  site  upon  which  the  present  banking-house  now  stands. 
On  the  1st  of  September,  1814,  it  was  voted  to  build,  and  in  the  following 
year  the  ground  was  purchased,  and  shortly  afterward  trie  project  was 
carried  to  consummation.  The  figure  of  the  Phoenix  seen  in  the  cut  as 
crowning  the  roof  was  of  wood.  The  guardian  lions  above  the  curtain- 
walls  were,  however,  of  stone,  and  though  not  now  occupying  as  exalted 
a  position  as  formerly,  yet  remain  to  this  day.  The  wooden  Phoenix  was 
replaced  in  the  new  building  by  one  of  marble  similarly  located.  The 
approaches  to  the  bank  were  by  means  of  stone  steps,  winding  from  the 
pavement  to  a  platform,  and  were  lined  by  an  iron  railing,  of  which 
class  of  work  there  are  a  number  of  good  specimens  extant  throughout 
the  city.     Two  noticeable  iron  balconies  are  given  on  the  next  page. 

The  business  centres  of  Hartford  were  greatly  changed  with  the 
growth  of  the  city,  and  hence  the  citizen  of  to-day  is  not  surprised  to 
find  that  the  old  City  Hall  was  built  on  Kinsley  and  Market  streets, 
where  its  Grecian  temple-like  appearance  was  the  admiration  of  the 
times.  This  building  was  put  up  in  1828,  and,  standing  as  it  did  in  a 
sort  of  square  in  the  midst  of  the  busy  part  of  the  city,  was  well  and 
conveniently  located.  Its  large  hall  on  the  second  floor  was  used  for 
various  purposes,  including  the  annual  exhibition  of  the  State  Agricul- 
tural Society,  while  its  high  basement  afforded  the  nearest  approach  to 
what  the  Hartford  of  to-day  sorely  stands  in  need  of,  namely,  a  public 
market,  with  a  series  of  stalls  on  such  a  plan  as  is  successfully  carried 
out  in  the  larger  cities. 

1  A  view  of  it  may  be  seen  in  the  article  on  Commerce  and  Banking,  page  336. 


472 


MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 


IRON  BALCONY  ON  THE  GOV.  ELLSWORTH  HOUSE, 
IN  WASHINGTON  STREET.1 


IRON  BALCONY  ON  A  HOUSE  ON  MORGAN- 
STREET. 


Another  Gothic  public  building  was  erected  in  1842,  and  known  as 
the  Wadsworth  Athenaeum.  It  still  holds  its  own  in  architectural  in- 
terest at  the  present  time,  and  in  matters  of  detail  is  infinitely  better 
than  some  of  our  more  pretentious  and  more  modern  structures. 

The  last  hundred  years  have  naturally  witnessed  more  changes  in 
the  structural  treatment  of  Hartford  houses  than  did  the  hundred  fol- 
lowing colonization,  and  it  may  frankly  be  confessed  that  these  latter 
times  have,  from  an  architectural  standpoint,  to  bear  the  burden  of 
many  sins  both  of  omission  and  commission,  of  which  the  limits  of  this 
paper  preclude  extended  mention.  To  the  early  wisdom  of  authorities 
is  clue,  in  part,  the  preservation  of  many  of  the  typical  houses  of  years 
ago,  as  the  owners  were  by  law  compelled  to  build  of  brick,  under 
certain  conditions ;  and  Hartford  was  singularly  free  from  large  fires, 
which  so  readily  sweep  away  wooden  buildings,  ancient  or  modern. 
The  prevalence  of  brick  buildings  in  the  city  is  to-day  a  subject  of 
pleasurable  surprise  ;  not  that  we  disclaim  pretence  to  good  specimens 
of  domestic  work  in  other  materials,  but  the  proportion  of  the  former 
to  the  latter  cannot  fail  to  make  itself  apparent  after  passing  through 
the  residence  part  of  the  city.  In  numberless  instances  the  ample 
grounds  about  the  residences  tend  to  impress  an  observer  with  the  idea 
that  the  city  is  one  of  homes  rather  than  houses.  The  absence,  too,  of 
formidable  blocks  of  dwellings  further  emphasizes  this  idea.  Many  a 
comparatively  plain  building  rises  out  of  the  commonplace,  thanks  to 
its  surroundings  and  its  well-kept  lawns;  and  we  can  forgive  and 
forget  questionable  ornamentation,  in  contemplation  of  a  general  happy 
and  successful  effect. 

It  was  not  until  recently  that  in  a  strictly  architectural  sense  our 
houses  were  designed  with  any  reference  to/a  purity  of  style  which 
would  at  once  stamp  them  as  belonging  to  a  distinct  period ;  and  in 
looking  over  the  various  specimens  of  domestic  work  between  1800  and 
the  present  time,  one  cannot  but  confess  that  in  the  interim  less  and 
less  attention  was  paid  to  those  seemingly  insignificant  points  which  as 
a  whole,  rather  than  in  part,  exert  their  influence  upon  a  design,  and 
are  technically  known  as  the  "  details."     In  the  earlier  work  there  was 


Xow  the  residence  of  Ex-Lieutenant-Governor  Bulkeley. 


ARCHITECTURE   IX   HARTFORD. 


473 


refinement,  and  a  painstaking  delicacy  was  observable  more  particularly 
in  wood-work,  and  the  designs  possessed  a  certain  amount  of  "  feeling  " 
in  them,  which  later  found  their  counterparts  in  ostentatious  display 
and  vulgar  ornamentation. 

A  change  from  the  low-studded  apartments  of  1800  is  noticed  in 
the  houses  built  during  the  next  twenty-five  years,  when  there  was  an 
upward  tendency  ;  and  later,  about  1837,  the  pillared  fronts  towered 
aloft.  In  some  instances  the  gigantic  columns  had  as  their  raison 
d'etre  the  upholding  of  great  pediments,  and  classic  ornamentation  was 
seen  in  triglyph  and  guttae ;  in  other  examples  they  confined  their 
attention  to  a  vast  projection  of  the  roof,  and  to  sustaining  the  reputa- 
tion of  the  party  who  belittled  noble  design  by  unfortunate  adaptation. 
In  various  parts  of  the  city  are  to  be  found  specimens  of  these  domestic 
temples,  though  their  number  is  not  large.  Not  as  numerous  as  the 
above,  and  possessing  a  negative  interest,  are  some  structures  of  a  later 
day,  which  come  under  the  head  of  "  wooden  Gothic."  A  vast  distinc- 
tion exists  between  "  wooden  Gothic "  and  Gothic  treatment  exem- 
plified in  wooden  construction.  In  the  former  we  look  for  —  and  gener- 
ally discover  —  a  display  of  meretricious  work,  the  details  of  which,  if 
executed  in  proper  materials,  would  not  evoke  criticism;  but  when 
carried  out  in  wood  they  are  hollow  mockeries,  in  the  strictest  sense  of 
the  term,  as  witness  label  mouldings,  battlements,  boxed  buttresses, 
etc.  This  style  of  sham  building,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  was  in 
greater  vogue  for  ecclesiastic  than  domestic  work;  and  although  exam- 
ples are  still  to  be  found  about  the  country,  they  are  falling  to  decay, 
or  are  in  some  instances  being  displaced  by  wooden  buildings,  whose 
designs,  while  partaking  of  Gothic  treatment,  and  1  icing  relieved  by 
Gothic  detail, 
confine  them- 
selves to  the  le- 
gitimate uses  of 
their  material, 
and  do  not  sin 
against  that  com- 
mendable law  of 
a  modern  author- 
ity which  begs  us 
to  "  ornament 
construction,  and 
not  construct  or- 
nament." A  clev- 
er design  of  a 
Gothic  cottage  is 
shown  in  the  resi- 
dence of  Mr.  Felt, 

on  Jefferson  Street,  which  well  illustrates  the  possibilities  of  this  style 
and  its  adaptation  to  the  requirements  of  house-building,  while  the 
critic  cannot  be  offended  at  the  demands  made  of  its  carefully  studied 
details.  This  house  was  the  second  one  in  Hartford  which  was  painted 
red ;  but  it  is  now  a  difficult  matter  to  predict  which  will  be  the  last 
one,  as  the  fever  has  raged  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the 
city,  attacking  worthy  and  unworthy  subjects  alike. 


RESIDENCE    OF    MR.   L.  L.  FELT,  ON  JEFFERSON  STREET. 


474 


MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 


Another  house,  which  attracts  the  attention  of  all  those  who  see  it, 
is  the  residence  of  the  artist  Gurclon  Trumbull,  on  the  corner  of  Asylum 
Avenue  and  Atwood  Street. 

For  many  years  following  the  wooden  Gothic  period  house-building 
was  conspicuous  for  the  large  numbers  of  brick  dwellings  whose  gen- 
eral difference  in  character  from  the  earlier  examples  lay  in  the 
treatment  of  windows  and  roofs.      The  former  showed  round-arched 


W"    ^^^$g* 


RESIDENCE   OF    MR   GURDON    TRUMBULL,    ON    ASYLUM    AVENUE. 


heads,  and  in  some  instances  were  grouped  ;  the  latter  were  flat,  with 
narrow  projecting  cornice  plentifully  bracketed.  A  variation  was  given 
to  this  type  by  the  introduction  of  towers,  square  or  octagonal.  The 
porches  attached  to  these  houses  made  a  show  of  fluted  columns  with  Co- 
rinthian capitals,  these  features  and  the  wood-work  of  the  roof  dividing 
the  builders'  attention.  The  details  were  generally  coarse,  while  the 
building  itself  was  usually  square  in  form,  with  a  possible  relief  of  a 
one-story  bay  upon  the  front,  and  a  series  of  gradually  diminishing  "  L's" 
on  the  rear.  The  type  was  monotonous ;  but,  owing  in  part  doubtless  to 
cheapness  of  construction  from  its  simplicity',  it  must  have  been  popu- 
lar, if  the  number  of  such  buildings  existing  at  the  present  day  is  to  be 
taken  as  evidence.  The  finish  of  these  buildings  was  Portland  stone, 
with  dressing  of  rubbed-work ;  while  the  stone-work  of  the  underpin- 
ning was  customarily  laid  up  in  high  block  courses.  It  was  not  until 
later  that  the  pleasing  variety  in  the  use  of  this  most  excellent  material 
was  shown  in  the  tooling  of  the  stone  and  the  presentation  of  ashlaring 
in  the  irregular  rock-face  work  so  much  in  vogue  at  the  present  time. 


ARCHITECTURE   M   HARTFORD. 


475 


One  or  two  instances  are  on  record  where  iron  caps  of  a  more  or  less 
ornamental  character  were  substituted  for  the  Portland  stone.  The 
use  of  red  mortar  in  place  of  white,  for  brick-work,  was  also  of  later 
introduction,  and  is  now  almost  universally  adopted.  Probably  to  the 
class  of  houses  above  described  is  due  the  outgrowth  of  the  speculative 
double  brick  house,  of  which  so  many  pairs  were  at  one  time  erected, 
lining  some  of  the  less  popular  streets,  and  threatening  to  drive  out 
what  humble  attempts  at  architecture  were  striving  for  a  place  in 
public  estimation. 

We  were  lifted  out  of  the  brick  boxes  to  contemplate  another  phase 
of  building,  which,  however,  and  fortunately,  was  of  short  duration. 
We  refer  to  the  construction  of  the  French  or  mansard  roof.  This 
quasi-economical  method  of  obtaining  an  upper  story  to  the  house  was 
not  as  popular  in  Hartford  as  in  other  places,  and  the  existing  ex- 
amples are  not  to  be  contemplated  as  objects  of  special  architectural 
beauty. 

The  residence  of  Mrs.  Samuel  Colt,  at  Armsmear,  is  one  of  the  no- 
ticeable houses  in  the  city.  It  is  of  massive  stone,  towered  and  domed, 
and  presents  a  long  irregular  front  on  Wethersfield  Avenue. 


RESIDENCE    OF    MRS.   SAMUEL    COLT    (arMSMEAk). 


The  happily  increased  interest  shown  in  architectural  matters  within 
the  past  ten  years  by  the  public  at  large  has  not  been  without  its  effect 
in  the  city.  This  is  well  illustrated  by  the  attention  which  has  been 
and  is  to-day  being  given  to  dwelling-house  construction.  The  elements 
of  beauty  are  not  as  subservient  to  those  of  utility  as  was  formerly  the 
case.  The  profession  of  architecture  is  not  reserved  for  the  demands 
of  large  public  structures,  and  its  influence  is  called  for  and  retained  in 
works  hitherto  considered  of  minor  importance.  This  action  has  borne 
good  fruit,  and  every  season  adds  new  examples  to  the  already  increasing 
number  of  private  residences,  and  the  tendency,  as  far  as  architectural 


476 


MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 


effect  is  concerned,  is  the  reverse  of  monotony.  This  is  due  in  great 
measure  to  the  variety  of  materials  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  archi- 
tect, and  the  different  combinations  which  it  is  possible  to  produce. 

One  of  the  most  extensive  private  houses  in  the  city,  and  one  of 
marked  architectural  importance,  is  the  residence  of  the  late  James 
Goodwin,  upon  Woodland  Street.  It  is  constructed  of  Westerly  granite 
with  rock-face  ashlar,  the  finish  being  of  the  same  material  dressed  and 
relieved  by  belts  and  courses  of  rose  granite.  The  design  is  Gothic,  and 
all  the  details  are  carefully  executed.  A  characteristic  feature  of  the 
principal  floor  plan  is  the  wide  hall,  forty-five  feet  in  length,  extending 
entirely  through  the  house  from  east  to  west,  and  displaying  midway 
upon  one  of  the  side  walls  a  lofty  hooded  fireplace  built  of  Ohio  stone 
enriched  by  carving.  The  stable  and  coachman's  quarters  are  so  con- 
nected with  the  main  building  as  to  form  part  in  the  same  general  de- 
sign. The  prominent  feature  of  the  house  is  a  square  tower  finished 
at  its  upper  portion  in  timber-work. 


RESIDENCE  OF  MR.  S.  L.  CLEMENS    ("MARK  TWAIN  "),  FARMINGTON  AVENUE. 


Another  type  of  dwelling  is  shown  in  the  residence  of  Mr.  Clemens, 
more  familiarly  known  as  "  Mark  Twain."  The  house  is  admirably 
adapted  to  the  site,  and  the  west  facade  particularly  presents  attractive 
detail.  The  building  is  of  red  brick,  portions  of  the  wall  faces  being 
embellished  with  vermilion  bands  painted  upon  them,  all  the  exterior 
wood  finish  having  likewise  a  treatment  with  red  paint,  but  of  darker 
shade.  The  picturesqueness  of  the  design  is  the  result  of  study  be- 
stowed on  the  various  features,  and  their  thoughtful  combination.  For 
several  years  this  house  stood  almost  alone  as  the  exponent  of  the 
more  modern  ideas  in  relation  to  domestic  work  ;  but  to-day  it  is  one  of 
a  number  which  challenge  the  attention  of  the  public. 


ARCHITECTURE   IN    HARTFORD. 


479 


RESIDENCE    OF    MR.  FRANKLIN    CHAMBERLAIN,    FARMINGTON    AVENUE. 

In  general  it  may  be  said  that  not  only  beauty  of  form  but  beauty 
of  color  also  is  sought,  if  not  always  obtained,  in  our  latest  work ;  and 


•  fifWn-  1  TV  i«l   , 


&- 


m 

\ 


5:3 
t 


A   RESIDENCE    ON    GARDEN   STREET    (NO.  60). 

although  like  other  hobbies  when  ridden  to  death  the  result  is  far  from 
pleasing,  yet  the  motive  is  a  good  one.     With  the  demand  for  novelty 


480 


MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 


if  too  urgent  the  tendency  is  apt  to  be  toward  the  grotesque,  and  a 
straining  for  effect  is  the  rock  upon  which  architectural  design  is  liable 
to  be  shattered.  In  the  dwelling-house,  comfort  and  convenience  should 
be  of  first  importance ;  and  that  these  can  be  happily  blended  with 
the  advantages  of  architectural  effect  and  taste  in  design  and  treat- 
ment is  amply  illustrated  by  scores  of  houses  of  recent  date  within  the 
city.  In  the  search  after  novelty  in  use  of  material  the  view  of  the 
residence  of  Mr.  Franklin  Chamberlain  shows  a  conspicuous  example. 
The  walls  are  chiefly  of  broken  granite,  while  the  belt  courses  and 
finish  about  windows  are  of  red  brick.      The  roofs  are  covered  with 


RESIDENCE   OF    A.  H.  OLMSTED,    CORNER   OP   ELM    AND    CLINTON    STREETS, 
FACING    BUSHNELL    PARK. 


shingles  painted  before  use,  and  throughout  the  entire  structure  is  a 
large  amount  of  detail  work  whose  careful  execution  is  an  important 
factor  in  the  general  effectiveness  of  the  design.  Within,  the  house 
presents  a  series  of  vistas  artistically  produced.  The  Garden  Street 
residence,  also  given  on  page  479,  shows  still  another  "type."  Here 
the  gables  and  portions  of  the  second  story  present  a  contrast  in  treat- 
ment with  principal  story.  The  latter  is  of  red  brick,  with  a  finish  of 
Portland  sandstone,  the  former  showing  terra-cotta  tiles.  The  wood 
finish  at  gables,  porches,  etc.,  is  painted  in  dark  olive  shades,  and  the 
combination  of  color  throughout  is  attractive  and  pleasing.  The  design 
of  the  house  is  characterized  by  the  so-called  "  Queen  Anne  "  feeling, 
of  which  puzzling  name  a  definition  may  with  propriety  be  expressed 


THE   RESIDENCE    OF    MR.  JAMES    G.  BATTERSON,    ON   ALBANY    AVENUE. 


ARCHITECTURE   IN   HARTFORD. 


483 


as  a  design  in  which  the  treatment  and  conception  are  Gothic  executed 
in  classic  detail. 

The  development  of  Bushnell  Park  presented  upon  its  south  front 
many  eligible  building  sites  which  are  now  nearly  all  occupied  and 
command  fine  outlooks.  The  latest  house  erected  in  this  vicinity  is 
that  of  Mr.  A.  H.  Olmsted.  The  design  presents  still  another  type,  a 
construction  almost  devoid  of  stone  for  finish  except  in  basement  story, 
as  the  walls  are  wholly  of  brick,  with  window  caps,  sills,  etc.,  of  the 
same  material.  The  bricks  are  of  peculiar  manufacture,  being  one  and 
a  half  inches  thick  and  twelve  inches  long,  and  of  buff  and  black  col- 
oring, and  they  are  laid  up  in  dark  mortar.  An  effective  treatment 
of  circular  work  is  shown  in  bays,  and  the  roof  is  picturesquely  car- 
ried out. 

Changes  within  the  city  are  to  be  observed  in  the  southern  and 
southwestern  parts,  and  along  the  line  of  Washington  Street  are  notice- 
able houses  of  the  modern  class;   but  in  the  north  and  to  the  west 


GROUP    OF    GOODWIN    COTTAGES,    ALBANY    AVENUE. 


beyond  the  division  line  of  the  railroad  the  development  is  perhaps  the 
most  marked,  and  new  streets  are  being  advantageously  opened.  Upon 
that  old-time  thoroughfare,  Albany  Avenue,  an  interesting  building 
scheme  has  just  been  carried  out  by  Messrs.  F.  and  J.  J.  Goodwin, 
trustees  of  the  estate  of  their  father,  Major  James  Goodwin ;  namely, 
to  provide  moderate-priced  cottages  which  shall  combine  taste  in  de- 
sign of  exterior  treatment  with  interior  convenience  and  picturesque 
effects.  The  view  herewith  shows  a  group  of  these  modern  cottages 
which  are  erected  after  the  designs  of  a  number  of  architects  of  note. 

Beyond,  and  occupying  a  prominent  site  on  this  avenue,  is  the  resi- 
dence of  Mr.  J.  G.  Batterson.  The  houses  in  the  suburbs  of  the  city  are 
of  tenfold  more  interest  to-day  than  they  were  years  ago,  from  an  archi- 
tectural point  of  view.     To  the  west,  upon  Prospect  Hill,  commanding 


484 


MEMORIAL   HISTORY  OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY 


an  extensive  view,  are  found  a  number  of  modern  houses.  In  this  neigh- 
borhood the  Vanderbilt  house  forms  a  conspicuous  feature  of  the  land- 
scape. In  domestic  work  it  will  thus  be  readily  seen  that  an  advance 
has  most  emphatically  been  made,  and  as  the  art  of  architecture  is  pro- 
gressive, the  future  is  full  of  promise  ;  and  while  there  is  a  difference 
in  the  quality  of  the  work,  the  designs  of  our  houses  taken  collectively 
present  a  good  average,  and  that  condition  is  one  rather  to  be  welcomed 
than  dreaded,  as  the  indications  point  toward  the  presentation  of  art 
combined  with  common  sense  rather  than  feeble  comicalities  or  un- 
healthy monstrosities  under  cover  of  professional  work. 

Architecture    as    illustrated   by   the   increasing   number  of   public 
buildings  throughout  the  city  is  of  more  than  ordinary  interest.     This 


THE    STATE    CAPITOL. 


attaches  itself  to  both  civil  and  ecclesiastic  structures.  In  many 
ways  the  State  capitol  overlooking  Bushnell  Park  naturally  claims  a 
great  share  of  attention,  and  owing  to  its  exceptionally  fine  location 
it  is  a  conspicuous  object  viewed  both  from  within  and  from  without 
the  city.  The  capitol  is  an  example  of  modern  secular  Gothic,  and  is 
built  of  East  Canaan  marble.  It  presents  a  total  frontage  of  nearly 
three  hundred  feet.  It  is  two  and  a  half  stories  high,  with  a  mezza- 
nine story  between  the  ground  and  first  story.  The  general  ground- 
plan  is  a  parallelogram  whose  lines  are  chiefly  broken  by  the  projection 
of  the  main  central  portion  having  a  depth  of  two  hundred  feet,  the 


ARCHITECTURE   IN   HARTFORD. 


485 


Mfly 


park  front  being  treated  with  an  ornate  arcade  forming  the  principal 
approach  to  the  building  on  the  north,  while  the  southern  facade  is 
marked  at  the  ground  floor  by  a  porte  cochere  and  an  ample  vestibule. 
The  main  wings  of  the  structure  are  one  hundred  and  eleven  feet  in 
depth,  and  are  connected  with  the  central  portion  by  means  of  an  inter- 
mediate part  one  hundred  and  two  feet  in  depth.  Entrances  are  also 
provided  on  the  east  and  west,  the  former  having  a  rich  arcaded  porch. 
Exteriorly  the  characteristic  feature 
of  the  capitol  is  the  dome,  which  rises 
in  rectangular  form  to  the  roof,  from 
which  it  is  dodecagon  in  shape,  but- 
tressed at  the  angles  ;  the  surmount- 
ing lantern  is  about  fifty  feet  high, 
supporting  a  bronze  figure  symboli- 
zing the  "  Genius  of  Connecticut." 
The  total  height  of  dome  from  ground 
line  to  top  of  the  figure  is  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty-seven  feet,  and  its  di- 
ameter fifty-three  feet.  The  park 
fagade  is  emphasized  at  the  central 
portion  by  a  series  of  five  richly 
decorated  arches  supported  by  mas- 
sive granite  columns  three  feet  in 
diameter,  the  tympana  being  the  fu- 
ture location  of  bas-relief  historical 
subjects.  The  wall  of  the  story  above 
is  pierced  by  mullion  windows  with 
arched    heads,    while    between    the 

window  openings  are  projecting  canopies  and  corbels  for  the  reception 
of  full-length  figures,  and  the  wall  face  is  further  enriched  by  delicately 
cut  diaper.  The  second  story  is  marked  by  a  boldly  executed  foliated 
course,  which  is  carried  entirely  around  the  building,  a  similar  treatment 
being  extended  to  the  main  cornice.  The  roof  is  finished  at  the  eaves  by 
a  marble  balustrade.  The  exterior  treatment  of  the  flanking  wings  is 
characterized  by  carefully  studied  gables  ornamented  by  crockets  and 
crowned  by  finials  in  the  form  of  an  eagle.  The  provision  upon  the  wall 
faces  of  the  various  sides  for  sculpture  is  ample,  as  illustrated  by  the 
canopies  above  mentioned  and  also  by  medallions,  and  already  several 
places  have  been  worthily  occupied,  and  every  year  adds  a  new  subject 
to  the  list. 

Ample  space  on  the  ground  floor  of  the  capitol  is  devoted  to  entrances 
and  to  corridors  leading  to  the  well  lighted  and  ventilated  public  offices, 
and  wide  staircases  built  with  marble  and  granite  give  access  to  the 
several  floors.  The  senate  chamber  and  the  representatives'  hall  are 
located,  on  the  "  mezzanine  "  or  half  story,  the  former  at  the  eastern 
end  of  the  building  and  the  latter  upon  the  south  side.  The  senate 
chamber  is  forty  feet  wide  by  fifty  feet  long  and  is  thirty-seven  feet 
high,  and  is  lighted  principally  from  the  east  by  windows  seventeen  feet 
from  the  floor.  On  the  north  and  south  sides  are  galleries,  and  adja- 
cent to  the  apartment  are  committee  and  retiring  rooms.  The  chamber 
is  finished  in  oak  and  is  elaborately  decorated.  The  representatives' 
hall  is  fifty-six  feet  wide  and  eighty-four  feet  long,  with  a  height  in  the 


EAST   ENTRANCE   TO   THE   CAPITOL. 


486 


MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF  HARTFORD   COUNTY. 


clear  of  about  forty-nine  feet.     It  is  lighted  by  windows  on  three  sides, 
and  has  a  gallery  twenty-three  feet  wide  extending  the  entire  length  of 

one  side.  The  hall  has  a 
high  wainscot  upon  the  four 
sides,  and  the  wood  finish 
throughout  is  of  black  wal- 
nut. The  desks  for  mem- 
bers are  arranged  in  a  semi- 
circular form  upon  platforms 
of  graduated  heights,  the 
faces  of  which  are  pierced  at 
the  aisles  by  outlet  openings 
for  the  escape  of  vitiated 
air,  fresh  air  being  intro- 
duced to  the  hall  through 
ceiling  openings.  A  special 
system  of  heating  and  ven- 
tilation for  the  building  has 
been  adopted,  and  the  results 
have  been  highly  satisfac- 
tory. Particular  attention 
has  been  paid  to  the  decora- 
tion of  the  hall,  the  ceiling- 
design  forming  a  conspicu- 
ous feature.  Four  entrance 
doors  lead  to  the  hall  from 
the  main  corridor,  and  on 
either  side  are  the  speaker's  room,  committee  rooms,  etc.  The  State 
library  occupies  a  fine  apartment,  fifty-five  feet  by  eighty-five  feet,  on 
the  first  floor  [above  the  large  entrance  vestibule,  and  has  a  northern 
exposure.  The  supreme  court-room 
is  also  upon  this  floor,  and  is  located 
in  the  western  part  of  the  build- 
ing. It  is  thirty-one  feet  wide 
by  fifty  and  a  half  feet  long,  and 
is  planned  with  conveniently  con- 
necting apartments.  The  various 
State  offices  are  amply  provided  for 
throughout  the  building,  and  the 
details  of  toilets,  cloak-rooms,  jani- 
tor's quarters,  caf6,  etc.,  have  re- 
ceived consideration,  rendering  the 
capitol  as  a  whole  a  complete  struc- 
ture of  its  class.  The  building  is 
fireproof,  and  was  finished  at  a 
cost  of  $3,342,550.73. 

The  results  of  at  least  a  portion 
of  Hartford's  insurance  prosperity 
and  success  are  expressed  architec- 
turally by  the  buildings  of  more  than 
one  of  her  companies,  and  important  changes  in  street  architecture 


STAIRWAY  IN   THE   CAPITOL. 


BATTLE-FLAG   CORRIDOR    IN   THE   CAPITOL, 
WITH    STATUE    OF    BUCKINGHAM. 


THE    CONNECTICUT    MUTUAL    LIFE    INSURANCE    COMPANY'S    BUILDING, 
MAIN   STREET,    CORXER   OF   PEARL   STREET. 


ARCHITECTURE   IN   HARTFORD. 


489 


were  inaugurated  when  in  1868  the  Charter  Oak  Life  Insurance  build- 
ing was  erected.  Occupying  a  prominent  location  upon  Main  Street, 
nearly  opposite  the  Centre  Church,  the  structure,  which  is  five  stories 
in  height,  with  a  frontage  of  ninety  feet  and  depth  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty,  contains  one  of  the  finest  business  offices  in  New  England.  It 
occupies  in  height  two  of  the  lofty  stories  and  extends  the  entire  width 
of  the  building  from  north  to  south,  is  admirably  lighted  and  planned 
with  reference  to  private  rooms,  officers'  rooms,  etc.  Further  up  Main 
Street  the  building  of  the  Connecticut  Mutual  Life  Insurance  Company 
presents  a  design  in  Italian  renaissance  executed  in  Westerly  granite. 
The  details  are  bold  and  well  conceived,  and  the  structure,  which  is 
thoroughly  fireproof,  contains,  besides  the  spacious  offices  of  the  com- 


THE    GOVERNMENT    BUILDING. 
CONTAINING   POST-OFFICE,    U.    S.    COURT-ROOMS,    ETC. 

pany,  ample  accommodations  for  banking  and  other  corporations  within 
its  walls.  An  emblematic  group  of  statuary  surmounting  the  entrance 
portico  forms  a  striking  and  effective  feature  of  the  Main  Street  facade. 
The  Hartford  Fire  Insurance  Company  erected  a  building  in  1870  upon 
Pearl  Street,  opposite  the  site  of  the  old-time  jail.  It  is  of  granite 
likewise,  and  the  design  is  characterized  by  French  treatment.  These 
buildings,  together  with  those  of  the  Phoenix  Fire  and  Connecticut 
Fire  Insurance  Companies,  instance  the  later  structures  of  this  class, 
while  the  Travelers  contents  itself  in  its  old  homestead-like  quarters 
on  Prospect  Street. 

Upon  a  portion  of  the  ancient  Meeting-House  Square  is  now  seen 
the  modern  Americanized  government  building  containing  the  post- 
office  and  United  States  Court  House.    It  is  three  stones  in  height  with 


490 


MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 


mansard  roof,  and  is  planned  with  reference  to  the  peculiar  location. 
The  granite  details,  like  those  of  all  similar  government  work,  are  clearly 
cut  and  costly.  The  structure  was  begun  in  1873  and  after  a  series  of 
delays  was  finally  completed  and  occupied  in  1883.  A  valuable  addi- 
tion to  the  public  buildings  of  Hartford  was  made  in  1877,  when  the 
Cheney  block  on  Main  Street  was  erected.  The  extensive  frontage  of 
over  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  offered  ample  opportunity  for  treat- 
ment.    The  design  is  a  bold  and  free  rendering  of  the  Romanesque, 


^^ 


THE  CHENEY  BLOCK,  ON  MAIN  STREET. 

extended  through  the  five  stories  and  emphasized  by  a  corner  tower 
with  loftv  pyramidal  roof  covered  with  red  tile*  adding  picturesqueness 
to  the  composition.  The  building  is  one  of  marked  architectural  inter- 
est not  only  in  the  general  conception  of  the  masses,  but  m  the  careful 
study  of  minor  features,  elaborate  carving  at  objective  points  being  an 
important  factor  in  the  richness  of  the  completed  effect.  The  block  is 
built  chiefly  of  Lomrmeadow  stone,  with  a  finish  of  Ohio  sandstone ;  and, 
besides  spacious  shops  on  the  ground  floor,  contains  in  the  stories  above 
offices  and  apartments,  a  hall  being  located  in  one  portion  of  the  upper 
floor. 


THE    BUILDING   OF    THE   CONNECTICUT   FIRE   INSURANCE   COMPANY, 

PROSPECT  STREET,  CORNER  OF  GROVE  STREET. 


ARCHITECTURE   IN   HARTFORD. 


493 


THE    GOODWIN    BUILDING,    CORNER    OF    ASYLUM    AND    HAYNES    STREETS. 

The  Hall  of  Records  possesses  no  particular  merit  of  design,  but  it 
is  of  interest  to  know  that  it  was  probably  the  first  building  in  the  city 
showing  fireproof  construction.  It  is  a  pleasing  feature  of  progress  to 
note  that  a  building  the  uses  of  which  were  so  forbidding  as  those  of  a 
jail  can  be  erected  with  architectural  effect.  The  new  jail  was  finished 
in  1S74,  and  is  substantially  constructed  of  brick,  with  a  generous  finish 
of  Ohio  stone.  In  the  northern  part  of  the  city  also  the  new  almshouse 
is  in  process  of  construction  upon  an  extcnsiYe  plan,  portions  of  which 
will  be  carried  out  as  the  needs  of  the  city  demand.  Instances  of  the 
recent  movement  in  architectural  design  are  seen  in  the  new  "  Queen 
Anne"  blocks  upon  Asylum  Street,  built  by  Messrs.  F.  and  J.  J.  Goodwin, 
trustees,  which  are  important  additions  to  our  street  architecture,  and 
illustrate  the  possibilities  of  moulded  brick,  carving,  and  terra-cotta. 

In  ecclesiastic  design,  among  the  more  recent  examples  are  to  be 
mentioned  the  Park  Church,  the  Memorial  Church  of  the  Good  Shep- 
herd, the  Roman  Catholic  Cathedral,  and  the  Congregational  Church 
upon  Asylum  Hill.  These  structures  are  all  of  Gothic  design  of  differ- 
ent periods,  the  Cathedral,  which  is  the  largest  building  of  its  class, 
being  of  Early  Pointed  Gothic.  The  plan  is  a  Greek  cross.  The  entire 
length  of  the  edifice  is  two  hundred  and  sixty-four  feet,  with  a  frontage 
on  Farmington  Avenue  of  one  hundred  and  itwenty-three  feet,  which  is 
marked  by  two  towers  the  spires  of  which  completed  will  rise  two  hun- 
dred and  twenty  feet  from  the  ground.  The  walls  are  built  of  Portland 
stone  and  the  interior  finish  will  be  executed  in  oak.  The  Cathedral  is 
designed  with  a  seating  capacity  for  two  thousand  persons. 

The  buildings  of  Trinity  College,  an  institution  elsewhere  described, 
are  from  an  architectural  standpoint  of  special  interest,  not  only  in 
view  of  the  fact  that  the  demands  and  requirements  are  met  by  a 
treatment  somewhat  different  from  that  adopted  by  similar  institutions 


494  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

in  other  States,  but  also  on  account  of  the  designs,  which  were  the  work 
of  an  English  architect.  A  general  view  of  the  buildings  thus  far  com- 
pleted is  given  elsewhere.  They  are  exceptionally  well  built,  the 
materials  being  Portland  stone  for  the  ashlar,  — which  is  a  model  of  its 
kind, —  with  Ohio  stone  profusely  used  for  a  finish.  The  interior  work 
is  carried  out  with  the  same  general  idea  of  solidity  of  construction 
which  characterizes  exterior  work,  and  the  finish  is  of  brown  ash,  hard- 
wood floors  being  laid  throughout.  The  design  of  the  college  work  is 
early  French  Gothic. 

Mention  must  also  be  made  among  public  buildings  of  the  new 
county  building,  a  view  of  which  is  given.  It  is  of  press  brick  with 
Portland  stone  trimmings,  and  commands  a  central  location  upon 
Trumbull  Street.  It  affords  accommodation  for  the  Superior  Court 
and  other  courts,  the  county  offices,  etc.,  and  has  recently  been  com- 
pleted at  a  cost,  including  the  land,  of  about  $260,000. 

Near  the  Hartford  Hospital,  which  of  late  has  had  its  field  of 
usefulness  enlarged  by  much-needed  additions,  is  located  the  Old 
People's  Home,  erected  by  special  gifts.  The  building  has  a  southern 
exposure  of  great  value,  and  presents  a  diversified  frontage.  It  is  of 
brick,  with  brown  stone  finish,  and  is  three  stories  in  height,  with  pro- 
jecting wings  on  the  east  and  west.  The  accommodations  are  ample, 
and  the  living-rooms  for  the  occupants  are  well  arranged  with  refer- 
ence to  those  important  health  conditions,  light,  air,  and  ventilation. 

To  the  southwest  of  the  capitol,  and  occupying  an  eligible  site  opened 
up  by  the  laying  out  of  new  streets,  stands  the  building  of  the  Hartford 
Orphan  Asylum,  another  example  of  Gothic  design  applied  to  a  public 
edifice.  The  plan  presents  a  main  building  about  thirty  feet  wide  and 
one  hundred  and  thirty-five  feet  long,  fronting  to  the  south,  with  two 
wings,  one  extending  back  from  the  central  portion  and  a  second  on  the 
east  with  a  square  tower  at  the  intersection  and  rising  above  adjoining 
roofs.  The  east  wing  contains  the  superintendent's  house  to  the  south, 
and  on  the  east  is  a  large  and  effective  bay  carried  up  through  the  sev- 
eral stories.  Moulded  brick  are  extensively  introduced  in  arch-work 
and  string-courses,  and  throughout  the  design  exhibits  thought  and 
careful  study  in  the  composition.  The  accommodation  of  the  Asylum  is 
ample,  and  the  various  apartments,  inclusive  of  the  schoolrooms,  dormi- 
tories, nurseries,  matron's  rooms,  etc.,  are  well  arranged.  The  separate 
entrances  for  boys  and  girls  are  well  placed,  the  corridors  are  thoroughly 
lighted  and  the  staircases  conveniently  located  and  of  easy  ascent.  The 
wing  extending  back  from  the  central  portion  of  the  main  building  con- 
tains on  the  ground  floor  a  spacious  dining-hall  —  a  memorial  gift  — 
handsomely  finished  in  oak.  At  one  end  of  the  hall  is  a  massive  hooded 
fireplace  of  Ohio  stone.  The  great  chimney  with  which  this  fireplace  is 
connected  is  exteriorly  treated  in  a  clever  manner  and  together  with 
the  other  chimneys  illustrates  the  fact  that  with  proper  thought  and 
attention  comparatively  minor  features  of  a  building  may  be  brought 
into  artistic  prominence. 

Besides  the  buildings  devoted  to  educational  purposes,  previously 
mentioned,  are  those  of  the  Connecticut  Theological  Institute  upon  Broad 
Street.  The  frontage  is  nearly  two  hundred  feet,  the  building  is  three 
stories  in  height  and  is  flanked  by  the  chapel  and  the  library,  the  lat- 
ter being  semi-detached.     A  long  wing  at  right  angles  to  the  chapel 


ARCHITECTURE  IN  HARTFORD. 


495 


contains  lecture-rooms  and  students'  quarters,  and  the  principal  building 
contains  on  the  ground  floor  a  reception-room,  lecture-rooms,  presi- 
dent's room,  etc.,  the  floors  above  providing  ample  accommodation  for 
students,  the  rooms  being  well  planned.  A  gymnasium  is  located  in 
the  rear  of  the  ample  grounds.     The  design  of  the  Institute  as  origi- 


nally contemplated  presented  a  well-balanced  and  careful  study  which 
it  is  to  be  regretted  was  not  carried  out,  as  it  would  have  presented  a 
treatment  in  striking  contrast  to  the  painful  and  commonplace  com- 
position now  existing. 

In  the  neighborhood  of  the  Institute,  and  in  refreshing  contrast,  is  to 
be  seen  the  handsome  public  high  school,  but  recently  erected  by  the 
city  with  lavish  hand,  a  worthy  home  of  the  institution  of  which  Hart- 
ford is  justly  proud.  The  building,  which  is  constructed  of  Philadelphia 
press  brick  with  a  finish  of  Portland  stone,  and  enriched  at  objective 


496  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

points  with  excellent  carving,  exemplifies  the  latest  ideas  of  arrange- 
ment and  plan  of  this  class  of  public  structures,  and  is  a  thoroughly 
well  built  and  admirably  equipped  school-house.  It  is  two  hundred 
and  thirty-six  feet  long,  with  an  average  width  of  one  hundred  feet, 
and  is  but  two  stories  in  height  with  a  basement  and  attic.  There 
are  two  towers,  one  of  which,  one  hundred  and  twenty-six  feet  high, 
stands  at  the  northeast  corner  and  contains  broad  nights  of  stone  stairs, 
and  is  finished  exteriorly  by  a  lofty  roof,  the  wall  faces  beneath  con- 
taining dial-plates  of  the  clock.  The  second  tower  is  upon  the  eastern 
front,  and  is  built  for  astronomical  purposes,  and,  at  a  height  of  ninety- 
eight  feet,  is  surmounted  by  a  revolving  dome  seventeen  feet  in  diameter. 
The  building  has  four  entrances  on  the  ground  or  principal  floor,  and 
corridors  twelve  feet  wide  run  lengthwise  on  this  floor  and  that  above. 
Provision  is  made  for  the  school-rooms,  together  with  recitation-rooms, 
cloak-rooms,  laboratories,  apparatus-rooms,  etc.  On  the  ground  floor 
is  a  reception-room  and  also  a  fine  library,  while  the  first  floor  contains 
at  the  southern  portion  of  the  building  a  public  hall  capable  of  seating 
twelve  hundred  people.  The  toilets,  reached  from  the  cloak-rooms, 
are  located  outside  the  line  of  the  main  building.  A  thorough  and 
effective  system  of  heating  and  ventilation  gives  good  satisfaction. 
The  school  is  practically  fireproof,  the  floors  being  laid  upon  brick 
arches  supported  by  iron  beams ;  the  plastering  is  applied  directly  to 
the  brick-work,  and  press  brick  for  interior  wall  finish  has  been  largely 
adopted  with  excellent  effect. 

For  a  city  of  its  size  and  importance,  Hartford  does  not  contain  cer- 
tain public  buildings  which  the  visitor  might  naturally  expect  to  find, 
and  among  which  a  free  public  library  would  be  conspicuous.  But  the 
structures  already  built  make  a  goodly  showing,  and  of  the  various 
classes  represented  they  form  excellent  examples,  to  which  additions 
are  constantly  being  made.  The  future  of  our  domestic  architecture 
being  full  of  promise,  we  may  with  reasonable  expectation  look  for  a 
corresponding  future  in  relation  to  our  public  structures. 


J?CA 


^eJc/^y^-, 


THE    HARTFORD    FIRE    INSURANCE    COMPANY'S    BUILDING, 
CORNER   OF   TRUMBULL   AND  PEARL   STREETS. 


INSURANCE.  499 

SECTION    VII. 

INSURANCE. 

FIRE    INSURANCE. 

BY    CHARLES    HOPKINS    CLARK. 

Hartford  occupies  a  unique  position  in  fire  insurance.  For  no 
predisposing  cause  beyond  the  energy  and  skill  of  those  who  have 
had  charge  of  the  business,  it  has  acquired  the  leadership  in  the  United 
States  of  this  important  interest,  and  has  come  to  be  more  widely 
known  for  this  than  for  any  other  of  its  various  claims  to  prominence. 
Nowhere  else  has  fire  insurance  reached  such  magnitude  as  here.  Be- 
sides the  six  in  Hartford,  there  are  only  nine  fire  insurance  companies 
in  the  United  States  that  have  cash  capitals  of  as  much  as  $1,000,000 
each.  Three  of  the  six  in  Hartford  exceed  this  amount.  The  iEtna 
has  $4,000,000  ;  the  Phoenix,  $2,000,000;  and  the  Hartford,  $1,250,000. 
The  aggregate  capital  of  the  six  companies  in  Hartford  is  $10,250,000, 
which  exceeds  one  quarter  of  the  capital  of  all  the  fire  companies 
in  the  country.  The  total  assets1  of  the  Hartford  companies  exceed 
$24,788,000,  "and  they  insure  more  than  $1,000,000,000  of -property. 
The  losses  that  they  paid  in  1885  exceeded  $5,000,000. 

The  business  has  grown  up  to  its  vast  proportions  from  the  hum- 
blest and  most  informal  beginnings.  Just  how  it  started  is  not  known. 
Some  persons  incline  to  believe  that  it  began  in  marine  underwriting, 
and  that  Hartford  owes  its  eminence  as  an  insurance  centre  to  the  im- 
portance that  it  once  had  as  a  shipping  port.  It  is  certain  that  very 
early  in  the  history  of  the  business  local  merchants  and  ship-owners 
and  importers  insured  vessels,  and  took  the  risk  themselves  as  a  side 
speculation  among  their  other  ventures.  A  charter  for  a  marine  insur- 
ance company  was  granted  in  1803,  and  from  1805  until  its  absorption  in 
the  Protection  it  was  doing  business  as  the  Hartford  Marine  Insurance 
Company.  John  Caldwell  was  president,2  The  earliest  record  of  fire 
insurance  is  found  in  a  policy,  still  preserved,3  which  was  issued  in 

1  It  is  of  interest  to  notice  that  among  these  assets  there  is  over  $1,685,000  at  par,  of  the 
stock  of  banks  in  Hartford,  which  is  more  than  twenty  per  cent  of  the  banking  capital  of  the  city. 
The  life  insurance  companies  of  Hartford  own,  beside  this,  $1,470,000  of  local  bank  stocks,  or 
more  than  seventeen  per  cent ;  and  thus  the  combined  insurance  interests  of  the  city  consti- 
tute also  nearly  forty  per  cent  of  the  banking  capital  for  which  the  place  is  famous. 

2  Mr.  Caldwell  in  1794  advertised  to  take  marine  insurance  in  the  name  of  the  Connecti- 
cut Insurance  Company. 

3  It  was  for  £800  for  one  year  on  Mr.  Imlay's  house,  and  made  "assurance  against  Fire, 
and  all  Dangers  of  Fire  ;  moreover  against  all  Damage  which  on  account  of  Fire  may  happen, 
either  by  Tempest,  Fire,  Wind,  own  Fire,  Negligence  and  Fault  of  own  Servants  or  of  Neigh- 
bours, whether  those  nearest  or  furthest  off;  all  external  Accidents  and  Misfortunes  ;  thought 
of  and  not  thought  of,  in  what  manner  so  ever  the  Damage  by  Fire  might  happen."  The  firm 
of  Sanford  &  Wadsworth  consisted  of  Peleg  Sanford  and  Daniel  Wadsworth.  It  was  formed 
in  1793  and  dissolved  in  1798.  Mr.  Sanford  came  to  Hartford  from  New  Haven,  and  sub- 
sequently returned  there.  He  died  at  sea  in  1801.  The  first  formal  advertisement  of  the 
firm  as  insuring  against  fire  appears  in  the  "Courant,"  dated  March  10,  1794,  which  is  a 
month  later  than  the  date  of  the  policy  alluded  to. 


500  MEMORIAL   HTSTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

February,  1794,  to  William  Imlay,  by  Sanford  &  Wadsworth,  "  for  the 
Hartford  Fire  Insurance  Company."  No  such  company  had  then  been 
incorporated,  and  this  was  either  a  mutual  arrangement,  or  a  name  taken 
by  individuals  to  dignify  the  operations  which  they  conducted  at  their 
own  risk.  The  first  organized  company,  however,  developed  very  prob- 
ably from  this ;  it  had  the  same  name ;  it  was  the  Hartford  Fire  Insur- 
ance Company,  which  was  chartered  in  May,  1810.  Daniel  Wadsworth, 
Daniel  Buck,  and  David  Watkinson  (the  first  named  afterward  founded 
the  Wadsworth  Athenaeum,  the  last  named  established  the  Watkinson 
Library)  were  authorized  to  call  a  meeting  of  the  stockholders.  This 
was  held  June  27,  1810,  at  Amos  Ransom's  Inn.  Among  the  subscrip- 
tions to  the  stock  were  the  following:  Nathaniel  Patten,  one  hundred 
shares ;  David  Daggett,  of  New  Haven,  one  hundred  ;  Frederick  Wolcott, 
of  Litchfield,  forty ;  Daniel  Wadsworth,  eighty  ;  Chauncey  Goodrich, 
seventy ;  Nathaniel  Terry,  one  hundred ;  David  Watkinson,  one  hun- 
dred ;  Hudson  &  Goodwin,  one  hundred ;  Eliphalct  Terry,  twenty ; 
Samuel  Tudor,  twenty-five  ;  Daniel  Morgan,  twenty  ;  Joseph  Trumbull, 
ten.  The  stockholders  elected  as  directors,  Nathaniel  Terry,  Nathaniel 
Patten,  David  Watkinson,  Daniel  Buck,  Thomas  Glover,  Thomas  K. 
Brace,  James  H.  Wells,  Ward  Woodbridge,  and  Henry  Hudson.  These 
chose  Nathaniel  Terry  president,  and  Walter  Mitchell  secretary.  The 
capital  of  the  company  was  $150,000,  of  which  ten  per  cent  was  paid 
in,  and  the  balance  was  secured  by  the  notes  of  stockholders.  The  ex- 
pectation was  that  the  profits  would  eventually  pay  off  the  rest  of  the 
liability.*  Nor  was  it  an  idle  expectation  ;  for  until  1812  the  company 
had  not  a  dollar  of  loss,  and,  as  it  paid  its  president  no  salary,  and  its 
treasurer  $300  a  year,  with  $30  extra  for  firewood,  its  running  expenses 
were  not  heavy.  But  luck  turned  against  it,  and  for  a  number  of  years 
the  losses  far  exceeded  the  receipts.  Stockholders  lost  confidence,  and 
instances  are  on  record  where  the  stock  sold  for  five  dollars  a  share, 
the  purchaser  assuming  the  liability.  The  early  policies  of  the  Hart- 
ford were  surmounted  by  the  accompanying  picture  of  a  fire  in 
Hartford.  The  cut  represents  the  scene  at  the  foot  of  Ferry  Street,  on 
the  river.  The  old  bridge  is  seen  in  the  distance.  The  general  conduct 
of  the  people  at  a  fire  at  that  period  is  shown  :  some  are  operating  the 
engine,  some  passing  buckets,  and  some  engaged  in  salvage. 

In  1835  a  general  change  of  management  took  place,  and  the  com- 
pany began  its  long  career  of  success  at  the  very  time  when,  but  for 
the  courage  and  foresight  of  its  management,  it  might  have  ceased  to 
exist.  At  the  beginning  of  the  year  Eliphalet  Terry  had  been  made 
president,  James  G.  Bolles,  afterward  Internal  Revenue  Collector,  secre- 
tary, and  Christopher  C.  Lyman  assistant  secretary.  Mr.  Lyman, 
declining  all  offers  of  promotion,  remained  in  his  position  forty-three 
years.  The  business,  under  the  new  management,  was  remarkably  suc- 
cessful. Up  to  December  the  losses  of  the/year  had  been  less  than 
$3,000.  A  dividend  was  about  to  be  declared,  and  a  supper  was  given 
in  celebration  of  the  event.  The  next  morning  news  came  from  New 
York  of  the  great  fire  there.  The  company's  losses  were  over  $60,000, 
—  an  immense  sum  as  business  was  then  conducted.  Mr.  Terry  deter- 
mined upon  his  course  of  action  at  once.  He  pledged  his  own  prop- 
erty in  the  city  to  the  Hartford  Bank  as  security  for  the  drafts  he 
might  make,  and  he  started  immediately  for  New  York  in  a  sleigh,  in 


4* 

■  ■  •■ 


y 


INSURANCE. 


501 


FAC-S1MILE  (REDUCED)  OF  THE  HEADING  OF  THE  EARLY   POLICIES  OF  THE 

HARTFORD    FIRE    INSURANCE    COMPANY. 

(Representing  an  early  fire  at  the  foot  of  Ferry  Street.) 

the  bitterest  cold  weather.  On  reaching  the  city  he  found  business  in  the 
utmost  confusion.  The  fire  insurance  companies  were  nearly  all  bank- 
rupt, and  merchants  who  had  not  lost  their  property  in  the  fire  felt 
that  it  was  no  longer  insured  and  might  disappear  in  a  moment,  while 
those  who  had  suffered  and  held  policies  feared  these  were  worthless. 
Mr.  Terry  announced  that  he  would  pay  all  losses  of  the  Hartford  Com- 
pany, and  also  offered  to  take  new  insurance.  The  result  was  that 
confidence  was  restored ;  the  company  took  a  large  amount  of  new 
business  at  high  rates;  all  losses  were  paid,  and  the  best  of  reputations 
was  established.  Then  the  company  began  sending  out  agents  exten- 
sively, and  the  business  speedily  developed.  Mr.  Terry,  who  is  so 
closely  identified  with  the  Hartford  Company,  was  born  in  Enfield  in 
1776,  son  of  Judge  Eliphalet  Terry,  who  for  thirty-three  years,  and 
until  his  death,  represented  Enfield  in  the  legislature.  Three  sons, 
Eliphalet,  Seth,  and  Roderick,  came  to  Hartford  and  acquired  promi- 
nent positions.  Eliphalet  Terry,  in  1795,  entered  the  service  of  Mr. 
Church,  in  his  store  at  the  meeting  of  Main  Street  and  the  Albany  and 
Windsor  "  roads."  At  Mr.  Church's  death  he  took  the  business,  and 
subsequently  took  his  brother  Roderick  Terry  into  partnership  in  the 
firm  of  E.  &  R.  Terry,  which  eventually  became  H.  &  W.  Keney,  now 
the  oldest  firm  in  the  city.  In  1830  Eliphalet  Terry  retired.  From 
1835  until  his  death  in  1849  he  was  president  of  the  Hartford  Fire 
Insurance  Company.  Mr.  Terry  was  active  in  establishing  many  of  the 
benevolent  and  philanthropic  institutions  of  the  city.  He  was  one  of 
the  moving  forces  and  large  contributors  toward  the  establishment  of 
Dr.   BushnelPs   church,  and   was  a  man  whose  influence  was  felt  in 


502  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

social,  political,  and  religious  circles.  The  other  presidents  of  the 
company  have  been  Hezekiah  Huntington,  from  1849  to  1864  ;  Timothy 
C.  Allyn,  1864  to  1867  ;  and  George  L.  Chase,  who  was  elected  in  1867. 
The  Hartford  has  increased  its  capital  to  81,250,000  and  its  assets 
exceed  14,700,000 ;  but  the  Chicago  fire  caused  it  a  loss  of  over 
$1,968,000,  and  necessitated  the  paying  in  of  $500,000  of  new  capital. 
Its  granite  building,  on  the  corner  of  Trumbull  and  Pearl  streets,  was 
put  up  in  1870. 

The  second  company  in  the  city  was  the  iEtna  Insurance  Company, 
whose  corporate  name  does  not  include  the  word  "  fire."  It  was  char- 
tered in  1819.  The  first  board  of  directors,  elected  June  17  that  year, 
consisted  of  Thomas  K.  Brace,  Thomas  Belden,  Samuel  Tudor,  Jr., 
Henry  Kilbourn,  Eliphalet  Averill,  Henry  Seymour,  Griffin  Stedman, 
Gaius  Lyman,  Judah  Bliss,  Caleb  Pond,  Nathaniel  Bunce,  Joseph 
Morgan,  Jeremiah  Brown,  James  M.  Goodwin,  Theodore  Pease,  Elisha 
Dodd,  and  Charles  Babcock.  In  August  Mr.  Pease  died,  and  Henry  L. 
Ellsworth  was  chosen  to  fill  the  vacancy.  The  directors  elected  Thomas 
K.  Brace  president,  and  Isaac  Perkins  secretary. 

It  is  said  that  this,  which  is  now  the  largest  company  in  the  country, 
owed  its  origin  to  the  following  curious  circumstance  :  The  secretary  of 
the  Hartford  Fire  Insurance  Company  had  friends  in  Wethersfield  with 
whom  he  regularly  spent  Sunday,  leaving  his  office  from  Saturday  noon 
to  Monday  noon.  Annoyed  at  finding  the  office  closed,  some  persons 
determined  to  have  a  company  whose  office  would  be  open  at  all  busi- 
ness hours,  and  so  a  meeting  was  held  at  Joseph  Morgan's  Inn,  where 
the  iEtna  was  practically  organized.  The  capital  was  $150,000,  with  ten 
per  cent  cash ;  the  rest  in  notes.     Its  assets  now  exceed  $9,000,000. 

The  business  had  its  ups  and  downs,  and  for  some  time  there  was 
only  slow  progress.  Stockholders  were  much  discouraged,  and  the 
notes,  which  they  had  expected  to  cancel  by  profits,  began  to  look  like 
liabilities.  People  talked  of  the  danger  of  assessment,  and  ./Etna  stock 
not  only  ceased  to  have  any  market  value,  but  was  hard  to  give  away. 
There  are  plenty  of  instances  to  be  cited  where  stockholders  boasted  of 
having  found  some  one  who  would  take  their  shares  off  their  hands, 
liabilities  and  all.  What  fortunes  were  made  by  those  who  had  the 
courage  to  take  the  stock  may  be  judged  by  the  fact  that,  when  in  1866 
the  ^Etna's  cash  capital  had  become  $3,000,000,  only  $196,000  of  that 
sum  had  been  paid  in  by  the  shareholders ;  the  rest  was  capitalized 
profit,  independent  of  the  dividends  that  meanwhile  had  been  paid. 

The  year  1871,  however,  changed  this  record  very  materially.  By 
the  Chicago  fire  the  JEtna  lost  over  $3,750,000.  This  swept  away  the 
vast  surplus,  and  so  impaired  the  capital  that  it  was  reduced  from 
$3,000,000  to  $1,500,000.  It  was  immediately  raised  again  to  the 
former  figure  by  the  paying  in  of  $1,500,000  more  of  cash.  The  stock 
fell  after  the  fire  from  $240  to  $105  per  shape,  but  the  rights  to  sub- 
scribe for  new  stock  sold  at  a  high  price.  In  the  next  year  the  Boston 
fire  took  over  $1,600,000  more,  and  the  capital  was  reduced  $1,000,000, 
and  new  money  to  that  extent  was  paid  in.  Thus,  in  a  year  the  stock- 
holders paid  in  $2,500,000  to  make  good  what  had  disappeared.  In 
1881  the  capital  was  raised  from  $3,000,000  to  $4,000,000,  by  issuing 
$1,000,000  of  new  stock  at  par  to  shareholders.  This  made  the  iEtna 
the  largest  company  in  the  United  States.     Since  it  was  established  it 


THE    jETNA    INSURANCE    COMPANY'S    BUILDING,    ON    MAIN    STREET. 


INSURANCE.  505 

has  paid  in  losses  the  immense  sum  of  858,750,000.  The  first  president 
of  the  ./Etna  was  Thomas  K.  Brace,  who  served  from  1819  to  1857. 
Mr.  Brace  was  born  in  Hartford  in  1779,  and  died  June  14,  1860.  He 
was  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1801.  In  1831  and  1832  he  repre- 
sented Hartford  in  the  legislature,  as  his  father  had  done  in  1798.  He 
was  elected  mayor  of  Hartford  three  successive  years,  beginning  with 
1840,  and  was  a  candidate  for  Congress  in  1843  and  1845.  He  was 
identified  with  the  JEtna  Insurance  Company  from  its  organization,  and 
its  great  prosperity  lias  been  attributed  in  no  small  degree  to  his  wise 
management.  After  him  came  Edwin  G.  Ripley,  from  1857  to  1862 ; 
Thomas  A.  Alexander,  1862  to  1866  ;  and  Lucius  J.  Hendee,  who  was 
elected  in  1866,  and  is  still  in  office. 

The  third  company  was  the  Protection.  It  started  in  1825,  absorb- 
ing a  charter  which  had  been  granted  to  a  marine  company  in  1803, 
and  used  from  1805.  Its  first  president  was  Governor  W.  W.  Ells- 
worth. Thomas  C.  Perkins  was  its  secretarv.  The  subsequent  presi- 
dents were  D.  F.  Robinson,  1837-1840  ;  Hezekiah  King,  1840-1841 ; 
Eliphalet  Averill,  1841-1842 ;  and  Daniel  W.  Clark,  1842-1854. 

Like  its  predecessors,  the  Protection  was  established  with  a  nominal 
capital  of  8150,000,  of  which  ten  per  cent  was  cash.  It  had  the  same 
opportunity  as  the  other  companies,  and  it  exercised  an  important  in- 
fluence on  the  insurance  business ;  but  after  occupying  for  some  time  a 
commanding  position,  it  closed  in  disastrous  failure  in  1854.  In  this 
case  the  liability  of  stockholders  on  their  notes  became  a  painful  reality. 
At  the  time  of  the  failure  the  notes  were  for  fifty  per  cent  of  the  capi- 
tal. The  company  had  raised  funds  by  pledging  these  notes  of 
stockholders  to  money-lenders  as  security  for  loans ;  and  when  its 
career  terminated,  they  lost  their  investment  and  paid  their  notes 
besides,  making  a  loss  of  two  hundred  per  cent.  The  Protection  Com- 
pany, having  made  use  of  a  marine  insurance  charter,  took  marine 
risks,  and  these  proved  the  real  source  of  its  weakness  and  failure.  It 
insured  many  whaling  vessels,  and  was  very  slow  to  drop  a  line  of  busi- 
ness that  was  all  the  time  a  cause  of  loss  and  steady  drain  upon  its  re- 
sources. Its  collapse  has  been  ascribed  to  accident  rather  than  necessity. 
It  was  not  doing  well,  and  a  heavy  loss  struck  panic  to  the  management 
and  led  to  the  determination  to  give  up  the  struggle.  Experienced  un- 
derwriters have  maintained  that  the  failure  was  unnecessary,  and  that 
with  an  earlier  abandonment  of  the  marine  underwriting  it  would  have 
been  saved  by  its  splendid  fire  business,  and  would  have  ranked  with 
the  other  great  Hartford  companies.  It  was  the  first  of  all  of  them  to 
establish  a  general  agency  at  the  West,  and  at  one  time  and  another 
many  of  the  leading  men  of  the  city  were  interested  in  it.1  For  a  series 
of  years  the  iEtna,  Hartford,  and 'Protection  had  almost  all  of  the  fire 
insurance  business  of  the  United  States  outside  of  the  great  cities,  and 
the  Protection  was  especially  active  at  the  West,  where  it  was  the  lead- 
ing company.  Its  fire  business  was  excellently  organized,  largely  by  the 
Hon.  Mark  Howard,  one  of  the  oldest  underwriters  of  the  country,  who 

1  In  1837,  at  the  time  Mr.  Robinson  became  president,  the  directors  were,  D.  F.  Kobinson, 
W.  W.  Ellsworth,  Nathan  Morgan,  Henry  Hudson,  Thomas  C.  Perkins,  Charles  H.  Northam 
Ebenezer  Flower,  A.  H.  Pomeroy,  Philip  Ripley,  William  Kellogg,  James  M.  Bunce,  E.  G. 
Howe,  Thomas  Belknap,  Haynes  Lord,  Hezekiah  King,  Austin  Dunham,  and  Julius 
Catlin. 


506  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

was  for  years  connected  with  the  Protection,  and  who  has  probably  done 
more  than  any  other  individual  toward  placing  the  business  of  fire  in- 
surance upon  a  systematic  and  scientific  basis.  Mr.  Howard,  in  May, 
1849,  at  the  time  of  the  great  fire  in  St.  Louis,  was  able  to  do  a  most 
important  work  for  Hartford  insurance.  The  loss  of  the  Protection 
Company  there  exceeded  $130,000.  The  cholera  was  raging  fearfully  ; 
business  was  prostrated,  and  it  was  all  one's  life  was  worth  to  go  to 
the  city.  He  went,  however,  representing  that  company,  which  was 
largely  interested,  and  also  the  iEtna,  which  had  a  great  deal  at  risk 
there,  and  he  settled  and  paid  the  losses  at  a  time  when  the  business 
was  full  of  discouragements,  and  the  talk  of  abandoning  it  was  fre- 
quently heard.  This  action  brought  a  great  return  of  confidence,  and 
although  at  the  time  it  was  considered  bold,  its  results  proved  its  pru- 
dence and  gave  a  fresh  impulse  to  Hartford  insurance. 

The  Phoenix  Insurance  Company  was  chartered  in  May,  1854. 
Chester  Adams,  Erastus  Smith,  John  A.  Butler,  N.  M.  Waterman, 
N.  H.  Morgan,  S.  B.  Beresford,  Ralph  Cheney,  E.  T.  Pease,  Elisha  T. 
Smith,  William  Faxon,  James  C.  Walkley,  and  Lyman  Stockbridgc 
were  the  corporators,  and  they,  with  Joseph  Merriman  and  Charles  G. 
Geer,  were  the  first  board  of  directors.  The  capital  was  $200,000,  on 
the  usual  terms  of  ten  per  cent  cash  and  ninety  per  cent  in  notes.  In 
1855  a  dividend  of  ten  per  cent  was  paid  and  indorsed  on  the  notes, 
which  was  equivalent  to  one  hundred  per  cent  of  the  actual  capital.  The 
next  year  ten  per  cent  more  was  paid,  and  then  the  remaining  seventy 
per  cent  was  called  in,  in  cash.  In  1859  the  capital  became  1400,000  ; 
in  1864,  $600,000.  At  the  time  of  the  Chicago  fire  the  company  lost 
over  $987,000, —  more  than  one  and  one  half  times  its  capital,  —  but  the 
stockholders  paid  in  a  new  $300,000,  and  went  on  as  before.  In  1876  the 
capital  was  made  $1,000,000,  and  in  1881,  $2,000,000,  putting  it  in  point 
of  capital  next  after  the  iEtna  in  Hartford,  and  fourth  in  the  country. 
The  Phoenix  had  the  honor  of  paving  the  first  Chicago  loss.  The  Hon. 
Marshall  Jewell,  who  was  an  influential  director,  largely  interested  in 
the  company  from  1855  until  his  death,  was  at  the  West  when  the  fire 
occurred.  He  went  at  once  to  Chicago,  and  among  the  mourners  in 
the  burnt  district,  who  believed  all  the  fire  companies  were  ruined,  he 
mounted  a  dry-goods  box  and  announced  that  the  Phoenix  was  going 
to  pay  all  losses.  To  prove  it,  he  offered  to  pay  any  that  the  resident 
agent  would  pass  as  an  indisputable  claim.  One  for  $10,000  was  pro- 
duced, verified  by  the  agent,  and  paid  on  the  spot,  Oct.  13,  1871,  by 
Mr.  Jewell,  with  a  draft  which  was  honored  at  once.  The  presidents 
of  the  Phoenix  Insurance  Company  have  been  :  N.  H.  Morgan,  until 
1855  ;  Simeon  L.  Loomis,  1855  to  1863  ;  and  Henry  Kellogg,  who  has 
served  since  1863. 

The  Connecticut  Fire  Insurance  Company  was  organized  in  1850 
and  re-organized  in  1872.  Its  first  board  of^directors  consisted  of  Jo- 
seph Trumbull,  E.  D.  Morgan,  Julius  Catlin,  T.  M.  Allyn,  James  Dixon, 
D.  F.  Robinson,  B.  W.  Greene,  Harvey  Seymour,  John  L.  Bunce,  Edson 
Fessenden,  E.  G.  Howe,  Tertius  Wads  worth,  and  James  B.  Hosmer,  of 
whom  but  two  are  living  in  1885,  Messrs.  Catlin  and  Fessenden.  The 
capital  was  fixed  at  $200,000,  and  remained  at  that  figure  until  1871. 
The  company  re-oraanized  after  the  Chicago  fire  upon  a  capital  of 
$500,000,  which  in  1876  was  raised  to  $1,000,000.    The  presidents  have 


THE    PHCENIX    INSURANCE    COMPANY'S    BUILDING,    ON    TEARL    STREET. 


INSURANCE.  509 

been,  B.  W.  Greene,  who  held  the  office  until  1865 ;  John  B.  Eldredge, 
1865  to  18T2;  M.  Bennett,  Jr.,  1872  to  1880  ;  and  J.  D.  Browne,  who 
has  been  in  the  position  since  that  date.  The  Connecticut  has  erected 
on  the  corner  of  Prospect  and  Grove  streets  one  of  the  most  noticeable 
buildings  in  the  city. 

The  National  Fire  Insurance  Company,  which  was  organized  imme- 
diately after  the  Chicago  fire,  by  the  Hon.  Mark  Howard  and  others, 
who  had  been  in  the  old  Merchants'  Company,  began  with  $500,000 
capital,  and  has  since  raised  the  sum  to  $1,000,000.  Mr.  Howard  has 
been  its  president  from  the  start.  The  Merchants'  Company,  of  which  he 
was  president  for  over  fourteen  years,  through  its  whole  existence,  was 
the  first  organized  in  Hartford  with  a  full-paid  cash  capital  ($200,000), 
that  being  the  condition  of  his  acceptance  of  its  management.  It  was 
very  successful  until  its  light  was  extinguished  by  the  Chicago  lire,  as 
also  was  that  of  the  City,  organized  1847,  capital  $250,000 ;  Charter 
Oak,  organized  1856,  capital  $150,000 ;  North  American,  organized 
1857,  capital  $800,000 ;  and  Putnam,  organized  1865,  capital  $500,000. 

The  Orient  Fire  Insurance  Company  was  organized  in  1872,  with 
$500,000  paid-up  capital,  which  in  1881  was  increased  to  $1,000,000. 
The  charter  was  taken  by  persons  who  had  been  interested  in  the  City 
Fire  Insurance  Company,  and  this  was  in  a  sense  the  successor  of 
that.  The  first  president  of  the  Orient  was  Charles  T.  Webster.  He 
was  succeeded  by  S.  C.  Preston,  and  he  by  John  W.  Brooks,  who  took 
the  office,  at  the  expiration  of  his  term,  as  insurance  commissioner. 

The  Hartford  County  Mutual  Fire  Insurance  Company  has  been  in 
successful  operation  since  1833,  and  the  State  Mutual  since  1867. 

The  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and  Insurance  Company, 
whose  corporate  name  fully  explains  its  business,  was  the  first  of  its 
kind  in  the  country.  It  was  organized  in  1866  and  has  had  a  most  suc- 
cessful career.  By  its  intelligent  system  of  inspection  it  has  had  a  very 
large  influence  in  reducing  accidents  from  boiler  explosions,  and  so  in 
saving  life  and  property.  Its  office  is  in  the  building  of  the  Charter 
Oak  Life  Insurance  Company.  Mr.  J.  M.  Allen,  has  been  its  president 
for  about  twenty  years. 

The  present  condition  of  the  companies  of  Hartford  is  indicated  by 
the  following  figures  :  — 

Surplus,  Amount 

Capital.  Gross  Assets.         including  Insured 

jEtna .$4,000,000  $9,214,000  $7,202,000  $288,606,000 

Hartford 1,250,000  4,746,000  2,694,000  278,036,000 

Pkcenix 2,000,000  4,488,000  2,922,000  216,963,000 

Connecticut 1,000,000  1,975,000  1,304,000  92,458,000 

National 1,000,000  1,854,000  1,474,000  50,875,000 

Orient 1,000,000  1,552,000  1,131,000  54,349,000 

10,250,000  23,829,000  16,727,000  981,287,000 

Steam  Boiler  Insurance  Company  250,000  584,000  362,000  33,415,000 

$10,500,000    $24,413,000   $17,089,000  $1,014,702,000 

The  Chicago  fire,  besides  taking  all  there  was  of  six  companies, 
took  over  $6,250,000  from  those  which  remained  solvent,  and  caused 
suffering  in  Hartford  second  only  to  that  in  Chicago  itself.  At  the 
close    of    that    year  (1871)  the    Hartford    companies    reported    only 


510  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

15,100,000  of  capital,  while  now  they  have  more  than  double  that 
amount.  A  peculiar  incident  of  the  calamity  was,  that  if  it  had 
occurred  nine  clays  earlier  the  stockholders  would  have  suffered  some- 
what less.  The  Connecticut  law  taxes  citizens  upon  the  property  which 
they  own  on  the  1st  of  each  October.  The  fire  insurance  stocks  were 
listed  as  usual,  Oct.  1,  1871,  and  on  the  9th  of  the  month  they  had 
either  entirely  disappeared  or  undergone  fearful  depreciation.  Never- 
theless, under  the  law,  the  stockholders,  when  the  next  July  came 
around,  had  to  pay  their  taxes  upon  the  property  which  had  ceased 
to  exist. 

The  insurance  department  of  Connecticut  was  nominally  established 
in  1865,  with  Benjamin  Noyes,  of  New  Haven,  as  commissioner.  He 
held  office  until  1871,  when  it  was  reorganized  and  Dr.  George  S.  Miller, 
of  Enfield,  was  made  commissioner.  Subsequent  commissioners  have 
been :  John  W.  Stedman,  1874  to  1880 ;  John  W.  Brooks,  of  Torring- 
ton,  1880  to  1883;  Ephraim  Williams,  of  Stonington,  1883  to  1886. 
The  first  general  law  of  the  State  applying  to  insurance  companies  was 
passed  in  1833,  requiring  the  secretary  of  every  insurance  and  turnpike 
company  to  report  to  the  comptroller  the  amount  of  capital  stock  owned 
by  residents  and  nun-residents.  In  1854  an  annual  tax  of  two  per  cent 
was  laid  upon  the  receipts  of  all  foreign  insurance  companies  doing 
business  in  the  State.  In  1865  this  law  was  amended  by  creating  the 
office  of  commissioner  to  supervise  the  foreign  (extra-Connecticut) 
companies.  In  1871  the  authority  of  the  commissioner  was  extended 
to  Connecticut  companies  also,  and  regulations  establishing  standards 
of  solvency  were  adopted. 


Note.  —  The  writer  is  indebted  for  much  valuable  information  as  to  early  fire  insurance 
to  the  pamphlet  of  Mr.  C.  B.  Whiting,  formerly  secretary  of  the  Hartford  Fire  Insurance 
Company,  who  now  (May,  1886),  while  this  work  is  on  the  press,  has  been  elected  president 
of  the  Orient  Insurance  Company. 


INSURANCE.  511 


LIFE  AND  ACCIDENT  INSURANCE. 

BY    FORREST    MORGAN. 


I.  — LIFE. 


The  development  in  the  United  States  of  this  great  business,  of 
which  Hartford  has  long  ranked  among  the  foremost  centres,  and  by 
which  it  is  perhaps  better  known  outside  than  by  any  other  branch  of 
its  activities,  may  be  said  to  belong  in  the  main  to  about  the  middle 
of  this  century.  Of  course  some  straggling  exponents  of  it  considerably 
antedate  that  period,  —  a  microscopic  one  in  Philadelphia,  for  Presby- 
terian ministers  only,  dates  back  to  1759,  —  and  some  very  powerful 
companies  were  formed  subsequent  even  to  1860;  but  no  less  than  thir- 
teen companies  still  in  vigorous  life  were  organized  between  1843  and 
1853,  and  that  is  on  the  whole  its  chief  period  of  sound  and  permanent 
establishment.  Hartford  was  the  earliest  place,  except  the  three  great 
cities  of  New  York,  Philadelphia,  and  Boston,  to  give  this  system  a  firm 
foothold,  and  perhaps  the  very  first  to  do  a  widespread  and  lucrative 
business  in  it ;  and  five  of  the  nine  companies  organized  here  are  still 
in  active  and  growing  existence,  —  four  of  them  ranking  among  the 
leading  institutions  of  the  kind  in  the  country.  Their  combined  assets 
amount  to  over  one  hundred  million  dollars,  invested  with  great  care 
and  solidity  ;  and  they  have  returned  to  their  policy-holders  since  or- 
ganization more  than  two  hundred  millions  of  dollars. 

The  credit  of  establishing  the  life  insurance  business  in  Hartford 
belongs  to  a  group  of  men  who  would  hardly  have  been  selected  as  the 
probable  founders  of  a  vast  financial  system,  —  a  lawyer  in  delicate 
health,  a  carriage  manufacturer,  and  an  apothecary  ;  to  wit,  E.  0. 
Goodwin,  Elisha  B.  Pratt,  and  Guy  R.  Phelps.  But  they  were  all  men 
of  superior  capacity,  energy,  and  integrity,  who  needed  only  some  such 
field  for  their  talents.  The  memory  of  Mr.  Goodwin's  fine  abilities  and 
lofty  character  is  still  cherished  with  pride  by  his  descendants ;  he 
would  have  gained  distinction  at  the  bar  had  his  strength  sufficed. 
Dr.  Phelps  was  the  most  prominent  figure  in  their  company  after  it 
started,  and  for  many  years  one  of  the  leading  representatives  of  the  life 
insurance  interest  in  the  country,  and  deserves  a  brief  biography.  A  na- 
tive of  Simsbury,  in  this  county,  and  a  graduate  of  Yale  Medical  College 
in  1825,  he  practised  successively  in  New  York  City,  Simsbury,  and  Hart- 
ford. Later,  he  established  a  drug-store  in  Hartford,  and  did  a  fair 
business  for  a  long  period,  especially  winning  fame  and  profit  as  the 
inventor  of  "  Phelps's  Tomato  Pills,"  which  were  a  favorite  panacea 
in  all  well-regulated  Hartford  County  homes  for  many  years.  In  1846, 
his  attention  having  been  drawn  to  the  new  system  of  life  insurance, 
he  grew  enthusiastic  in  its  favor  and  took  out  a  policy  on  his  own 
life ;  and  when  Mr.  Goodwin,  casting  about  for  some  employment  less 


512  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

confining  than  a  lawyer's  desk,  conceived  the  idea  of  organizing  a  life 
company  and  inoculated  Mr.  Pratt  with  it,  Dr.  Phelps  willingly  agreed 
to  abandon  the  drug  business  and  cast  in  his  lot  with  them.  After 
much  hard  work  they  persuaded  several  gentlemen  of  means  to  pledge 
themselves  for  150,000  as  a  guaranty  fund  to  secure  public  confidence. 
These  foster-fathers  of  the  system,  whose  willingness  to  hazard  part 
of  their  fortunes  enabled  the  new  company  to  do  business,  were : 
Thomas  K.  Brace,  president  of  the  iEtna  Fire  Insurance  Company  of 
Hartford ;  Eliphalet  A.  Bulkeley,  vice-president  of  the  same,  lawyer, 
judge  of  the  Middlesex  County  Court,  afterward  judge  of  the  Hartford 
City  Court,  Mayor  of  the  City,  State  Senator,  and  Speaker  of  the  House 
of  Representatives ;  Edson  Fessenden,  proprietor  of  the  Eagle  Tavern, 
on  the  site  of  the  present  United  States  Hotel ;  Richard  M.  Brown, 
tavern-keeper;  David  S.  Dodge,  physician  ;  Thompson  J.  Work,  grocer ; 
L.  B.  Goodman  and  Hoyt  Freeman,  shoe  merchants  ;  James  A.  Ayrault, 
leather  merchant.  (Messrs.  Goodman  and  Fessenden  are  the  only  ones 
living  in  1886  of  the  entire  group.)  They,  with  Goodwin,  Phelps,  and 
Pratt,  obtained  in  1846  a  charter  for  the  Connecticut  Mutual  Life  In- 
surance Company.  The  plan  was  purely  "  mutual,"  the  policy-holders 
electing  the  officers  and  nominally  controlling  the  company.  It  is  the 
only  one  of  the  kind  in  Hartford. 

The  company  organized  with  Mr.  Bulkeley  as  president,  Dr.  Phelps 
as  secretary,  and  Mr.  Ayrault  as  actuary.  The  Connecticut  Mutual 
wrote  205  policies  during  the  first  year,  of  only  a  few  weeks,  nearly 
3,400  in  the  next  two  years,  4,243  in  1849,  and  5,589  in  1850 ;  its 
assets  increasing  meanwhile  from  nothing  to  $918,406.73.  Its  finan- 
cial standing  was  much  solidified  by  the  severe  economy  in  which  Dr. 
Phelps  had  been  trained,  and  which  was  part  of  his  nature. 

After  1850  the  company  began  to  decline  in  new  business,  until  it 
reached  its  lowest  point  in  writing  onl}T  587  policies  for  1856  ;  then 
fortune  changed.  Gaining  regularly,  it  wrote  1,544  policies  in  1860, 
and  14,161  in  1867.  But  through  all  times  alike  its  financial  position 
steadily  improved.  Its  assets,  which  had  been  only  .$3,760,748  in  1861, 
rose  to  $7,225,040  in  1865,  $27,566,479  in  1870*,  and  $40,371,939  in 
1875.  In  1848  Mr.  Bulkeley  retired  from  the  company,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Major  James  Goodwin.  This  able  business  man  retained  the 
position  until  1865,  when  he  gave  up  the  presidency  (though  remaining 
;i  director  and  financial  adviser),  and  Dr.  Phelps  assumed  the  headship. 
In  1869  the  latter  died,  and  Major  Goodwin  was  again  called  to  the 
presidency,  which  he  retained  until  his  death  in  1878.  His  name  is 
intimately  connected  with  the  great  growth  and  prosperity  of  the  com- 
pany. He  was  succeeded  by  Colonel  Jacob  L.  Greene,  then  the  secre- 
tary of  the  company,  and  previously  an  executive  officer  of  the  Berkshire 
Life,  of  Pittsfield,  Mass.  John  M.  Taylor,  previously  a  lawyer,  also  from 
Pittsfield,  is  vice-president,  and  William  G.  Abbot  secretary.  The  com- 
pany still  remains  the  largest  in  the  city,  and  is  the  fourth  in  size  in 
the  United  States ;  its  statement  of  Jan.  1,  1886,  showing  gross  assets 
of  $54,383,650,  and  surplus  to  policy-holders  of  $4,680,143.  Its  total 
payments  to  policy-holders  since  its  organization  have  been  $118,077,835. 
Its  beautiful  building  on  the  corner  of  Main  and  Pearl  Streets,  erected 
in  1870,  is  one  of  the  ornaments  of  the  city,  and  contains  also  the 
offices  of  the  Phoenix  Mutual  and  the  Connecticut  General. 


INSURANCE.  513 

The  immediate  and  brilliant  success  of  the  Connecticut  Mutual 
brought  a  swarm  of  rivals  into  the  field,  and  within  five  years  four 
strong  competitors  were  established  in  the  city.  The  first  was  the 
Hartford  Life  and  Health  Insurance  Company,  organized  in  Sep- 
tember, 1849,  with  a  capital  of  *100,000.  Its  executive  force  was 
strong:  James  Dixon,  long  prominent  in  Connecticut  politics,  Repre- 
sentative to  Congress  from  1845  to  1849,  United  States  Senator  from 
1857  to  1869,  was  its  president,  and  attended  to  his  business ;  William 
T.  Hooker,  cashier  of  the  Farmers'  and  Mechanics'  Bank  (afterward  cor- 
porator and  president  of  the  Guardian  Mutual  Life  Insurance  Company 
of  New  York),  vice-president;  Henry  L.  Miller,  previously  a  dry-goods 
merchant,  —  a  capable  man,  of  determined  character,  —  secretary.  Its 
specialty  was  to  be  the  granting  of  weekly  indemnity  for  sickness,  and 
it  need  hardly  be  said  that  this  portion  of  its  business  was  an  unquali- 
fied failure.  In  1852  the  "health**  feature  was  abandoned,  and  the 
name  of  the  company  changed  to  the  Hartford  Life  Insurance  Com- 
pany. For  some  years  from  its  organization  it  did  a  good  and  increas- 
ing life  business;  accumulated  several  hundred  thousands  of  dollars  of 
assets,  and  in  1853  advertised  1300,000  surplus ;  and  was  considered 
one  of  the  strongest  in  the  city,  and  one  of  the  most  promising  for 
future  growth.  But  its  disastrous  health  business,  and  a  very  singular 
and  illegitimate  speculation  which  was  really  property  insurance,  and 
utterly  foreign  to  the  true  object  of  life  insurance,  —  the  insuring  of 
negro  slaves  for  their  masters,  and  of  shiploads  of  coolies  in  transit 
to  South  America.  Cuba,  etc., — -fatally  weakened  it,  and  a  fierce  quarrel 
among  the  directorate  helped  to  discredit  it  outside.  Its  days  being 
evidently  numbered,  the  president  and  secretary  and  Chester  Adams 
(director  and  sheriff)  bought  out  the  other  stockholders  and  wound 
up  the  company,  finishing  in  1859.  This  company  built  and  had  its 
office  in  the  block  on  Pearl  Street  now  occupied  by  the  State  Savings 
Bank. 

This  business  of  slave  and  coolie  insurance  is  curious  enough  to 
warrant  a  paragraph  by  itself.  So  utterly  vanished  are  the  systems 
that  demanded  the  one  and  the  state  of  public  feeling  that  allowed  the 
other,  that  it  seems  incredible  that  it  was  transacted  as  late  as  thirty 
years  ago ;  yet  such  is  the  fact.  This  was  not  the  only  company  in  the 
city  that  transacted  such  business,  but  it  had  the  least  excuse,  as  it  was 
not  drawn  in  by  Southern  agencies  and  connections.  The  amounts  writ- 
ten on  slaves  were  rarely  above  $1,000,  and  often  much  less,  and  the 
premiums  were  extremely  high,  sometimes  rising  to  ten  per  cent  of  the 
principal  a  year ;  but  the  business  was  disastrous  from  the  start,  and 
was  abandoned  about  1855.  One  reason  was  that  planters  commonly 
insured  only  the  slaves  engaged  in  very  hazardous  occupations,  as  load- 
ing cotton  on  steamers,  etc. ;  and  the  deaths  from  being  knocked  over- 
hoard  and  drowned,  crushed  by  falling  bales,  etc.,  were  frightfully 
numerous.  The  policies  were  not  for  life,  but  for  very  short  terms,  from 
a  year  down  to  a  few  weeks,  usually  to  cover  some  special  temporary  risk. 
Probably  as  potent  a  cause  of  loss  was  the  impossibility  of  identifica- 
tion. Whenever  a  slave  died  on  a  plantation,  by  a  remarkable  set  of 
coincidences  it  was  pretty  sure  to  be  one  of  the  insured  ones,  and  one 
of  the  highly  insured  ones.  They  were  insured  as  "  Tom,"  "  Joe," 
vol.  i.  —  33. 


514  MEMORIAL   HISTORY  OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

"  Caesar,"  etc. ;  and  whichever  died,  "  Tom  "  had  to  be  paid  for.  Add 
to  this  that  it  was  no  uncommon  thing  for  a  brutal  owner  to  beat  a 
negro  to  death  out  of  sheer  cruelty  or  drunken  whim,  even  at  the  loss 
of  a  valuable  piece  of  property,  and  that  an  insurance  on  the  slave's 
life  did  not  tend  to  make  the  owner  any  more  careful  of  his  welfare,  and 
it  will  be  easily  understood  why  the  business  did  not  pay.  The  coolies 
were  of  course  insured  in  the  lump  as  a  cargo,  the  company  paying  for 
the  number  who  died ;  but  this  was  as  little  profitable  as  the  other. 

The  old  ^Etna  Fire  Insurance  Company,  chartered  in  1819,  had  in 
1820  obtained  an  amendment  to  its  charter  allowing  it  to  grant  annui- 
ties and  insurances  upon  lives,  with  an  additional  capital  not  exceeding 
$150,000,  exclusively  liable  for  the  expenses  and  obligations  of  such 
business ;  but  the  permission  had  never  been  utilized.  In  1850,  how- 
ever, it  organized  a  life  annex  under  this  provision,  with  $150,000 
subscribed  capital,  divided  among  its  stockholders  in  proportion  to 
their  holding  of  stock  ;  and  for  three  years  it  did  business  under  the 
name  of  the  iEtna  Insurance  Company  Annuity  Fund.  It  was  of 
course  an  integral  part  of  the  ^Etna  Fire,  and  had  the  same  officers  ; 
but  its  real  creator,  Judge  Bulkeley,  was  its  head  and  manager.  The 
associate  directors,  styled  the  "  managers  "  of  the  Annuity  Fund,  were : 
Miles  A.  Tuttle,  Roland  Mather,  Edwin  G.  Ripley  (secretary  of  the 
./Etna),  Henry  Z.  Pratt,  Joseph  Church,  and  Austin  Dunham  (widely 
known  as  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Willimantic  Linen  Company).  In 
1853  the  shareholders  of  the  Annuity  Fund  were  incorporated  as  a 
separate  organization,  under  the  name  of  the  "  iEtna  Life  Insurance 
Company,"  with  E.  A.  Bulkeley  as  president  and  John  W.  Seymour  as 
secretary. 

The  long  depression  which  the  business  as  a  whole  suffered  in  the 
years  before  the  war,  after  its  brief  "  boom,"  told  heavily  on  the  JEtnn. 
Its  rise  from  this  prostrate  condition  dates  from  the  time  when,  at  the 
urgency  of  Thomas  O.  Enders,  the  secretary,  it  obtained  permission  in 
1861  to  issue  participating  policies.  The  iEtna  Life's  assets  in  1863 
were  but  little  over  $300,000.  In  1866  they  were  $2,036,823  ;  in  1871, 
over  $15,000,000;  in  1880,  over  $25,000,000;  and  it  is  at  present  sec- 
ond in  volume  of  assets  among  the  city  companies,  its  statement. 
Jan.  1,  1886,  showing  assets  of  $29,771,230,  and  surplus  of  $5,194,204. 
It  has  returned  to  policy-holders  since  organization  $58,038,725.  In 
1878,  under  an  amendment  to  its  charter,  the  company  increased  its 
capital  stock  to  $750,000  ;  and  in  1883,  under  another  amendment,  to 
$1,000,000,  where  it  remains.  It  continues  to  issue  both  stock  and 
participating  policies.  Judge  Bulkeley  retained  the  presidency  of  the 
iEtna  Life  until  his  death  in  1872,  and  was  then  succeeded  by  Mr. 
Enders  (the  company's  first  employee,  secretary  since  1858,  and  now 
president  of  the  United  States  Bank),  who  served  till  1879,  when  he 
resigned  and  was  succeeded  by  Morgan  G.  Bulkeley  (son  of  the  founder, 
and  the  present  mayor  of  Hartford),  who  still  retains  the  position. 
J.  C.  Webster  (formerly  State  agent  for  New  Hampshire,  and  later 
superintendent  of  agencies)  is  vice-president,  and  J.  L.  English  (with 
the  company  since  1867)  secretary.  Its  office  is  in  the  iEtna  (Fire) 
Insurance  Company's  building,  a  neat  brown-stone  block  next  north  of 
the  Charter  Oak  Life  Insurance  Company's  building. 


INSURANCE.  515 

The  same  year  (1850)  saw  still  another  company  established,  long 
the  leading  one  of  the  city  in  outside  estimation — the  Charter  Oak 
Life  Insurance  Company.  It  had  a  subscribed  capital  of  $200,000. 
The  corporators  were  Calvin  Day,  Ezra  S.  Hamilton  (postmaster), 
J.  B.  Powell  (now  president  of  the  Mercantile  National  Bank),  Samuel 
Coit,  Chauncey  Howard,  Noah  Wheaton,  and  James  C.  Walkley.  The 
first  president  was  Hon.  Gideon  Welles  (subsequently  Secretary  of  the 
Navy  during  the  Rebellion)  ;  vice-president,  William  T.  Lee  (druggist  like 
Dr.  Phelps,  of  the  famous  old  firm  of  Lee  &  Butler)  ;  secretary,  Samuel 
Coit,  afterward  secretary  of  the  ./Etna  Life.  Mr.  Welles  retained  the 
presidency  two  years;  in  1852  Alfred  Gill  succeeded  him,  and  in  1855 
J.  C.  Walkley  (then  a  lawyer,  and  the  real  originator  of  the  company) 
began  his  long  reign.  In  1864  it  wrote  2,078  policies  ;  in  1865,  4,454  ; 
from  1806  to  1870,  six  to  eight  thousand  a  year,  culminating  in  1870. 
From  this  point  began  a  decline  which  was  never  arrested  till  the  final 
ruin  of  the  company.  Meantime  its  estimated  assets  leaped  from 
$966,174  in  1865  to  $2,384,844  in  1866,  $3,709,081  in  1867,  $9,453,901 
in  1872,  and  $13,185,956  on  Jan.  1,  1875.  In  1869  it  had  built  the 
splendid  granite  structure  next  to  the  Wadsworth  Athenaeum,  one  of 
the  business  palaces  of  the  city,  which  it  still  occupies,  and  where  the 
Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and  Insurance  Company  is  also 
located.  The  pitiful  story  of  the  downfall  of  the  Charter  Oak  can  only 
be  told  here  in  general  terms.  It  is  enough  that  immense  loans  on  rail- 
road and  mining  property,  which  proved  ruinously  losing,  and  whose 
disastrous  nature  became  fully  apparent  in  1875,  broke  down  the  finan- 
cial solidity  of  the  company.  In  1878,  the  question  only  remaining 
how  its  affairs  should  best  be  wound  up,  it  was  resolved  to  have  it  done 
under  a  regular  management  instead  of  a  receivership.  The  capital 
was  retired,  and  the  policy-holders  organized  into  a  new  company, 
with  policies  scaled.  George  M.  Bartholomew  was  made  president, 
and  Charles  E.  Willard  secretary.  Under  their  able  and  upright 
management  several  millions  have  been  returned  to  policy-holders, 
and  the  final  dissolution  retarded  far  longer  than  was  once  thought 
possible. 

In  1851  the  American  Temperance  Life  Insurance  Company, 
now  the  Phoenix  Mutual,  came  into  the  field.  As  its  name  implies,  it 
was  organized  under  the  belief  that  by  confining  its  business  to  men 
of  virtually  total-abstinence  habits,  it  could  safely  offer  lower  rates  to 
this  selected  class  than  other  companies  gave  to  their  miscellaneous 
risks ;  and  its  tables  accordingly  were  some  ten  per  cent  lower  than  those 
of  the  others.  Nor  was  this  view  without  justification.  But  the  restric- 
tions of  the  contract  annoyed  those  who  were  solicited ;  they  did  not 
generally  care  to  sign  a  temperance  pledge  along  with  a  policy,  which 
was  what  it  amounted  to,  and  the  business  fell  off  somewhat,  and  was 
likely  to  keep  on  doing  so.  Accordingly  the  temperance  feature  was 
abandoned  in  1861,  and  the  company's  name  changed  to  the  Phcenix 
Mutual  Life  Insurance  Company,  the  rates  and  style  of  policy  being- 
conformed  to  those  of  other  companies.  The  number  of  new  policies 
for  1863  having  been  but  916,  that  for  1864  was  2,303  ;  in  1870  it  had 
grown  to  about  9,000,  and  in  1872  to  about  10,500.  Its  assets  in  1861 
had  been  but  $238,739 ;  in  1868,  over  $2,000,000 ;  and  in  1872,  about 
$8,000,000. 


516  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

To  go  back  to  the  beginning :  The  American  Temperance  was 
incorporated  by  Barzillai  Hudson  (dry-goods  dealer,  and  head  of  the 
temperance  organizations  of  Connecticut),  Rev.  Benjamin  E.  Hale  (edi- 
tor of  the  "  Fountain,"  temperance  paper),  James  B.  Hosmer  (business 
man),  Judge  Thomas  S.  Williams  (ex-Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court),  Francis  Gillette  (noted  lawyer  and  Abolitionist,  and  for  a  year 
United  States  Senator),  Francis  Parsons  (lawyer),  and  Edson  Fessen- 
den.  Mr.  Hudson  was  chosen  president,  Tertius  Wadsworth  vice- 
president,  and  Mr.  Hale  secretary.  The  former  served  the  regular  two 
years  which  seems  to  have  been  the  accepted  etiquette  among  the  first 
presidents  of  the  early  insurance  companies  (the  exact  causes  of  this 
great  official  mortality  it  is  not  profitable  to  inquire  too  curiously  into), 
and  was  succeeded  by  Mr.  Fessenden,  who  held  the  office  until  1875,  when 
he  was  succeeded  by  Aaron  C.  Goodman  (publisher,  and  previously  a 
director  of  the  company)  who  still  retains  the  office.  Jonathan  B. 
Bunco,  formerly  a  leading  merchant,  is  vice-president,  and  John  M. 
Holcombe  (the  first  actuary  of  the  present  Insurance  Department)  sec- 
retary. The  company's  business  since  1872  has  been  good  and  profit- 
able/ Its  assets,  Jan.  1,  1886,  were  810,412,991;  surplus,  81,005,135. 
It  has  returned  to  policy-holders  $25,000,000. 

The  first  new  life  company  established  in  Hartford  after  1851  was 
the  Continental  Life  Insurance  Company,  established  in  1804  with  a 
capital  of  $150,000.  The  first  president  was  John  S.  Rice,  the  secre- 
tary Samuel  E.  Elmore  (now  president  of  the  Connecticut  River 
Banking  Company).  In  1869  Mi-.  Elmore  succeeded  to  the  presidency, 
and  in  1872  was  displaced,  with  the  ^secretary,  F.  P.  Douglass;  and 
James  S.  Parsons  and  Robert  E.  Beecher,  who  had  been  the  company's 
local  agents  at  Boston,  were  made  president  and  secretary,  which  offices 
they  still  hold.  In  1872  the  company  had  assets  of  over  $2,500,000. 
This  amount  has  not  increased  since.  The  company  reports  that  it 
has  returned  to  policy-holders  over  $6,000,000.  It  is  the  only  one  in 
Hartford  writing  "  Tontine  "  policies  under  that  name. 

The  next  succeeding  company  was  not,  in  its  original  intent,  a  com- 
petitor of  the  old  ones,  but  rather  a  utilizer  of  waste  products,  so  to 
speak,  —  designed  to  insure  the  risks  which  others  rejected.  It  was 
projected  and  developed  in  the  bosom  of  the  Connecticut  Mutual.  Its 
theory  was  the  seemingly  excellent  one  that  all  lives  can  be  insured 
at  a  price,  just  as  all  property  can  be  insured  at  a  price.  On  this  belief 
the  "  Connecticut  General  Life  Insurance  Company  "  was  chartered  in 
1864,  with  $500,000  capital.  James  S.  Niles  was  made  president  for  a 
short  time,  to  organize,  and  Edward  W.  Parsons,  then  superintendent 
of  the  Eastern  Division  of  the  Adams  Express  Company,  vice-president ; 
after  which  Mr.  Parsons  took  the  presidency,  as  had  been  contemplated. 
Thomas  W.  Russell,  then  of  the  Connecticut  Mutual,  was  the  secretary. 
The  company's  plan  was  broadened,  before  starting,  to  include  general 
life  business;  and  it  was  most  fortunate  that  it  was  so,  for  the  "im- 
paired life  "  business  proved  a  failure,  and  had  to  be  abandoned  in  a 
couple  of  years.  The  company  is  not  of  the  first  magnitude,  but  it  is 
as  sound  and  safe  as  the  largest,  having  $1,551,414  of  well-invested 
assets,  of  which  $359,565  is  surplus  to  policy-holders  ;  is  very  cautiously 


THE    CHARTER    OAK    LIFE    INSURANCE    COMPANY'S    BUILDING, 
ON    MAIN    STREET. 


(The  Home  Offices  of  the  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  and  Inspection  Company  are  in  this  building.) 


INSURANCE.  519 

and  conservatively  managed,  and  has  steadily  grown  in  business 
and  resources  for  a  number  of  years.  Its  capital  was  lowered  to 
$250,000  in  1874,  and  to  $150,000  in  1880.  It  has  returned  to 
policy-holders  $2,139,230.  Its  president  (who  took  the  place  of  E. 
W.  Parsons  in  1876)  is  Thomas  W.  Russell,  the  original  secretary  ; 
secretary,  Fred.  V.  Hudson  (formerly  superintendent  of  agencies  of 
the  company). 

The  Life  Department  of  the  Travelers  Insurance  Company  (see 
Accident  Insurance),  virtually  an  individual  life  insurance  company, 
though  managed  by  the  same  officers  and  under  the  same  roof  as  the 
accident  business  of  that  company,  followed  in  1866,  by  virtue  of  an 
amendment  broadening  its  charter  to  authorize  the  transaction  of  life 
business,  under  the  same  capital,  which  is  $600,000.  Its  policies  are  all 
written  purely  on  the  "  stock  "  plan,  —  a  low  cash  rate,  but  no  dividend 
or  return  of  any  kind  to  the  policy-holder.  The  life  business  for  a  long 
time  was  not  extensive ;  but  of  late  years  it  has  grown  very  rapidly, 
and  the  Department  now  ranks  alongside  the  leading  life  companies  of 
the  country.  The  Travelers  occupies  an  old  family  mansion,  built  about 
1823  by  the  Hon.  Henry  L.  Ellsworth  (afterward  Commissioner  of  Pat- 
ents), and  long  the  residence  of  the  Hon.  Alfred  Smith,  and  for  a  short 
time  of  Governor  Isaac  Toucey,  who  died  there.  It  is  on  Prospect 
Street,  a  quiet,  shady,  country-like  street,  in  the  heart  of  the  city  and 
but  a  few  yards  from  Main  Street,  yet  seemingly  retired  and  unvexed 
by  heavy  traffic. 

The  Hartford  Accident  Insurance  Company  was  chartered  in  1866 
(over  the  governor's  veto,  interposed  on  the  ground  of  too  extensive 
powers  conferred),  with  $300,000  capital,  and  a  long  and  formidable 
list  of  corporators.  Thomas  J.  Vail  (president  of  the  Connecticut 
Arms  Company,  now  secretary  of  the  National  Association  for  the 
Promotion  of  the  Interests  of  the  American  Trotting  Turf)  was  chosen 
president,  C.  C.  Kimball  vice-president,  and  James  P.  Taylor  (now 
cashier  of  the  Charter  Oak  Bank)  secretary.  The  company  attempted 
to  do  the  accident  business  for  which  it  was  chartered,  but  failed  almost 
entirely,  and  found  it  necessary  to  add  life  business  to  it,  changing  its 
name  accordingly  to  the  Hartford  Life  and  Accident  Insurance  Com- 
pany in  1867,  and  on  Jan.  1,  1868,  closing  out  the  accident  branch 
and  shortly  having  its  name  changed  to  the  Hartford  Life  and 
Annuity  Insurance  Company.  Mr.  Vail  retired  from  the  presidency 
in  1867  ;  the  office  remained  vacant  for  some  time,  but  for  purposes  of 
organization  Chester  Adams  was  made  president  pro  tern,  while  C.  C. 
Kimball  was  its  real  head  and  manager.  Finally,  in  1868  the  latter 
took  the  presidency.  Under  his  management  the  company  flourished 
well ;  did  a  good  and  growing  business,  its  investments  were  well  placed 
and  its  funds  economized.  In  1870  Mr.  Kimball  resigned  and  Wareham 
Griswold  was  made  president ;  Daniel  F.  Seymour,  the  vice-president, 
being  the  actual  manager.  Mr.  Griswold  died  in  1876,  and  Erastus  H. 
Crosby  took  his  place.  During  his  presidency  the  company  engrafted 
the  assessment  system  upon  its  own,  and  now  confines  itself  almost 
exclusively  to  this  business.  Frederick  R.  Foster  is  its  president,  and 
Stephen  Ball  its  secretary. 


520  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

A  very  interesting  episode  in  the  history  of  Hartford  insurance 
properly  has  place  here,  —  the  brief  career  of  live-stock  insurance, 
undertaken  by  the  Hartford  Live  Stock  Insurance  Company  .and 
the  JEtna  Live  Stock  Insurance  Company.  Their  business  was  life 
insurance  certainly  as  much  as  the  slave  and  coolie  business  mentioned 
before ;  its  special  object  was  the  insurance  of  gentlemen's  fine  driv- 
ing and  racing  horses,  imported  cattle,  and  blooded  stock  generally. 
The  former  company  was  chartered  in  1866,  with  1500,000  capital ;  the 
latter,  with  $112,500  capital,  was  incorporated  in  1867,  while  it  was  still 
thought  that  its  predecessor  was  on  the  high-road  to  fortune  instead  of 
bankruptcy.  They  continued  in  business  until  1868,  and  then  dissolved, 
with  heavy  loss  to  the  stockholders,  and  an  experience  so  varied  and 
conclusive  that  no  such  company  is  ever-  likely  to  be  formed  here 
again.  The  reasons  for  their  failure  are,  as  usual,  patent  enough 
when  they  are  stated,  though  they  had  not  previously  been  thought 
of.  One  was  that  in  case  of  cattle  of  any  kind,  no  veterinary  surgeon 
could  tell  whether  one  was  sick  or  well,  and  an  animal  apparently 
in  perfect  health  one  day  was  not  unlikely  to  be  dead  the  next. 
Another  was  that  in  case  of  race-horses  such  enormous  pecuniary 
interests  were  staked  against  each  horse's  life  that  no  premium  could 
cover  the  risk.  When  the  death  of  a  costly  racer  might  put  $10,000  in 
the  pocket  of  any  one  of  twenty  men,  the  mysterious  death  of  the  animal 
was  far  too  probable.  Horses  were  poisoned,  burned,  shot,  stabbed, 
hamstrung,  at  a  rate  not  credible  to  any  one  but  those  out  of  whose 
pockets  the  losses  came.  Even  where,  as  in  most  such  cases,  the 
grooms  were  locked  in  with  the  horses  night  and  day,  catastrophes 
would  happen  :  a  stable  was  set  on  fire  and  a  magnificent  racer  suffo- 
cated during  the  ten-minute  absence  of  a  groom  at  his  dinner  in  a 
restaurant  just  across  the  street  Besides,  the  grooms  were  far  from 
incorruptible ;  and  to  carry  on  the  business  it  would  have  been  found 
necessary  to  insure  also  the  fidelity  of  every  leading  jockey  in  the 
country.  A  third  was  that  identification  was  practically  impossible, 
just  as  in  the  case  of  the  negroes  before  referred  to  :  none  but  the 
grooms  acquainted  with  the  animals  could  tell  whether  the  horse  which 
died  was  the  one  insured,  and  they  naturally  wrould  not  open  their  lips ; 
the  owners  swore  to  the  fact  of  identity,  and  the  company  had  always  to 
pay.  And  lastly,  horses  which  had  outlived  their  usefulness  were  often 
insured  and  then  left  to  die,  and  no  proof  of  fraud  could  be  adduced. 
This  item  of  insurance  history  is  still  a  vivid  if  not  grateful  memory 
to  all  the  participants  ;  and  an  engraving  of  part  of  Rosa  Bonheur's 
"  Going  to  the  Fair,"  used  as  a  pattern  for  the  seal  of  the  first-named 
company,  which  represents  the  entire  salvage  from  a  $10,000  invest- 
ment by  one  of  the  directors,  is  proudly  pointed  to  by  its  owner  as  the 
second  costliest  picture  ever  in  Hartford. 


INSURANCE.  521 


II.  — ACCIDENT. 

The  original  impulse  to  the  establishment  of  accident  insurance 
in  this  country  was  given  by  the  success  of  the  Railway  Passengers' 
Assurance  Company  of  England,  formed  (as  its  name  implies)  chiefly 
in  consequence  of  the  public  horror  aroused  by  great  railway  catastro- 
phes, the  concentrated  volume  of  destruction  in  which  is  much  more 
impressive  than  the  really  far  more  serious  loss  from  accidents  scattered 
through  the  ordinary  walks  of  life.  But  though  that  company  furnished 
a  motive  and  a  guaranty  of  probable  success,  it  could  furnish  little  else; 
its  experience  was  meagre  and  not  much  diversified,  and  the  conditions 
of  life,  labor,  and  travel  in  this  country  were  so  different  from  those  in 
England,  that  even  that  experience  was  an  extremely  treacherous  guide. 
Such  as  it  was,  however,  Mr.  James  G.  Batterson,  of  Hartford,  —  who 
had  received  a  thorough  training  at  home  and  abroad  in  the  widely 
different  professions  of  a  practical  architect,  builder,  and  incidental 
geologist  and  expert  in  building-stones,  and  who  was  passing  through 
England  on  his  return  from  Italy,  —  examined  it  in  the  year  1863,  and 
was  convinced  of  the  practicability  of  the  system  at  home.  Returning 
to  Hartford,  he  organized  with  others  a  corporation  entitled  The  Trav- 
elers Insurance  Company  (the  dangers  of  travel  being  still  uppermost 
in  their  thoughts),  which  received  its  charter  the  same  year.  Its  capi- 
tal was  $300,000,  afterward  increased  by  successive  capitalizations  to 
8600,000 ;  and  of  the  board  of  directors  then  appointed,  several  still 
remain  in  that  position,  including  the  president,  vice-president,  and 
secretary,  —  namely,  James  G.  Batterson,  Gustavus  F.  Davis,  and 
Rodney  Dennis.  But  the  scheme  was  regarded  by  the  mass  of  the 
community  as  visionary,  and  few  besides  the  projectors  had,  even  for  a 
long  time  after  its  launching,  any  great  faith  in  its  permanence  ;  so 
that  it  was  found  inexpedient  to  begin  business  until  1864,  when  the 
ground  was  a  little  cleared  for  its  reception.  Its  first  report  was  made 
July  1,  1865,  and  showed  assets  of  $539,948.49. 

Its  position  was  not  won,  any  more  than  that  of  other  great  compa- 
nies, without  passing  through  a  season  of  severe  trial  and  difficulty, 
through  which  it  was  carried  only  by  prodigious  labor  and  application 
and  rigid  economy.  The  first  office  was  an  uncarpeted  upstairs  room, 
furnished  with  a  legless  pine  desk  and  a  couple  of  chairs,  and  the  sec- 
retary was  sole  clerk  and  office-boy.  But  the  brilliant  success  which 
shortly  began  to  attend  it,  in  those  years  of  inflated  business  just  after 
the  war,  came  nearer  being  fatal  than  adversity  had  been,  for  a  swarm 
of  rivals  arose  from  end  to  end  of  the  United  States :  at  one  time  no 
less  than  seventy  accident  companies  were  competing  for  this  business, 
which  was  considered  a  mine  of  easily-gotten  wealth ;  and  in  addition, 
most  of  the  railroads,  whose  employees  The  Travelers  was  insuring, 
ejected  that  company  and  started  similar  organizations  of  their  own. 
A  few  years  later,  nearly  every  one  of  these  was  dead,  and  The  Trav- 
elers held  a  virtual  monopoly  of  its  special  business. 

In  1866  The  Travelers  obtained  legislative  permission  to  issue  life 


522  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

policies  under  the  same  capital  and  management ;  and  its  life  depart- 
ment—  virtually  an  individual  life  insurance  company,  though  managed 
by  the  same  men  —  was  thereupon  added. 

In  May,  1865,  a  charter  was  procured  for  the  Railway  Passengers 
Assurance  Company,  a  corporation  designed  to  consolidate,  under  a 
single  management,  the  travel  risks  of  all  the  accident  companies  then 
operating  in  America.  Conventions,  in  the  winter  of  1865-1866,  at 
which  representatives  from  all  the  companies  were  present,  arranged 
the  details  of  the  scheme  and  elected  officers ;  James  G.  Batterson,  of 
The  Travelers,  was  chosen  president,  and  each  of  the  combining  com- 
panies had  at  least  one  representative  on  the  board  of  directors.  Its 
capital  was  $250,000,  of  which  a  controlling  interest  was  held  by  The 
Travelers,  and  its  head  office  was  in  Hartford.  In  1878  it  re-insured 
its  risks  with  The  Travelers  and  retired  from  business,  the  Ticket 
Department  of  the  latter  company  taking  its  place. 

The  statement  of  The  Travelers  for  1886  (January  1)  showed  assets 
of  18,417,038;  liabilities,  $6,321,199  ;  surplus  as  regards  policy-holders, 
$2,095,839.  The  claims  paid  in  the  accident  department  since  the  or- 
ganization of  the  company  had  been  $8,145,128  ;  in  the  life  department 
$3,290,147.  1,186,315  accident  policies  had  been  written,  and  44,800 
life  policies. 

Another  Hartford  Accident  Insurance  Companv  was  incorporated 
June  4,  1874,  with  a  capital  of  $200,000.  Richard' D.  Hubbard  (after- 
ward Governor  of  Connecticut)  was  president,  Charles  E.  Wilson  (for- 
merly assistant  secretary  of  The  Travelers)  vice-president,  and  George 
Lester  (formerly  actuary  of  The  Travelers)  secretary  and  leading  man- 
ager. Mr.  Hubbard  shortly  retired,  and  was  succeeded  by  William  A. 
Healey  ;  the  latter  and  Mr.  Wilson  not  long  after  left  the  company,  and 
Mr.  Lester  became  president.  In  1876  it  re-insured  in  The  Travelers 
and  retired  from  business  with  serious  loss. 


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CONNECTICUT   RETREAT   FOR   THE   INSANE.  525 


SECTION    VIII. 

THE  CONNECTICUT  RETREAT  FOR   TEE  INSANE. 

BY    HENRY    P.    STEARNS;    A.M.,    M.D. 

On  the  1st  day  of  April,  1824,  the  Hartford  Retreat  was  publicly 
opened,  and  in  a  fervent  address  delivered  on  that  occasion  by  the  Rev. 
Thomas  Robbins,  the  blessing  of  God  was  invoked  upon  this  refuge  for 
"  the  distracted,  the  desponding,  the  tempted,  and  the  broken  in  heart;" 
consecrating  thus  to  the  highest  services  of  humanity  an  institution 
which  for  more  than  half  a  century  has  been  instrumental  in  accom- 
plishing the  purposes  of  its  founders. 

To  the  Connecticut  Medical  Society  belongs  the  honor  of  the  incep- 
tion, and  subsequent  measures  necessary  to  the  building  and  equipment 
of  the  Retreat.  When  there  were  but  two  institutions  for  the  exclusive 
care  of  insane  persons  in  this  country,  and  while  as  yet  the  importance 
of  restorative  treatment  was  but  little  understood  or  appreciated  even 
by  the  medical  profession,  and  while  the  most  erroneous  ideas  as  to 
its  nature  and  management  were  entertained  by  intelligent  persons,  a 
few  members  of  this  Society  had  studied  the  subject  far  enough  to  lead 
them  to  believe  that  much  could  be  done  not  only  to  ameliorate  the 
condition  of  the  insane,  but  also  to  restore  many  to  reason,  usefulness, 
and  comparative  happiness. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Society  in  October,  1812,  a  committee  was  ap- 
pointed to  ascertain  the  number  of  lunatics  in  the  State.  The  result  of 
their  inquiries  was  indefinite,  and  there  exists  no  record  of  other  pro- 
ceedings by  the  Society  until  April,  1821,  when  it  appears  that  further 
action  was  warranted  by  the  interest  excited  on  the  subject.  Another 
committee,  consisting  of  Drs.  Eli  Todd.  Thomas  Miner,  and  Samuel  B. 
Woodward,  was  appointed  to  prosecute  the  subject,  and  means  were 
devised  to  obtain  further  information  as  to  the  number,  condition,  and 
needs  of  the  insane  in  the  State,  and  to  raise  money  for  an  institution ; 
the  latter  measure  attracting  much  attention.  In  some  localities  people 
were  "  entirely  indifferent,  or  directly  opposed  to  the  propriety  of  the 
establishment."  Eventually  general  agents  were  appointed  to  visit  all 
parts  of  the  State,  and  were  "liberally  compensated."  "The  com- 
mencement of  the  subscription  in  the  city  of  Hartford  was  peculiarly 
auspicious,  and  the  very  liberal  sum  obtained  was  a  sure  prognostic  of 
future  success." 

"When  the  subject  was  before  the  General  Assembly  many  distin- 
guished members  generously  offered  their  services  in  aid  of  the  cause. 
An  act  of  incorporation  was  obtained,  together  with  a  grant  of  $5,000  ; 
also  a  "brief"  which  conferred  the  privilege  of  taking  up  contributions 
in  the  churches  of  the  State  during  five  years.  About  this  time  the 
Medical  Society  further  contributed  what  remained  available  of  their 
funds,  —  about' $400;  and  by  October  the  nominal  sum  of  $20,000  had 


526 


MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 


been  obtained  from  all  sources.  At  a  meeting  of  the  subscribers  held 
during  this  month  it  was  ascertained  that  more  than  thirty  had  given 
$100  or  more  each,  and  had  thus  become  directors. 


They  met  in  the  State  House  in  December,  and  voted  to  locate  the 
institution  in  Hartford,  and  also  appointed  a  sub-committee  to  select  a 


CONNECTICUT   RETREAT   FOR   THE   INSANE.  527 

site.  This  sub-committee  consisted  of  Bishop  Thomas  C.  Brownell, 
Daniel  Putnam,  Esq.,  the  Hon.  Joshua  Stow,  and  Drs.  William  Buell 
and  Samuel  B.  Woodward.  After  an  examination  of  various  places 
they  decided  upon  the  Ira  Todd  farm,  where  the  Retreat  now  stands. 

On  the  7th  of  January,  1823,  Dr.  Eli  Todd,  who  had  been  for  many 
years  greatly  interested  in  the  project,  was  unanimously  selected  by  the 
directors  as  superintendent,  with  a  salary  of  $1,000  and  the  use  of  a 
dwelling-house  near  the  institution.  The  contract  for  a  building  which 
is  now  the  centre  part  of  the  Retreat,  fifty  feet  square,  and  two  wings, 
each  thirty  by  fifty  feet,  —  one  for  each  sex, —  with  capacity  for. forty 
patients,  was  awarded  to  Mr.  Scranton,  of  Derby.  The  cost  of  the 
whole  building  was  nearly  -$13,000,  and  it  was  completed  and  formally 
opened  for  patients  within  one  year. 

Dr.  Todd,  a  native  of  New  Haven,  and  a  graduate  of  Yale  College 
in  1787,  was  settled  for  many  years  in  Farmington,  where  he  acquired 
an  extensive  practice.  In  1819  he  removed  to  Hartford.  He  was  a 
dignified  man,  with  a  handsome  and  benevolent  face,  his  keen,  large 
eye  lighting  up  his  whole  countenance  in  conversation.  His  carefully 
chosen  language  was  expressive,  earnest,  and  convincing,  and  he  had  a 
large  measure  of  personal  magnetism.  He  was  especially  familiar  with 
the  medical  literature  of  insanity  and  the  European  modes  of  treat- 
ment and  care  of  the  insane.  He  viewed  the  subject  hopefully ;  but  his 
feelings  were  so  enlisted  that  his  report  on  the  sufferings  of  the  in- 
sane, as  they  were  then  cared  for  in  the  State,  is  said  to  have  moved 
nearly  all  his  auditors  to  tears  when  it  was  read  before  the  Connecticut 
Medical  Society.  A  retentive  memory  enabled  him  to  make  good  use 
of  his  extensive  reading  in  matters  outside  of  his  profession.  He  pos- 
sessed the  rare  ability  of  convincing  his  patients  of  his  deep  interest  in 
their  welfare,  and  manifested  his  sympathy  often  in  unlooked-for  ways ; 
and  with  his  remarkable  powers  in  conversation  he  sought  to  divert 
their  minds  from  their  discomforts.  A  few  sentences  will  illustrate  the 
plan  of  moral  treatment  of  the  insane  which  he  inaugurated  when  he 
entered  on  duty  at  the  Retreat.1 

"It  is  our  endeavor  to  make  the  Retreat  an  eligible  place  of  residence,  to 
allow  the  patients  every  liberty  consistent  with  their  safety,  and  to  subject  them 
to  no  severe  restraints.  But  in  order  to  secure  this  desirable  object  it  is  necessary 
to  be  provided  with  a  competent  number  of  attendants,  who  by  assiduity  and 
vigilance  shall  simply  the  place  of  bolts  and  keys.  It  is  their  business  to  walk  or 
ride  with  the  patients,  to  engage  with  them  in  their  various  schemes  of  recrea- 
tion, and  if  possible  to  induce  them  to  engage  in  some  useful  employment.  The 
expense  of  supporting  patients  is  materially  increased  by  the  plan  to  which  we 
have  alluded ;  but  when  it  is  remembered  that  it  is  attended  with  greater  suc- 
cess, that  it  is  more  humane,  ...  it  will  be  admitted  that  no  other,  or  at  least 
no  better,  course  could  be  adopted.   .  .   . 

"  The  tirst  business  of  the  physician  on  the  admission  of  the  patient  is  to 
gain  his  entire  confidence.  With  this  in  view,  he  is  treated  with  the  greatest 
kindness,  however  violent  his  conduct  may  be,  is  allowed  all  the  liberty  his  case 

1  It  may  be  proper  here  to  note  that  this  was  prior  to  the  time  when  Dr.  Connolly,  in  Eng- 
land, first  announced  the  theory  of  "non-restraint,"  and  endeavored  to  carry  it  into  practice 
at  the  Hanwell  Asylum,  in  London  ;  while  the  plan  of  Dr.  J.  Batty  Tuke,  of  caring  for  patients 
by  attendants  with  unlocked  doors,  is  of  quite  recent  date.  From  the  statement  which  I  now 
quote,  it  appears  that  a  plan  almost  identical  was  devised  and  carried  into  practice  more  than 
sixty  years  ago  in  the  Retreat  at  Hartford,  by  Dr.  Todd. 


528  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

admits  of,  and  is  made  to  understand,  —  if  he  is  capable  of  reflection,  —  that  so 
far  from  his  having  arrived  at  a  mad-house  where  he  is  to  be  confined,  he  has 
come  to  a  pleasant  and  peaceful  residence,  where  all  kindness  and  attention 
will  be  shown  him,  and  where  every  means  will  be  employed  for  the  recovery  of 
his  health." 

In  referring  to  the  results  of  this  mode  of  management  the  Board 
of  Visitors  say  :  — 

"  The  proportion  of  cures  which  have  been  effected  at  our  Eetreat  has  satis- 
fied your  committee  that  the  mode  of  treatment  there  adopted  is  highly  salu- 
tary and  proper.  During  the  last  year  there  have  been  admitted  twenty-five 
recent  cases,  of  which  twenty-one  have  recovered,  —  a  number  equivalent  to 
91.3  per  cent.  The  whole  number  of  recent  cases  in  the  institution  during  the 
year  was  twenty-eight,  of  which  twenty-five  have  recovered,  —  equal  to  89.2 
per  cent." 

These  few  sentences  are  important,  as  indicating  how  thoroughly 
Dr.  Todd  anticipated  and  carried  into  practice,  during  his  second  year 
of  experience  at  the  Retreat,  views  concerning  the  moral  management 
of  the  insane  which  have  more  recently  been  claimed  by  others. 
Dr.  Todd  was  succeeded  in  the  superintendency  of  the  Retreat  by 
Dr.  Silas  Fuller,  who  had  for  several  years  had  the  care  of  some  in- 
sane patients  in  his  own  house,  which  doubtless  led  to  his  selection  for 
the  position.  In  general  appearance  and  bearing,  and  in  many  mental 
characteristics,  the  contrast  between  him  and  his  predecessor  could 
hardly  have  been  greater.  Dr.  Fuller  was  a  native  of  Lebanon,  and 
studied  medicine  under  Dr.  Scott,  of  Bozrah,  receiving  from  the  board 
of  examiners  of  the  Connecticut  Medical  Society  a  license  to  practise. 
He  was  a  surgeon  in  the  War  of  1812,  serving  under  Generals  Scott, 
Harrison,  and  Jackson,  and  afterward  lived  in  Columbia,  where  he 
practised  medicine  until  nearly  or  quite  sixty  years  of  age,  when  he  was 
invited  to  take  charge  of  the  Retreat.  His  habits  of  professional  and 
domestic  life  had  become  fully  settled,  while  the  conditions  and  the  na- 
ture of  his  professional  duties  at  the  Retreat  differed  greatly  from  those 
to  which  he  had  been  accustomed.  That  he  succeeded  in  maintaining 
the  high  reputation  the  Retreat  had  secured  under  his  predecessor  might 
be  disputed  by  many  who  were  intimately  acquainted  with  them  both ; 
but  probably  all  who  knew  Dr.  Fuller  best  would  admit  that  his  reading 
was  extensive  and  varied,  his  judgment  sound,  his  ability  in  diagnosis 
unusual,  his  personality  large,  —  so  that  he  possessed  the  confidence 
and  respect  of  the  profession  generally,  —  his  treatment  of  his  patients 
generous  to  a  fault,  and  his  unselfishness  extreme.  He  believed  in  the 
efficacy  of  medical  and  mechanical  treatment  of  insane  patients,  using 
such  measures  freely  and  at  times  heroically. 

The  third  superintendent  was  Dr.  Amariah  "Brigham,  who  was  born 
in  western  Massachusetts,  and  came  to  Hartford  from  Greenfield, 
about  1828.  He  became  widely  known  as  a  surgeon  and  physician,  and 
published  two  small  volumes.  One  of  these,  on  "  The  Influence  of  Study 
on  the  Brain,"  was  extensively  circulated  in  this  country  and  repub- 
lished in  Scotland,  and  received  high  commendations  from  medical  au- 
thorities on  that  side  of  the  Atlantic.  The  other,  on  "  The  Influence  of 
Religion  on  Health,"  was  very  unpopular  among  many  of  his  friends,  as 
it  was  regarded  as  tending  towards  irreligion.    This  book  cost  him  many 


CONNECTICUT   EETREAT   FOR   THE   INSANE.  529 

patrons,  and  doubtless  had  some  influence  in  causing  his  removal  to 
New  York  City,  where  he  lectured  during-  one  winter  in  a  medical 
school.  He  then  returned  to  Hartford,  and  in  1840  published  his  third 
volume,  entitled  "  An  Inquiry  concerning  the  Diseases  and  Functions 
of  the  Brain,  the  Spinal  Corel,  and  the  Nerves."  This  volume,  which 
has  long  been  out  of  print  and  indeed  superseded  by  more  recent  works, 
he  regarded  as  his  most  important  one.  During  this  year  he  was  ap- 
pointed superintendent  of  the  Retreat.  A  little  less  than  three  years 
after,  he  was  invited  to  take  a  similar  position  in  the  Asylum  at  Utica, 
New  York,  where  he  remained  until  his  death,  in  1848.  Probably  no 
person  became  more  widely  known  in  his  time,  or  has  ever  attained  a 
more  generous  recognition  of  his  ability  and  service  in  connection  with 
the  specialty  of  insanity  in  this  country. 

Dr.  John  S.  Butler,  of  Boston,  a  graduate  of  Yale  College  in  1825, 
who  had  for  some  time  been  superintendent  of  the  South  Boston  Lunatic 
Hospital,  was  appointed  after  the  resignation  of  Dr.  Brigham,  and  re- 
mained nearly  thirty  years.  Dr.  James  Denny,  of  Boston,  succeeded 
Dr.  Butler,  and  remained  one  year.  Dr.  H.  P.  Stearns  succeeded  Dr. 
Denny,  and  is  at  this  date  superintendent. 

Dr.  E.  K.  Hunt,  of  Hartford,  has  been  acting  superintendent  of  the 
Retreat  on  several  occasions  during  considerable  periods  of  time.  Of 
assistant  physicians  there  have  been  seven  :  first,  Dr.  William  H.  Rock- 
well, who  was  afterward  and  until  his  death  superintendent  of  the  Ver- 
mont Asylum,  at  Brattleborough ;  second,  Dr.  G.  B.  Hawlcy ,  of  Hartford, 
who  has  been  so  largely  instrumental  in  establishing  the  Hartford 
Hospital;  third,  Dr.  Daniel  Brooks;  fourth,  Dr.  S.  W.  Hart;  fifth, 
the  late  Dr.  William  Porter,  medical  superintendent  of  the  New  York 
Asylum  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb ;  sixth,  Dr.  James  Denny,  who  was 
afterward  superintendent  during  one  year;  and,  seventh,  Dr.  C.  W.  Page, 
who  at  present  occupies  the  position. 

In  1832  the  accommodations  in  the  Retreat  were  found  to  be  insuffi- 
cient, and  sixty  additional  rooms  were  provided  Again,  in  1844  and 
1845  two  wings  were  added,  with  capacity  for  about  one  hundred  more 
patients.  In  1855  and  185G  more  commodious  lodges  were  built.  In 
1868  and  1869,  after  the  hospital  for  the  insane  poor  of  the  State 
was  erected  at  Middletown,  the  board  of  directors  decided  to  have  the 
larger  part  of  the  buildings  occupied  by  patients  remodelled.  The 
rooms  on  the  first  floor  were  abandoned,  while  tbose  on  the  other  floors 
were  enlarged  and  made  in  every  way  more  convenient.  Money  was 
contributed  by  citizens  of  Hartford  for  the  purpose  of  grading  the 
Retreat  lawn,  and  arranging  the  trees  and  shrubs  in  accordance  with 
plans  submitted  by  Mr.  Frederick  Law  Olmsted,  of  New  York  City. 
In  1875  Dr.  G.  W.  Russell,  of  Hartford,  erected  the  beautiful  Elizabeth 
Chapel  on  the  west  side  of  the  grounds,  and  presented  it  to  the  Retreat. 
In  1876  the  whole  of  this  portion  of  the  grounds  was  changed,  and  the 
old  executive  buildings  replaced  by  modern  ones  built  of  granite,  to 
correspond  with  the  exterior  of  the  chapel.  A  large  greenhouse  was 
also  built  by  Dr.  Russell  for  the  use  of  the  Retreat.  In  1880  a  beauti- 
ful cottage  was  erected  on  the  lawn  by  the  Hon.  I.  Luther  Spencer,  of 
Suffield.  In  1881  new  buildings,  with  twenty -four  rooms,  were  erected  % 
in  the  vacant  spaces  between  the  third  and  fourth  halls,  north  and 
south. 

vol.  i.  —  34. 


530  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

While  the  capacity  of  the  Retreat  is  now  only  one  hundred  and 
forty-five  beds,  whereas  formerly  it  was  two  hundred,  it  will  readily  be 
understood  how  much  larger  are  its  comforts  and  conveniences  as 
compared  with  those  it  formerly  had.  More  than  six  thousand  patients 
have  been  admitted  since  it  was  opened,  and  of  these  more  than  two 
thousand  eight  hundred  have  been  discharged  as  recovered. 


CiA^As 


OTHER   BENEFICENT  INSTITUTIONS. 

by  w.   i.  fletcher. 

The  Orphan  Asylum.  —  Hospital.  —  Old  People's  Home.  —  City  Missionary 
Society.  —  Union  for  Home  Work,  etc. 

The  first  institution  in  Hartford  for  the  care  of  orphan  children 
was  the  Hartford  Female  Beneficent  Society,  which  was  organized  in 
1809,  and  incorporated  in  1813.  The  objects  of  this  society  at  first 
included  the  affording  of  "  relief  to  needy,  indigent  females,"  but  its 
actual  operations  were  mostly  confined,  from  the  first,  to  the  care  of 
orphan  girls ;  the  method  employed  being  the  placing  of  them  in  suit- 
able families,  where  they  should  "  receive  religious  instruction,  and  be 
taught  reading,  writing,  and  good  housekeeping."  Later,  the  girls 
under  care  —  the  number  never  exceeding  twelve  or  fifteen  —  were 
boarded  and  taught  in  the  family  of  a  person  appointed  as  matron. 
As  it  was  thus  female  orphans  only  that  were  provided  for,  there 
soon  came  to  be  a  demand  for  similar  provision  for  orphan  boys.  The 
fact  of  a  settled  conviction  on  the  part  of  some  of  the  managers  of  the 
Female  Beneficent  Society,  that  the  two  sexes  should  not  be  mingled  in 
such  an  institution,  deferred  for  a  time  a  response  to  this  demand.  But 
the  feeling  in  favor  of  an  institution  which  might  receive  boys  grew  in 
strength,  and  was  brought  to  a  head  in  1829  by  a  case  of  the  orphan- 
hood and  suffering  of  a  young  boy,  which  attracted  public  attention 
and  commiseration.  Arrangements  were  at  once  made  for  the  care 
of  this  boy  and  some  others  in  like  circumstances,  and  in  1831  a 
public  meeting  was  held,  —  the  Hon.  Thomas  S.  Williams  presiding, — 
at  which  it  was  voted  to  establish  an  orphan  asylum  for  boys.  A  fund 
was  raised  by  subscription,  and  nineteen  women  were  chosen  as  direc- 
tors, Mrs.  Joseph  Trumbull  being  the  first  president.  On  the  petition 
of  Daniel  Wadsworth  and  others,  an  act  of  incorporation  was  granted 
in  May,  1833.  At  first,  the  institution  was  dependent  for  its  support 
on  subscriptions  and  gifts,  including  the  proceeds  of  a  collection  taken 
after  the  annual  sermon,  which  was  preached  at  a  union  service  held  on 
behalf  of  the  Asylum  in  one  of  the  churches.  The  Right  Rev.  Bishop 
Brownell  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Joel  Hawes  were  the  preachers  in  1833  and 
1834  respectively. 


1 

— — ; — — — 

1 

i 

_^i 

~"j] 

./^ 

OTHER  BENEFICENT   INSTITUTIONS.  533 

The  boys  under  the  care  of  the  Asylum  were  boarded  in  a  family 
until  1836,  when  friends  of  the  institution  purchased  a  building  on 
Washington  Street,  formerly  used  as  a  boys'  school,  and  presented  it  to 
the  Orphan  Asylum  and  the  Female  Beneficent  Society  jointly.  The 
building  was  occupied  by  the  Orphan  Asylum ;  but  the  girls  under  the 
care  of  the  Beneficent  Society  only  attended  the  school  exercises  in 
the  building,  and  continued  to  board  in  a  neighboring  house  until  1865, 
when  the  two  institutions  were  combined  under  a  new  charter,  continu- 
ing the  use  of  the  name  Hartford  Orphan  Asylum.  Soon  after  this 
union  was  effected,  the  need  of  larger  and  better  quarters  than  those 
afforded  by  the  old  building  became  pressing,  and  in  1870  the  lot  now 
occupied  was  purchased,  and  a  good  beginning  was  made  on  a  building- 
fund.  The  building  was  not  begun,  however,  until  1876.  It  was  com- 
pleted and  occupied  in  October,  1878  ;  its  whole  cost  being  over  $65,000, 
all  of  which  was  raised  by  gifts  or  subscription,  without  drawing  on  the 
invested  funds  of  the  Asylum.  The  new  building,  while  presenting  a 
fine  exterior  appearance,  is  especially  noteworthy  for  its  admirable  in- 
terior arrangement  and  furnishing.  Among  its  best  features  are  the 
day  and  night  nurseries,  enabling  the  Asylum  to  receive  infant  children, 
which  it  was  not  able  to  do  in  the  old  building,  and  a  hospital  entirely 
isolated  from  the  rest  of  the  building. 

The  Asylum  has  always  been  a  favorite  charity  with  Hartford  peo- 
ple, and  the  new  building  was  almost  wholly  furnished  by  special  gifts 
from  different  churches,  Sunday  schools,  and  individuals.  It  has  re- 
ceived numerous  legacies.  The  largest  were  those  of  Mrs.  Elizabeth 
Averill,  in  1846,  #7,776.50 ;  Mr.  David  Watkinson,  in  1859,  $10,000; 
and  Mr.  Alfred  Smith,  in  1869,  #30,000.  They  are  not,  however,  suffi- 
cient for  the  support  of  the  institution,  and  it  is  dependent  upon  annual 
contributions.  Over  one  thousand  children  have  been  cared  for  by  the 
Asylum,  the  average  number  of  beneficiaries  at  one  time  being  about, 
eighty  since  the  occupancy  of  the  new  building.  At  least  eight  former 
inmates  of  the  Asylum  perished  honorably  as  soldiers  in  the  War  for 
the  Union. 

Mr.  David  Watkinson  —  always  a  chief  supporter  of  the  Asylum, 
and  its  benefactor  by  his  will,  as  noted  above  —  also  made  provision 
by  bequest  for  the  establishment  of  the  Watkinson  Asylum  and  Farm 
School,  intended  as  a  training-school  and  home  combined,  for  boys,  not 
necessarily  orphans,  in  need  of  such  care.  For  this  purpose  he  left 
by  his  will  property  which  he  valued  at  $60,000,  including  $40,000 
worth  of  unproductive  land.  By  careful  management  this  fund  has 
become  about  #200,000.  A  charter  was  obtained  in  18 — ,  under  the 
name  of  the  Watkinson  Juvenile  Asylum  and  Farm  School.  Since 
1864  twelve  boys  have  been  maintained  at  the  expense  of  the  fund  at 
the  Orphan  Asylum.  In  1881  about  twenty  acres  of  land  were  pur- 
chased, and  a  school  was  opened.  At  present  there  are  eighteen  boys 
at  the  school,  besides  the  twelve  at  the  Orphan  Asylum. 

The  disastrous  boiler  explosion  which  occurred  in  1854  at  the  car- 
factory  of  Fales  &  Gray,  by  which  nineteen  persons  were  killed  and 
about  forty  others  wounded,  forced  upon  the  attention  of  the  public, 
and  especially  of  the  medical  profession,  the  need  of  hospital  accom- 


534  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

modations  to  meet  this  and  similar  emergencies.  A  committee  was 
soon  appointed  by  the  City  Medical  Society,  to  take  the  necessary 
steps  for  the  establishment  of  a  City  Hospital.  Mr.  David  Watkinson, 
whose  name  occurs  so  frequently  in  the  history  of  the  benevolent  and 
other  public  institutions  of  Hartford,  had  expressed  his  intention  of 
giving  $40,000  by  will  for  this  purpose,  and  from  the  first  he  was  one 
of  the  most  earnest  promoters  of  the  measure. 

A  public  meeting  was  held,  May  2,  1854,  the  mayor  in  the  chair, 
and  a  committee  was  appointed  to  draft  a  constitution  and  procure  an 
act  of  incorporation.  This  was  immediately  done,  the  charter  passing 
the  General  Assembly  at  the  session  then  holding.  Among  the  incor- 
porators were  David  Watkinson,  Samuel  Colt,  S.  S.  Ward,  Amos  M. 
Collins,  Albert  Day,  James  G.  Bolles,  and  A.  W.  Butler.  In  February, 
1855,  twelve  directors  were  chosen  by  the  incorporators,  and  in  the 
course  of  the  year  the  present  site  was  purchased,  and  $50,000  raised 
for  the  erection  of  buildings ;  of  which  sum  $10,000  was  appropriated 
by  the  General  Assembly.  The  corner-stone  was  laid  in  April,  1857, 
Governor  Buckingham  officiating.  The  central  building  and  the  north 
wing  were  first  erected,  and  were  dedicated  in  April,  1859,  furnishing 
accommodations  for  forty-four  patients.  During  the  war  of  1861-1865 
the  Hospital  was  taxed  to  the  utmost,  to  care  for  the  many  sick  and 
wounded  soldiers  who  became  its  inmates. 

In  1868-1870  the  south  wing  and  two  east  wings  were  added  to  the 
building,  at  an  expense  of  over  $160,000  ;  of  which  sum  the  State  paid 
$40,000,  and  the  rest  was  raised  by  subscription.  In  1876  another  sum 
of  $25,000  was  expended  in  the  erection  of  a  surgical  ward  and  a  ward 
for  special  cases,  in  1880  a  new  operating-room  was  added,  at  a  cost 
of  about  $3,500,  and  in  1884  a  lying-in  ward  was  added  at  a  cost  of 
about  $26,000.  The  whole  cost  of  the  land  and  buildings  has  ex- 
ceeded $270,000.  A  considerable  portion  of  the  large  current  expenses 
of  the  Hospital  has  been  repaid  by  the  State,  the  various  towns,  and 
the  individual  inmates ;  but  nearly  one  half  of  the  whole  has  been 
paid  from  the  income  of  the  funds  of  the  Hospital,  which  have  been  con- 
stantly increased  by  numerous  bequests.  On  a  tablet  at  the  Hospital 
are  inscribed  the  names  of  more  than  thirty  persons  who  have  made 
bequests  to  the  Hospital,  the  largest  being  those  of  Chester  Adams, 
$68,000;  Harriet  Hall  Hosmer,  $46,000;  Mrs.  Charles  H.  Northam, 
$46,000  ;  David  Watkinson,  $41,000  ;  James  G.  Bolles,  $16,100 ; 
Alfred  Smith,  $14,000 ;  Henry  Taylor,  $13,000 ;  James  Root,  $11,000 ; 
A.  S.  Beckwith  and  D.  P.  Crosby,  each  $10,000. 

In  1873  an  amendment  to  the  charter  was  obtained,  authorizing  the 
establishment  of  an  Old  People's  Home  in  connection  with  the  Hospital ; 
which  object  was  made  feasible,  in  1881  by  a  bequest,  of  $50,000  from 
Mr.  Charles  H.  Northam,  late  president  of  the  Hospital.  The  Home 
was  opened  Dec.  1,  1884,  and  its  fine  building  on  Jefferson  Street  is 
one  of  the  noteworthy  structures  of  the  city.  It  has  received  gifts  of 
$10,000  from  Messrs.  H.  &  W.  Keney,  $10,000  from  T.  M.  Allyn,  and 
$5,000  each  from  Mrs.  Lucina  H.  Goodwin,  Thomas  Smith,  and  Mrs. 
Lois  Sargent  of  Hartford,  Charles  Boswell  of  West  Hartford,  and 
Mrs.  David  Gallup  of  Plainfield.  It  cares  for  old  men  and  old  women 
who  are  in  reduced  circumstances. 

A  training-school  for   nurses   was   established  at  the  Hospital  in 


I 


OTHER  BENEFICENT   INSTITUTIONS.  537 

1877,  and  proved  a  decided  success,  the  pupils  being  of  great  service 
in  the  institution,  and  going  out  at  the  end  of  their  course  thoroughly 
fitted  as  professional  nurses.  The  applications  for  positions  as  pupil 
nurses  are  constantly  in  excess  of  the  vacancies.  The  capacity  of  the 
hospital  is  now  166  beds,  — 12  in  the  lying-in  ward,  24  in  private  rooms, 
and  130  in  the  five  wards. 

The  presidents  of  the  Hartford  Hospital  have  been :  Francis  Parsons, 
from  1855  to  1861 ;  James  B.  Hosmer,  from  1861  to  1877  ;  Charles  H. 
Northam,  from  1877  to  1881,  —  each  of  whom  died  in  office,  —  and 
Edson  Fessenden,  the  present  incumbent. 

Although  City  Missions  have  not  existed  under  that  name  in  Hart- 
ford for  more  than  thirty  years,  various  of  the  objects  sought  and 
methods  employed  in  city  missions  were  known  much  earlier.  In 
1792  was  organized  the  "  Charitable  Society  in  Hartford,"  whose 
object  was  the  charitable  relief  of  worthy  persons  for  whom  the  poor- 
laws  did  not  provide  "  relief  suitable  to  their  condition  or  adequate  to 
their  necessities."  This  first  charitable  organization  of  Hartford  has 
continued  in  active  existence  to  the  present  time,  its  mode  of  operations 
being  simply  the  disbursement,  through  almoners  chosen  for  the  pur- 
pose, of  the  income  of  its  funds,  which  have  grown,  by  numerous  gifts 
and  bequests,  until  the  annual  income  is  about  two  thousand  dollars. 

In  1816  the  Hartford  Evangelical  Tract  Society  was  organized, 
which  was  for  many  years  efficient  as  a  city  missionary  organization, 
but  which  later  became  a  branch  of  the  American  Tract  Society,  and 
devoted  most  of  its  energies  to  more  distant  work.  Among  its  officers 
have  been  such  men  as  William  W.  Ellsworth,  Thomas  S.  Williams, 
Daniel  Wadsworth,  and  Charles  Hosmer.  The  last  was  secretary  from 
1822  to  1865.     This  Society  is  still  in  existence. 

Sunday  schools,  when  first  organized  in  Hartford  as  elsewhere,  con- 
stituted a  distinctly  charitable  and  missionary  enterprise.  The  first 
step  in  this  work  was  the  organization  of  the  Hartford  Sunday  School 
Society,  in  1818.  Under  the  auspices  of  this  Society,  "  about  five  hundred 
children  and  a  few  adults  "  were  gathered,  and  divided  into  four  schools, 
described  as  follows :  "  School  No.  1,  to  be  holden  at  the  school-house 
in  Dorr  Street  [now  Market  Street]  ;  No.  2,  at  the  Episcopal  church ; 
No.  3,  at  the  Baptist  meeting-house  ;  and  No.  4  at  the  South  Chapel."  l 
These  schools,  thus  started  by  a  co-operative  and  charitable  movement, 
became  in  a  few  years  connected  with  the  churches  where  they  were 
held,  —  the  one  held  at  the  Dorr  Street  school-house  becoming  the 
Sunday-school  of  the  Centre  Church.  But  in  the  years  from  1850  to 
1858  there  was  a  revival  of  the  missionary  feature  of  Sunday-school 
work  in  the  establishment  during  that  time  of  not  less  than  ten  mission 
Sunday  schools,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Young  Men's  City  Mission- 
ary Society,  which  became  incorporated  in  1859,  under  the  name  of 
Hartford  City  Missionary  Society. 

This  Society  had  its  beginning  in  the  establishment  in  1850  of  the 
first  of  the  mission  Sunday  schools  just  referred  to,  by  a  few  young 
men  connected  with  the  several  Congregational  churches.  The  school 
was  held  at  first  in  a  basement  room,  corner  of  Front  and  Potter 

1  Report  of  Hartford  Sunday  School  Society,  1819. 


538  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

streets,  and  after  various  removals  became  finally  the  Union  Sunday 
School  of  Warburton  Chapel,  where  it  is  now  one  of  our  most  flour- 
ishing missions.  During  the  first  year  of  its  existence  those  in  charge 
were  brought  into  contact  with  so  much  of  moral  and  physical  desti- 
tution that  they  resolved  to  organize  as  a  society,  and  employ  a  city 
missionary.  The  form  of  organization  adopted  was  the  simplest  possi- 
ble, the  executive  board  consisting  of  two  delegates  appointed  annually 
by  each  of  the  Congregational  churches ;  and  this  form  has  not  been 
changed.  In  their  first  search  for  a  suitable  missionary  they  were 
providentially  directed  to  Mr.  David  Hawley,  a  layman  living  in  Farm- 
ington,  where  he  was  engaged  in  farming.  Much  against  his  first 
inclination  and  judgment,  he  was  secured  for  a  year,  and  commenced 
his  labors  in  the  fall  of  1851.  Beginning  in  a  quiet  way  with  the  work 
which  offered  itself  in  connection  with  the  mission  school,  and  with 
the  others  which  were  soon  established,  he  gradually  extended  his 
operations, — proving  himself  the  man  for  the  place,  and  enjoying  the 
entire  confidence  of  the  helpers  and  the  helped,  between  whom  he 
stood.  As  his  work  turned  out  of  the  channel  of  religious  effort,  and 
became  more  largely  a  ministration  of  temporal  charities,  he  exhibited 
great  shrewdness  and  tact  in  the  methods  by  which  he  discriminated 
between  the  worthy  applicants  for  aid  and  those  undeserving  of  charity. 
He  devoted  much  of  his  time  to  visits  at  the  homes  of  the  poor,  where 
he  was  a  welcome  guest  for  his  fine  cheery  sympathy,  as  well  as  for 
the  help  he  brought. 

After  nearly  twenty-five  years  of  unremitting  labors  in  his  chosen 
field  (three  of  these  years  were  spent  in  Utica,  New  York,  whence  he 
was  recalled  to  Hartford),  he  died  in  the  harness,  well-nigh  a  martyr  to 
his  work,  Jan.  31,  1876.  He  was  succeeded  in  his  office  by  Mrs.  Vir- 
ginia T.  Smith,  who  has  continued  to  the  present  time,  doing  much  to 
enlarge  the  scope  and  perfect  the  methods  of  the  work,  and  introducing 
valuable  industrial  and  educational  features.  The  City  Missionary  So- 
ciety has  been  influential  in  numerous  works  which  the  State  has  since 
taken  up.  Its  "  temporary  homes  "  led  to  the  State  law  withdrawing 
children  from  almshouses  and  establishing  temporary  homes  for  depen- 
dent and  neglected  children  in  each  county ;  and  its  free  kindergarten, 
established  in  1881,  led  to  the  law  of  1886,  practically  making  them  a 
part  of  the  public-school  system.  In  1879  its  "fresh  air  fund"  was 
established,  for  sending  poor  children  into  the  country.  It  has  now  a 
special  building  for  them  in  West  Hartford,  built  in  1884.  In  Hartford 
it  has  an  industrial  building,  established  in  1881,  in  which  are  now  a 
laundry,  cooking-school,  sewing-school,  day-nursery,  etc.  The  Sister 
Dora  Society,  under  the  auspices  of  this  Society,  provides  a  place  of 
meeting  and  social  recreation  for  working-girls.  The  City  Missionary 
Society  has  received  among  other  gifts  $2,000Jrom  E.  H.  Fenn,  $5,000 
from  Leonard  Church,  and  $16,000"from  Charles  Wright. 

By  mutual  agreement,  the  mission  Sunday  schools  started  by  the 
City  Missionary  Society  were,  a  few  years  later,  taken  under  the  care 
of  the  several  churches,  and  the  Society  has  retained  direction  of  but 
one,  the  Morgan  Street  school,  whose  building,  erected  at  the  expense 
of  the  late  Hon.  Charles  F.  Pond,  is  the  property  of  the  Society. 

In  1872  the  Union  for  Home  Work  was  organized  by  women  of 
Hartford,  irrespective  of  religious  denomination,  for  the  purpose  of 


OTHER   BENEFICENT    INSTITUTIONS.  539 

improving  the  condition  and,  in  particular,  the  home  life  of  the  poorer 
women  and  children  of  the  city.  A  coffee-house,  similar  to  those  which 
at  that  time  were  springing-  up  in  all  our  cities,  and  which  have  done 
so  much  to  revolutionize  the  dining-saloon  business  in  the  interest  of 
neatness,  health,  and  cheapness,  had  just  been  opened  in  Market  Street. 
This  became  the  centre  of  the  Union's  work,  and  many  other  features 
were  rapidly  added,  —  as  reading-rooms  for  boys  and  girls,  a  day-nursery, 
sewing  and  cooking  schools,  a  clothing-club,  lending-library,  etc.  In  re- 
cent years  the  coffee-house  has  been  given  up,  and  special  attention  has 
been  paid  to  a  promising  effort  to  provide  good  and  cheap  tenements 
under  thorough  supervision.  The  Friendly  Visiting  Club  is  a  most  ad- 
mirable feature  of  the  work  of  the  Union,  tending  to  establish  friendly 
and  not  merely  perfunctory  relations  between  the  almoners  and  the 
recipients  of  charity.  Mrs.  Sidney  J.  Cowen  was  president  of  the  Union 
from  the  beginning  until  1883.  Since  then  Mrs.  Samuel  Colt  has  held 
the  office.  The  work  of  the  Union  has  been  administered  and  superin- 
tended by  Mrs.  E.  L.  Sluyter.  In  1881  the  Union  bought  a  lot  on  Mar- 
ket Street,  and  in  1883  began  a  building  for  its  own  use,  which  was 
opened  for  occupancy  in  1884.  It  cost  $22,000,  and  was  built  by  sub- 
scriptions. The  Union  has  had  no  bequest  except  one  of  real  estate  in 
Cleveland  from  Mr.  James  Root,  which  yields  but  a  small  income.  The 
distinctive  feature  of  the  Union  is  its  systematic  character  as  opposed 
to  occasional  relief. 

A  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  was  organized  in  Hartford  in 
I860,  but  had  an  existence  of  only  four  years.  During  a  portion  of 
this  time  the  Rev.  M.  Porter  Sncll  was  employed  by  it  as  a  city  mission- 
ary, and  did  much  good  work.  This  Association  succumbed  to  financial 
difficulties ;  but  a  new  one  was  organized,  on  a  more  substantial  basis, 
in  1877,  following  the  Moody  and  Sankey  revival  meetings,  and  has 
since  that  time  maintained  a  house  in  Prospect  Street  as  a  place  of 
resort  and  recreation  for  young  men ;  and  has  also  done  much  in 
the  way  of  religious  services,  both  in  its  own  rooms  and  in  outside 
localities. 

The  Women's  Christian  Association  was  organized  in  1867  and 
incorporated  in  1869.  In  1871  it  opened,  on  Church  Street,  a  "  Board- 
ing Home  "  for  women,  which  has  since  that  time  been  in  successful 
operation.  The  land  and  building  cost  about  thirty  thousand  dollars, 
which  was  raised  by  subscription.  The  Home  accommodates  about  fifty 
boarders,  is  always  full,  and  is  entirely  self-supporting.  It  furnishes 
all  the  advantages  of  a  Christian  home,  at  a  low  price  for  board,  to 
a  class  greatly  in  need  of  them.  Through  an  employment  commit- 
tee, a  Visitation  committee,  a  free  circulating  library  for  women,  an 
industrial  department,  and  other  like  agencies,  the  Association  has  done 
much  good  work  outside  of  its  chief  feature  described  above. 

The  Widows'  Society,  organized  in  1825  and  incorporated  in  1847, 
distributes  to  the  necessities  of  widows  and  their  families  through  a 
board  of  almoners. 

Mr.  Lawson  C.  Ives,  who  died  in  1867,  gave  two  dwellings  on  North 
Main  Street  to  the  pastors  and  prudential  committees  of  the  Park  and 
Pearl  Street  Congregational  societies  respectively,  to  be  administered 
by  them  as  Widows'  Homes,  and  made  provision  for  their  partial  sup- 
port, for  twenty  years,  from  his  estate. 


540  MEMORIAL   HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

Growing  out  of  the  interest  in  the  unfortunate  classes  of  society, 
aroused  at  the  time  of  the  great  revival  of  1877,  the  Woman's  Aid 
Society  was  organized  for  the  reformation  of  fallen  women.  In  1878  a 
Home  for  the  reception  of  such  persons  was  opened  on  Pavilion  Street, 
and  has  so  far  succeeded  that  the  erection  of  a  permanent  building  for 
the  purpose  is  now  in  contemplation  by  the  Society. 

In  1863  Charles  Larrabee  bequeathed  his  estate  to  the  city,  to  be 
held  in  trust  for  the  relief  of  lame,  maimed,  or  deformed  females.  The 
legacy  amounted  to  about  $6,000 ;  which  amount  was  subsequently 
increased  by  a  gift  of  $1,000  each  from  the  estates  of  James  B.  Shultas 
and  George  Affleck.  Its  proceeds  are  distributed  through  the  Larrabee 
Fund  Association,  —  an  organization  of  ladies. 

The  Hon.  John  M.  Niles,  who  died  in  1856,  left  to  the  city 
$20,000  as  a  charity  fund,  the  income  (one  half  of  it,  however,  to  be 
added  to  the  principal  until  that  reached  the  sum  of  $40,000)  to  be 
applied  to  the  paying  of  rent  and  supply  of  fuel  for  needy  families,  espe- 
cially those  without  a  male  head.  Within  a  few  years  it  has  reached 
the  prescribed  limit.  The  income  has  been  divided  equally  between 
two  of  the  societies  already  mentioned,  —  the  Hartford  Charitable  So- 
ciety and  the  Widows'  Society,  —  and .  expended  by  them  as  almoners. 
By  the  terms  of  the  bequest,  the  city  council  is  to  select  the  societies 
which  shall  act  in  this  capacity. 

The  Connecticut  Humane  Society  was  organized  in  November,  1880, 
and  the  following  April  a  charter  was  received  from  the  General  As- 
sembly. Though  not  a  purely  local  charity,  its  incorporators  were  resi- 
dents of  Hartford,  and  the  city  has  been  its  home  from  the  start.  It 
early  took  upon  itself  the  care  of  neglected  and  abused  human  beings, 
as  well  as  the  work  left  it  by  the  former  "  Society  for  Prevention  of 
Cruelty  to  Animals,"  and  it  has  given  a  large  share  of  its  efforts  to  the 
protection  of  children.  While  dependent  on  annual  contributions  for 
support,  legacies  of  $1,000  each  have  been  received  from  Mrs.  C.  A. 
Pettingill,  of  Bridgeport,  and  Mrs.  Mary  Webster,  of  Hartford.  The 
eighth  part  of  a  fund  that  now  amounts  to  $100,000  left  by  Julius  D. 
Bristol  will  eventually  come  to  it.  Mr.  Rodney  Dennis,  of  Hartford, 
has  been  the  president  from  its  incorporation. 

To  this  account  of  the  public  charities  of  Hartford  should  be  added 
mention  of  the  various  societies  for  mutual  aid  and  relief  which  have 
been  organized  by  the  firemen,  the  military  companies,  the  veteran 
organizations,  the  members  of  certain  trades  and  professions,  and  the 
people  of  certain  nationalities,  as  well  as  the  Masonic  and  other  frater- 
nities, the  temperance  societies,  and  other  special  and  more  private 
associations.  But  the  limits  of  this  chapter  forbid  more  than  this  brief 
allusion  to  other  than  the  public  charities.  ^  Enough  has  been  said 
to  show  that  the  wants  of  the  poor  and  needy  have  been  by  no  means 
unheeded;  but  that  while  we  have  always  the  poor  with  us,  much  is 
done  to  alleviate  their  condition,  and  exemplify  in  their  behalf  the 
Christian  virtues  which  have  characterized  the  settlers  of  Hartford 
and  their  children. 


LIBRARIES.  541 


SECTION    IX. 
LIBRARIES. 

BY    WILLIAM    I.    FLETCHER. 

Wadsworth  Atheneum.  — The  Connecticut  Historical  Society.  —  Hartford  Li- 
brary Association. — Watkinson  Library  of  Reference. — Other  Libraries. 

In  the  year  1841  Daniel  Wadsworth,  having  conceived  the  idea  of 
founding  a  gallery  of  the  fine  arts  in  Hartford,  took  steps  for  carrying 
it  into  effect  by  placing  in  the  hands  of  trustees  his  valuable  lot  of 
land  on  Main  Street  for  that  purpose.  His  gift  was  conditioned  upon 
the  formation  of  an  association  and  the  erection  by  it  of  a  suitable 
building  to  contain  the  proposed  art-gallery,  and.  at  the  same  time  to 
furnish  rooms  for  the  uses  of  the  Connecticut  Historical  Society  and 
the  Hartford  Young  Men's  Institute.  In  accordance  with  these  terms 
a  subscription  was  at  once  set  on  foot  to  raise  the  required  money,  and 
over  |30,000  was  soon  subscribed,  Mr.  Wadsworth  himself  being  the 
first  and  largest  subscriber  in  the  sum  of  $4,000,  which  he  subsequently 
increased  to  -16,500.  The  subscribers  obtained  an  act  of  incorporation 
(approved  June  1,  1842),  and  organized  as  a  stock  concern,  under  the 
name  of  Wadsworth  Atheneum,  with  two  classes  of  shares,  those  of 
$100,  which  were  transferable,  and  those  of  $25,  conferring  a  life  interest 
simply.  Following  the  plan  marked  out  by  Mr.  Wadsworth  in  his  original 
proposition,  a  building  was  erected  in  three  principal  divisions,  the  cen- 
tral one  for  the  proposed  art-gallery,  and  the  north  and  south  wings 
for  the  Young  Men's  Institute  and  the  Connecticut  Historical  Society 
respectively.  The  latter  Society  was  also  to  provide  a  room  in  its  por- 
tion of  the  building  for  the  Natural  History  Society  of  Hartford,  then 
in  a  nourishing  condition,  so  that  under  the  same  roof  art,  literature, 
and  science  should  be  cultivated.  The  building  was  begun  in  April, 
1842,  and  completed  in  the  most  thorough  manner  in  July,  1844.  It 
was  designed  by  Ithiel  Town,  of  New  Haven,  in  the  castellated  Gothic 
style.  The  material  employed  is  a  cream-colored  granite,  obtained  from 
Glastonbury.  The  central  section  is  eighty  feet  in  depth,  the  wings 
seventv,  and  the  whole  frontage  is  one  hundred  feet.  The  cost  was 
nearly*  835,000. 

While  the  building  was  in  process  of  erection,  steps  had  already 
been  taken  for  the  collection  of  pictures  for  the  art-gallery.  By  private 
subscription  a  fund  was  raised  for  the  purpose,  Mr.  Alfred  Smith  and 
Mr.  James  B.  Hosmer,  with  Mr.  Wadsworth,  being  the  largest  subscrib- 
ers and  chief  movers  in  the  matter  ;  and  a  number  of  valuable  paintings 
were  bought  as  the  property  of  the  subscribers  jointly,  to  be  placed  in 
the  gallery  as  a  loan  exhibition.  The  majority  of  these  pictures  were 
purchased  of  the  representatives  of  the  American  Academy  of  Fine  Arts, 
in  New  York,  which  had  ceased  to  exist,  and  included  a  portrait  of 


542 


MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 


WADSWORTH    ATHENEUM. 


Benjamin  West  by  Sir  Thomas  Lawrence,  a  head  by  Raeburn,  and  other 
fine  original  works.  Five  historical  paintings  by  Colonel  Trumbull  were 
purchased  of  the  heirs  of  his  estate  through  Professor  Benjamin  Silliman, 

and  have  always  formed  the  cen- 
tral feature  of  interest  in  the  gal- 
lery. Thomas  Cole's  fine  painting 
of  "Mount  iEtna  seen  from  Taor- 
mina"  was  bought  from  the  painter. 
These,  with  other  pictures  loaned 
by  friends  of  the  movement,  fur- 
nished an  exhibition  of  great  merit, 
which  was  opened  to  the  public  soon 
after  the  completion  of  the  building. 
The  pictures  remained  the  property 
of  the  persons  who  had  clubbed 
together  to  buy  them,  until  1855, 
when  they  were  purchased  for  the 
Atheneum  by  subscription,  the  own- 
ers for  the  most  part  subscribing 
enough  themselves  to  cover  their 
individual  interests.  An  exhibi- 
tion of  statuary  was  also  opened  in  connection  with  that  of  paintings, 
and  was  greatly  enriched  in  1858  by  the  purchase  of  the  models  left 
by  the  distinguished  sculptor,  E.  S.  Bartholomew,  at  his  death,  and  a 
copy  in  marble  of  his  masterpiece,  "  Repentant  Eve."  A  subscrip- 
tion of  $5,000  was  raised  for  this  purpose,1  and  Mr.  James  G.  Batterson 
went  as  agent  for  the  subscribers  to  Rome,  where  Mr.  Bartholomew  had 
resided  at  the  time  of  his  death.  Thus  an  art  collection  was  made, 
which,  open  to  the  public  at  a  moderate  fee  for  admission,  offered  a 
valuable  means  of  culture  to  the  people  of  Hartford  and  to  many  visit- 
ors from  without  the  city.  Very  recently  the  gallery  has  been  taken  by 
the  Hartford  Art  Society,  and  is  opened  free  for  two  days  in  each  week. 
The  presidents  of  Wadsworth  Atheneum  have  been  as  follows :  Thomas 
Day,  from  1812  to  1855;  John  M.  Niles,  1855  ;  Alfred  Smith,  from  1855 
to  1862 ;  Calvin  Day,  from  1862  to  1884 ;  and  William  R.  Cone,  from 
1884  to  the  present  time. 

Tlie  Connecticut  Historical  Society,  to  provide  rooms  for  which  was 
one  object  of  Mr.  Wadsworth's  foundation,  was  organized  in  the  year 
1825.  An  act  of  incorporation  was  granted  by  the  legislature  in  that 
year  "  upon  the  petition,"  as  set  forth  in  the  preamble,  "  of  John  Trum- 
bull 2  and  others  ...  for  the  purpose  of  discovering,  procuring,  and 
preserving  whatever  may  relate  to  the  civil,  ecclesiastical,  and  natural 
history  of  the  United  States,  and  especially  oi^the  State  of  Connecti- 
cut." Judge  Trumbull  was  the  first  president  of  the  society  (chosen 
May  30, 1825),  and  the  other  officers  included  Bishop  Thomas  C.  Brown- 
ell,  Thomas  Day,  Walter  Mitchell,  and  the  Rev.  Thomas  Robbins. 
After  a  few  meetings  of  the  Society  had  been  held,  and  a  number  of 

1  The  statue  of  Eve,  however,  was  not  included  in  this  amount,  but  was  bought  by  the 
trustees  of  the  Watkinson  Library,  by  virtue  of  a  clause  in  Mr.  Watkinson's  will  authorizing 
his  trustees,  at  their  option,  to  expend  $500  annually  in  works  of  art  for  the  Atheneum. 

2  The  poet,  author  of  "McFingal,"  etc.,  ex-Judge  of  the  Superior  Court  of  Connecticut. 


LIBRARIES.  543 

books  and  articles  of  historical  interest  had  been  collected,  a  singular 
dispersal  of  the  officers  through  removals  from  town  resulted  in  the 
Lapse  of  the  Society  into  a  comatose  condition,  which  continued  till  the 
year  1889.  Legislative  provision  having  been  secured  for  a  resumption 
of  its  functions,  it  was  then  reorganized,  and  has  since  been  in  active 
operation.  At  the  reorganization  Thomas  Day  became  president,  and 
was  annually  re-elected  until  his  death,  in  1855.  His  successors  have 
been  :  Henry  Barnard,  from  1855  to  1860  ;  James  B.  Hosmer,  from  1860 
to  1863  ;  and  the  present  incumbent,  J.  Hammond  Trumbull,  since  1863. 

The  Society  has  always  included  among  its  members  and  officers  the 
leading  men  of  the  city  and  State.  Among  the  original  incorporators 
in  1825  were  William  W.  Ellsworth,  Isaac  Toucey,  Roger  M.  Sherman, 
Thomas  S.  Williams,  Thomas  H.  Gallaudet,  Samuel  11.  Huntington, 
and  Benjamin  Trumbull,  the  historian  of  Connecticut.  The  latest  sur- 
vivor among  these  was  Judge  Huntington,  who  died  Feb.  4,  1880,  at 
the  age  of  eighty-six,  still  holding  the  office  of  vice-president  of  the 
Society  and  retaining  an  active  interest  in  its  work.  In  addition  to  the 
above,  the  enabling  act  of  1839  named  as  incorporators,  among  others, 
Charles  Hosmer,  Erastus  Smith,  Noah  Porter,  Jr.  (now  president  of 
Yale  College),  Leonard  Bacon,  Nathaniel  Goodwin  (author  of  "  Gen- 
ealogical  Notes "),R.R.  Hinman  (author  of  the  "Catalogue  of  Puritan 
Settlers  of  Connecticut  '*),  and  Henry  Barnard,  2d  (the  well-known  edu- 
cator). Of  these,  President  Porter  and  Dr.  Barnard  survive.  Charles 
Hosmer,  who  was  secretary  from  1839  to  1868,  and  his  brother,  James 
B.  Hosmer,  who  was  treasurer  from  1840  to  1874,  and  also  president 
from  1860  to  1863,  were  remarkable  for  life-long  devotion  to  the  inter- 
ests of  the  Society.  On  the  death  of  the  latter,  in  1878,  at  the  remark- 
able age  of  ninety-seven,  he  bequeathed  to  the  Society  the  historical 
portion  of  his  library  and  $2,000  in  money. 

On  the  21st  of  April,  1840,  the  Society  observed  the  bi-centenary  of 
the  organization  of  the  colonial  government  in  1639,1  by  public  exercises 
in  the  Centre  Church,  with  an  address  by  Noah  Webster,  followed  by  a 
dinner,  at  which  the  Society  entertained  delegates  from  similar  societies 
in  Rhode  Island,  New  York,  and  Georgia. 

In  1843  the  work  of  the  Society  was  greatly  advanced,  and  its  future 
assured,  by  its  entering  upon  possession  of  the  rooms  provided  for  its 
use  in  Wads  worth  Atheneum.  The  Atheneum  building  was  not  fully 
completed  before  July,  1844,  as  has  already  been  stated.  But  the  south- 
ern section,  being  the  portion  assigned  to  the  Historical  Society,  was 
in  readiness  sooner,  and  was  formally  occupied  Dec.  26,  1843,  when 
suitable  public  exercises  were  held,  and  Thomas  Day,  President  of  the 
Society,  delivered  an  historical  address,  specially  devoted  to  a  history 
of  the  Wadsworth  family  and  of  the  property  given  to  the  Atheneum. 

In  1844  an  arrangement  was  made  by  which  the  Society  received 
the  library  of  the  Rev.  Thomas  Robbins,  D.D.,2  and  secured  his  services 

1  This  observance  should  properly  have  been  in  1839,  when,  however,  the  Society  was  not 
in  active  existence. 

2  The  Rev.  Thomas  Robbins,  D.D.  (H.  U.,  1838),  was  bora  at  Norfolk,  Aug.  11,  1777  ; 
graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1796  ;  preached  at  East  Windsor,  1809-1827  ;  at  Stamford,  in 
1830  ;  Rochester,  Mass.,  1832-1812.  His  century  sermon,  preached  at  Danbury  in  1801, 
went  through  several  editions.  He  was  also  the  author  of  the  "  First  Planters  of  New  Eng- 
land "  and  a  "  View  of  All  Religions,"  and  editor  of  Tytler's  "  Elements  of  General  History." 
His  manuscript  private  diary  is  in  the  Connecticut  Historical  Society's  library. 


544  MEMORIAL   HISTORY  OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

as  librarian.  By  his  will,  made  in  conformity  with  this  agreement,  the 
library  became  the  property  of  the  Society  on  his  decease,  in  1856.  The 
books  thus  obtained  were  a  remarkable  collection,  both  intrinsically  and 
in  view  of  the  circumstances  under  which  they  were  gathered.  In  a 
commemorative  address  on  Dr.  Robbins,  delivered  before  the  Society 
Sept.  16,  1856,  by  the  Hon.  Henry  Barnard,  then  its  president,  he  spoke 
of  the  library  as  follows  :  — 

"  Dr.  Eobbins  has  always  been  a  home  missionary,  or  the  pastor  of  a  coun- 
try parish.  He  commenced  his  collection  while  in  college  by  preserving  his 
text-books;  and  in  1809  made  a  formal  beginning  of  a  permanent  library  by 
making  a  catalogue  of  his  entire  stock,  consisting  of  one  hundred  and  thirty 
volumes,  with  a  determination  that  he  would  add  at  least  one  hundred  volumes 
a  year  as  long  as  he  should  live.  .  .  .  From  this  small  .  .  .  beginning  in  1809, 
by  denying  himself  all  superfluities,  out  of  a  modest  income,  Dr.  Eobbins  per- 
severed, adding  year  after  year  at  least  one  hundred  volumes  to  his  collection, 
till,  instead  of  a  few  shelves  in  a  single  case,  we  now  see  this  spacious  hall  filled 
with  many  thousands  of  choice  and  valuable  books." 

As  might  be  supposed,  Dr.  Robbins's  books  were  largely  of  a  theo- 
logical nature ;  but  at  the  same  time  his  taste  for  wide  and  general  reading 
led  him  to  the  purchase  of  many  works  in  all  departments  of  litera- 
ture, while  his  love  of  historical  knowledge  made  him  a  diligent  col- 
lector of  works  in  that  field,  and  he  was  one  of  the  earliest  to  gather 
from  book-stalls  and  garrets  the  books  and  especially  the  pamphlets 
relating  to  early  American  history,  which  are  now  so  eagerly  sought. 
His  collection  in  this  field,  largely  supplemented  by  donations  from 
other  members  and  friends  of  the  Society,  places  its  library  in  the  front 
rank  for  value,  and  use  to  the  student  of  New  England  history.  The 
estimated  number  of  volumes  in  the  library  is  twenty  thousand. 

True  to  its  original  mission  as  expressed  in  the  preamble  of  its  act 
of  incorporation,  the  Society  has  also  made  large  collections  of  histori- 
cal relics,  portraits,  etc.,  and  its  cabinets  are  rich  in  objects  of  interest 
for  their  connection  with  American  history  and  prehistoric  archaeology. 
It  has  also  been  made  the  depository  for  many  valuable  manuscripts, 
conspicuous  among  which  are  the  collections  of  papers  left  by  Colonel 
Jeremiah  Wadsworth,  and  particularly  the  Wolcott  manuscripts,  in- 
cluding a  vast  mass  of  letters  and  papers  connected  with  the  adminis- 
tration of  Oliver  Wolcott,  Jr.,  as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  of  the 
United  States  under  Washington  and  Adams. 

The  rooms  of  the  Society  have  always  been  opened  freely  to  the 
public,  and  its  books  and  manuscripts  placed  at  the  disposal  of  students, 
under  necessary  restrictions  in  the  case  of  those  of  special  value.  It 
has  also  rendered  efficient  service  to  the  study  of  history  by  the  pub- 
lication of  two  volumes  (others  will  soon  follow)  of  Collections,  con- 
taining valuable  papers  heretofore  inaccessible  to  the  ordinary  student. 
Its  publication  fund  was  established  in  1855,  by  appropriating  to  that 
use  a  legacy  left  by  the  former  president,  Thomas  Day,  and  has  been 
increased  by  other  similar  gifts,  —  notably  by  a  legacy  of  one  thousand 
dollars  by  Daniel  Goodwin. 

The  Hartford  Library  Association,  formerly  the  Young  Men's  Insti- 
tute, which  has  already  been  referred  to  as  the  occupant,  by  Mr.  Wads- 
worth's   intention,  of    one    section   of    the   Atheneum    building,   was 


LIBRARIES.  545 

organized  in  1838,  but  was  the  successor  of  a  much  older  institution  of 
a  similar  character.  Following  the  lead  of  other  prominent  towns  in 
the  colonies,  among  which  Philadelphia,  with  its  Library  Company  or- 
ganized by  Benjamin  Franklin  in  1738,  has  the  place  of  honor,  a 
movement  was  set  on  foot  in  Hartford  in  1774  (or  late  in  1773)  for 
the  establishment  of  a  public  library.  In  the  "  Connecticut  Courant " 
of  Feb.  22,  1774,  appeared  a  notice,  warning  "  the  subscribers  for  a 
public  library  "  to  "  meet  at  the  Grammar  School-House  "  for  the  pur- 
pose of  making  an  organization.  The  following  week  the  "Courant" 
contained  an  address  to  the  public  in  behalf  of  the  movement,  calling 
attention  to  "  the  Utility  of  Public  Libraries  consisting  of  well-chosen 
Books  under  proper  Regulations,  and  their  smiling  Aspect  on  the  Inter- 
ests of  Society,  Virtue,  and  Religion." 

The  society  thus  organized  was  at  first  known,  as  appears  from 
occasional  notices  of  its  meetings  occurring  in  the  "  Courant,"  as  the 
Librarian  Company,  but  subsequently  as  the  Hartford  Library  Com- 
pany. Few  facts  as  to  its  history  are  now  obtainable.  From  the 
notices  alluded  to,  and  from  other  meagre  sources  of  information  at 
hand,  it  appears  that  the  library  soon  grew  to  fair  proportions,  and  con- 
tained the  standard  books  of  that  day  in  the  various  departments  of 
literature.  A  list  of  books  is  extant  among  the  papers  of  Colonel 
Jeremiah  Wadsworth,  which  were  imported  by  him  for  the  library. 
Some  of  these  earliest  purchases  are  still  to  be  found  on  the  shelves  of 
the  Hartford  Library,  bearing  book-plates  of  the  old  company;  and  as 
they  are  not  of  the  class  of  books  now  most  read,  they  are  likely  to 
endure  many  years  yet. 

In  1838,  as  a  result  of  the  movement,  at  that  time  so  wide-spread  and 
energetic,  for  "lyceums"  and  ••institutes"  for  literary  culture,  and 
through  the  efforts  of  Henry  Barnard  and  other  young  men  sharing 
his  spirit,  the  Hartford  Young  Men's  Institute  came  into  existence, 
and  in  1839  the  old  Library  Company  conveyed  to  it  its  library  of  three 
thousand  volumes,  and  thus  put  a  period  to  its  own  honorable  existence 
of  sixty-five  years.  The  shareholders  in  the  old  company  were  allowed 
life-rights  in  the  new  Institute,  and  two  of  these  life-rights  survive,  one 
being  held  by  Thomas  M.  Day,  of  Hartford,  and  the  other  by  W.  D.  Ely 
and  R.  S.  Ely,  non-resident.  At  first,  lectures  and  debating  classes  held 
a  prominent  place  among  the  objects  of  the  Institute,  and  throughout 
the  period  of  popularity  of  lyceum  lectures,  courses  of  lectures  were  an- 
nually provided,  although  they  were  for  many  years  a  source  of  expense 
to  the  institution  rather  than  of  income,  it  being  considered  a  legitimate 
way  of  expending  a  portion  of  its  funds ;  and  the  lectures  for  the  most 
part  were  of  a  high  order  of  merit,  and  were  instructive  rather  than 
merely  entertaining.  From  1839  to  1862  the  lectures  cost  #9,644.66, 
and  returned  only  |8,637.61,  showing  a  net  expense  of  81,007.05. 
After  1862,  under  different  management,  tickets  no  longer  being  given 
free  to  the  members  of  the  Institute,  and  entertainments,  literary  and 
musical,  of  the  highest  order  being  furnished,  they  became  the  source  of 
considerable  profit ;  so  that  in  the  eleven  years  from  1862  to  1873  the 
Institute  made  a  gain  from  this  source  of  $14,362.13 ;  but  so  sudden 
was  the  collapse  of  the  lecture  system,  that  since  1874  no  lectures  or 
other  entertainments  have  been  given  by  the  Institute.  In  view  of 
this  change,  and  of  its  gradually  losing  those  other  features  which  at 

VOL.   I.  —  35. 


546  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

first  characterized  it,  the  institution  in  1878  obtained  from  the  legis- 
lature a  change  of  its  corporate  name  to  that  of  Hartford  Library  As- 
sociation. The  library,  which  was  at  first  a  good  collection  for  the 
time,  grew  rapidly,  and  in  1844,  when  its  first  catalogue  was  pub- 
lished (which  contains  a  historical  sketch  of  the  Institute),  contained 
nine  thousand  volumes,  which  number  has  steadily  increased,  until  at 
present  there  are  about  thirty-six  thousand.  A  second  catalogue, 
very  carefully  and  thoroughly  made,  was  issued  in  1873.  The  library 
having  thus  offered  constantly  increasing  advantages  to  the  members, 
the  annual  price  of  subscription  has  been  raised  from  three  to  five  dol- 
lars ;  but  the  receipts  from  members'  fees  have  never  been  adequate  to 
the  support  of  the  library,  and  strenuous  efforts  have  been  made  to  raise 
a  permanent  fund.  For  this  purpose  some  generous  donations  of  money 
have  been  made,  among  them  a  gift  of  $10,000  from  Roland  Mather 
and  one  of  $5,000  from  Timothy  M.  Allyn.  Since  1860  the  library  has 
frequently  profited  by  a  grant  of  $500  in  a  year  from  the  trustees  of  the 
Watkinson  Library,  made  in  accordance  with  Mr.  Watkinson's  will,  and 
conditioned  on  the  appropriation  of  a  like  sum  from  the  treasury  of  the 
library,  and  the  expenditure  of  the  whole  for  books  under  the  direction 
of  the  trustees  of  the  Watkinson  Library.  Some  bequests  have  also 
been  made  to  the  library ;  among  them  that  of  $500  by  the  Hon. 
Thomas  S.  Williams;  that  of  $1,000  by  David  Watkinson!!  in  addition 
to  the  annual  grant  just  referred  to ;  that  of  $3,500  by  John  W.  Bliss ; 
that  of  $5,000  by  Charles  H.  Northam ;  and  that  of  $1,000  by  Robert 
Buell.  Still,  its  funds  are  inadequate  to  keep  it  above  the  annually 
recurring  danger  of  a  deficit  in  its  treasury.  Strong  hopes  are  enter- 
tained that  the  time  is  not  distant  when  by  some  arrangement  this 
valuable  library  may  be  adequately  supported,  and  thrown  open  to  the 
public  free  of  charge.  Its  librarians  have  been:  H.  M.  Bailev,  1846- 
1868 ;  L.  M.  Boltwood,  1868-1875 ;  Miss  C.  M.  Hewins  since  1875. 

Watkinson  Library  of  Reference.  —  Among  the  active  members  of 
the  Connecticut  Historical  Society  and  large  subscribers  to  the  Wads- 
worth  Atheneum,  none  was  more  distinguished  for  intelligent  interest  in 
these  and  all  other  measures  for  the  public  welfare  than  Mr.  David  Wat- 
kinson.1 And  at  his  death,  in  1857,  he  fitly  crowned  the  efforts  of  his 
life  by  making  a  bequest  of  $100,000  (to  which  was  added  a  residuary 
interest  in  his  estate)  for  the  establishment  of  a  free  reference  library 
"in  connection  with  the  Connecticut  Historical  Society,"  and  giving 
an  additional  sum  of  $5,000  to  the  same  Society  to  enlarge  their  build- 
ing for  the  purpose.  Mr.  Watkinson  had  conferred  with  some  of  his 
intended  trustees,  particularly  with  Dr.  Henry  Barnard  and  Mr.  Alfred 
Smith,  as  to  the  management  of  the  proposed  library ;  and  his  wishes 
and  intentions  were  thus  well  known  to  the  trustees,  and  guided  them 
largely  in  the  shape  which  they  gave  to  the  new  institution.  The 
board  of  trustees  named  in  the  will  consisted  of  eighteen  members,  — 
thirteen  designated  individually  by  name,  and  five  being  members  ex 

1  "David  Watkinson  came  to  the  United  States  with  his  family  in  1795.  He  commenced 
his  business  life  in  this  country  as  a  merchant's  clerk.  After  a  few  years  he  engaged  in  mer- 
cantile pursuits  on  his  own  account,  and  continued  in  that  line  of  business  upward  of  forty 
years,  until  in  1841  he  withdrew  from  active  pursuits.  He  was  a  pure-minded,  benevolent, 
Christian  man."  —Address  of  Alfred  Smith,  Esq.,  at  opening  of  the  JVatkinson  Library. 


LIBRARIES. 


547 


officiis,  namely:  the  governor  of  Connecticut  and  the  presidents  of 
the  Connecticut  Historical  Society,  Wadsworth  Atheneum,  Young 
Men's  Institute,  and  Trinity  College.  This  board  was  incorporated  by 
the  legislature  in  1858. 

It  was  Mr.  Watkinson's  intention  that  his  library  should  supplement 
and  reinforce  other  libraries  existing  in  the  city,  as  well  as  that  of  the 
Historical  Society, 
occupying  the  field 
of  general  litera- 
ture, and  leaving  to 
the  more  special 
libraries  the  depart- 
ments belonging  to 
them.  By  the  sim- 
ple and  judicious 
plan  adopted  in  the 
organization  of  the 
board  of  trustees,  a 
practical  combina- 
tion of  the  various 
library  interests  in 
the  city  was  ef- 
fected. In  the  li- 
lt r  a  r  i  e  s  t  h  u  s 
brought  into  prac- 
tical co-operation, 
—  namely,  the  Wat- 
kinson  Library,  and 
those  of  the  His- 
torical Society,  the 
Young  Men's  Insti- 
tute (now  Hartford 
Library  Associa- 
tion), the  State  of 

Connecticut  (in  the  State  Capitol),  Trinity  College,  and  the  Theological 
Institute  of  Connecticut,  —  there  are  at  present  about  one  hundred  and 
eighty  thousand  volumes ;  and  in  any  comparison  of  Hartford  with 
other  cities  it  may  well  be  credited  with  having  a  well-selected  public 
library  of  that  extent.  By  virtue  of  this  arrangement,  and  in  view  of 
the  annual  grant  made  (as  already  stated)  to  the  Hartford  Library 
Association  out  of  the  Watkinson  fund,  which  enables  the  Watkinson 
Library  to  dispense  witli  purchasing  popular  and  ephemeral  publications, 
the  latter  library  has  for  its  own  field  that  of  a  general  reference  library 
of  tolerably  well-defined  limits,  within  which  it  has  already  become  meas- 
urably complete  ;  more  so,  indeed,  than  many  libraries  of  much  greater 
extent  but  of  a  wider  range  of  selection.  The  forty  thousand  volumes 
now  on  its  shelves,  having  been  carefully  selected,  and  bought  with  a 
view  to  their  special  fitness  for  a  library  of  this  character,  are  worth 
more  to  the  student  than  double  the  number  not  thus  chosen. 

Soon  after  Mr.  Watkinson's  death  an  arrangement  was  effected 
between  his  trustees  and  the  Connecticut  Historical  Society,  for  the 
carrying  out  of  his  intention  of  closely  connecting  the  two  libraries. 


DAVID    WATKINSON. 


548  MEMOKIAL  HISTORY  OF   HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

The  sum  of  $5,000,  left  to  the  Historical  Society  by  Mr.  Watkinson  for 
the  purpose,  was  appropriated  to  the  erection  of  a  building  on  that  por- 
tion of  the  Atheneum  land  lying  in  the  rear  of  the  Society's  building, 
and  appropriated  to  its  future  extension.  As  the  Society  had  no  right 
to  alienate  this  property  from  its  own  uses,  it  was  understood  that  the 
new  building,  while  serving  to  accommodate  the  Watkinson  Library  tem- 
porarily, will  ultimately  revert  to  the  uses  of  the  Historical  Society. 
In  order  that  the  proposed  connection  of  the  two  libraries  might  be 
maintained,  the  mansion  and  grounds  formerly  occupied  by  Daniel 
Wadsworth,  and  lying  between  the  Atheneum  and  Prospect  Street, 
were  purchased  by  the  Watkinson  Library  trustees,  giving  ample  room 
for  its  future  building,  with  an  extensive  front  on  Prospect  Street,  and 
immediate  connection  with  the  Historical  Society. 

The  Watkinson  Library  was  first  opened  to  the  public  in  September, 
1866.  On  the  evening  of  August  28th  it  was  formally  presented  to  the 
city,  appropriate  exercises  being  held  at  the  Allyn  House.  The  regu- 
lations governing  its  use,  adopted  by  the  trustees,  were  few  and  simple, 
intended  to  carry  out  its  founder's  intention  that  the  library  should 
"  be  accessible,  at  all  reasonable  hours  and  times,  to  all  citizens  and 
other  residents  and  visitors  in  the  State  of  Connecticut,  under  such 
control,  rules,  and  regulations  as  .  .  .  wilt  best  secure  the  preservation 
of  the  books  .  .  .  and  comport  with  the  general  convenience." 

The  first  president  of  the  trustees  of  the  Watkinson  Library  was 
Alfred  Smith.  He  was  chosen  in  1858,  and  annually  re-elected  until 
his  death,  in  1868,  when  he  had  nearly  completed  the  tenth  year  of 
his  service  in  that  capacity.1  Mr.  George  Brinley  was  appointed 
to  succeed  him,  and  remained  in  the  office  until  his  death,  in  1875, 
when  the  present  incumbent,  William  R.  Cone,  Esq.,  was  elected.  Mr. 
Brinley,  who  is  widely  known  for  his  remarkable  private  collection  of 
books,  especially  on  American  history,  was  a  native  of  Hartford.  His 
life  was  largely  devoted  to  his  favorite  occupation  of  collecting  books ; 
but  he  took  a  decided  and  public-spirited  interest  in  the  Watkinson 
Library,  and  served  it  most  efficiently  as  president.  In  providing  for 
the  disposition  of  his  private  library  at  his  death,  he  made  generous 
gifts  to  several  public  institutions,  including  one  of  15,000  worth  of  his 
books  to  the  Watkinson  Library.  This  gift  goes  far  to  augment  the 
already  considerable  collection  on  American  history  in  the  Watkinson 
Library  and  that  of  the  Historical  Society,  and  a  still  further  large 
accession  to  it  will  be  derived  from  the  bequest  of  Mr.  Sydney  Stanley, 
who  died  in  1878,  leaving  all  his  estate  to  the  library,  subject  to  the 
life  interest  of  a  relative,  who  soon  after  deceased.  The  sum  realized 
from  this  bequest  was  about  $7,000;  and  by  vote  of  the  trustees  this 
fund  is  to  be  kept  separate,  and  its  interest  devoted  to  the  purchase  of 
books  relating  to  Connecticut,  the  class  of  literature  in  which  Mr. 
Stanley  himself  took  the  most  interest.  He  also  left  his  library  of 
about  four  hundred  volumes  of  well-chosen  and  carefully  kept  books  to 
the  Watkinson  Library.2 

1  Mr.  Alfred  Smith  deserves  more  than  passing  mention  in  a  notice  of  these  institutions. 
He  was  the  intimate  friend  and  special  adviser  both  of  Daniel  Wadsworth  and  of  David  Wat- 
kinson; and  to  his  good  judgment  and  untiring  diligence  in  serving  the  interests  of  all  these 
co-related  institutions,  much  of  their  success  is  due. 

2  Mr.  Stanley  was  a  man  of  quiet  and  unpretentious  life,  its  simplicity  such  as  to  give 
him  a  reputation  for  eccentricity;  while  to  the  few  who  knew  him  he  was  remarkable  for  the 


LIBRARIES.  549 

The  library  has  received  gifts  of  books  from  time  to  time  from 
others,  chief  among  which  are  the  numerous  and  valuable  donations  of 
Mr.  George  F.  Bacon. 

J.  Hammond  Trumbull,  LL.D.,  has  been  the  librarian  of  the  Wat- 
kinson  Library  from  the  beginning,  and  has  been  charged  with  the 
selection  and  purchase  of  books,  subject  to  the  approval  of  a  library 
committee  annually  appointed  by  the  trustees. 

State  Library.  —  The  State  Library  of  Connecticut,  founded  on  the 
gradual  accumulations  of  public  documents,  statutes,  and  law  reports 
of  other  States,  has  in  the  last  twenty-live  years,  under  the  manage- 
ment of  Charles  J.  Hoadly,  State  Librarian,  and  with  substantial  appro- 
priations voted  by  the  legislature  as  required,  become  a  most  valuable 
and  useful  collection,  numbering  at  present  about  sixteen  thousand 
volumes,  it  is  constantly  open  for  consultation  to  all  proper  appli- 
cants. It  has  thus  far  been  devoted  mostly  to  law  reports  (of  which 
it  contains  one  of  the  best  collections  in  the  country)  and  other  works 
suitable  for  a  legislative  library  ;  but  in  its  new  and  spacious  quar- 
ters in  the  new  capitol  building  its  range  is  to  be  somewhat  extended, 
and  it  is  proposed  to  embrace  in  it  whatever  works  are  of  interest 
from  their  connection,  through  author  or  subject,  with  Connecticut  and 
its  literary  as  well  as  civil  history.  The  walls  of  the  present  library 
hall  bear  a  nearly  complete  series  of  portraits  of  the  Governors  of  the 
Colony  and  State  of  Connecticut. 

Other  Libraries  in  Hartford.  —  Besides  the  libraries  of  Trinity  Col- 
lege and  of  the  Theological  Institute  of  Connecticut,  of  which  a  fuller 
account  appears  in  the  chapters  devoted  to  those  institutions,  Hartford 
contains  several  excellent  and  quite  extensive  libraries,  either  public  or 
semi-public,  to  which  the  space  allotted  to  this  chapter  permits  only 
the  briefest  allusion,  but  a  mere  mention  of  which  shows  that  the  com 
nmnitv  possesses  rare  advantages  in  this  respect. 

At  the  Hartford  Hospital  is  a  well-chosen,  though  as  yet  incipient, 
medical  library  of  over  three  thousand  volumes,  which  is  supplemented 
by  the  library  at  the  Connecticut  Retreat  for  the  Insane,  of  about  seven 
thousand.  The  American  Asylum  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb  has  about 
two  thousand  five  hundred  volumes  of  books  largely  relating  to  its 
specialty,  and  keeps  well  up  with  new  publications  in  that  direction. 

The  library  of  the  Hartford  Public  High  School  contains  about  one 
thousand  five  hundred  volumes  of  an  unusually  high  order  of  merit,  and 
is  regularly  increased  by  annual  appropriations  for  the  purpose.  Other 
school  libraries  contain  over  three  thousand  volumes  more.  The 
library  of  the  Natural  History  Society  (not  now  in  active  existence)  is 
accessible  at  the  Hospital,  and  contains  some  hundreds  of  volumes 
of  valuable  scientific  works.  The  Hartford  Bar  Library  Association 
has  about  eight  hundred  volumes  of  the  best  law  books.     The  Hartford 

kindliness  and  excellence  of  his  character,  coupled  with  a  genuine  love  of  books  and  a 
retentive  memory,  which  gave  to  his  conversation  a  quaint  flavor  of  bookishness.  Earl}-  in  life 
he  came  to  Hartford  from  the  neighboring  town  where  he  was  born,  and  was  for  many  years 
clerk  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  State.  In  later  life  he  spent  his  time  in  reading,  in 
hunting  for  books  and  pamphlets  at  the  junk-shops  and  book-stalls,  and  in  visiting  the  pub- 
lic libraries,  where  he  felt  more  at  home  than  anywhere  else.  He  was  not  married.  He  died 
Oct.  18,  1878,  aged  seventy-three. 


550  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

Catholic  Institute,  the  Sister  Dora  Society,  and  other  associations  also 
have  libraries.  There  are  also  several  large  parish  libraries  in  the  city 
supported  for  the  benefit  of  the  members  of  the  respective  parishes  by 
annual  appropriations,  probably  the  oldest  and  largest  of  which  is  that 
of  the  First,  or  Centre  (Congregational),  Church,  which  has  an  endow- 
ment yielding  about  ioUO  annually  for  the  purchase  of  books. 


nNr>,£x£^tULt~ 


DANIEL    WADSWORTH, 
FOUNDER  OF   WADSWORTH   ATHEX.EUM. 

(From  a  copy  of  Ingham's  portrait.) 


TRAVEL   AND   TRANSPORTATION.  551 

SECTION    X. 

TRAVEL  AND   TRANSPORTATION. 

BY    W.    A.    AYRES. 

Roads  and  Turnpikes.  —  Stages.  —  Steamboats.  —  Railroads. 

When  the  Hooker  Colony  came  across  the  country  to  Hartford,  in 
1636,  they  travelled  through  what  was  literally  a  trackless  forest. 
They  built  up  their  settlement,  and  within  it  they  laid  out  roads  at 
once;  but  they  were  still  shut  in  by  forests,  remote  from  other  settle- 
ments, and  had  no  special  motive  or  reasonable  cause  to  build  ways 
outside  of  their  own  narrow  limits.  For  many  years  the  phrase  was, 
"  the  path  to  New  Haven,"  or  wherever  the  place  was.  In  1638  a  road 
"  for  cart  and  horse,"  with  bridges  over  the  swamps,  was  ordered 
made  to  Windsor.  Road-making  at  that  time  was  a  serious  business. 
The  country  in  that  region  had  been  partly  cleared  by  the  Indians,  and 
the  most  desirable  routes  were  known;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
work  was  to  be  done  by  a  few  men  who  had  more  than  enough  other 
claims  on  their  time.  The  lay-out  of  the  settlement  was  so  good  that 
it  remained  substantially  unchanged  for  a  very  long  series  of  years  ;  but 
at  the  end  of  that  time  the  roads  were  mere  country  roads,  deep  with 
mud  in  the  spring  or  after  heavy  rains,  sometimes  nearly  or  quite  im- 
passable, so  that  for  foot-passengers  they  were,  like  such  roads  now, 
worse  than  none  at  all.  This,  however,  was  for  only  a  small  part  of 
the  year.  In  1760  many  residents  of  Hartford,  including  all  the  clergy- 
men, petitioned  the  General  Assembly  for  a  lottery  to  raise  £6,000  to 
repair  Main  Street,  because  it  was  probably  the  worst  road  in  the 
colony.  The  lottery  for  some  reason  was  not  granted,  though  this 
method  of  raising  money  was  long  after  held  to  be  perfectly  legiti- 
mate. As  for  Hartford  itself,  the  roads,  such  as  they  were,  were  laid 
out  with  foresight,  and  in  lines  that  met  public  requirement  much 
longer  than  could  possibly  have  been  anticipated  when  the  work  was 
done.  Only  one  new  highway  was  ordered  for  one  hundred  and  forty- 
four  years,  from  1640  to  1784. 

There  is  an  interesting  paragraph  as  to  this  early  road-building  in 
the  address  made  by  Mr.  John  C.  Parsons,  of  Hartford,  at  the  celebra- 
tion of  the  two  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  Centre  Church. 
The  address  was  on  the  topography  of  Hartford,  and  the  passage  is 
as  follows :  — 

"  One  of  the  first  embarrassments  of  the  settlers  —  an  embarrassment  that  has 
long  remained  to  haunt  their  successors — was  the  badness  of  the  roads.  As  a  gen- 
eral rule  in  new  settlements,  the  better  the  soil,  the  poorer  the  roads.  The  tenacious 
clay  that  underlies  the  loam  of  Hartford  is  the  most  intractable  of  all  material 
for  road-building.  Those  who  have  seen,  within  the  last  thirty  years,  wheels 
sunk  to  the  hub  in  the  native  clay  of  Pearl  Street,  within  two  hundred  yards  of 
this  spot,  can  faintly  imagine  what  must  have  been  the  condition  of  all  the  high- 
ways of  the  town,   not  only  in  1640,  but  for  long  years  afterward  ;   and  it  is 


552  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

easy  to  sympathize  with  the  ardor  which,  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago,  fired 
the  people  of  this  church  in  the  fierce  and  long  dispute  about  a  new  location  for 
their  meeting-house,  when  we  remember  that  every  additional  yard  of  distance 
between  home  and  church  meant  additional  weary  struggle  with  mud  aud  mire. 
About  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  some  attempt  was  made  to  improve 
the  condition  of  Main  Street,  but  little  seems  to  have  been  done  then,  or  for  fifty 
years  afterward,  except  to  fill  the  worst  holes  and  quagmires  with  stone  from 
Iiocky  Hill.  There  is  a  credible  tradition  that  not  far  from  the  beginning  of  this 
century  the  late  Mrs.  Daniel  Wadsworth,  on  a  Thanksgiving  Day,  was  unable  to 
cross  Main  Street,  from  her  home  near  the  City  Hotel,  to  Colonel  Wadsworth's 
house  on  the  Athenaeum  lot,  except  on  horseback.  How  the  first  settlers,  in  bad 
weather,  ever  travelled  the  road  to  Wethersfield,  which  has  been  all  but  impas- 
sable for  wheels  during  the  memory  of  many  here  present,  is  a  puzzle  and  a 
wonder  to  us." 

A  foot-note  to  this  passage,  as  afterward  printed,  mentions  a  peti- 
tion of  prisoners  at  the  jail  on  Trumbull  Street,  which,  dated  in  1774, 
asked  that  the  jail  limits  might  be  extended  as  far  east  as  the  court- 
house, because  the  charitable,  who  would  otherwise  relieve  their  needs, 
were  kept  away  "  by  reason  that  the  gaol  is  in  so  retired  and  back  part 
of  the  town,  so  seldom  frequented  by  any  inhabitants  of  the  town,  all 
the  roads  which  lead  to  it  being  for  a  considerable  part  of  the  year 
miry  and  uncomfortable  to  walk  in."  Shortly  following  the  incorpo- 
ration of  the  city,  in  1784,  came  the  laying  out  of  streets,  and  in  1790 
the  stoning  of  Main  Street  began.  About  the  same  time  began  the  era 
of  turnpikes.  Before  this  there  had  been  a  gradual  making  of  roads 
through  the  country.  They  spread  out  from  the  few  earlier  centres,  and 
extended  by  degrees  until  they  began  to  connect  and  make  a  network 
over  the  whole  region.  This  development  was  not  very  rapid  ;  it  seems 
to  have  gone,  however,  quite  as  fast  as  the  needs  of  the  colony  required. 
In  1717  the  General  Assembly  granted  to  Captain  Joseph  Munson,  of 
New  Haven,  the  exclusive  right  of  transporting  persons  and  goods 
between  New  Haven  and  Hartford  for  seven  years.  This  was  in  con- 
sideration of  his  having  first  been  at  "  the  cost  and  charge  to  set  up  a 
waggon  to  pass  and  transport  passengers  and  goods  "  between  the  two 
places.  The  privilege  was  conditioned,  "  that  said  John  Munson  .  .  . 
shall  annually  during  the  term  aforesaid,  at  least  on  the  first  Monday 
of  every  month,  excepting  December,  January,  February,  and  March, 
set  forth  with  the  said  waggon  from  New  Haven,  and  with  all  conven- 
ient dispatch  drive  up  to  Hartford,  and  thence  in  the  same  week  return 
to  New  Haven, — bad  weather  and  extraordinary  casualties  excepted, — 
on  penalty  of  ten  shillings  for  each  neglect."  There  was  a  penalty  of 
forty  shillings  for  infringing  on  Mr.  Munson's  privilege,  and  it  was  to 
be  paid  to  him  on  successful  proof  on  his  part  that  the  exclusive  right 
given  him  had  been  violated.  This  stage  is  believed  to  have  run  at 
intervals  of  two  weeks,  thereby  improving  on  the  requirements  of  the 
grant.  In  1772  a  stage  began  to  run  between  Boston  and  New  York, 
passing  through  Hartford,  occupying  four  days  in  the  journey.  A  trip 
in  each  direction  was  made  every  second  week.  In  1802  there  was  a 
daily  stage  line  over  the  route.  The  coach  left  Boston  at  10  a.m.,  and 
reached  Hartford  at  eight  o'clock  on  the  evening  of  the  following  day, 
and  New  York  at  noon  of  the  third  day  from  its  departure  from  Bos- 
ton. The  stopping-places  for  the  night  were  Worcester,  Hartford,  and 
Stamford,  and  passengers  had  to  start  at  3  a.m.  from  each  of  these 


TRAVEL   AND   TRANSPORTATION.  553 

places.  By  this  time,  however,  turnpikes  had  been  considerably  ex- 
tended. Their  growth  was  an  important  element  in  the  development  of 
the  whole  region  through  which  they  passed,  and  made  a  closer  connec- 
tion between  the  larger  centres,  like  Hartford  and  the  county  towns. 

The  first  turnpike  chartered  by  Connecticut  was  the  Mohegan, 
between  Norwich  and  New  London,  in  1792 ;  the  Hartford,  New  Lon- 
don, Windham,  and  Tolland  County  came  next,  in  1795 ;  and  from  this 
time  almost  every  year,  up  to  1839,  added  one  or  more  to  the  number. 
The  desire  for  rapid  and  easy  communication  was  stimulated  with  every 
addition,  and  all  this  paved  the  way  for  the  development  of  steamboat 
and  railroad  traffic.  A  list  of  the  turnpikes  chartered  from  1792  to 
1839,  arranged  according  to  the  date  of  the  charters,  will  show  some- 
thing of  the  forces  that  were  at  work :  — 

1792.   Mohegan. 

1 795.  Hartford,  New  London,  Windham,  and  Tolland  Counties ;  New  London 
and  Windham  County  ;  Norwalk  and  Danhury  ;  Oxford. 

1797.  Fairfield,  Weston,  and  Redding;  New  Milford  and  Litchfield;  Sauga- 
tuck  ;  Straits  ;  Stratfield  and  Weston. 

1798.  Green  Woods;  Hartford  and  New  Haven;  Litchfield  and  Harwinton  ; 
Ousatonic ;    Talcott  Mountain. 

1  799.    Canaan  and  Litchfield  ;  Windham. 

1800.  Cheshire;  Farmington  River;  Granby ;  Hartford  and  New  London; 
Windham   and   Mansfield. 

1801.  Bridgeport  and  Newtown;  Danhury  and  Eidgefield ;  Hartford  and  Tol- 
land ;  Norwich  and  Woodstock  ;   Torrington  :  Waterbury  River. 

1802.  Greenwich  and  Ridgefield;  Hebron  and  Middle  Haddam  ;  Middlesex; 
New  Haven  and  Milford  ;  New  Preston  ;  Pomfret  and  Killingly  ;  Rimmons 
Falls. 

1803.  Goshen  and  Sharon;  Middle  Road;  Stafford  Pool;  Thompson;  Wash- 
ington. 

1805.  Colchester  and  Norwich. 

1806.  Connecticut;  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island  ;  Warren. 

1807.  New  London  and  Lyme. 

1808.  Colchester  and  Chatham ;  Columbia;   Middletown  and  Berlin. 

1809.  Chatham  and  Marlborough;  East  Haddam  and  Colchester;  Middletown 
and  Meriden  ;  Sharon  and  Cornwall. 

1811.  Durham  and  East  Guilford. 

1812.  Farmington  and  Harwinton;  Southington  and  Waterbury. 

1813.  Killingworth  and  Haddam  ;   Middletown  and  Durham. 

1814.  Litchfield  and  Cornwall ;   Haddam  and  Durham. 

1815.  Still  River. 

1816.  Cheshire  and  North  Killingworth. 

1817.  Dragon. 

1818.  Groton  and  Stonington ;  New  Milford  and  Sherman ;  Pettipauge  and 
Guilford  ;  Windham  and  Hamden. 

1820.    Pleasant  Valley. 

1822.  Essex. 

1823.  New  Milford  and  Woodbury;  West  Middle;  Woodbridge  and  Water- 
bury. 

1824.  Fair  Haven;  Guilford  and  Durham;  Pine's  Bridge;  Salem  and  Ham- 
burgh. 

1825.  Humphreysville  and  Salem  ;  Providence  ;  Sandy  Brook. 

1826.  Centre ;  Monroe  and  Zoar  Bridge ;  Windham  and  Brooklyn ;  Wolcott- 
ville ;  Zoar  Bridge ;  Northfield. 


554  MEMORIAL   HISTORY  OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

1827.  New  Milford  and  Eoxbury  ;  Norwich  and  Salem. 

1828.  Huntington ;  Tolland  and  Mansfield  ;  Weston. 

1829.  Newtown  and  Norwalk  ;  Shetucket ;  Sugar  Hollow. 

1830.  Moosup  ;  Wells  Hollow. 

1831.  Branch. 

1832.  Black  Bock  and  Weston  ;  Simpaug. 

1833.  Monroe  and  Newtown. 

1834.  Cheshire  and  North  Killing-worth  (second)  ;  Fairfield  County ;  Had- 
lyme ;  Hartford  and  Worcester ;  Kent  and  Warren ;  River ;  Sherman  and 
Redding. 

1835.  Hop  River ;  Madison  and  North  Killingworth. 

1836.  Litchfield  and  Plymouth. 
1839.    Millington. 

Almost  as  soon  as  the  last  of  these  charters  was  granted,  the  revo- 
cation of  charters  began.  The  railroads  took  away  the  need  for  turn- 
pikes, and  within  twenty  years  very  few  were  left.  The  turnpikes 
became  open  highways,  and  at  present  only  six  remain.  They  were 
strictly  regulated  by  law,  and  were  in  charge  of  commissioners  who 
had  very  considerable  powers.  The  gates  were  usually  at  intervals  of 
about  ten  miles,  and  the  tolls  were  about  twenty-five  cents  for  a  stage- 
coach or  carriage,  six  and  a  quarter  cents  for  a  one-horse  wagon,  and 
so  on  down  to  one  cent  for  single  animals  driven  along  the  road.  Per- 
sons attending  funerals,  or  going  to  church  or  "  training,"  were  not 
required  to  pay,  nor  those  living  within  some  fixed  distance  of  the  gate, 
and  passing  it  on  their  ordinary  business.  Over  these  turnpikes  ran 
numerous  stage  lines.  As  late  as  1842  there  were  twenty-two  running 
from  Hartford.  The  longest  routes  at  that  time  were  to  Haverhill, 
New  Hampshire,  one  hundred  and  ninety-six  miles,  and  to  Brattle- 
borough,  Vermont,  eighty-eight  miles.  By  the  former,  passengers  left  at 
5  p.m.,  travelled  all  night,  and  reached  Haverhill  in  the  afternoon  of  the 
following  day.  By  the  second,  they  left  at  4  a.m.  and  arrived  at  Brattle- 
borough  at  7  p.m.  There  was  at  this  time  a  daily  mail  stage  for  New 
Haven,  though  the  New  Haven  and  Hartford  Railroad  was  in  opera- 
tion. Belonging  about  this  time  is  a  handbill,  printed  on  a  large  sheet 
of  yellow  paper,  of  which  a  fac-simile  is  given  on  the  next  page,  repre- 
senting part  of  the  business  of  a  leading  Hartford  citizen. 

Returning  for  a  moment  to  the  year  1842,  for  which  the  figures  as 
to  stage-routes  were  given,  it  may  be  noted  that  steamboats  then  made 
daily  trips  to  New  York ;  that  there  were  also  two  steamboat  lines  to 
Springfield ;  that  there  were  two  trains  each  way  daily  between  Hart- 
ford and  New  Haven,  but  none  between  Hartford  and  Springfield  ;  that 
freight-boats  were  towed  daily  to  Northampton  and  South  Hadley,  also 
regular  or  irregular  freight-boats  to  Greenfield,  Old  Hadley,  and  Brat- 
tleborough,  some  going  daily,  others  as  often  affreighted.  There  were 
also  regular  packet  lines  for  Boston,  Philadelphia,  New  York,  Baltimore, 
Providence,  and  other  ports. 

The  freighting  business  on  the  river  had  long  before  this  grown 
to  considerable  dimensions.  In  the  first  place  the  work  was  of  course 
clone  entirely  by  sailing-vessels.  Considerable  labor  and  money  wrere 
spent  in  developing  the  up-river  navigation,  and  canals  were  built  at 
Windsor  Locks,  South  Hadley,  and  indeed  at  all  the  falls  that  could 
not  be  otherwise  passed,  so  as  to  carry  navigation  in  flat-bottomed 


TRAVEL   AND   TRANSPORTATION.  555 


FARE  REDUCED. 

FOR 

WORCESTER 

BOSTON, 

till    t%Al   llll* 


The  TREMONT  LINE  OF  COACHES  will  leare  daily  <he  General  Stage  Office,  State-street, 
at  4  o'clock  A.  H,  and  arrive  in  Worcester  d  3  P.  ML  and  in  Boston  by  the  BOSTON  and  WOR- 
CESTER RAIL  WAT  CARS,  at  6  P.  M 

r  ARE 

T®  "Worcester  $£ 

From  If  ORCESTER  to  BOSTON  $1.50 

This  Line  rnns  on  die  shortest,  cheapest,  and  most  direct  rout. 
frg-  Citizens  Line  will  leave  at  T  1-sS  A.  BL 

(Ic  S.  Hall  Coach  leaves,  every  evening  at  6  P  1ft 

nnd  arrives  i'n  Boston  at  0  A-  M.  J.  COOO  WMT  Jr.  A  CO. 


Hartford,  October  91st,  lsi». 


FAC-SIMILE    OF    AX    OLD    STAGE-COACH    HANDBILL. 
The  original  is  now  in  the  possession  of  Judge  Sherman  W.  Adams. 

boats  as  far  as  Wells  River,  Vermont.  The  canal  at  Windsor  Locks 
was  the  last  built,  and  was  opened  in  1826.  After  this,  larger  boats 
were  used,  and  sixty-ton  craft  made  the  entire  length  of  the  river  to 
Wells  River ;  while  before  these  improvements  the  boats  used  were 
only  of  six  or  eight  tons  capacity,  and  were  poled  over  the  Enfield 
Rapids.  After  the  extension  of  the  railway  system  these  canals,  except 
that  at  Windsor  Locks,  were  abandoned. 

As  early  as  1824  a  steamer  was  run  between  Hartford  and  New  York, 


556 


MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 


and  after  that  date  there  were  always  one  or  more  making  regular  trips. 
The  first  steamer  was  the  "  Oliver  Ellsworth.1'  She  was  one  hundred 
and  twelve  feet  long,  two  hundred  and  twenty-eight  tons  burden,  and 
had  berths  for  sixty  passengers.  The  following  year  the  "  Macdonough," 
a  somewhat  larger  boat,  was  put  on  to  run  alternate  days.     The  first 


FOB 


New-York 

Fare  $!*  and  Found* 


CAPX.  LUTHER  SMITH 

Will  leave  Hartford 


FOR 

This  Day 


at  1J  O'clock,  P.  JH. 


.KEUMEGEL&R.JMXS  OF  SML1.XG  ARK 
rOR  ITOW-XOBK  TOR  HARTFORS 

TUESDAYS  <&  WEDNESDAYS  do 

FRIDAYS  nt  1\  P.  HI       SATURDAYS,  at  4  P.  M. 

.  LighiT&trg'nu  rich  as  Bom  and  Bole*  roll  "ba  UIulhI  the  Tjoicai  Jtala,  if  ilelivcnd  oy  tea 
Clock  A.  M.  on  the  day  of  lailine. 


Applj  on  »o*r4'or  at  inaQffii 

Hartford.  & 


H.'Wlu'tine.Stato  Strut 

1830. 


FAC-SIMILE    OF    A    "VICTORY"    HANDBILL. 
The  original  is  now  in  the  possession  of  William  Boardman  &  Sons. 

steamer  with  state-rooms  was  the  "  Charter  Oak,"  which  went  on  the 
line  in  1838.  Various  wars  of  rates  occurred.  In  1830  the  "  Victory  " 
was  running  "fare  $1  and  found."  In  1833  the  Hartford  Company 
was  running  three  boats,  the  "  Oliver  Ellsworth,"  "  Macdonough,"  and 
"  Chief  Justice  Marshall,"  commanded  respectively  by  H.  Waterman, 


TRAVEL  AND   TRANSPORTATION. 


557 


Jabez  Howes,  Jr.,  and  M.  S.  Harrison.  On  the  10th  of  June  an  adver- 
tisement appeared  in  the  "Courant,"  announcing  that  the  steamer 
"Water  Witch,"  Captain  Vanderbilt,  would  go  on  as  a  dav  boat,  leaving 
Hartford  on  Monday,  Wednesday,  and  Friday,  at  6  a.m.,  and  returning 


NEW   YORK 

AND 

HARTFORD 

DAILY  LING  STEAM  BOATS. 


CAPTAIN  HENRY  "WATERMAN.  Jr. 

CHIEF   JUSTICE   MARSHALS., 


CAPTAIN  JAUEZ  HOWES,  Jr. 
CAPTAIN  M.  8.  HARBISON. 


ZMjarmsL  XEwueQiMt. 


OLIVER  ELL  S  WORTH. 
TI'KSD.llS    AlFIllDAVS. 


C.  X  1 
WEDNESDAYS  A  SATURDAYS. 

MACDONOCGH, 
MONDAYS  A  THURSDAYS. 

Hours  of  DcjHirturc  from  .Vrir-  Vork  4  < 

Hartford,  Jlpril,  1833. 


LEAVES  U.iRTFORD 

OLIVER  ELLSWORTH. 

HONDAYS  &  THURSDAY!) 

C.  J.  MARSHALL. 

TUESDAYS  A  I'UlD.iVS. 

KACDONOUGH 

WEDNESDAYS  «fc  SATURDAYS. 

lock  P.  to.  from  Hartford  13  o'clock  M. 

II.  BKADABD,  .Igent. 


FAC-SIMILE    OF    AN    "  ELLSWORTH "    HANDBILL. 
The  original  is  now  in  possession  of  William  Boardman  &  Sons. 

on  the  alternate  days.  This  Captain  Vanderbilt  was  Jacob  Vanderbilt, 
brother  of  Cornelius.  Cornelius  Vanderbilt  was  believed  to  own  the 
controlling  interest  in  the  line.  Within  a  few  weeks  the  competition  be- 
came bitter.  The  advertised  rates  fell  from  two  dollars  and  fifty  cents 
to  one  dollar,  each  line  advertising  this  rate  on  July  29,  1833.  *A  new 
boat,  the  "  New  England,"  was  advertised  by  the  Hartford  Company  to 
go  on  September  2,  and  on  October  3  the  Vanderbilt  boat  began  to  run 
on  a  night  instead  of  a  day  route.  On  October  14th  rates  by  the  "New 
England  "  were  advanced  to  two  dollars,  the  other  boats  still  advertis- 
ing one  dollar,  and  October  21st  they  all  went  up  to  two  dollars.  The 
advertised  rates  were,  however,  no  guide  to  the  fares  actually  charged 


558  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

during  the  height  of  the  competition.  The  then  clerk  of  one  of  the 
boats  tells  how  one  day  a  man  came  to  him  as  he  was  at  work  on  the 
docks,  and  asked  the  price  of  a  passage  to  New  York.  He  was  told, 
twenty-five  cents.  "  And  found  ? "  asked  the  passenger.  He  was  as- 
sured that  he  would  have  his  meals  thrown  in  for  the  twenty-five  cents. 
He  went  and  inquired  at  the  dock  of  the  rival  line,  and  then  came  back 
and  announced  that  he  had  decided  to  take  the  twenty-five-cent  offer, 
and  wanted  a  ticket.  He  was  sent  on  board,  and  told  that  he  should 
have  the  ticket  later.  When  the  boat  was  off,  and  the  passengers  were 
called  up  to  "  settle,"  this  fellow  lingered  till  the  crowd  was  gone. 
Then  he  came  up  and  recalled  the  agreement,  but  added  that  he  was 
not  hungry,  and  would  like  a  deduction  made  for  meals.  The  clerk 
did  not  see  that  he  could  give  back  any  part  of  that  twenty-five  cents ; 
but  it  proved  that  this  was  doubtful  economy,  for  he  himself  saw  the 
man  go  down  and  eat  three  separate  suppers,  every  one  solid  and  ample 
for  an  ordinary  appetite.  The  Vanderbilt  boats  were  run  four  seasons, 
and  were  then  withdrawn. 

The  boats  which  ran  up-stream  were  almost  all  stern-wheelers. 
There  were  several  which  ran  as  passenger-boats  from  1826  to  1842. 
On  one,  the  "Phoenix,"  Charles  Dickens  came  from  Springfield  to 
Hartford  in  1842.  Others  were  used  to  tow  loaded  barges,  the  last 
being  the  "  C.  H.  Dexter,"  which  was  used  as  late  as  1884.  Beginning 
in  1843,  a  considerable  number  of  propellers  were  used,  running  between 
Hartford  and  New  York,  Philadelphia  and  Albany.  For  a  time  they 
did  an  excellent  business  ;  but  the  development  of  the  railroad  system 
produced  such  competition  that  the  cheaper  plan  of  using  barges,  sev- 
eral of  which  could  be  handled  by  one  tug,  came  into  general  use,  and 
the  day  of  the  propellers  is  over.  Until  within  a  very  few  years  they 
were  frequently  seen  at  the  docks.  Although  the  introduction  of 
vessels  driven  by  steam-power  soon  reduced  the  use  of  sailing-vessels, 
much  freight  wras  brought  in  these  latter  until  within  some  twenty-five 
years ;  and  a  considerable  number  still  -come  every  season,  being  gener- 
ally towed  up  and  down  the  river.  At  present,  regular  steamers  are 
run  daily  to  New  York,  and  one  to  New  London  and  Sag  Harbor  every 
second  day. 

The  railroads,  which  put  an  end  to  the  thriving  turnpike  system  and 
to  much  of  the  water-transportation,  came  a  little  later  than  the  steam- 
boats. The  first  road  chartered  in  Connecticut  was  the  Norwich  and 
New  London,  in  1832.  It  was  followed  in  1835  by  the  Hartford  and 
New  Haven,  the  incorporators  of  which  were  James  Brewster,  John  Bab- 
cock,  John  S.  Mitchell,  Joel  Root,  Alexander  Harrison,  Obadiah  Pease, 
Richard  Hubbard,  and  Elisha  A.  Cowles.  The  Hartford  and  Spring- 
field was  chartered  in  the  same  year.  The  former  road  was  opened 
from  New  Haven  to  Meriden  in  1838,  and  to  Hartford  late  in  1839. 
The  road  from  Hartford  to  Springfield  was  not  opened  till  1844.  In 
this  year  the  legislature  authorized  the  consolidation  of  the  two  roads, 
the  united  company  to  be  called  the  New  Haven,  Hartford,  and  Sjiring- 
field  Railroad  Company,  and  by  that  name  "  to  enjoy  all  the  privileges, 
and  be  subject  to  all  the  liabilities,  of  such  companies."  The  first 
depot  was  about  where  the  Mulberry  Street  bridge  now  stands.  It  was 
a  wooden  building,  extending  across  the  river,  and  having  the  waiting- 


TRAVEL  AND   TRANSPORTATION.  559 

room  at  the  east  end,  on  the  bank.  The  track,  coming  in  north  of  the 
present  machine-shops  of  the  road,  crossed  the  Park  River  above  Imlay's 
mill,  and  ran  nearly  in  a  straight  line  across  what  is  now  Bnshnell 
Park  to  the  depot,  passing  not  far  from  the  sites  of  the  Putnam  and 
Wells  statues.  A  part  of  the  distance,  about  where  the  Park  pond 
now  is,  the  roadway  was  on  trestle-work,  which  was  afterward  filled 
in  to  make  an  earth  embankment.  Part  of  the  land  wanted,  through 
this  region,  was  owned  by  a  man  who  did  not  care  to  sell.  Failing 
agreement,  it  was  condemned  and  taken  in  the  usual  form.  The  owner 
received  what  was  thought  to  be  a  fair  price,  and  he  had  also  the  clause 
in  the  proceedings  which  provided  that  if  the  property  ceased  to  be  used 
for  railroad  purposes  the  title  should  revert  to  him.  As  a  matter  of 
fact  it  was  so  abandoned  in  less  than  a  dozen  years.  He  got  it  back, 
and  almost  at  once  it  was  Avanted  for  the  Park,  and  was  again  con- 
demned and  taken,  so  that  it  made  probably  the  best  real-estate  operation 
of  his  life. 

Trains  were  not  run  into  the  depot  direct,  but  after  first  crossing 
the  river  ran  up  one  arm  of  a  F,  which  extended  from  near  Imlay's 
mill  up  to  the  present  stepping-stones,  where  it  joined  the  other  arm,  so 
that  the  train,  running  up  the  first  and  backing  down  the  second,  came 
to  the  main  line  in  reversed  position,  and  so  backed  down  into  the 
depot.  In  these  early  days  of  the  railroad  there  were  two  trains  each 
way  daily.  The  running-time  was  about  an  hour  and  a  half.  An 
advertisement  of  this  period  shows  a  summer  arrangement  under  which 
the  first  train  south  left  at  5.45  a.m.,  and  the  second  at  6  p.m.  Re- 
turning, they  left  New  Haven  at  5.30  a.m.  and  12  m.,  or  on  the  arrival 
of  the  boat  from  New  York.  On  Saturday  there  was  an  extra  train  at 
8  p.m.,  or  on  arrival  of  the  New  York  boat.  Before  the  road  to  Spring- 
field was  opened,  the  Boston  and  Albany  (Western)  was  in  operation, 
and  passengers  had  to  make  the  distance  between  Hartford  and  Spring- 
field by  stage-coach.  One  advertisement  of  1842  announces  that  the 
coach  leaves  at  8  a.m.,  and  runs  "  to  meet  the  cars  at  Springfield  for 
Boston.  The  cars  leave  Springfield  at  1.45  p.m.,  and  arrive  in  Boston 
at  5.45  p.m."  Another  coach  left  at  3  p.m.  As  to  this  the  advertise- 
ment reads :  "  This  stage  leaves  on  the  arrival  of  the  afternoon  cars 
from  New  Haven ;  it  is  put  on  for  the  accommodation  of  passengers 
coming  up  in  the  cars  from  New  York  and  New  Haven,  and,  if  not  full, 
all  others  that  may  wish  a  seat."  The  railroad  between  New  Haven 
and  New  York  was  not  then  open,  as  might  now  be  inferred  from  the 
wording  of  the  advertisement,  nor  was  it  finished  until  some  six  years 
after  that  time.  The  cars  used  for  a  number  of  years  were  short 
coaches,  such  as  were  altogether  used  on  English  and  European  roads 
until  within  a  short  time.  The  New  York  and  New  Haven  Road  was 
opened  in  December,  1848,  giving  a  through  rail-connection  to  New  York. 
In  1849  the  present  depot  on  Asylum  Street  was  built.  In  1872  the  New 
York  and  New  Haven  Railroad  was  consolidated  with  the  Hartford  and 
New  Haven,  under  the  name  of  New  York,  New  Haven,  and  Hartford 
Railroad  Company.  For  two  years  preceding  the  roads  had  been  run 
as  one  under  an  agreement.  This  is  commonly  spoken  of  as  the  Con- 
solidated Road.  It  operates  by  lease  or  majority  ownership  a  number  of 
other  roads,  including  the  Shore  Line  (New  Haven  to  New  London), 
which  was  opened  in  1852 ;  the  Air  Line  (New  Haven  to  Willimantic), 


560  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF  HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

opened  to  Middletown  in  1870  and  to  Willimantic  in  1873  ;  the  New 
Haven  and  Northampton  (New  Haven  to  Turner's  Falls),  opened  to 
Plainville  in  1848  and  to  Turner's  Falls  in  1881 ;  the  Hartford  and 
Connecticut  Valley  (Hartford  to  Fenwick),  opened  in  1871  to  Saybrook 
and  in  1872  to  Fenwick ;  also  branches  to  Middletown,  New  Britain, 
Suffield,  and  New  Canaan. 

As  early  as  1883  the  Manchester  Railroad  Company  was  incorpo- 
rated, to  construct  a  railroad  from  Hartford  to  Vernon  and  Bolton,  "  to 
or  near  the  stone  pits."  Nothing  was  done  under  this  charter,  which, 
however,  was  practically  revived  in  1847,  when  the  Hartford  and  Provi- 
dence Railroad  Company  was  chartered,  and  given  the  same  powers  and 
privileges  as  had  been  granted  the  Hartford  and  Manchester  Com- 
pany, with  power  to  build  to  Willimantic  and  Rockville.  Two  years 
before  a  charter  was  given  to  the  New  York  and  Hartford  Railroad, 
which  proposed  to  build  through  Danbury.  In  1848  this  road  was 
merged  with  the  Hartford  and  Providence,  which  was  also  authorized 
to  bridge  the  Connecticut  River,  and  extend  the  road  to  meet  the 
Providence  and  Plainfield.  The  road  was  opened  from  Hartford  to 
Willimantic  in  1849,  and  from  Hartford  to  Bristol  in  1850.  In  1854 
trains  ran  through  to  Providence,  and  in  1855  to  Waterbury.  In  1858 
the  road  was  surrendered  to- trustees  for  the  bondholders,  and  was  run 
by  them  for  twenty  years,  Mr.  Samuel  Nott,  who,  as  engineer,  had 
made  surveys  for  a  western  extension  of  the  road  to  Fishkill,  being  in 
charge  of  the  road  during  that  time. 

In  1863  the  Boston,  Hartford,  and  Erie  Railroad  Company  was  in- 
corporated. It  was  the  evident  intention,  under  the  act  of  incorporation, 
to  secure  the  through  line  between  Boston  and  the  Hudson,  which  had 
been  contemplated  for  fifteen  years  or  more.  Carrying  out  this  idea,  the 
Boston,  Hartford,  and  Erie  bought  almost  at  once  the  rights  of  the 
stockholders  in  the  Hartford,  Providence,  and  Fishkill  Railroad,  paying 
in  cash  and  stock,  the  stock  exchange  being  ratified  by  the  stockholders 
of  each  road ;  but  some  stockholders  refused  to  transfer  stock,  and  the 
purchase  did  not  touch  the  bonds  of  the  Hartford,  Providence,  and  Fish- 
kill. In  1866  the  Boston,  Hartford,  and  Erie  issued  the  Berdell  bonds 
for  $20,000,000,  based  on  a  mortgage  issued  to  Robert  H.  Berdell  and 
others,  trustees.  This  mortgage  covered  the  Hartford,  Providence,  and 
Fishkill  Railroad,  with  others,  but  was  subject  to  the  first  mortgage 
executed  by  that  road  before  the  Boston,  Hartford,  and  Erie  acquired 
any  rights  in  it.  In  1871  the  trustees  under  the  Berdell  mortgage 
took  possession  of  the  property  of  the  Boston,  Hartford,  and  Erie,  in- 
cluding, as  was  claimed,  the  right  to  redeem  the  first  mortgage  bonds 
of  the  Hartford,  Providence,  and  Fishkill  Railroad.  The  New  York 
and  New  England  Railroad  was  chartered  in  1873,  with  a  capital  of 
$20,000,000,  which  represented  only  the  Berdell  bonds.  The  company 
also  bought  of  the  assignees  in  bankruptcy  of  the  Boston,  Hartford,  and 
Erie  all  rights  of  redemption  of  that  company.  In  1878  it  obtained 
from  private  persons  money  with  which  to  pay  off  the  first  mortgage 
bonds  of  the  Hartford,  Providence,  and  Fishkill,  and  thus  came  into 
complete  possession  of  its  property.  One  of  the  last  acts  of  the  Boston, 
Hartford,  and  Erie,  before  it  passed  to  the  New  England,  had  been  the 
completion,  in  1872,  of  the  portion  of  the  road  between  Putnam  and 
Willimantic,  —  finishing  the  through  line  to  Boston.     In  July,  1881, 


TRAVEL  AND  TRANSPORTATION.  561 

the  New  England  Company  opened  its  line  from  Waterbury  to  Brews- 
ters,  and  in  December  of  the  same  year  it  was  finished  to  Fishkill,  on 
the  Hudson.  The  road  was  then  run  with  special  reference  to  through 
freight  business.  It  failed  to  earn  sums  corresponding  to  the  great 
outlay  that  had  been  made,  and  on  Dec.  31,  1883,  it  passed  into  the 
hands  of  a  receiver,  Mr.  C.  P.  Clark,  formerly  second  vice-president  of 
the  New  York,  New  Haven,  and  Hartford  Railroad,  and  was  thereafter 
run  by  him,  with  more  attention  to  local  business  and  less  to  the 
through  traffic.1  The  company  leases  or  otherwise  controls  various 
branches,  which,  with  the  main  line  of  two  hundred  and  fifteen  miles, 
make  a  total  of  four  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles  operated  by  it,  of 
which  three  hundred  and  twenty-six  are  owned  by  the  company.2 

The  Connecticut  Western  Railroad  Company  was  organized  in  1868, 
and  opened  to  Millerton  in  1871.  It  was  reorganized  in  1881  as  the 
Hartford  and  Connecticut  Western.  It  has  since  bought  the  Rhinebeck 
Railroad,  giving  $800,000  of  stock,  and  owns  a  continuous  line  from 
Hartford  to  the  Hudson  at  Rhinecliff.  To  the  stocks  of  this  road  and 
the  Connecticut  Valley  large  subscriptions  were  made  by  the  town  of 
Hartford,  —  $750,000  to  the  Western  and  #500,000  to  the  Valley.  The 
stocks  have  since  disappeared  under  foreclosure  of  bonds.  The  Con- 
necticut Valley  Railroad,  from  Hartford  to  Fenwick  Point,  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Connecticut,  was  opened  July  30,  1871,  as  far  as  Saybrook  Point, 
and  to  Fenwick  in  the  following  year.  It  was  reorganized  by  the  first 
mortgage  bondholders  in  July,  1880,  under  the  name  Hartford  and 
Connecticut  Valley  Railroad,  and  the  control  subsequently  passed  to 
the  New  York,  New  Haven,  and  Hartford  Railroad  Company.  The 
length  of  main  line  is  forty-six  miles. 

During  all  this  development  of  outside  traffic  there  was,  naturally, 
a  building  of  new  roads  and  improving  of  old  within  the  limits  of  Hart- 
ford itself.  The  thirty-eight  streets  recognized  in  1820  have  increased 
to  about  three  hundred,  with  an  aggregate  length  of  some  one  hundred 
and  sixty  miles  ;  about  fifty  miles  are  macadamized.  The  streets,  with 
the  lighting  of  the  same,  are  in  charge  of  a  board  of  street  commis- 
sioners, the  members  of  which,  like  those  of  the  other  city  boards,  are 
appointed  (two  each  year)  by  the  mayor  and  confirmed  by  the  alder- 
men.    The  expenses  of  the  department  in  1881  were  87(3,967.80. 

An  extensive  sewer  system  was  developed,  by  which  at  present  most 
of  the  streets  of  any  consequence  are  served.  Its  establishment  re- 
sulted in  at  least  one  leading  case  at  law,  decided  by  the  Supreme  Court 
of  Errors  in  1868.  For  a  proposed  sewer,  benefits  aggregating  $1,283 
were  assessed  on  Caleb  Clapp,  Aaron  E.  Clapp,  R.  D.  Hubbard,  William 
B.  Ely,  Alfred  E.  Ely,  Harry  E.  Ely,  and  R.  P.  Hubbard,  and  on  the 
First  Ecclesiastical  Society  of  Hartford.  Three  separate  suits'  were 
brought  for  abatement,  on  the  ground  that  there  was  no  benefit,  be- 
cause  the   parties   assessed  were   already  served   by   private    drains. 

1  On  the  22 J  of  December,  1885,  the  Court  signed  an  order  to  terminate  the  receivership 
on  December  31,  1885,  exactly  two  years  from  the  time  it  was  created.  It  was  shown  that  the 
company  was  in  position  to  pay  all  its  current  obligations  and  probably  manage  its  affairs  with- 
out interference  by  creditors.  The  advance  in  the  market  value  of  its  securities  during  these 
two  years  was  very  great. 

2  The  sketch  of  the  New  England  Railroad  is  chiefly  based  on  the  excellent  account  given 
by  the  Connecticut  Railroad  Commissioners  in  their  1879  report. 


562  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

The  cases  were  similar,  and  were  heard  together,  that  of  Clapp  v. 
The  City  of  Hartford  giving  the  title  to  the  proceedings.  The  finding 
of  Judge  Loomis  as  a  committee,  and  the  opinion  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Errors,  written  by  Judge  Carpenter,  may  be  found  in  the  85th 
Conn.,  p.  65.  The  property-owners  were  sustained  in  their  claim  that 
service  provided  by  themselves,  the  sewage  being  carried  across  their 
own  land,  or  under  a  highway,  with  constructive  assent  of  the  street 
commissioners,  relieved  them  from  a  claim  for  betterments  by  the  city 
when  opening  a  sewer  into  which  their  property  could  drain,  and  which 
was  built  in  a  street  on  which  this  property  fronted.  The  case  is  con- 
stantly cited  in  similar  suits. 

The  Hartford  and  Wethersfield  Horse  Railroad  Company  was  char- 
tered in  1859,  but  was  not  opened  for  travel  until  1863,  and  then  only 
on  Main  Street,  and  amid  many  predictions  that  it  would  prove  a  waste 
of  money.  For  some  time  it  looked  as  if  this  might  be  the  case.  The 
cars  ran  at  long  intervals,  and  there  was  grumbling  at  the  fares. 
The  introduction  of  cars  without  conductors  lessened  the  expenses,  and 
by  degrees  they  were  run  oftener,  and  came  nearer  to  meeting  the  real 
requirements.  The  Asylum  and  Farmington  Avenue  lines  were  opened 
in  1872.  The  Retreat  Avenue  line  was  opened  in  1882,  the  Lafayette 
Street  line  in  1883,  and  the  Albany  Avenue  Extension  in  1881.  At 
the  beginning  the  fare  was  five  cents.  It  was  afterward  increased  to 
six,  then  to  seven,  and  in  1882  was  again  reduced  to  five  cents ;  the 
service  having  been  meantime  very  greatly  improved.  Open  cars  were 
first  put  on  in  1883. 

Under  the  limits  made  necessary  in  such  a  sketch  as  this  it  has 
been  impossible  to  do  more  than  suggest  the  kind  and  magnitude  of 
the  development  of  travel  from  the  earliest  days  of  the  settlement.  It 
is  worth  while  at  the  end  to  note  one  passage  from  Dr.  BushnelFs 
famous  sermon  on  "  Roads,"  which  was  preached  on  Thanksgiving 
Day,  1846.     It  is  as  follows  :  — 

"  If  you  wish  to  know  whether  society  is  stagnant,  learning  scholastic,  religion 
a  dead  formality,  you  may  learn  something  by  going  into  universities  and  libra- 
ries ;  something  also  by  the  work  that  is  doing  on  cathedrals  and  churches,  or  in 
them  ;  but  quite  as  much  by  looking  at  the  roads.  For  if  there  is  any  motion  in 
society,  the  road,  which  is  the  symbol  of  motion,  will  indicate  the  fact.  When 
there  is  activity  or  enlargement  or  a  liberalizing  spirit  of  any  kind,  then  there  is 
intercourse  and  travel,  and  these  require  roads.  So  if  there  is  any  kind  of  ad- 
vancement going  on,  if  new  ideas  are  abroad  and  new  hopes  rising,  then  you  will 
see  it  by  the  roads  that  are  building.  Nothing  makes  an  inroad  without  making 
a  road.  All  creative  action,  whether  in  government,  industry,  thought,  or  re- 
ligion, creates  roads." 

4aS  .    Cc  .   &y<rt~<S 


y 


MANUFACTURES  AND  INVENTIONS.  563 

SECTION  XI. 

MANUFACTURES  AND  INVENTIONS. 

BY    W.    A.    AYEES. 

From  the  earliest  industrial  activity  of  the  country,  Hartford  has 
had  a  leading  part  in  manufactures.  Its  record  falls  naturally  into 
two  parts :  the  first  extending  to  about  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury and  covering  the  beginnings  of  many  industries  that  have  since 
been  enormously  developed ;  and  the  second  embracing  the  period  dur- 
ing which  manufactures  have  become  the  most  important  form  of 
industry  for  the  county.  Hartford  inventors  have  played  an  impor- 
tant part  in  the  development  of  forms  of  business  in  which  many 
millions  of  capital  are  invested,  producing  goods  that  go  all  over  the 
world. 

Under  the  first  division  the  following  may  be  noted  :  In  1637  a 
grist-mill  was  built  on  the  Little  River  at  Hartford,  and  the  same  busi- 
ness has  continued  up  to  the  present  time  ;  it  is  now  known  as  Daniels's 
mill,  and  is  the  only  water-power  mill  in  the  place ;  at  one  time  there 
were  six  shops  or  mills  which  received  power  from  the  water  stored  by 
four  dams.  In  1667  Thomas  Harris  was  given  forty  acres  of  land  as 
an  encouragement  to  build  a  saw-mill  "  on  the  brook  between  Hartford 
and  Wethersfield,  on  the  east  side  of  the  great  river."  The  General 
Court  of  Feb.  8,  1641,  ordered  hemp  and  flax  to  be  sown  by  each 
family,  and  also  passed  an  order  for  the  importation  of  cotton.  In 
1644  two  inspectors  of  linen  and  woollen  yarn  were  appointed  in  each 
town  of  the  colony  to  "  judge  and  determine  the  rate  or  price  the 
weavers  should  receive  by  the  yard  for  yarn."  The  cotton  was  for 
more  than  a  hundred  years  used  in  combination  with  wool  or  linen. 

At  Hartford  about  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century  there  were 
several  fulling-mills.  One  of  the  earliest  was  that  at  what  is  now  Burn- 
side.  It  was  owned  by  William  Pitkin,  and  was  burned  in  1690.  In 
the  year  1700,  the  General  Assembly  gave  the  widow  of  John  Bidwell 
leave  to  convey  to  John  March  a  half  interest  in  a  fulling-mill,  of  which 
her  husband  died  seised.  About  the  same  time  Thomas  Tousey  had 
a  fulling-mill  within  the  present  city  limits.  About  1797  Dr.  Apollos 
Kinsley  built  and  operated  on  Main  Street  in  Hartford  the  first  steam 
road-wagon  ever  constructed.  He  also  invented  a  brick-pressing 
machine,  the  first  known,  and  with  it  made  bricks  which  were  used 
in  the  construction  of  the  "  mansion  house  "  on  Kinsley  Street.  An- 
other of  his  inventions  was  a  machine  for  making  pins ;  but  this  was 
never  a  success,  and  the  progress  in  this  manufacture  belongs  wholly 
to  a  later  period.  Still  another  of  his  inventions  was  a  card-machine. 
It  was  run  in  a  small  building  a  little  back  from  Main  Street  and  above 
Asylum  Street,  and  the  motive-power  was  furnished  by  a  sort  of  tread- 
mill operated  by  dog-power.     There  were  usually  eight  or  ten  dogs, 


564  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

which  went  on  in  relays.  In  October,  1783,  the  Connecticut  legislature 
gave  a  patent  for  fourteen  years  to  Benjamin  Hanks,  of  Litchfield, 
for  a  self-winding  clock :  This  Hanks  was  the  father  of  Truman 
Hanks,  who  in  1821  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  business  in  Hart- 
ford which  subsequently  became  known  as  the  Woodruff  Iron  Works. 
In  1788  Doolittle  and  Goodyear  had  a  bell-foundry  at  Hartford.  By 
the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century  linen  and  woollen  goods  were 
manufactured  at  Hartford.  The  latter  had  been  suggested  by  John 
Davis  as  early  as  1736,  but  nothing  seems  to  have  come  of  the  sugges- 
tion at  the  time.  It  is  difficult  to  ascertain  when  some  forms  of  woollen 
and  cotton  manufacture  first  passed  from  the  stage  of  household  labor 
to  that  of  manufacture  in  the  common  sense  of  the  term.  About  1790 
a  duck-factory  was  established  at  Hartford,  and  it  is  recorded  that  cot- 
ton machinery  was  made  there  in  1791.  The  first  cotton-mill  in  the 
State  was  started  at  Manchester  in  1794.1 

In  speaking  of  this  first  period  mention  should  be  made  of  the 
invention  of  the  steamboat  by  John  Fitch,  who  was  born  at  Windsor. 
It  is  reasonably  well  settled  that  he  was  the  first  to  make  practically 
successful  application  of  the  idea  of  propelling  a  boat  by  steam  power. 

Falling  somewhat  later  in  time,  but  like  many  of  the  matters 
already  mentioned  in  being  the  first  attempt  in  a  new  direction,  was 
the  manufacture  of  matches  by  Alonzo  D.  Phillips,  of  Hartford,  who 
received  in  1836  the  first  American  patent  for  friction  matches.  His 
factory  was  in  Hartford,  on  Front  Street,  above  Morgan. 

At  a  comparatively  early  period  there  had  been  repeated  attempts 
to  establish  a  silk  industry.  It  was  the  subject  of  legislation  in  1732, 
and  in  1747  Governor  Law  wore  a  coat  and  stockings  made  of  New 
England  silk.  President  Stiles,  of  Yale  College,  and  Nathan  Aspin- 
wall,  of  Mansfield,  are  credited  with  originating  what  has  since  become 
a  valuable  industry.  The  former  carried  on  experiments  for  nearly 
forty  years,  beginning  in  1758,  and  has  left  a  voluminous  journal  of 
his  proceedings,  which  is  now  in  the  college  library.  Mr.  Aspinwall 
introduced  the  white  mulberry  from  Long  Island  to  the  town  of  Mans- 
field and  secured  a  considerable  product  of  silk.  In  1789  President 
Stiles  wore  at  Commencement  a  gown  made  of  Connecticut  silk. 

One  of  the  earliest  industries  in  Connecticut  was  the  tanning  of 
leather,  and  still  another  was  the  making  of  hats.  In  1640-41  the  Gen- 
eral Court  ordered  that  hides  should  be  preserved,  and  in  1642  that  no 
calves  should  be  killed  without  the  permission  of  two  persons  in  each 
town  appointed  by  the  court.  In  1656  an  order  was  made  prescribing 
the  mode  of  tanning,  dressing,  and  inspecting  leather.  After  being 
inspected  it  must  be  sealed  before  it  might  be  offered  for  sale.  In 
1667  the  price  to  be  paid  for  tanning  was  fixed  by  law. 

A  broadcloth-mill,  the  first  in  the  country ^to  produce  this  fabric, 
was  established  at  Hartford  in  1788.  It  had  a  capital  of  £1,250,  which 
was  subscribed  by  thirty-one  individuals,  among  whom  were  many  of 
the  prominent  men  'of  the  State.  In  the  list  were  Colonel  Jeremiah 
Wadsworth,  Jesse  Root,  Thomas  Seymour,  and  Peter  Colt  of  Hartford, 
Oliver  Ellsworth  of  Windsor,  and  Oliver  Wolcott.2     The  first  directors 

1  See  vol.  ii.  p.  251. 

2  Wadsworth,  Root,  Ellsworth,  and  "Wolcott  had  heen  memhers  of  the  Continental  Con- 
gress, and  Wolcott  was  one  of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  and  was  at  this 


MANUFACTURES  AND  INVENTIONS.  565 

were  Peter  Colt,  Caleb  Bull,  Jr.,  John  Caldwell,  Barzillai  Hudson,  and 
George  Phillips.  They  were  chosen  April  15,  and  at  the  succeeding 
session  of  the  legislature  it  was  ordered  that  taxes  on  the  manufactory 
be  abated  for  five  years,  and  that  persons  steadily  employed  there 
should  pay  no  poll-tax  for  two  years.  It  is  believed  that  the  first 
product  was  taken  by  some  of  the  founders  of  the  enterprise  for  their 
own  wear ;  but  in  January,  1789,  some  of  the  cloth  was  sent  to  New 
York  for  sale.  In  the  spring  of  this  year  the  first  Federal  Congress 
met  in  New  York,  and  on  inauguration  day  the  President  and  Vice- 
President,  and  most  if  not  all  of  the  Connecticut  senators  and  represen- 
tatives wore  suits  of  broadcloth  that  had  been  made  at  Hartford.1  The 
cloth  was  a  dark  brown,  such  as  seems  to  have  been  a  favorite  product 
of  the  mill,  and  was  subsequently  known  as  "  Congress  brown."  When 
the  next  session  opened,  in  1790,  the  President  again  wore  a  suit  of  cloth 
from  this  mill ;  but  this  time  it  was  "  a  crow-colored  suit  of  the  finest 
texture,  the  color  of  that  beautiful  changeable  hue  remarkable  in  shades 
not  quite  black."  The  product  of  the  mill  up  to  Jan.  1,  1790,  was 
10,278  yards,  and  the  price  was  from  $2.50  to  $5  a  yard.  For  a  time 
the  business  seemed  to  be  prosperous,  and  early  in  1791  a  lottery  was 
authorized,  the  profits  of  which  were  to  furnish  machinery,  implements, 
and  an  increase  of  stock.  It  is  thought  to  have  yielded  some  $9,000. 
At  this  time  there  had  been  great  improvements  in  coloring  the  goods, 
and  the  quality  and  finish  of  the  cloth  were  considered  fully  equal  to 
those  of  English  goods  in  the  same  grades.  The  sale,  however,  was  not 
satisfactory,  and  two  or  three  times  an  accumulated  stock  of  cloths  was 
sold  at  auction.  Dec.  10,  1794,  a  dividend  of  fifty  per  cent,  payable  in 
goods  of  the  company,  was  declared,  and  this  was  probably  the  only 
one  ever  paid.  In  the  following  August  notice  was  given  that  there 
would  be  a  final  settlement  of  the  affairs  of  the  company.  The  prop- 
erty then  included  one  hundred  and  forty  pieces  of  cloth.  The  build- 
ing which  was  used  for  this  mill  stood  on  the  Little  River,  just  above  the 
present  Mulberry  Street  bridge,  and  was  known  for  many  years  as  the 
"  old  soap-factory."     It  was  burned  April  3,  1854. 

The  improvements  in  the  use  of  steam  power  came  in  rapid  suc- 
cession, and  are  largely  responsible  for  the  enormous  advance  in  manu- 
factures of  the  present  century.  There  is  no  better  illustration  of 
the  radical  change  made  within  a  hundred  years  than  is  furnished  in 
Colt's  Armory.  These  works  are  notable  not  merely  for  the  magnitude 
of  their  operations,  the  variety  of  their  products,  and  the  number  of 
successful  inventors  and  mechanical  organizers  they  have  produced, 
but  also  as  the  outgrowth  of  an  idea  which  was  conceived  by  a  boy  of 
sixteen  and  persistently  worked  out,  so  that  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  he 
organized  a  company  with  a  capital  of  $300,000  for  the  manufacture  of 
the  product.     Samuel  Colt  was  born  at  Hartford,  July  19,  1814.     His 

time  Lieutenant-Governor  of  the  State.  Ellsworth  had  been  a  member  of  the  constitutional 
convention,  and  was  afterward  Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States.  Root  became  Chief  Justice 
of  Connecticut.  Colt  was  Treasurer  of  the  State,  and  Seymour  was  Mayor  of  Hartford  for 
some  thirty  years. 

1  Senators —  William  Samuel  Johnson  and  Oliver  Ellsworth;  representatives  —  Jonathan 
Sturges,  Roger  Sherman,  Benjamin  Huntington,  Jonathan  Trumbull,  and  Jeremiah  Wads- 
worth.  Those  as  to  whom  there  is  a  doubt  whether  they  were  dressed  in  this  cloth  were 
Messrs.  Johnson  and  Sherman. 


566  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

father,  Christopher  Colt,  was  a  manufacturer ;  and  the  boy,  who  had 
early  shown  a  turn  for  mechanics,  was  employed  for  a  short  time  in  his 
factory  at  Ware,  Mass.,  when  only  ten  years  old.  Then  he  was  sent  to 
school,  and  at  the  age  of  sixteen  went  to  sea.  On  this  voyage  he  made 
a  rough  model  of  a  revolver  which  contained  the  germ  of  the  idea  after- 
ward fully  developed  in  his  pistol.  Returning  after  a  voyage  to  Calcutta, 
he  worked  in  the  dyeing  and  bleaching  department  of  his  father's  factory, 
obtained  some  chemical  knowledge,  and  especially  became  interested  in 
nitrous  oxide.  He  conceived  the  idea  of  giving  lectures  illustrating  the 
use  of  this  gas,  —  laughing-gas,  —  and  set  out  on  a  tour  for  this  purpose 
at  the  age  of  eighteen.  He  travelled  under  the  name  of  Dr.  Coult,  and 
followed  this  life  some  two  years  with  such  success  as  to  obtain  money 
for  developing  his  invention.  In  1835  he  went  to  Europe  and  took 
out  patents  there,  the  American  patents  being  taken  out  on  his  return. 
In  1836  he  founded  a  company  with  a  capital  of  $300,000  at  Paterson, 
N.  J.,  for  the  manufacture  of  his  revolver.  The  money  was  sunk  in 
developing  the  invention,  and  the  concern  became  insolvent  in  1842, 
but  had  produced  revolvers  which  were  used  in  the  Seminole  War  with 
such  success  that  the  experience  of  army  men  with  them  was  what  gave 
him  a  new  start  in  the  business  in  1847,  through  a  Government  order  at 
the  breaking  out  of  the  Mexican  War.  Meantime  he  had  constructed 
his  submarine  battery  and  laid  a  submarine  telegraph  cable  to  Coney 
Island  and  Fire  Island  Light.  This  was  the  first  cable  of  the  kind 
successfully  laid  and  operated.  The  Government  order  above  men- 
tioned was  the  first  step  in  his  career  of  success.  It  was  for  one  thou- 
sand revolvers,  and  he  made  arrangements  to  have  them  built  at 
Whitneyville,  New  Haven.  In  the  following  year  he  began  to  manu- 
facture in  Hartford,  in  a  small  building  on  the  north  side  of  Pearl 
Street,  a  little  west  of  Trumbull  Street ;  but  within  a  very  few  years 
conceived  the  plan  of  the  South  Meadow  improvement  and  built  the 
present  armory.  Part  of  the  plan  was  to  enclose  a  tract  of  some  two 
hundred  acres  with  a  dyke  a  mile  and  three  quarters  long,  securing  it 
from  the  encroachments  of  the  spring  freshets.  The  plan  was  laughed 
at;  but  it  was  promptly  carried  out,  and  in  the  autumn  of  1855  the  dyke 
and  the  armory  were  finished.  The  armory  was  the  largest  private  estab- 
lishment of  the  kind  in  the  world.  With  the  later  addition  it  measures 
five  hundred  feet  on  each  side,  the  main  buildings  being  arranged  like  a 
double  letter  H.  Its  buildings  average  three  stories  in  height,  and  it  has 
over  three  acres  of  floor  room.  Its  engines  are  of  about  one  thousand 
horse-power.  About  half  was  built  at  the  outset  and  the  remainder  in 
1861.  On  the  5th  of  February,  1864,  occurred  the  great  fire  which  swept 
away  the  whole  of  the  original  building.  The  value  of  the  machines 
destroyed  was  estimated  at  $800,000,  and  that  of  the  stock  at  about 
$400,000.  In  addition  to  this,  great  quantities  of  valuable  drawings 
were  lost  and  several  remarkable  original  models.  The  building  was 
restored  entirely  fire-proof,  on  the  old  foundations,  and  so  as  to  make 
very  nearly  a  fac-simile  of  that  destroyed. 

In  these  great  shops  was  carried  on  a  business  that  was  not  only 
enormous  in  itself  but  marked  by  important  novel  features.  It  was  all 
shaped  on  a  comprehensive  plan,  and  the  most  striking  feature  was  the 
high  development  of  the  idea  of  division  of  labor.  This  was  carried  to  a 
degree  beyond  what  had  been  illustrated  before  that  time.    Not  only  was 


MANUFACTURES  AND   INVENTIONS.  569 

the  mechanical  work  so  divided,  but  a  kindred  idea  was  embodied  in  the 
elaborate  system  under  which  contractors  came  in  between  the  owner  and 
the  fifteen  hundred  workmen.  The  company  furnished  rooms,  power, 
machinery,  and  samples  of  what  was  to  be  made.  Contractors  in  these 
rooms  undertook  to  make,  within  a  certain  time  and  at  a  certain  price, 
a  specified  number  of  exact  duplicates  of  the  sample  furnished.  When 
these  multitudes  of  small  pieces  were  finished,  each  was  put  to  a  test, 
and  if  it  had  any  blemish  or  imperfection  it  was  thrown  out.  Having 
passed  inspection,  the  pieces  were  to  be  "assembled;"  that  is,  the 
proper  number  of  each  to  make  up  a  pistol  or  musket  were  taken  up  at 
random,  put  together,  and  there  was  the  finished  arm.  To  do  this  re- 
quired a  wonderful  development  of  the  plan  of  making  interchangeable 
parts.  The  devising  of  machinery  to  carry  out  these  processes  was  a 
work  requiring  qualities  as  exceptional  as  those  that  were  concerned 
in  developing  the  system.  The  factory  was  in  full  operation  five  years 
before  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil  War.  During  this  time  the  aver- 
age annual  product  of  pistols  was  about  33,000.  In  1861  it  rose  to 
60,655,  in  1862  to  111,676,  and  in  1863  to  136,579,  falling  off  for  the 
remainder  of  the  war.  The  new  building  was  at  first  used  chiefly  for 
the  making  of  muskets,  of  which  8,500  were  produced  in  1862,  49,844 
in  1863,  and  46,201  in  1864.  Tn  the  midst  of  the  war  Colonel  Colt 
died,  Jan.  10,  1862.  The  business  which  he  had  created  was  left  to 
the  care  of  competent  and  experienced  men. 

The  Colt  Patent  Fire-Arms  Company  had  been  incorporated  in  1856, 
and  since  1849  Mr.  E.  K.  Root  had  been  connected  with  the  business  as 
inventor  and  superintendent.  He  was  born  at  Belchertown,  Mass., 
May  5,  1808,  and  before  coming  to  Hartford  had  been  connected  for 
seventeen  years  with  the  Collins  Company  as  overseer  and  general 
superintendent.  He  was  an  illustration  of  a  rare  type  of  man,  an  in- 
ventor who  joined  to  high  inventive  power  great  prudence,  and  the 
power  of  so  directing  his  inventive  energy  as  to  waste  little  time  in  di- 
rections where  the  pursuit,  though  fascinating,  did  not  give  solid  promise 
of  results  that  would  have  a  practical  value.  When  he  was  engaged  by 
Colonel  Colt  he  applied  himself  to  the  production  of  machinery  by  which 
the  whole  process  of  manufacture  was  simplified  and  made  coherent  and 
economical.  In  the  building  of  Colt's  Armory  he  devised  methods 
which  saved  much  material  and  labor.  On  the  death  of  Colonel  Colt, 
Mr.  Root  became  president  of  the  corporation,  and  so  continued  until 
his  death,  July  5,  1865.  He  was  succeeded  by  Mr.  R.  W.  H.  Jarvis. 
General  William  B.  Franklin  has  for  most  of  the  period  since  the  war 
been  vice-president  and  general  manager. 

After  the  close  of  the  war  reduced  the  demand  for  revolvers  and 
muskets,  the  company  leased  portions  of  the  armory  to  various  persons 
or  corporations,  reserving  the  original  main  building  for  its  own  use, 
and  employing  from  six  hundred  to  seven  hundred  men  in  making- 
pistols,  breech- loading  guns,  Baxter  engines,  disc  engines,  sewing- 
machines,  and  several  other  specialties.  The  famous  Gatling  gun  is 
made  here.  It  is  the  invention  of  Dr.  Richard  Jordan  Gatling,  who  was 
born  in  North  Carolina,  Sept.  12,  1818.  He  conceived  the  idea  of  this 
gun  during  the  early  days  of  the  war,  and  made  his  first  revolving  bat- 
tery gun  in  1862,  firing  in  the  spring  of  that  year,  at  Indianapolis,  over 
two  hundred  shots  a  minute.     Twelve  of  these  guns  were  used  by 


570  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

General  Butler  on  the  James  River.  In  1866  the  United  States  Gov- 
ernment ordered  one  hundred  and  fifty.  They  have  since  been  adopted 
in  many  countries,  and  are  now  made  at  Colt's,  and  at  Vienna,  and  in 
England.  Among  those  whose  works  are  at  the  armory  is  Asa  S.  Cook, 
who  has  built  much  intricate  machinery  for  the  making  of  wood-screws, 
including  the  fitting  up  of  the  screw  department  of  the  Russell  &  Erwin 
factory  at  New  Britain.  Part  of  the  value  of  the  Colt  Works  lies  in 
the  fact  that  they  were  for  years  an  educating  force  in  applied  mechan- 
ics. They  presented  such  a  comprehensive  plan,  and  such  perfect 
adaptation,  as  could  probably  be  found  nowhere  else  in  the  country,  and 
perhaps  not  in  the  world.  It  stimulated  invention,  energy,  and  the 
struggle  for  perfect  results ;  and  turned  out  many  men  whose  experi- 
ence there  was  the  foundation  of  their  later  success. 

In  1821  Alpheus  and  Truman  Hanks  bought  the  foundry  of  Good- 
win, Dodd,  &  Gilbert,  on  Front  Street,  in  Hartford,  and  began  a  busi- 
ness which,  continuing  under  different  firm-names,  became,  in  1853, 
the  Woodruff  Iron  Works,  and  did  an  enormous  business  in  heavy  ma- 
chinery and  steam-boilers.  They  built  the  engines  for  the  Hartford 
water-works,  for  the  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  water-works,  for  Colt's  Works, 
the  engines  of  the  United  States  war  vessel  "  Hartford,"  Farragut's 
flagship,  and  a  number  of  other  Government  boats.  They  devised  many 
new  patterns.  They  were  also  among  the  earliest  makers  of  iron  ploughs. 
In  1871  the  firm  ceased  to  do  business,  and  the  boiler  department  passed 
to  H.  B.  Beach  &  Son,  who  have  continued  to  do  a  large  business.  The 
remainder  of  the  works  passed  into  other  hands,  and  after  several 
changes  they  are  now  occupied  by  the  Schuyler  Electric  Light  Com- 
pany. The  Woodruff  Iron  Works,  known  also  as  the  Woodruff  & 
Beach  works,  stood  very  high  among  the  makers  of  heavy  and  compli- 
cated machinery,  especially  such  as  required  skill  and  ingenuity  in 
designing. 

Christian  Sharps  received  a  patent  in  1848  for  a  breech-loading 
rifle,  which,  as  afterward  manufactured  at  Hartford,  is  believed  to  have 
been  the  first  thoroughly  successful  attempt  to  produce  an  arm  of  this 
kind.  The  Sharps  Rifle-Manufacturing  Company  was  chartered  in  1851, 
with  a  capital  of  81,000,000,  and  began  operations  at  the  place  now 
occupied  by  the  Weed  Sewing-Machine  Company.  It  did  a  large  busi- 
ness for  a  number  of  years,  and  in  1871  removed  to  Bridgeport.  The 
first  president  was  John  C.  Palmer,  and  the  master  armorer  was  R.  S. 
Lawrence. 

The  Pratt  &  Whitney  Company  is  one  of  the  largest  builders  of  ac- 
curate and  ingenious  tools  and  machinery  in  the  country.  Its  specialty 
is  the  making  of  tools  and  instruments  of  precision,  and  its  products  go 
to  all  parts  of  the  world.  Here  was  built  (in  duplicate)  the  Rogers- 
Bond  comparator, —  one  apparatus  being  for  Professor  Rogers,  and  the 
other  for  the  service  of  the  Pratt  &  Whitney  Company,  where  its  use  is 
to  determine  the  size  of  standard  gauges.  By  this  it  is  possible  to  re- 
produce any  measurement  within  a  limit  of  50ooo  of  an  inch  ;  and  this 
without  wear  of  the  original  standard,  which  is  a  line  measure  of  hard- 
ened steel.  The  production  of  standard  sizes  involves  an  accurate 
investigation  of  subdivisions  as  to  aliquot  parts  of  a  given  length,  for 
which  this  apparatus  is  especially  fitted.  In  1882  the  committee  on 
standards  and  gauges  of  the  American  Society  of  Mechanical  Engineers 


- 


MANUFACTURES  AND   INVENTIONS.  571 

reported  on  this  comparator,  and  described  one  test  in  which  it  detected 
a  variation  of  -^To  °^  an  mcn-  This  apparatus  is  the  work  of  Pro- 
fessor William  A.  Rogers  and  Mr.  George  M.  Bond.  The  fact  that  this 
wonderfully  accurate  and  very  costly  device  is  needed  by  the  company 
indicates  the  character  of  the  work  it  undertakes.  At  this  place  has 
been  developed  and  is  now  made  the  Gardner  machine  gun,  which 
has  successfully  passed  rigorous  Government  tests  and  been  ordered 
for  service  by  different  Governments.  A  large  order  for  Italy  is 
being  filled  while  this  account  is  writing.  The  annual  product  of  the 
company  varies  from  year  to  year,  but  has  reached  $820,000.  The 
business  was  begun  about  1860  by  F.  A.  Pratt,  Amos  Whitney,  and 
Monroe  Stannard.     It  has  now  a  capital  of  $500,000. 

The  Phoenix  Iron  Works  were  founded  by  Levi  Lincoln  in  1834, 
and  at  his  death  the  business  was  continued  by  his  two  sons  George  S. 
and  Charles  L.  Lincoln.  Mr.  Levi  Lincoln  was  the  inventor  of  the  card- 
setting  machine,  the  molasses-gate,  known  and  used  almost  universally, 
and  the  first  known  hook-and-eye  machine.  This  passed  to  the  Norths, 
of  New  Britain,  and  became  very  valuable.  The  firm  has  made  a  spe- 
cialty of  architectural  iron-work,  which  it  has  produced  on  a  very  large 
scale  ;  machinists'  tools,  including  the  Lincoln  milling-machine,  which 
has  very  general  use  ;  and  also  general  foundry-work.  Mr.  George  S. 
Lincoln,  for  many  years  the  senior  partner,  retired  in  1885,  and  the 
firm  is  now  Lincoln  &  Co.,  —  Charles  L.  Lincoln  and  his  sons,  Charles 
P.  and  Theodore  M.  Many  leading  mechanical  engineers  received  their 
training  here. 

The  Jewell  Belting  Company,  the  largest  manufacturer  of  leather 
belts  in  the  world,  was  founded  by  Pliny  Jewell,  in  1849,  as  a  private 
venture.  He  soon  associated  with  him  his  four  sons,  Pliny,  Marshall, 
Lyman  B.,  and  Charles  A.  Jewell,  and  for  a  long  term  of  years  the 
concern  was  known  as  P.  Jewell  &  Sons.  The  leather  comes  from 
Michigan,  where  the  company  has  a  tannery  with  a  capacity  of  fifty 
thousand  hides  a  year.  Marshall  Jewell,  the  second  son,  was,  from  the 
close  of  the  war  until  his  death  in  1883,  one  of  the  conspicuous  figures 
in  state  and  national  politics,  as  well  as  active  in  many  of  the  business 
enterprises  of  the  city,  where  his  large  executive  ability  and  his  abun- 
dant public  spirit  made  him  a  natural  leader.  He  was  born  in  Win- 
chester, N.  H.,  Oct.  20,  1825,  and  came  to  Hartford  in  1850.  After 
vigorously  sustaining  the  Government  during  the  war,  he  was  made  the 
Republican  candidate  for  Governor  in  1869,  and  was  elected  then,  and 
in  1871  and  1872.  He  was  appointed  United  States  Minister  to  Russia, 
in  1873,  by  President  Grant,  and  removed  with  his  family  to  St.  Peters-  , 
burg.  He  was  recalled  to  enter  Grant's  Cabinet  as  Postmaster-General 
in  1874.  In  1880  he  was  Chairman  of  the  National  Republican  Com- 
mittee conducting  the  campaign.  In  Hartford  Mr.  Jewell  was  a  direc- 
tor of  the  Hartford  National  Bank,  the  Phenix  Insurance  Company, 
the  Travelers  Insurance  Company,  and  other  large  concerns,  and  he 
had  also  important  interests  in  the  development  of  the  telephone,  and 
in  manufactories  in  other  parts  of  the  State  and  at  the  West. 

The  National  Screw  Company  did  a  very  large  business  for  some 
years,  beginning  in  1866,  and  was  then  bought  by  the  American  Screw 
Company,  of  Providence- 

The  machine-shop  of  Dwight  Slate  deserves  notice  because  of  the 


572  MEMORIAL   HISTORY  OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

reputation  of  the  proprietor,  a  man  who  is  better  known  among  skilled 
mechanics  in  Europe  than  by  most  of  his  neighbors.  He  made  on  a 
sub-contract  the  barrels  and  cylinders  of  the  thousand  pistols  ordered 
of  Colonel  Colt  for  use  in  the  Mexican  War,  as  already  described. 

The  Weed  Sewing-Machine  Company  was  established  in  1863,  and 
for  years  did  a  large  business  with  its  sewing-machines,  gradually  adding 
other  specialties  as  the  market  for  sewing-machines  ceased  to  offer  the 
advantages  it  had  afforded  during  the  life  of  the  early  patents.  It  now 
makes,  besides  its  sewing-machines,  the  Columbia  bicycle  and  tricycle. 
Its  capital,  which  was  originallv  $600,000,  was  some  time  ago  reduced 
to  $250,000. 

The  Hartford  Machine  Screw  Company  was  founded  in  1876,  with  a 
capital  of  $100,000.  It  makes  machine  screws  by  machinery  invented 
by  Mr.  C.  M.  Spencer,  which  has  within  a  few  years  revolutionized  this 
form  of  manufacture  and  has  proved  very  profitable.  Mr.  Spencer  was 
born  at  South  Manchester,  and  was  as  a  boy  employed  in  the  Cheney 
silk-works.  He  is  the  inventor  of  the  Spencer  repeating  rifle  and  shot- 
gun, which  is  made  at  Windsor. 

The  United  States  Stamped  Envelope  Works  are  located  at  Hartford, 
and  produce  stamped  envelopes  and  newspaper  wrappers  for  the  Gov- 
ernment. The  business  has  been  in  Hartford  since  1874.  The  proprie- 
tors are  the  Plimpton  Manufacturing  Company  of  Hartford. 

Smith,  Bourn,  &  Co.,  makers  of  saddles  and  harness,  are  the  succes- 
sors of  Normand  Smith,  who  established  the  business  in  1794.  It  is 
believed  to  be  the  oldest  manufactory  of  the  kind  in  the  country. 

A  notable  industry  of  the  county  in  which  Hartford  has  a  share  is 
the  silk  manufacture  of  the  Cheney  Brothers.  They  have  mills  at 
Hartford  and  at  South  Manchester,  and  make  both  sewing-silk  and  silk 
fabrics,  the  former  being  considered  superior  to  any  European  product, 
and  the  latter  holding  a  very  high  place  in  public  favor.  The  works 
have  for  years  been  owned  and  conducted  by  a  large  family  of  brothers, 
and  by  some  of  the  descendants  of  the  original  owners.  The  capital 
employed  is  $1,000,000.! 

Other  manufactures  that  deserve  mention,  by  reason  of  special  char- 
acter or  extent,  are  those  of  the  Hills  Archimedean  Lawn-Mower  Com- 
pany ;  the  Hartford  Woven-Wire  Mattress  Company ;  the  Billings  & 
Spencer  Company,  one  of  the  early  makers  of  drop  forgings ;  the  car- 
riage manufactories  of  Justin  Mansuy  and  S.  N.  Hart ;  the  boiler-feed 
manufacture  of  I.  B.  Davis  &  Son;  the  chuck-factory  of  Cushman; 
the  plated-ware  manufactory  of  E.  M.  Roberts  &  Son,  and  that  of  the 
William  Rogers  manufacturing  company ;  the  Schuyler  and  the  Mather 
electric  light  companies,  each  making  dynamos  and  arc  and  incandescent 
lamps ;  the  Hartford  Hammer  Company ;  the  gold-beating  establish- 
ment of  James  H.  Ashmead  &  Sons ;  the  brush-factory  of  Holcomb  & 
Sperry ;  the  boiler  and  engine  works  of  Pitkin  Brothers  &  Co. ;  the 
belt-works  of  N.  Palmer  &  Co. ;  the  large  manufacture  of  dye-stuffs  of 
Beach  &  Co. ;  the  Smyth  manufacturing  company,  which  makes  a  book- 
stitching  machine  ;  and  the  Washburn  car-wheel  company. 

The  total  capital  invested  in  manufactures  in  Hartford  (including 
cases  in  which  the  works  are  located  elsewhere,  although  owned  here) 

1  See,  in  the  second  volume  (pp.  255,  256)  some  account  of  the  origin  and  growth  of  the 
Cheney  Brothers'  Silk  Manufacturing  Company.     Their  mill  in  Hartford  was  built  in  1854. 


MANUFACTURES  AND  INVENTIONS.  573 

is  not  far  from  $14,000,000,  being  chiefly  put  into  joint-stock  companies 
formed  either  under  the  general  law  or  by  special  charter.  For  the 
whole  county  the  figures  exceed  820,000,000.  It  is  to  be  remembered 
that  part  of  what  is  thus  credited  to  the  city  of  Hartford  is  for  works 
elsewhere  which  are  under  Hartford  ownership  or  control. 

Especially  prominent  among  these  is  the  Willimantic  Linen  Com- 
pany, manufacturing  spool-cotton,  which  is  outside  of  the  county  and 
so  not  mentioned  in  any  of  the  sketches  in  this  history.  From  small 
beginnings  it  has  grown  to  a  great  concern  of  $2,000,000  capital,  em- 
ploying 1,500  persons.  One  of  the  master  minds  in  building  it  up  was 
Austin  Dunham,  who  was  for  many  years  its  president,  until  his  death 
in  March,  1877.  He  was  also  largely  interested  in  manufactures  in 
Rockville,  Windsor,  and  other  places  in  the  State.  He  was  born  in 
Mansfield  in  1805,  and  came  to  Hartford  in  1834,  where  he  acquired  a 
large  fortune.  He  became  vice-president  of  the  ^Etna  Life  Insurance 
Company,  and  director  in  the  JEtna  and  the  Steam  Boiler  Insurance 
Companies,  the  Phoenix  Bank,  and  other  important  concerns.  He  was 
a  man  of  much  public  spirit  and  a  leading  citizen  of  Hartford. 

Another  great  Hartford  manufactory,  which  is  sketched  at  length 
in  the  history  of  Enfield,  is  the  Hartford  Carpet  Company,  with  its  cap- 
ital of  $1,500,000.  Much  of  its  later  success  is  due  to  the  able  man- 
agement of  Mr.  George  Roberts,  of  Hartford,  who  was  its  president  for 
thirty-two  years,  during  which  it  grew  from  moderate  beginnings  to  its 
present  great  importance.  Mr.  Roberts  was  born  in  East  Hartford  in 
1810,  and  died  in  Hartford  in  1878.  He  was  connected  with  many  of 
the  most  successful  business  enterprises  of  the  city,  and  was  held  in 
wide  respect  and  esteem. 


574  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

SECTION    XII. 

SOCIAL  LIFE  AFTER   THE  REVOLUTION. 

BY    HENRY    BALDWIN. 

Social  Life  from  tiie  Revolution  to  1830.  —  Customs  of  the  Town.  —  Amuse- 
ments and  the  Theatre.  —  The  Assembly.  —  Holidays  and  Election  Day. — 
Fashions  and  Luxuries.  —  Society.1 

The  condition  of  society  in  Connecticut  at  the  close  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, as  revealed  by  publications,  sermons,  and  letters,  was,  as  else- 
where, disordered,  and  looked  upon  by  faint-hearted  prophets  as  almost 
hopelessly  lawless.2  Vice,  intemperance,  and  irreligion  no  longer 
trembled  before  pulpit  and  statute.  Sanctuaries  were  deserted,  or 
attended  with  little  zeal,  and  suffered  to  stand  with  broken  windows 
and  leaky  roofs ;  moreover,  "  the  horrid  and  indecent  practice  "  of  sleep- 
ing in  meeting  had  become  common.  The  minister  no  longer  offered 
prayer  before  and  after  the  raising  of  a  house-frame.  Barbers'  shops 
were  open  on  Sunday.  Family  discipline  was  lax.  Respect  for  supe- 
riors and  elders  was  ceasing.  In  places  where  before  the  war  disputes 
between  townsmen  had  always  been  settled  by  their  neighbors,  the 
lawyer  was  now  called  in.  Honors,  Contents,  and  Mindwells  eloped  or 
"  behaved  oddly  ; "  and  recreant  husbands,  unsettled  in  habits  by  army 
life,  departed  for  remote  Vermont,  or  the  regions  beyond  what  was 
then  called  "  the  formidable  Hudson."  It  had  become  necessary  to 
bar  doors  at  night,  so  many  "  transient  persons  "  were  roaming  about. 
Slaves  were  heading  for  Boston,  "  that  asylum  of  runaways,"  as  one 
owner  called  it  in  his  advertisement.  Speculation  in  lands  and  lotter- 
ies had  become  a  craze ;  and  beggary  was  increasing  in  the  community, 
which,  if  never  wealthy  as  a  whole,  had  at  least  been  noted  for  its 
thrift.3 

In  view  of  these  things,  one  could  not  expect  the  pictures  of  social 
life  in  Hartford  before  1800  to  be  agreeable  in  their  subjects  or  to 
possess  rich  color  and  interesting  detail ;  but  while  it  is  true  that  the 
little  town  presented  its  infrequent  pageants  in  a  meagre  way  and 

1  In  addition  to  the  information  obtained  from  newspapers,  the  writer  has  received  aid 
from  members  or  descendants  of  the  Boardman,  Colt,  Day,  Dodd,  Ely,  Goodrich,  Goodwin, 
Hooker,  Lloyd,  Sheldon,  and  Talcott  families. 

2  An  earlier  seer  kindly  postponed  the  day  of  doom.  A  carved  box  in  the  possession 
of  Samuel  Talcott's  descendants,  which  came  from  the  Wyllys  family,  and  originally  from  a 
French  privateer,  bears  the  following  sentences  on  the  inside,  and  the  date,  July  17,  1764. 
"In  July  14,  1866,  America's  fate  is  fixt.  0  posteri !  Posteri !  Cavete  in  Anno  1866.  .  .  . 
Propheticus  est.  — Hezekiah  Wyllys." 

8  The  passion  for  investing  in  lotteries  pervaded  all  classes.  In  1790  Chauncey  Goodrich 
wrote  :  "We  draw  our  Lottery  the  next  week,  and  Mary  Anne  is  to  have  the  highest  Prize, 
which  is  already  laid  out  in  an  economical  manner."  The  objects  seemed  so  laudable, — 
now  a  meeting-house,  now  an  Episcopal  academy,  Harvard  College,  the  Washington  Monu- 
ment, —  that  he  who  lost  in  1784,  and  he  who  lost  in  1830,  could  take  some  comfort  from  the 
fact  that  his  money  was  well  wasted. 


SOCIAL   LIFE  AFTER  THE   REVOLUTION.  575 

dispensed  its  hospitalities  in  simple  fashion,  its  annals  weary  a  reader 
by  their  monotony  oftener  than  they  offend  his  moral  sense.  The 
foundations  of  religion  and  virtue  after  all  were  not  undermined ;  and 
a  romance  writer  would  doubtless  declare  that  the  citizens  erred  most 
flagrantly  by  being  prosaic.  Velvets  and  brocades  were  kept  for  special 
occasions  ;  and  more  time  was  spent  behind  counters  than  in  ball-rooms, 
since  there  had  never  been  much,  if  any,  pride  about  going  "into 
trade,"  and  the  profits  arising  from  transactions  in  St.  Croix  rum, 
Madeira,  Muscovado  sugar,  Young  Hyson,  Bohea,  and  East  India  silks 
were  not  to  be  despised.  Whatever  the  manners  and  business  of  indi- 
viduals were  during  the  first  half  of  the  period  discussed,  the  toiling, 
money-getting  population,  as  a  whole,  was  filling  its  mind  as  well  as  its 
pockets ;  and  the  list  of  books  offered  for  sale  or  published  here  before 
1800,  to  go  no  further,  should  be  sufficient  to  stop  the  mouth  of  any 
sneerer.  The  daughters  of  the  small  lawyers,  storekeepers,  and  inn- 
keepers finished  at  boarding-schools  in  Boston,  New  York,  or  Bethlehem, 
Pehn. ; *  or  learned  to  use  the  globes  and  to  paint  on  velvet  at  Mrs. 
Royce's  or  Mrs.  Patten's.  The  sons  fitted  for  Yale  at  the  grammar 
school,  or  were  commercially  trained  under  private  teachers.  Profes- 
sors of  music,  French,  drawing,  and  fencing  always  found  employment. 
This  was  not  barbarism ;  and  it  will  be  seen  from  the  following  re- 
view of  town  and  household  life,  and  especially  from  the  instances  of 
the  long  continuance  of  certain  old  customs  and  laws,  that  a  love  of 
morality  and  order  was  more  general  than  the  gloomy  foreboders  first 
mentioned  would  lead  one  to  believe. 

Among  the  customs  we  have  space  to  mention  was  the  important 
one  of  deference  to  superiors.  Children  were  taught  to  rise  when  aged 
people  entered  the  room,  and  in  some  families  to  stand  in  the  presence 
of  their  parents,  and  to  bow  or  courtesy  to  a  passer-by,  though  this 
was  not  insisted  on  in  Hartford  long  after  1800.2  A  rather  amusing 
instance  of  filial  obedience  was  given  in  an  advertisement  in  the  "Cou- 
rant "  in  1803,  in  which  a  young  lady  stated  that  her  father  had  given 
her  permission  to  teach  music.  Correspondence  was  modelled  upon 
letter-writers'  guides.  Fathers  addressed  their  sons  as  "  Sir,"  or  "  Dear 
Friend  ; "  sons  replied,  "  Sir,"  or  "  Honored  Parent."  Miss  Stoughton, 
of  East  Windsor,  in  inviting  sprightly  Nancy  Williams,  of  East  Hartford, 
to  parties,  began  her  notes,  "  Worthy  Lady."  These  formal  expressions 
occur  in  letters  written  as  late  as  1830,  and  usually  encrusted  sincere 
respect  and  affection. 

Valentines  and  decorated  love-missives  were  of  home  manufacture ; 
the  paper,  often  cut  in  various  devices,  folded  in  diamond  or  other 
shapes,  and  covered  on  the  outside  with  true-lover's  knots,  floral  hiero- 
glyphics, and  astonishing  flourishes.  Tissue-paper  circles,  pinked,  and 
painted  or  simply  ornamented  with  a  lead  pencil,  were  common  pres- 
ents to  gentlemen  to  put  in  their  watches.  There  were  few  who  did 
not  keep  diaries ;   and  extracts  from  two  will  show  what  important 

1  A  correspondent  of  the  "Courant,"  in  1795,  grumbled  over  the  "  affected  simplicity  and 
piety "  taught  at  Bethlehem,  and  asked  of  what  advantage  it  was  to  a  young  miss  to  learu 
scholastic  eloquence  and  embroidery  on  satin. 

2  The  late  James  Hosmer,  at  the  age  of  ninety-six,  politely  rose  to  receive  some  little 
children  who  came  to  call  on  him. 


576  MEMORIAL  HISTORY   OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

events  transpired  then,  and  how  quick-witted  some  of  the  girls  of  the 
time  were :  — 

"  .  .  .   1790.     We  had  roast  pork  for  dinner,  and  Dr.  S ,  who  carved, 

held  up  a  rib  on  his  fork  and  said,  '  Here,  ladies,  is  what  mother  Eve  was  made 
of.'  'Yea,'  said  Sister  Patty,  'and  it's  from  very  much  the  same  kind  of 
critter ! ' " 

"  March  26,  1819.     The  geraniam  blew  out  of  the  window." 

It  was  a  universal  custom  to  acknowledge  favors  through  the  press  ; 
thus,  in  1827  :  — 

"  Enoch  Perkins  presents  his  most  cordial  thanks  to  the  engineer,  fire-wardens, 
fire-companies,  and  citizens  for  their  able  and  spirited  exertions,  which,  by  the 
blessing  of  God,  were  successful  in  preserving  his  house  from  the  imminent 
danger  which  threatened  it  in  the  conflagration  which  took  place  on  the  night  of 
the  9th  instant." 

If  Dr.  Strong  was  made  a  life-member  of  the  Bible  Society,  or  Mrs. 
Flint  was  presented  with  a  goodly  number  of  runs  of  yarn  by  the  ladies 
of  the  parish,  the  same  method  of  expressing  gratitude  was  taken.  In 
driving,  people  apparently  followed  their  fancy  when  meeting  each 
other,  as  the  "  Courant "  in  1796  advised  them  to  adopt  the  habit  of 
turning  to  the  left. 

At  a  wedding  on  Main  Street,  in  1811,  the  bride  wore  an  India 
muslin,  with  short  embroidered  train,  over  silk  ;  the  groom,  who  was 
probably  a  Federalist,  small-clothes.  As  the  happy  pair  left  the  house, 
neighbors,  servants,  and  townspeople  generally  came  up  to  congratu- 
late, and  cake  and  wine  were  passed  through  the  crowd.  A  chaise 
adorned  with  silver  platings  had  been  made  expressly  for  the  wedding 
journey  ;  the  harness  was  silver  plated ;  a  trunk  matched  the  chaise ; 
and  with  a  colored  outrider  the  bride  and  groom  departed  for  their 
three  days'  trip  to  Boston.  When  Abigail  Ledyard  wedded  Samuel  Tah 
cott  (1767),  the  "  Courant"  praised  her  as  a  lady  "  possessed  of  every 
accomplishment  requisite  to  render  married  life  happy."  The  local 
papers  seldom  gave  way  to  sentiment,  over  such  occasions  in  town, 
though  the  marriage  notices  in  the  "  American  Mercury  "  were  long 
headed  by  a  picture  of  some  affectionate  doves ;  but  when  the  ceremony 
took  place  elsewhere,  the  bride,  Miss  Jemima  Loomis,  of  Suffield,  for 
instance,  would  often  be  described  as  amiable  and  accomplished,  and 
the  politic  editor  would  be  rewarded  with  a  loaf  of  cake  and  a  bottle  of 
wine. 

At  funerals  every  ornament,  mirror,  and  picture  was  either  removed 
or  muffled  in  napkins,  a  custom  that  survived  to  a  very  recent  period. 
The  body  was  borne  on  a  bier  on  men's  shoulders  ;  a  practice  done 
away  in  Hartford  in  1800,  but  continued  in  Pennington  and  elsewhere 
long  afterward.  The  mourners  wore  crape  on  their  arms  and  long 
weepers  on  their  hats.  The  bell  tolled  the  age  of  the  deceased  as 
the  procession  moved  along ;  a  custom  that  survived  until  1864  cer- 
tainly. After  the  funeral  the  friends  returned  to  the  house  and  partook 
of  cake  and  wine.  Their  kindness  was  acknowledged  in  the  papers 
somewhat  as  follows  (1807)  :  — 

"  The  Parents,  Bretheren,  and  Sisters  of  Horace  Bull,  deceased,  take  this 
method,  the  only  one  in  their  power,  to  return  their  most  unfeigned  thanks  to 


SOCIAL   LIFE   AFTER  THE  REVOLUTION.  577 

their  neighbours  and  friends  for  their  very  humane,  tender,  and  friendly  attention 
unceasingly  exercised  toward  the  deceased  during  his  very  distressing  sickness, 
and  also  toward  the  very  afflicted  family,  thro'  the  painful  and  very  impressive 
scene.  It  becomes  them,  also,  most  gratefully  to  recognize  the  marked  attention 
paid  to  their  dear  departed  child  and  brother  on  the  day  of  his  interment  by  the 
gentlemen  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  first  Company  of  the  Governour's  Foot 
Guards  of  which  the  deceased  was  a  member,  by  attending  the  corpse  to  the  place 
of  interment  tho'  the  weather  was  inclement,  and  returning  back  again  to  the 
house  in  company  with  the  mourners.  May  all  these  kindnesses  meet  a  tenfold 
reward." 

The  practice  of  presenting  mourning  rings  to  relatives  and  to  the 
officiating  minister  was  more  general  in  the  last  century  than  in  this. 
As  these,  in  early  times,  sometimes  bore  devices  of  coffins  and  skeletons, 
it  is  hard  to  believe  that  they  were  favorite  articles  of  adornment.  They 
were,  of  course,  useless  to  clergymen,  except  when  exchanged  for  money ; 
and  such  transactions  were  not  considered  scandalous. 

Obituary  notices,  which,  before  the  days  of  warm-hearted  and  long- 
suffering  Mrs.  Sigourney,  were  not  often  in  verse,  usually  rehearsed 
the  virtues  of  "the  surviving  consort"  and  of  the  family,  as  well  as  of 
the  deceased.  Sometimes  the  stock  phrases  were  discarded,  as  in  the 
case  (1798)  of  Mr.  Ebenezer  Lines,  aged  eighty-one, "  well  known  for  feats 
of  strength  and  activity  in  his  younger  days,  and  for  a  fund  of  wit  and 
humour  through  his  whole  life.  Alas,  poor  Yorick ! "  etc.  Some- 
times the  words  were  full  of  pathos,  as,  "Mrs.  Lucretia  Perkins,  in 
the  bloom  of  life."  The  titles  "  Mr."  and  "  Esq."  were  applied  with 
tolerable  discrimination  ;  a  person  not  entitled  to  either  would  be  desig- 
nated as  a  respectable  citizen  of  this  town.  Services  commemorative 
of  the  death  of  Washington  were  held  on  the  Friday  following  that 
event.  Business  was  suspended  ;  mourning  badges  universally  worn  ; 
and  the  muffled  bells  tolled  at  intervals  from  nine  in  the  morning  till 
the  hour  of  service.  A  long  procession  composed  of  all  classes  marched 
to  the  First  Church,  where  Dr.  Strong  preached  from  the  text  (Exodus 
xi.  3),  "  And  the  man  Moses  was  very  great;"  and  a  hymn  composed 
for  the  occasion  by  Theodore  Dwight  was  sung. 

In  the  meeting-house  the  congregation  faced  the  choir  during  the 
singing,  and  in  prayer-time  all  stood.  The  latter  practice  was  gradually 
given  up  by  the  women  ;  but  the  writer  recollects  seeing  old  men  stand- 
ing in  prayer-time  in  the  Fourth  Church  as  late  as  1866.  Any  man 
from  out  of  town  who  dared  to  drive  on  to  Main  Street  on  the  Sabbath 
was  pretty  sure  to  have  his  horse's  head  turned  toward  home  by  some 
watchful  deacon.     Shops  were  closed  on  Saturday  night  as  late  as  1835. 

As  caterers  were  unknown  and  the  style  of  entertainment  was 
simple,  social  gatherings  were  more  frequent  than  now.  In  1830  the 
old  programme  was  still  adhered  to ;  old  and  young  were  invited  to- 
gether, and  shook  hands  with  their  hostess  at  seven  o'clock.  Wood-fires 
crackled  on  the  hearths,  candles  glowed  on  the  mantel-pieces,  and  the 
company,  ranged  stiffly  around  the  walls,  chatted  with  each  other  or 
listened'  to  music,  —  some  old  song  perhaps,  like  "  Snatch  Fleeting 
Pleasures,"  or  "  At  Lucy's  door  was  Colin  seen."  If  dancing  was  not 
allowed,  it  was  rather  dull  for  some  of  the  young  folk.  A  stranger 
would  be  made  to  go  the  round  of  the  rooms  until  introduced  to  each 
person  present.     At  a  quarter  before  nine  refreshments  were  carried 

VOL.   I. —  37. 


578  MEMORIAL   HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

about  on  trays,  and  the  guests,  spreading  their  handkerchiefs  in  their 
laps,  partook  of  cold  tongue,  biscuits,  cake  of  various  kinds,  and  sweet- 
meats and  cream,  for  ice-cream  was  unknown.  On  one  occasion  a  con- 
servative who  had  partaken  of  (and  enjoyed)  preserved  limes  at  the 
Ellsworth's  shook  his  head  on  leaving  the  house,  saying  he  feared  Mrs. 
Ellsworth  was  introducing  foreign  luxuries.  A  few  always  left  at  nine 
o'clock,  and  ten  was  "  rather  late  "  for  anybody.  Invitations  to  tea- 
parties  were  no  longer  worded,  "  Come  at  early  candlelight,"  but  the 
ceremony  itself  was  still  primitive.  After  the  temperance  movement 
began,  many  families  that  had  banished  liquors  from  their  sideboards 
continued  to  offer  it  at  weddings  and  to  drink  the  health  of  the  absent 
on  Thanksgiving  Day,  and  a  bride's  outfit  was  not  considered  complete 
without  wine-glasses  ;  but  when  Henry  Clay  visited  the  city  and  jovially 
informed  the  assembly  he  addressed  that  he  had  simply  come  to  take 
a  drink  and  have  a  chew  of  tobacco  with  them,  the  best  citizens  felt 
insulted.  Old  men  who  were  allowed  toddy  because  they  were  too  old 
to  change  to  currant-shrub  were  a  source  of  great  anxiety  in  temper- 
ance households,  from  their  habit  of  giving  children  the  sugar  left  in 
their  glasses.  It  is  said  that  opposition  to  the  location  of  the  United 
States  Armory  here  arose  largely  from  a  fear  that  "  a  fast  set "  would 
be  introduced. 

Amusements,  as  the  word  is  now  interpreted,  were  almost  as  scarce 
as  holidays.  Billiard-playing  appears  to  have  been  common  in  1797, 
but  chiefly  among  men  who  frequented  taverns,  and  who  were  satir- 
ized in  the  papers  for  having  no  subject  of  conversation  in  ladies'  soci- 
ety except  when  gambling  or  horses  were  mentioned,  when  they  loosed 
their  tongues  and  chattered  in  the  "  elegant  dialect "  of  the  hostler. 
Chess  and  draughts  were  tolerated  generally ;  card-playing  was  com- 
mon, and  in  the  Lawrence  family,  which  is  remembered  as  otherwise 
strict,  whist-playing  was  an  art ;  but  after  1820,  and  in  consequence, 
probably,  of  revivals  of  religion,  cards,  like  dancing,  were  rather  the 
property  of  Episcopalians  and  the  ;'  gay  sets."  Sleighing  parties  were 
always  popular,  especially  after  1821,  to  Wethersfield,  where  "  Mother 
Bunce,"  who  kept  a  hotel,  was  famed  for  her  flip  and  her  doughnuts. 
Singing-schools  were  well  patronized,  whether  it  was  Andrew  Law  who 
taught  psalmody,  as  at  Ogden's  tavern  in  1798,  or  Amos  Bull  on  the 
south  side  in  1808.  Young  people  passed  their  evenings  together  con- 
tentedly in  ways  that  would  now  be  voted  childish  by  our  tif teen-year- 
olds.  One  favorite  amusement  when  they  met  at  the  Wyllys  house 
was  to  make  each  other  walk  blindfolded  to  the  Charter  Oak.  Mrs. 
Governor  Ellsworth  introduced  the  custom  of  giving  valentine  parties, 
and  about  the  same  time  historical  parties  were  popular,  at  which  the 
guests  personated  celebrated  characters  and  related  their  life  histories. 

y 

Outside  amusements,  though  few  in  number,  averaging  one  a  week 
in  early  times,  were  sufficiently  varied  in  character  to  suit  all  tastes. 
In  June,  1786,  "  Mr.  Webster  "  read  "  some  remarks  on  the  government, 
population,  slavery,"  etc.,  of  the  United  States,  at  eight  o'clock,  in  the 
North  Meeting-House.  In  1787,  Mr.  Poole,  "  An  American  Equestrian" 
performed  in  "  a  Manage  with  convenient  seats  .  .  .  near  the  landing." 
A  clown  appeared,  and  the  entertainment  ended  with  "  the  noted  droll 
scene,  the  TAYLOR  riding  to  Brentford."     In  1789,  Two  camels  were 


SOCIAL   LIFE   AFTER   THE   REVOLUTION.  579 

quartered  at  Bull's;  9d.  admittance.  The  advertisement  contained  a 
quotation  from  Genesis,  relating  to  Abraham's  camels,  and  must  have 
ensnared  the  clergy,  who  refrained  from  witnessing  the  variety  show 
"at  the  free  school-house,"  of  Mr.  Bennett,  from  Sadler' s-Wells.  In 
March,  1796,  a  lion  "  as  tame  as  any  domestick  animal "  was  to  be  seen  ; 
and  in  May,  at  Mr.  Pratt's,  a  real  male  Bison  ;  "  allowed  to  be  the  most 
surprising  animal  ever  exhibited  in  this  country."  At  the  "  house  "  of 
Mr.  Ramsey  there  were  trained  dogs  and  monkeys :  "  the  most  serious 
person  will  not  refrain  from  laughing."  At  a  waxwork  exhibition  at 
Mr.  Janes's  might  have  been  seen  "  Caroline  of  Litchfield,  Philemon 
and  Levinia,  and  The  Late  Dr.  Stiles."  The  following  advertisement 
appeared  in  1798  :  — 

The  ELEPHANT 


I 


S  now  in  the  City  at  the  House  of 
Mr.  LEE,  where  he  will  continue 
for  a  few  days.  Hartford,  May 


In  1799  Mr.  Franklin's  "  New  Circus  "  exhibited  on  the  South  Green 
at  five  o'clock.  In  that  same  year  crowds  went  to  dissipate  in  the 
"  Archimideal  Phaetons,  Vertical  Aerial  Coaches,  or  Patent  Foederal 
Balloons,  near  Mr.  John  Lee's  ;  the  machine  so  strong  that  persons  of 
a  timid  nature  will  enter  with  assurance  and  be  much  delighted  ;  others 
may  progress  500  yards  per  minute."  Similar  machines  were  put  up 
on  an  eminence  near  the  South  Green,  "  where  Invaletudinarians  may 
regain  their  health  by  a  sudden  revulsion  of  the  blood  and  humours." 
Another  attraction  was  a  beautiful  African  lion  at  Mr.  Joseph  Pratt's. 
The  public  was  assured  that  the  cage  was  substantial  and  the  lion 
under  good  command.  In  1804  a  museum  of  waxworks  at  David  Bull's 
included  the  duel  between  Burr  and  Hamilton,  and  the  beautiful  Eliza 
Fales  (the  victim  of  a  murder  in  Massachusetts)  ;  "  with  music  on  an 
organ."  Wild  beasts  met  with  much  favor :  the  lion  and  the  elephant 
paid  several  visits  to  the  town,  and  in  1808,  at  Joseph  Pratt's,  u  a 
Leopard  strongly  chained  "  was  an  object  of  interest. 

In  1809  Steward's  Museum  was  removed  from  the  State  House  where 
it  had  been  located  for  four  years,  and  established  opposite  the  Episcopal 
church,  and  "  gentlemen  sailing  to  foreign  parts  "  were  begged  to  col- 
lect curiosities  for  it.  It  was  removed  in  1824  to  the  fourth  story  of 
a  building  on  the  corner  of  Main  Street  and  Central  Row,  and  was  for 
many  years  the  only  permanent  place  of  entertainment.  Among  its 
wonders  was  the  model  of  a  railroad,  thirty  feet  long,  with  a  four- 
flanged-wheel  box,  and  a  full-size  model  of  a  guillotine,  brought  from 
Paris  by  Mr.  Ellsworth. 

In  1814  a  Mental  Entertainment  was  given  in  the  Centre  Meeting- 
House  for  the  benefit  of  the  State  Bible  Society  ;  also  Moral  Disserta- 
tions and  Recitations  for  the  benefit  of  the  Charitable  Society  (with 
the  approval  of  Governor  Smith,  to  whom  "  the  nature  and  object "  had 
been  explained).  In  1815  some  waxworks  at  the  city  hall  included 
"the  Austere  Father  frowning  upon  his  daughter,  finding  her  with  her 
gallant."  In  1816  a  sacred  concert,  consisting  chiefly  of  selections  from 
the  Messiah,  was  given  at  Christ  Church.     The  concert  began  at  five 

1  The  advertisement  in  the  "Mirror"  warned  people  with  papers  in  their  pockets  from 
approaching  too  near,  as  the  elephant  had  destroyed  several  valuable  ones. 


580  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

o'clock,  and  tickets  (37i  cents)  were  sold  at  the  door ;  but  this  was 
forbidden  when,  "  at  the  request  of  several  respectable  gentlemen,"  the 
concert  was  repeated.  The  Haudelian  Society  sang  at  the  same  place 
in  1817,  for  the  benefit  of  the  deaf-mutes.  Recitals  by  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Bartley  (the  latter  reader  to  the  Queen)  gave  much  pleasure  in  1820,1 
and  the  public  singing  at  the  Brick  Meeting-House,  with  lecture  by  Mr. 
Hawes,  must  have  been  profitable.  The  County  Agricultural  Society 
Exhibition  also  deserves  mention,  though  its  programme  was  repeated 
for  many  years  after.  There  was  a  cattle-show  on  the  South  Green,  a 
procession  from  the  State-House  to  Colonel  Elijah  Terry's  field,  in  the 
South  Meadow,  to  view  a  ploughing-match,  and  after  dinner  a  proces- 
sion to  the  Centre  Meeting-House,  where  appropriate  services  were  held 
and  premiums  distributed.  An  agricultural  ball  was  given  at  Morgan's, 
the  cards  to  which  were  engraved.  1822  was  a  musical  year :  witnessing 
the  oratorio  of  "  The  Intercession,"  sung  by  the  Jubal  Society  ;  a  sacred 
concert  by  the  Episcopal  Musical  Society  (both  in  Christ  Church)  ;  and 
at  the  South  Church  "a  select  oratorio  by  Alvah  Hathaway's  choir."  A 
"  Travelling  Tripod  "  was  to  be  exhibited  in  1824,  if  the  owner's  health 
would  permit.  In  1826  the  North  Singing  Society  performed  at  the 
North  Church.  The  dedication  of  the  new  South  Meeting-House,  in 
1827,  closed  with  a  sacred  concert ;  and  with  this  our  list  may  appro- 
priately end. 

The  drama  may  be  said  to  have  made  its  entry  in  May,  1778,  as 
a  letter  written  by  the  Rev.  Andrew  Eliot,  of  Fairfield,  to  his  father, 
informs  us.2 

"  Could  you  think  it  1  On  Monday  Evening,  in  election  week,  in  Hartford, 
the  Capital  of  the  State,  in  the  Court  House,  the  place  where  the  Fathers  of  the 
Senate  meet,  at  the  most  public  time,  and  in  the  most  public  manner,  was  acted 
Tancred  &  Sigismunda,  by  the  Junior  Sophister  Class  of  Yale  College,  who  had 
been  forbidden  to  act  the  same  at  Glastonbury  (where  they  have  lately  studied), 
and  who  embraced  the  opportunity  of  vacation  and  secured  the  Court  House  for 
the  purpose.  To  this  succeeded  a  farce  of  their  own  composing,  in  which  Gen'ls 
Burgoyne  and  Prescot  were  introduced.  To  keep  up  the  characters  of  these 
Generals,  especially  Prescot,  they  were  obliged  (I  believe  not  to  their  sorrow), 
to  indulge  in  very  indecent  and  profane  language. 

"  The  audience  consisted  of  the  Gentry  of  Hartford  and  the  vicinity,  and  a 
number  of  strangers,  among  whom  were  Dr.  Rodgers  and  Mr.  Tennent.  Those 
Rev'd  Gentlemen  were  very  much  offended  at  the  profane  language  intro- 
duced .  .  .  What  adds  to  the  illegality  is  that  the  actors  were  not  only  dressed 
agreeable  to  the  characters  they  assumed  as  Men,  but  female  apparel  and  orna- 
ments were  put  on  some,  contrary  to  an  express  statute.  Besides,  it  cost  the 
lads  £60  to  prepare  for  the  exhibition." 

An  advertisement  in  January,  1789,  shows^how  insidiously  the  evil 
crept  in.  Mr.  McPherson,  of  the  theatre  in  New  York,  proposed  to  give, 
by  authority,  "An  Attic  Entertainment,"  at  Mr.  David  Bull's  long  room ; 

1  Mrs.  Bartley  was  very  popular  in  New  York  and  Boston,  and  in  Hartford  read  to  crowded 
houses  several  times ;  but  barely  escaped  arrest  in  January,  1820,  at  the  hands  of  some  over- 
zealous  interpreters  of  the  old  law  against  play-acting,  for  reading  and  reciting  Shakspeare's 
plays,  at  Morgan's  coffee-house.  See  Clapp's  '"Record  of  the  Boston  Stage."  A  portrait  of 
Mrs.  Bartley  hangs  in  the  gallery  of  the  Wadsworth  Athenaeum. 

2  Centennial  Papers  of  the  General  Conference  of  Connnecticut. 


SOCIAL  LIFE  AFTER  THE  REVOLUTION.  581 

namely,  "A  Lecture  on  Heads  .  .  .  with  Additions  by  the  Lecturer." 
Among  the  "  additions  "  in  Fart  I.  was  the  "  Head  of  an  American  Sol- 
dier and  Patriot  contrasted  with  Alexander  the  Great ;  "  in  Part  II.,  "  a 
London  Blood ;  the  whole  concluding  with  the  '  Picture  of  a  Playhouse, 
or  Bucks  Have  At  Ye  AIL' "  Evidently  the  characters  were  given 
in  costume.  There  was  no  mention  of  "  play-acting "  in  the  papers 
for  several  years  after ;  but  Mary  Anne  Wolcott  Goodrich,  writing  in 
March,  1793,  said,  "  We  have  a  company  of  Players  in  Town,  tho'  I 
believe  they  exhibit  nothing  very  naturally  except  their  own  folly."  On 
July  28,  1794,  the  first  advertisement  of  a  theatre  appeared. 

Mondays  and  Thursdays  were  the  nights  selected  for  performances. 
The  box-book  was  soon  removed  from  Hudson  &  Goodwin's  to  the  post- 
office,  and  patrons  were  asked  "  not  to  remove  from  the  several  parts  of 
the  house  but  by  the  Doors,"  for  the  sake  of  example,  and  to  preserve 
tranquillity.  On  Sept.  10,  the  last  night  but  one,  Mrs.  Wilson  and 
Mr.  Bergman  had  a  benefit.  "  She  Stoops  to  Conquer  "  and  the  farce 
"Seeing  is  Believing"  were  followed  by  "A  Pantomical  Finale,  'Har- 
lequin's Cook,  or  the  Enchanted  Pye.' " 

The  actors,  nearly  all  of  whom  wore  English,  divided  their  time 
between  Philadelphia,  New  York,  Providence,  and  Boston;  and  this 
tentative  season  of  1794  was  so  encouraging  that  they  agreed  to  play 
regularly  in  Hartford  if  a  suitable  building  was  erected.1  A  letter  to 
the  "  Courant,"  in  March,  1795,  suggesting  that,  as  the  theatre  was 
about  to  be  established,  the  managers  exclude  everything  indecent  and 
irreligious,  or  else  submit  their  plays  to  a  committee  of  literary  gen- 
tlemen, would  seem  to  show  that  work  on  the  building  was  begun. 
This,  a  plain  white  structure,  was  erected  on  what  was  known  as 
Bachelor's  Street,  a  name  soon  changed  to  Theatre  Street,  and  on 
the  suppression  of  the  theatre,  and  possibly  from  the  religious  use  to 
which  the  building  was  put,  to  Temple  Street,2  The  season  of  1795 
began  on  the  27th  of  July,  with  a  concert  in  the  State  House.  PleyePs 
Symphony  and  an  Overture  were  among  the  selections,  and  the  orchestra, 
composed  of  French  e'migre's,  included  Brillat-Savarin,  Pellissier,  Du- 
puis,  La  Massue,  some  of  whom  became  well  known  in  France  at  a  later 
date;  and  on  this  day  an  advertisement  for  pupils  in  French  stated 
that  Brillat-Savarin,  "  formerly  a  member  of  the  Constituent  Assembly 
of  France,  and  of  many  literary  academies,"  had  met  with  much  success 

1  Hallam  and  Henry,  who  had  established  theatres  in  New  York,  Philadelphia,  and 
Providence,  petitioned  the  Massachusetts  Legislature,  in  1790,  for  leave  to  open  a  theatre. 
This  was  refused  ;  but  in  1792  a  "  New  Exhibition  Room  "  was  opened  (in  an  old  stable,  it  is 
believed).  Its  successor,  the  Boston  Theatre,  was  first  opened  Feb.  3,  1794. — Memorial 
History  of  Boston,  vol.  iv.  p.  359. 

2  Until  Nov.  15,  1796,  this  theatre  was  owned  by  Ephraim  Root,  and  was  located  on  the 
north  side  of  the  street,  on  what  is  now  known  as  Nos.  24  and  26,  which  belongs  to  the  Gil- 
man  estate.  The  property  was  divided  into  sixty  shares,  fifty-seven  of  which  were  sold  to  the 
following  named  gentlemen  :  Jeremiah  Wadsworth,  Elias  Morgan,  Amos  Bull,  John  Morgan, 
Timothy  Burr,  Benjamin  Bigelow,  Daniel  Jones,  Chauncey  Gleason,  Jesse  Root,  Jr.,  Samuel 
Marsh,  John  Caldwell,  Joseph  Bull,  Barzillai  Hudson,  William  Imlay,  William  Moore,  George 
Goodwin,  Charles  H.  Lathrop,  Solomon  Porter,  Jonathan  James,  Archibald  Wells,  Jr.,  George 
Bull,  Peleg  Sanford,  Daniel  Wadsworth,  Thomas  Bull,  Ezekiel  Wells,  Jr.,  Selden  Chapin, 
Jesse  Dean,  Thomas  Lloyd,  Jr.,  James  Tuffts,  James  Cook,  Spencer  Whiting,  William  Whit- 
more,  David  Goodwin,  Elisha  Lewis,  Joseph  Barrett,  Henry  Seymour,  James  Burr,  Aaron 
Hosford,  William  H.  Imlay,  Samuel  Trumbull,  John  Bishop,  "Nathan  S.  Whiting,  John  Wil- 
liams, Oliver  Phelps,  Mrs.  Francis  Hodgkinson,  an  actress  from  New  York.  —  F.  S.  Brown, 
in  the  Hartford  Daily  Times,  April  26,  1884. 


582  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

as  a  teacher  in  New  York.1  The  admission  to  this  concert  was  one 
dollar,  and  the  politic  Hodgkinson,  who  continually  strove  to  disarm 
his  foes  by  appealing  to  their  patriotism,  again  followed  custom  by  sign- 
ing the  advertisement,  "  Vivat  Respublica."  The  theatre  opened  on 
August  3,  with  the  comedy  of  "The  Dramatist,"  — Yapid  (with  the  Epi- 
logue in  character),  Mr.  Hodgkinson.  "  An  Occasional  Address,"  spoken 
by  the  author,  Hodgkinson,  and  a  musical  entertainment,  "The  Rival 
Candidates,"  preceded  the  comedy. 

The  "  Courant "  on  the  following  week  praised  "  the  handsome 
and  pertinent "  prologue,  and  hazarded  the  assertion  that  in  spite  of 
prejudice  the  theatre  was  likely  to  prove  a  school  of  morality,  a  source 
of  instruction,  and  an  innocent  amusement.  During  this  season  the 
curtain  rose  at  half-past  five  o'clock,  and  ladies  were  urged  to  send  their 
servants  at  five  to  secure  their  seats.  "Young  Gentlemen  up  to  12  and 
Young  Ladies  up  to  14  "  were  admitted  to  any  part  of  the  house  at  half 
price.  Performances  were  given  three  times  a  week,  and  among  the  at- 
tractions were  a  Pantomime  (clown,  Mr.  Durang;  Columbine,  Madame 
Gardie:)  Serious  Pantomimes ;  Pantomimical  and  Ballad  Dances;  an 
Interlude  Pantomime  ;  Sophia,  or  the  False  Friend  ;  and  the  Merchant 
of  Venice.  The  advertisements  took  up  much  space  in  the  "  Courant ; " 
but  early  in  October  Mr.  Martin  announced  that  having  failed  in  his  first 
attempt  for  a  benefit,  he  proposed  to  throw  himself  once  more  on  the 
public,  and  soon  after  (October  15),  Messrs.  King  and  Cleveland  had  a 
benefit,  "  positively  the  last  performance,"  as  considerable  losses  had 
been  sustained.  On  that  occasion  Mr.  Hodgkinson' s  prologue  contained 
the  following  lines  :  — 

"  If  by  rejecting  all  immoral  plays, 
With  all  indecent  scenes,  we  merit  praise  ; 
If  virtue  all  this  audience  would  applaud, 
And  detestation  feel  for  vice  and  fraud  ; 
If  naught  but  purity  is  here  approv'd, 
The  villain  spurn'd,  the  patriot  belov'd,  — 
With  that  in  view,  another  year  we'll  try 
T'  improve  the  heart  while  we  amuse  the  eye. " 

In  publishing  his  thanks  to  his  patrons  he  admitted  that  "  during  a 
small  part  of  the  season  "  the  theatre  had  not  received  the  encourage- 
ment he  expected. 

"  July  the  4th,  1796,  found  the  old  American  Company  at  Hartford, 
and  their  new  manager  [William  Dunlap]  with  them."  "The  Theatre 
was  opened  on  the  lth,  with  the  "  Provoked  Husband,"  and  "  Purse."2 
The  season  was  a  short  and  unsuccessful  one.  Dunlap,  "  after  several 
delightful  days  passed  with  his  friends  [Theodore]  Dwight,  [Richard] 
Alsop,  and  [Mason  F.]  Cogswell,"  returned  to  New  York,  July  19th, 
leaving  the  business  to  Mr.  Hodgkinson.  The  theatre  was  closed,  with 
a  "  last  night,"  September  13th.  During  the  season  the  company  gave 
such  pieces  as  "  Inkle  and  Yarico ,"  "  The  Old  Maid,"  Dibdin's  musical 
farce,  "The  Waterman;"  also  "An  Indian  Dance,"  "The  Grateful 
Lion,"  in  which  Mr.  Jefferson  (the  grandfather  of  our  Joseph  Jefferson) 
was  harlequin.     The  patrons  from  East  Hartford,  East  Windsor,  and 

1  The  propriety  of  showing  the  actors  attention  was  much  discussed  by  society,  and  the  con- 
clusion reached  that  the  stage  must  be  elevated,  since  it  had  become  a  fixture.  The  step  wa? 
never  regretted,  and  the  leading  ladies  and  gentlemen  were  highly  esteemed  by  the  best  citizens. 

2  Dunlap's  History  of  the  American  Theatre,  p.  152. 


SOCIAL   LIFE   AFTER   THE   REVOLUTION.  583 

Glastonbury  were  notified  in  the  papers  that  the  ferrymen  had  contracted 
to  attend  regularly  every  evening  after  the  performance  was  concluded. 
After  a  closing  concert  we  hear  no  more  of  the  theatre  until  November, 
when  a  Mr.  Winchester  held  preaching  services  there.  In  the  summer 
of  1797  the  curtain  rose  on  "  West  Point  Preserved,  or  the  Death  of 
Major  Andre,"  from  the  manuscript  of  "  the  late  Mr.  Brown  of  Boston." 
At  another  time  "  The  School  for  Soldiers"  was  given,  and  in  the  last 
act  the  Governor's  Guard  appeared  in  their  uniform,  and  executed  vari- 
ous manoeuvres.  Again, "  The  Taking  of  Quebec  "  afforded  Mr.  Chalmers 
a  benefit,  which  was  sadly  needed,  as  "  the  only  emolument  he  receives 
for  the  season  arises  solely  from  the  receipts  of  this  evening."  On  Octo- 
ber 2d  the  proprietors  met  to  receive  the  report  of  the  committee  on 
Mr.  Burr's  account  for  erecting  the  theatre  and  to  do  some  other  very 
necessary  business.  In  November  the  theatre  opened  for  a  few  nights, 
when  Hodgkinson's  "  Man  of  Fortune  "  and  "  The  Launch,  or  Huzza  for 
the  Constitution,"  were  played.1  In  the  latter  a  correct  view  of  the  North 
End  of  Boston,  Charlestown,  etc.,  "  taken  on  the  spot  by  Mr.  Jefferson," 
formed  part  of  the  scenery,  and  an  Allemand  was  danced  by  Madame 
Gardie  and  Mr.  Jefferson.  '"The  Launch,'"  said  the  "Courant"  next 
day,  "  excels  any  National  Drama  yet  presented  for  the  wit  and  chastity 
of  its  sentiment."  "A  Receipt  to  warm  the  Theatre  this  Evening" 
appeared  in  the  same  paper:  "Fill  the  Boxes,  Pitt,  and  Gallery." 

During  the  season  of  1797,  performances  varied  in  number  from  five 
to  two  nights  a  week,  and  "  The  Siege  of  Belgrade"  and  Garrick's  "  The 
Miss  in  her  Teens  "  were  among  the  plays.  The  price  of  the  gallery 
was  lowered  to  2/3,  and  to  people  of  color  1/6."  No  plays  were  given  in 
1798.  In  August,  1799,  Hallam  and  Hodgkinson  appeared  as  mana- 
gers and  opened  with  Kotzebue's  u  The  Stranger."  A  paragraph  of  the 
previous  week  having  been  misconstrued,  they  assured  the  citizens 

"  That  no  invidious  distinction  in  favor  of  any  class  was  meant  to  be  intro- 
duced ;  but  as  the  Pit  was  not  customarily  visited  by  Ladies  here,  they  wished 
to  point  out  that  it  was  an  objection  that  existed  only  here,  for  that  in  Europe  the 
most  respectable  citizens  with  their  families  give  it  a  decided  preference  ;  and 
anxious  to  do  away  the  idea  of  exclusion  from  the  Boxes,  they  have  resolved,  for 
this  season,  to  reduce  the  price  of  admission  to  Three  Quarters  of  a  Dollar  —  Pit, 
Half  a  Dollar  —  Gallery,  One  Quarter  of  a  Dollar." 

Another  advertisement  promised  u  Strictly  Moral  and  Truly  Rational 
plays  that  shall  refine,  Amend,  and  instruct  the  heart  while  they  Amuse 
the  Eye  and  Captivate  the  Understanding,"  and  ladies  were  urged  to 
visit  the  pit,  "  with  the  Assurance  that  in  Philadelphia  and  all  parts 
of  Europe  Tradesmen  and  their  Wives  go  there  by  choice."  "  The  Stran- 
ger "  was  received  "  with  reiterated  bursts  of  unbounded  applause." 
One  highly  popular  "  Historic  Tragedy,  Bunker  Hill,"  included  in  its 
scenic  effects  Charlestown  on  fire,  and  closed  with  a  solemn  dirge  and 

1  "  It  was  the  custom  in  the  earlier  days  of  the  theatre  to  signalize  passing  events.  .  .  . 
The  proposed  launch  of  the  frigate  'Constitution'  was  set  down  for  Sept.  20,  1797,  which 
was  regarded  by  Manager  Hodgkinson  as  an  event  worthy  of  his  attention.  .  .  .  In  forty-eight 
hours  he  completed  a  very  passable  piece,  and  announced  its  performance  (at  the  Boston 
Theatre).  The  historic  frigate  moved  only  a  few  feet  on  the  first  attempt  to  launch  it,  and  a 
second  trial  was  abortive  ;  but  the  third  trial,  Oct.  21,  proved  successful."  The  new  piece 
abounded  in  patriotic  songs,  etc.,  and  was  very  popular,  and  the  capture  of  the  "  Guerriere" 
by  the  "Constitution,"  in  1812,  furnished  fresh  material  for  realistic  effects.  —  Memorial 
History  of  Boston,  vol.  iv.  p.  366. 


584  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

The  public  are  rdpe&fulljr  informed,  tha  for -the  reft  of  the  fcafon  the  doors 
■will  open  at  5  and  the  curtail  rfie  precifely  at  6  o'clock; 

THEATRE,  Hartford. 

FOR  THE  BENEFIT  OF 

Mrs.  HODGKINSON. 

On  Wedmfday  Evening,  Otf.ij,   1793,  -will he prfented,  a  DRAMA  in  5  ails,  never  perform- 
ed lure.  Called 

Love  &  Liberty ; 

Or  the  CON  PIRACY  of  J 

Count  Benyowsky. 

"Written  originally  hy  Kotzeeue,  author  of  the  Stranger,  Self  Immolation  and  Lover}'  Vows, 

aud  iirft  tranflaredinto  Englifli,  >y  the  Reverend  W.  Render,  and  Mr.  W.'Duniap. 
The  Engljih  Reviewers,  pronounce  Count  Benyovfiy  the  heft  of  that  celebrated  author's  works* 
Count  Beoyowiky   (a  celebrated 'Role,  exiled  to  Kamtfchaiio\   Mr.  Hodgb'nfon. 
Iwan  Fredrowitz,  (Hettma/i  vf  ibt  KoJJaeh)  Mr.' JefTexfoa,. 

Cruftiew.  Mr.  Hogg; 

Stepanoff,  (  *|  Mr.  Hallara,  TUn. 

Gurcinio,  <  Exilei.  j-  Mr.  Price 

Baturin,  ^  J  Mr.  Lee. 

Kudrin,  Mr.  Perkins. 

Ordonnanz,  Mr.  CromwelL 

And,The  Governor  of  Kamchatka,  Mr.  Hallara. 

Feodora.  Mifs  Brett. 

-^/K/.Athanafia,  Mrs.  Hallam. 

The  SCENERY  of  this 

GRAND  DRAMA, 

Will  reprefent  the  inholbitable 

CLIMATE  OF  KAMTSCHATKA, 

A3  co-vered  with 

PERPETUAL    SNOWS, 

And  will  be  painted  by  Mr.  JEFFERSON. 
End  of  Act  2d.  Mks,  HODGKINSON  -will  fing  the  much,  admired  Song  of 

SWEET  ECHO. 

Accompanied  -with  the  Flute  only,  by  Mr.  HODGKINSON. 
End  of  Act  4th,  Mrs.  HODGKINSON,  will  recite  the 

SEVEN  AGES  OF  WOMAN, 

Being  a  kind  of  comparifon  'between  that  and   Shakefpear's 

SEVEN  AGES  OF  MAN. 

To  'which  will  le  added  (fr  the  laft  lime)  the  favorite  Mufcal  Entertainment  of  the 

SMUGGLERS ; 

OR    TUB 

GENEROUS  TAR. 

■Written  by  die  Author  of  the  '■  Adopted  Child"  and  performed  in  London,  with  even 
eclat  than  that  eclehrated  Piece, 
Trim, 

Capt.  Pendant, 
ValerJjnE, 
Sample, 


Mr.  Hodgkinfcm, 

Smugglers, 

Meff  Roberts  &. Cromwell 

Mr.  Hallam. 

Aid,  Shingle, 

Mr.  Jefferfon. 

Mr.  Hallam,  jun. 

Mr.  Hogg. 

Stella, 

Mifs  Bretr. 

Mr.  Lee. 

Margery, 

Mrs.  King. 

Mtfs  Harding. 

.^/i^Prullis, 

Mis.  Hodgkmfon. 

Edward, 
3-  Tickets,  and  places  fot  the  Boxes  to  be  had  as  uTual,  and  ct  Mril  Ehd/m  &  Gssiann. 

FAC-SIMTLE    OF    A    PLAYBILL,  1799.    BELONGING    TO    MR.   F.  S.   BROWN. 


SOCIAL   LIFE   AFTER   THE   REVOLUTION.  585 

funeral  procession.  On  the  last  night  the  house  m-ust  have  been  crowded 
to  see  "  The  Yankey  turned  Duelist "  and  the  pantomime,  "  Harlequin  in 
Hartford,  or  The  Touchstone  of  Truth."  The  words  and  music  of  the 
pantomime,  by  Dibdin  and  Garrick,  had  been  rewritten  by  Hodgkinson, 
and  Mr.  Jefferson  had  painted  "  correctly  "  a  view  of  the  State  House, 
and  of  the  city,  "  taken  on  the  water  near  Williams'  wharf."  One  of  the 
play-bills  of  1799,  a  fac-simile  of  the  unique  copy  possessed  by  Mr.  F.  S. 
Brown,  is  reproduced  on  the  preceding  page. 

In  May,  1800,  the  General  Assembly  passed  "  An  Act  to  prevent 
Theatrical  Shows  and  Exhibitions,"  imposing  fifty  dollars'  fine  on  who- 
ever exhibited,  or  aided  or  assisted  in  exhibiting,  "  any  tragedies,  come- 
dies, farces,  or  other  dramatic  pieces  or  compositions  ...  on  any 
public  theatre,  or  elsewhere,  in  this  State,"  and  received  from  the 
spectators  any  "  reward  for  their  service  and  labour  therein."  Hannah 
More's  "  Sacred  Dramas,  chiefly  intended  for  the  Young,"  was  reprinted 
in  Hartford  in  1801,  and  "  Pizarro,"  and  other  profane  representations 
were  given  for  years  after,  at  the  close  of  school  terms  in  adjoining 
towns,  and  often  in  meeting-houses ;  but  no  attempt  was  made  to  re- 
open the  theatre,  which  was  seldom  occupied  for  any  purpose,  and  was 
put  to  its  best  use,  the  public  thought,  when  Mr.  Hawes's  congregation 
worshipped  there  during  the  erection  of  their  new  church.  Children 
always  viewed  the  building  with  awe,  because  lightning  was  made 
in  it,  and  men  were  stabbed  but  never  arrested.  In  1809  Mr.  Bernard, 
manager  of  the  Boston  Theatre,  gave  a  "  Rational "  entertainment,  un- 
der the  title,  "  Shoot  Folly  as  it  flies,"  consisting  of  recitals  and  musical 
rhapsodies, —  a  feeler,  perhaps.  In  1811  a  meeting  of  the  proprietors 
was  called,  but  their  proceedings  were  never  made  public. 

A  Philo-Litcrary  Society  was  formed  in  1826  by  a  number  of 
young  clerks,  mechanics,  etc.,  who  hired  what  was  called  the  "  old 
circus,"  a  small  unplastered  building  about  on  the  site  of  the  present 
American  Hall.  The  performances  became  so  popular  as  to  attract 
people  from  neighboring  towns,  but  progressed  rapidly  from  readings  to 
tightrope-walking,  etc.,  and  then  to  regular  plays,  till  the  law  interfered, 
and  the  members  of  the  company  who  could  not  pay  their  fines  were  im- 
prisoned. "  Dan."  Marble,  an  apprentice  of  Jacob  Sargeant  the  jeweller, 
and  a  leading  actor,  ran  away,  joined  a  theatrical  company,  and  subse- 
quently attained  fame  as  a  personator  of  Yankee  characters.  Variety 
shows,  concerts,  etc.,  diverted  the  public  till  1852,  when  a  new  law  was 
passed  by  the  legislature,  allowing  each  town  to  regulate  its  own  amuse- 
ments, and  in  1853  the  common  council  of  the  city  licensed  theatres 
and  circuses. 

From  an  advertisement  of  May,  1787,  we  get  a  good  idea  of  the 
dancing-schools  of  those  days:  "Mr.  Griffiths  .  .  .  from  New  York, 
will  open  his  Dancing  School  at  Mr.  Enos  Doolittle's  long  room,  .  .  . 
and  continue  the  same  three  times  a  week."  The  hours  of  attendance 
were  from  9  to  12  a.m.  for  ladies ;  6  to  9  p.m.  for  gentlemen.  He  pro- 
posed to  have  weekly  balls,  to  which  spectators  should  be  admitted,  and 
to  teach  "  4  different  kinds  of  Minuets ;  also  Cotillion  minuets,  Cotil- 
lions, Country-dances,  and  the  Hornpipe."  "Inquire  at  Mr.  John 
Avery's,  merchant,  where  he  is  lodged."  In  returning  his  compliments 
to  his  patrons  on  leaving,  in  August,  he  regretted  that  he  could  not 


586  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF   HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

"  complete  that  pleasing  task,  the  embellishment  of  his  scholars,  who 
for  so  short  a  time  (considering  their  number  to  exceed  ninety),  he 
presumes  to  say,  have  equalled,  if  not  excelled,  any  school  upon  the 
continent."  He  proposed  to  return  in  April,  and  would  charge  three 
dollars  entrance,  and  three  dollars  per  quarter."  Old  scholars  were  to 
be  charged  four  dollars,  but  no  entrance-fee.  To  enumerate  all  the 
dancing- masters  who  paid  attention  to  the  heels  and  "  the  morals  and 
manners  of  the  young  "  is  unnecessary.  De  Berard,  Hulett,  Guey,  Ig- 
natius Curley  Frazier,  Whale,  and  Fuller  were  some  of  them ;  and  nota- 
bly the  Values  (one  of  whom  was  said  to  be  "a  real  count"),  whose 
subscription  "  publics  "  and  cotillion  parties  were  frequent.  J.  Devero 
was  a  well-known  and  highly  popular  teacher  for  many  years  before 
and  after  1800. 

The  Rev.  John  Bennett's  "  Letters  to  a  Young  Lady,"  published  in 
Hartford  in  1791,  recommended  dancing  as  an  accomplishment,  thus 
echoing  the  sanction  the  old  ordination  balls  had  given  it.1  In  1799  a 
small  pamphlet  was  published  in  Hartford,  entitled  "  Twenty-four  Fig- 
ures of  the  most  fashionable  Country-Dances,  together  with  Eight  Cotil- 
lions in  the  year  1800.  Composed  and  selected  by  John  H.  Ives." 
Another,  entitled  "  Innocent  Recreation,"  was  "  Printed  for  the  Pur- 
chasers "  in  1803,  and  no  more  definite  place  of  publication  revealed 
than  "  New  England."  Among  the  country-dances  in  this  are  Con- 
stancy, Orange  Tree,  Springfield  Assembly,  Miss  Foster's  Delight,  and 
The  President,  the  latter  to  be  danced  as  follows :  First  couple  cross  at  the 
top ;  cast  down  one  couple  ;  allemand  six  down  the  middle ;  up  again  ; 
cast  off  one  couple ;  right  and  left.  In  this  year  Federal  dances  and 
pettycoatees  were  taught. 

The  Assembly  —  a  name  that  even  now  brightens  many  a  dim  eye 
and  sets  in  motion  many  a  weary  foot  —  grew  very  naturally  out  of 
the  cotillion  parties.  The  writer  cannot  discover  just  when  the  As- 
semblies began ;  but  in  1790  Chauncey  Goodrich,  in  writing  to  Fred- 
erick Wolcott,2  says  he  is  bidden  to  say  "  that  our  Assemblies  are 
most  brilliant,  and  that  at  the  last  there  were  forty  Ladies  in  most 
superb  attire,  among  whom  was  Mrs.  Goodrich  in  a  most  elegant  fancy 
dress."  Among  the  ladies  who  graced  these  balls  between  1791  and 
1813  were :  the  Misses  Butler,  Hudson,  Bull,  Chester,  Root,  McCrackan, 
Wadsworth,  Talcott,  and  Wyllys ;  the  accomplished  Miss  Nancy  Glea- 
son ;  Miss  Olivia  and  Miss  Nancy  Sargent ;  Miss  Laura  Wolcott,  of 
Litchfield ;  Miss  Harriot  Cowles  and  sister,  of  Farmington ;  the  first 
Mrs.  Sigourney ;  and  Mrs.  Phillips,  of  Wethersfield ;  and  we  hear  of 
the  independent  Miss  Trumbull,  who  was  admired  for  wearing  a  simple 
white  gown  one  entire  season, —  though  "they  did  say"  that  only  a 
young  lady  in  her  social  position  would  have  dared  to  do  it.  White 
India  muslin  or  blue  crape  was  much  worn^over  blue  or  rose-colored 
"  slips,"  which  were  matched  by  the  sashes  and  shoes.  In  the  minuets 
the  ladies  carried  their  trains  over  their  arms.  At  the  Assembly  on 
the  week  after  Washington's  death,  by  request  of  the  managers,  the 

1  In  1786  Mary  Anne  Wolcott  wrote  from  Litchfield  to  her  brother  Frederick,  at  Yale,  "I 
have  been  dancing  all  the  forenoon.  .  .  .  We  dance  again  this  evening ;  meantime  you  are 
poring  over  some  antiquated  subject.  Our  dancing  is  'an  amusement  that  profits  the 
mind.'  "  —  Wolcott  Memorial, 

2  Wolcott  Memorial. 


SOCIAL   LIFE   AFTER   THE   REVOLUTION.  587 

ladies  wore  white  trimmed  with  black,  and  the  gentlemen  "  a  crape  " 
on  their  arms.  The  secretary's  book  covering  the  period  1807-1813 
has  been  preserved,  and  from  this  the  folloAving  list  of  subscribers  is 
taken.     Those  in  1807  were  :  — 

Andrew  Kingsbury,  David  Porter,  Christopher  Colt,  James  B.  Hosmer, 
Eliphalet  Terry,  Jr.,  Richard  E.  Goodwin,  Jacob  Sargeant,  Daniel  Wadsworth, 
Nathaniel  Terry,  John  Morgan,  David  Goodwin,  Ward  Woodbridge,  Amos  Ran- 
som, Samuel  Tudor,  Jr.,  Thomas  Glover,  Henry  Hall,  Charles  Sigourney,  Timo- 
thy Burr,  John  King,  Chauncey  Gleason,  Thomas  K.  Brace,  Henry  Newberry, 
Peter  B.  Gleason,  James  Ward,  Jared  Scarborough,  John  Lee,  Normand  Knox, 
Titus  L.  Bissell,  Stedman  Adams,  Joshua  P.  Burnham,  Henry  King,  John  Rip- 
ley, Christopher  Ripley,  Robert  Starr,  Anson  Hayden,  William  E.  Lee,  Thomas 
S.  Williams,  Aaron  M.  Church,  George  Goodwin,  Jr.,  Seth  Terry,  Edward  Wat- 
kinson,  John  Pierce,  Philo  Hillyer,  Joseph  Trumbull,  Edward  Perkins,  Orson 
Seymour,  Solomon  Smith,  John  Whales,  Samuel  Curtis,  William  Watkinson,  Seth 
Whiting,  Erancis  Gibson,  Hezekiah  Flagg,  James  Goodwin,  2d,  Elisha  Phelps, 
George  Goodwin,  2d,  Charles  Hosmer,  Richard  I.  Goodman,  James  Dodd,  Roswell 
Bartholomew,  Moses  Tryon,  Jr.,  Henry  Kilborn,  William  Dodd,  Asa  Butler, 
Charles  B.  King,  —  65. 

Among  new  names  in  1810  were  :  Thomas  Day,  Dudley  Buck,  Ralph 
Wells,  George  Beach,  Russell  Talcott,  and  Robert  Davis;  and  among 
the  fifty-two  who  subscribed  twelve  dollars  each,  in  1812,  were:  Enoch 
Perkins,  Lynde  Olmsted,  and  A.  W.  Robbins.  Many  of  the  subscribers 
were  from  adjoining  towns. 

Among  the  fourteen  regulations  which  governed  the  Assemblies  at 
the  time  of  their  dissolution  were  these  :  — 

"  No  Lady  under  fifteen  years  of  age,  or  Gentleman  during  his  apprenticeship,1 
will  be  admitted.  No  Card-playing  will  be  permitted,  except  in  the  Gentleman's 
drawing-room.  The  drawing  for  Partners  and  Places  will  commence  at  6  O'Clock, 
or  sooner,  provided  a  sufficient  number  appear  to  form  a  sett.  No  sett  shall  be 
called  up  after  2  O'Clock,  nor  any  expense  incurred  to  subscribers  after  dancing 
ceases.  Ladies  who  are  below  stairs  first  after  dancing  ceases,  will  be  first  entitled 
to  carriages." 

Strangers  for  whom  subscribers  became  responsible  could  be  admit- 
ted by  paying  three  dollars  for  the  evening.  If  a  lady  had  no  brother, 
her  father  subscribed  for  her.  The  only  entry  in  the  secretary's  book 
concerning  entertainment  is  dated  1811,  when  Mr.  Ransom  made  the 
following  agreement :  "  Suppers  to  be  provided  for  Gentlemen  and  La- 
dies, at  one  table,  for  2s.  3d.  each.  Wine :  best  Madeira,  7s.  6d.  per 
bottle ;  Porter,  2s.  3d.  do. ;  Lemonade,  Is.  6d.  mug ;  Brandy,  as  usual, 
3s.  per  pint."  Syllabub  was  one  delicacy  that  was  furnished,  and  at 
first  the  refreshments  were  very  simple.  Ransom's  appears  to  have 
been  a  popular  place,  and  Thursday  evening  a  favorite  time.  The 
assemblies  began  in  January,  and  were  held  every  other  week  for  two 
months  or  so. 

1  Apprentices  boarded  with  their  employers,  and  being  often  of  as  good  families,  were 
treated  more  like  sons  than  servants,  and  were  subject  to  the  same  restrictions  ;  one  of  which 
was  that  they  should  be  in  by  ten  o'clock.  One  merchant,  who  was  out  till  that  hour,  came 
up  the  steps  just  as  the  clock  struck,  to  hear  the  key  turned  in  the  lock  by  an  irreverent  clerk, 
who  thought  the  rule  should  work  both  ways. 


588  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF  HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

The  war  and  the  consequent  hard  times  probably  would  have  brought 
the  Assemblies  to  an  end  if  nothing  else  had  occurred ;  but  two  resolu- 
tions adopted  in  1812  suggest  the  thought  that  the  company  was  grow- 
ing less  exclusive,  and  that  some  of  the  gentlemen  had  brought  reproach 
upon  it ;  that  is :  "  only  ladies  residing  in  Hartford  shall  be  invited,"  and 
"  no  Loo  shall  be  suffered  to  be  played  in  the  Gentleman's  drawing- 
room.'"  There  were  occasional  cotillion  parties  up  to  1817,  when  the 
Assemblies  were  revived,  and  continued  two  years.  It  is  thought  that 
Dr.  Hawes  "  preached  them  down,"  as  many  of  his  flock,  and  not  a  few 
of  his  church-members,  were  attendants ;  and  doubtless  the  revivals  that 
occurred  during  his  ministry  turned  the  thoughts  of  many  to  more 
serious  subjects ;  but  the  Election  Ball  was  a  fixture  ;  and  from  time  to 
time  there  were  winter  cotillion  parties,  quarter  balls,  and  other  chances 
"  to  foot  it  in  the  dance  that  Folly  leads,"  as  a  local  poet  of  that  day 
expressed  it.  Besides  these  not  very  giddy  butterflies,  there  were 
plenty  of  bookworms,  who  preferred  to  study  Greek  or  read  Scott  aloud 
evenings ;  "  averse,"  as  the  obituary  notice  of  one  of  their  number 
described  her,  "  to  the  thoughtless  indulgence  of  fashionable  excess ;  be- 
lieving an  improved  understanding  and  a  virtuous  heart  to  be  the  most 
important  and  rational  attainments  of  this  transient  life." 

Independence  Day  always  came  in  with  bell-ringings,  firing  of  can- 
nons, and  general  tumult  on  the  part  of  the  boys.  A  public  dinner 
was  the  chief  festivity,  and  was  eaten  at  an  inn,  as  at  Mr.  Goodwin's 
in  1801,  where  " a  respectable  circle"  assembled;  or,  as  in  1803  and 
1804,  in  Wadsworth's  Grove.  The  day  was  always  finished  "  with  sobri- 
ety and  good  order."  It  is  not  known  that  ladies  ever  spoke  on  these 
occasions ;  but  at  Simsbury,  in  1804,  the  minister's  wife,  Mrs.  Hallock, 
answered  to  the  toast,  "  The  Great  Political  Hive."  Sunday  schools,  in 
their  early  days,  often  marched  to  Wadsworth's  Grove  to  drink  lemon- 
ade and  listen  to  patriotic  speeches. 

In  1794  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  preceded  by  a  band,  inarched 
from  the  State  House  to  the  North  Meeting-House,  to  hear  a  prayer  and 
an  oration.  Returning  to  the  State  House,  they  held  their  annual  elec- 
tion, and  then  dined  at  David  Bull's  with  "  the  greatest  good  humour." 
A  large  collection  of  ladies  and  gentlemen  feasted  under  an  arbor  at 
Frederick  Bull's,  with  "  cheerfulness  and  temperate  conviviality,"  and 
cannon  were  discharged  between  the  toasts.  In  1798  the  Society  dined 
at  Bull's  ;  the  military  on  the  South  Green ;  the  citizens  at  the  theatre, 
where  Messrs.  Benjamin  and  Tudor  sang  "Hail  Columbia"  and  "Adams 
and  Liberty,"  and  landlord  Utley  furnished  an  elegant  collation:  "a 
happy  mixture  of  glee  and  urbanity  "  shone  from  the  faces  of  the  guests. 
In  1825,  at  the  Centre  Brick  Meeting-House,  William  W.  Ellsworth 
read  the  Declaration  ;  the  oration  was  by  Professor  George  W.  Doane ; 
and  "  a  hymn  and  ode  by  a  lady  of  this  city  "  wTere  sung.  The  Hon. 
John  T.  Peters  was  president  of  the  day  ;  the  vice-presidents  were 
Thomas  Day,  John  Russ,  Thomas  K.  Brace,  and  Henry  Seymour ;  Gen- 
eral Nathan  Johnson  was  chief  marshal.  The  citizens  dined  in  the 
Senate  Chamber ;  the  Mechanics'  Society,  at  Morgan's.  Thanksgiving, 
as  the  writer  learns  from  Mr.  Charles  J.  Hoadly,  had  in  the  last  century 
no  fixed  date ;  but  was  appointed  in  1775  on  November  5  (Gunpowder 
Plot),  and  in  1795  on  December  24.     The  law  prohibiting  "  servile 


SOCIAL  LIFE  AFTER  THE  REVOLUTION.  589 

labor"  on  that  day  was  repealed  about  1830.  It  was  a  solemn  sea- 
son, and  the  hilarity  of  the  young  folks  was  held  in  check  till  evening, 
when  they  frolicked  as  they  pleased  ;  played  "  Fox  and  Geese,"  "  Grind 
the  Bottle,"  "  Dress  the  Lady,"  "  Hunt  the  Lion,"  "  Sick  of  My  Part- 
ner," etc.,  and  drew  their  elders  into  their  sports.  While  there  was 
no  State  law  against  keeping  Christmas,  the  general  observance  is  of 
comparatively  recent  date ;  but  in  one  non-Episcopal  family  there  was 
a  recognition  of  the  day.  The  slaves  of  Samuel  Talcott  had  their  Yule- 
log,  and  as  long  as  this  lasted  their  evening  jollity  continued  ;  hence 
their  anxiety  to  draw  as  huge  a  log  as  possible  into  the  kitchen, 
and  the  narrow  escapes  the  house  sometimes  had.  The  little  church- 
men who  now  hang  up  their  stockings  there  represent  the  sixth  gen- 
eration that  has  inhabited  the  mansion.  In  1823  the  "  Courant " 
suggested  that  Christmas  Day  be  generally  observed  as  a  religious 
occasion,  and  announced  that  Mr.  Hawes,  at  the  request  of  some  of  his 
parishioners,  would  preach  a  sermon.  At  that  time  a  few  sprigs  of  ever- 
green or  a  sugar  heart  or  two  were  the  only  symbols  to  be  seen  in  the 
shop  windows,  and  on  the  day  itself  few  shops  were  closed.  New-year's 
Day  was  sometimes  marked  by  gifts  of  candy  to  the  children,  while 
Washington's  Birthday  was  a  time  for  military  dinners  and  dancing- 
parties  ;  and  April  Fool's  Day  was  improved,  as  now,  by  the  youngsters. 

But  Election  Day,1  the  reddest-lettered  in  our  calendar,  brightened 
the  whole  year.  "  Good  housekeepers  were  expected  to  have  finished 
their  spring  cleaning  long  before,  and  fire-irons  and  brasses  were 
papered  and  put  away  in  the  garret.  As  the  month  of  May  approached, 
the  old  women  from  Bolton  or  Wintonbury  came  in  witli  their  fragrant 
bundles  of  roots  and  herbs,  and  the  spring  beer  was  set  to  working, 
while  the  'lection  cake  was  rising  and  rising  to  make  ready  for  the 
oven  ;  and  few  homes  were  too  poor  to  offer  these  refreshments  to 
visitors."  The  cake-making  began  a  week  beforehand,  —  this  delectable 
compound  testing  the  talents  and  strength  of  a  cook  as  nothing  else 
could  possibly  do ;  and  a  Hartford  family  that  cannot  recite  some  tra- 
dition connected  with  it  has  no  claims  to  antiquity.  Mothers  sat  up 
all  night  to  watch  the  batch  of  twelve  or  twenty  loaves,  or  called  their 
daughters  long  before  cock-crowing  to  make  investigations  ;  nay,  some 
were  known  to  faint  from  fatigue  while  mixing  the  materials.2  When 
the  girls  were  not  busy  at  these  things  they  were  getting  their  white 
dresses  ready,  for  in  those  years  the  weather  was  lenient.  Meanwhile 
the  local  musicians  were  practising.  There  was  one  famous  trumpeter, 
about  1790,  Jonas  Sloan,  who  lived  on  the  North  Meadows,  and  the 
children  used  to  prick  up  their  ears  long  before  Election  week,  fancying 
they  heard  his  footings  and  experiments. 

All  day  Wednesday  the  country  people  poured  into  town,  bringing 
their  dinners  with  them  or  relying  on  the  corner  stands,  where  root  and 
ginger  beer,  molasses  candy,  and  gingerbread  were  sold.  The  houses 
were  already  full  of  visitors  ;  and  in  the  parlor — opened  then,  if  ever  — 
or  the  living-room,  pine  boughs  or  branches  of  lilacs  filled  the  fireplaces 
and  a  table  was  set  with  cake  and  wine.   Hospitality  was  so  free  that  the 

i  The  first  Thursday  in  May. 

2  It  was  a  rich  loaf-cake.  A  batch  of  twelve  loaves  contained,  among  other  ingredients, 
twelve  quarts  of  flour,  six  pounds  of  butter,  half  a  pint  of  French  brandy  and  half  a  pint  of 
wine,  one  quart  of  "emptins,"  and  six  pounds  of  raisins. 


590  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

doors  of  some  wealthy  people  were  open  to  any  stranger  who  chose  to 
walk  in  and  refresh  himself.  The  sidewalks,  which  had  been  religiously 
swept  down  to  the  very  street,  were  thronged,  and  late  in  the  afternoon 
all  ears  were  open  to  catch  the  first  peal  of  the  Centre  Meeting-House 
bell,  which  began  to  ring  as  soon  as  the  head  of  the  procession  was  seen 
by  the  spy-glasses  of  the  watchmen  in  the  steeple.  Mrs.  Anstice  (Updike) 
Lee,  of  Providence,  who  spent  Election  week  in  Hartford  in  1791,  wrote 
down  her  recollections  in  1855.1  She  rode  here  on  horseback  with  her 
brother,  as  the  roads  were  too  muddy  for  wheels,  and  put  up  at  Bull's 
Tavern,  where  she  particularly  enjoyed  the  bloated  salmon.2  Of  the 
day  before  election  she  says  :  — 

"  In  the  afternoon  Governor  Wolcott  was  expected  to  arrive.  To  witness  the 
display,  Mr.  Pomeroy  took  us  to  the  house  of  General  Wyllys,  which  stood  nearly 
opposite  to  the  State  House.  The  company  of  horse  made  an  imposing  appear- 
ance. The  riders  were  dressed  in  caps  with  a  brass  plate,  and  feathers  in  them, 
short  jackets  or  coats,  short-clothes,  and  high  gaiters.  I  think  the  color  was  deep 
blue  faced  with  red.  The  horses  were  very  fine,  and  Mr.  Pomeroy  said  they  were 
of  two  hundred  dollars  value  each,  which  was  a  great  price  at  that  time.  After  tea, 
say  an  hour  before  sunset,  it  was  announced  that  the  Governor  and  procession  were 
entering  the  city.  When  he  arrived  in  front  of  the  State  House  he  alighted, 
ascended,  and  stood  on  the  spacious  front  step.  The  military  passed,  and  saluted 
him  by  a  discharge  of  their  pistols  over  his  head.  After  the  salute  he  walked  to 
a  public  house  near. 

"  The  next  day  (Thursday)  the  procession  was  the  longest  I  had  ever  seen. 
It  was  headed  by  the  military ;  then  followed  the  sheriff  with  his  sword,8  the 
Governor,  Senate,  and  members  of  the  House  of  Eepresentatives,  two  and  two ; 
and  then  singly  walked  President  Stiles,  dressed  in  a  full  black  gown,  cocked  hat, 
and  full-bottomed  white  wig.  I  should  think  there  were  two  hundred  ministers, 
dressed  in  black,  and  after  them  walked  the  citizens.  I  did  not  attend  church  on 
account  of  the  crowd.  The  legislature  convened  again  after  service,  and  had 
refreshments,  which  were  furnished  at  State  expense,  as  I  was  informed.  It  was 
carried  into  the  State  House  on  trays." 

Kendall's  Travels  in  the  Northern  United  States  describe  the  elec- 
tion ceremonies  of  1807.4 

"  I  reached  Hartford  at  noon,  on  Wednesday  the  19th  of  May.  .  .  .  The  Gov- 
ernor, whose  family  residence  is  on  the  east  side  of  the  river,  at  some  distance 
from  Hartford,  was  expected  to  arrive  in  the  evening.  This  gentleman,  whose 
name  is  Jonathan  Trumbull,  is  the  son  of  the  late  Governor  Jonathan  Trumbull ; 
and  though  the  election  is  annual,  he  has  himself  been  three  or  four  years  in 
office,  and  will  almost  certainly  so  continue  during  the  remainder  of  his  life.  .  .  . 

"The  Governor  has  volunteer  companies  of  guards,  both  horse  and  foot.  In 
the  afternoon,  the  horse  were  drawn  up  on  the  banks  of  the  river,  to  receive  him 
and  escort  him  to  his  lodgings.  He  came  before  sunset ;  and  the  fineness  of  the 
evening,  the  beauty  of  the  river,  the  respectable  appearance  of  the  Governor  and 
of  the  troop,  the  dignity  of  the  occasion,  and  the  decorum  observed,  united  to 

1  Abridged  from  her  letter  to  the  President  of  the  Historical  Society,  as  quoted  in  "  Arms- 
mear." 

2  The  fish  was  no  rarity  then.  A  postscript  in  a  letter  of  Mary  Anne  Goodrich's,  dated 
April  3,  1791,  says :  "The  flood  is  up,  which  prevents  their  taking  any  salmon,  or  I  would  have 
sent  you  one." 

8  In  early  days,  the  governor  when  going  to  and  coming  from  the  sessions  of  the  legisla- 
ture was  preceded  by  the  sheriff,  who  was  bareheaded  and  carried  a  naked  sword. 
4  Vol.  i.  pp.  2-6  ;  slightly  abridged. 


SOCIAL   LIFE   AFTER   THE   REVOLUTION.  591 

gratify  the  spectator.  The  colour  of  the  clothes  of  the  troop  was  blue.  The  Gov- 
ernor, though  on  horseback,  was  dressed  in  black ;  but  he  wore  a  cockade,  in  a 
hat  which  I  did  not  like  the  less,  because  it  was  in  its  form  rather  of  the  old 
school  than  of  the  new. 

"  In  the  morning,  the  foot-guards  were  paraded  in  front  of  the  state-house, 
where  they  afterward  remained  under  arms,  while  the  troop  of  horse  occupied 
the  street  which  is  on  the  south  side  of  the  building.  The  clothing  of  the  foot 
was  scarlet,  with  white  waistcoats  and  pantaloons ;  and  their  appearance  and 
demeanour  were  military. 

"  The  day  was  fine ;  and  the  apartments  and  galleries  of  the  state-house  afforded 
an  agreeable  place  of  meeting,  in  which  the  members  of  the  Assembly  and  others 
awaited  the  coming  of  the  Governor.  At  about  eleven  o'clock  his  Excellency 
entered  the  state-house,  and  shortly  after  took  his  place  at  the  head  of  a  pro- 
cession which  was  made  to  a  meeting-house,  or  church,  at  something  less  than 
half  a  mile  distant.  The  procession  was  on  foot,  and  was  composed  of  the  person 
of  the  Governor,  together  with  the  lieutenant-governor,  assistants,  high-sheriffs, 
members  of  the  lower  house  of  Assembly,  and,  unless  with  accidental  exceptions, 
all  the  clergy  of  the  State.  It  was  preceded  by  the  foot-guards,  and  followed  by 
the  horse ;  and  attended  by  gazers,  that,  considering  the  size  and  population 
of  the  city,  may  be  said  to  have  been  numerous.  The  church,  which  from  its 
situation  is  called  the  South  Meeting-House,  is  a  small  one,  and  was  resorted  to  on 
this  occasion  only  because  that  more  ordinarily  used  was  at  the  time  rebuilding. 
The  edifice  is  of  wood,  alike  unornamented  within  and  without ;  and  when  filled 
there  was  still  presented  to  the  eye  nothing  but  what  had  the  plainest  appear- 
ance. The  military  remained  in  the  street,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  officers 
to  whom  no  place  of  honor  or  distinction  was  assigned  ;  neither  the  Governor  nor 
other  magistrates  were  accompanied  with  any  insignia  of  office  ;  the  clergy  had  no 
canonical  costume ;  and  there  were  no  females  in  the  church,  except  a  few  (rather 
more  than  twenty  in  number)  who  were  stationed  by  themselves  in  a  gallery  op- 
posite the  pulpit,  in  quality  of  singers.  A  decent  order  was  the  highest  character- 
istic that  presented  itself. 

"  The  pulpit,  or,  as  it  is  here  called,  the  desk,  was  filled  by  three,  if  not  four, 
clergymen.  Of  these,  one  opened  the  service  with  a  prayer;  another  delivered  a 
sermon ;  a  third  made  a  concluding  prayer,  and  a  fourth  pronounced  a  benediction. 
Several  hymns  were  sung;  and  among  others  an  occasional  one.1  When  all  was 
finished  the  procession  returned  to  the  State  House.  The  total  number  of  sing- 
ers was  between  forty  and  fifty.  .  .  .  The  clergy,  who  walked,  were  about  a  hun- 
dred in  number.  It  was  in  the  two  bodies  of  guards  alone  that  any  suitable 
approach  to  magnificence  discovered  itself.  The  Governor  was  full-dressed,  in  a 
suit  of  black  ;  but  the  lieutenant-governor  wore  riding-boots.  All,  however,  was 
consistently  plain,  and  in  unison  with  itself,  except  the  dress-swords,  which  were 
worn  by  high-sheriffs,  along  with  their  village  habiliments,  and  of  which  the 
fashion  and  materials  were  marvellously  diversified.  Arrived  in  front  of  the 
state-house,  the  military  formed  on  each  side  of  the  street ;  and,  as  the  Governor 
passed  them,  presented  arms.  The  several  parts  of  the  procession  now  separated  ; 
each  retiring  to  a  dinner  prepared  for  itself,  at  an  adjoining  inn ;  the  Governor, 
lieutenant-governor,  and  assistants  to  their  table,  the  clergy  to  a  second,  and  the 
Representatives  to  a  third.     The  time  of  day  was  about  two  in  the  afternoon. 

" Only  a  short  time  elapsed  before  business  was  resumed;  or  rather,  at  length 

1  The  following  verse  is  from  the  "  occasional  hymn  "  sung  on  that  occasion  :  — 

"  Hail,  happy  Land  !  hail,  happy  State  ! 
Whose  free-born  sons  in  safety  meet, 

To  bless  the  Lord  Most  High  ! 
With  one  consent  now  let  us  raise 
The  thankful  tribute  of  our  praise 

To  Him  who  rules  the  sky  !  " 


592  MEMORIAL  HISTORY   OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

commenced.  The  General  Assembly  met  in  the  council-room,  and  the  written 
votes  being  examined  and  counted,  the  names  of  the  public  officers  elected  were 
formally  declared.  They  were  in  every  instance  the  same  as  those  which  had 
been  successful  the  preceding  year,  and  for  several  years  before.  This  done,  the 
lieutenant-governor  administered  the  oath  to  the  Governor  elect,  who,  being  sworn, 
proceeded  to  administer  their  respective  oaths  to  the  lieutenant-governor  and  the 
rest ;  and  here  terminated  the  affairs  of  the  election  day.  Soon  after  six  o'clock 
the  military  fired  three  feux  dejoies,  and  were  then  dismissed."  1 

The  ceremonies  varied  very  little  from  year  to  year.  The  Governor 
was  always  met  at  a  distance  from  the  city  (as  at  Wethersfield,  in 
1791),  and  usually  entered  it  at  the  southern  end,  when  the  South 
Church  bell  gave  notice  first  and  was  followed  by  the  Centre  Church 
bell.  In  1798  three  boats  "  manned  with  fifteen  Sea  Captains  (in  allu- 
sion to  the  Fifteen  States  on  the  American  Standard)  brought  over  the 
Governor  (Trumbull)  and  his  suit,"  a  band  of  music  preceding.  The 
vessels  in  the  river  were  drawn  up  in  two  lines  and  gayly  decorated, 
and  the  party  embarked  and  landed  amid  salutes  of  cannon  and  hearty 
cheers  from  the  banks.  The  "  Connecticut  Mirror  "  spoke  of  this  cere- 
mony as  "  new,  beautiful,  and  highly  expressive  of  the  respect  and 
attachment  of  all  classes  of  people  to  the  rulers  of  their  choice."  The 
sermon  in  1791  was  preached  by  Dr.  Dwight,  and  an  anthem,  set  by 
him  to  the  Ninety-second  Psalm,  was  sung.  In  1798  Dr.  Backus  of 
"  Bethlem"  delivered  "an  original,  ingenious,  and  eloquent  discourse" 
from  2  Samuel,  xv.  4,  "  Oh  that  I  were  made  judge  in  the  land."  In 
1814  Mr.  Huntington,  of  Middletown,  took  for  his  text  Psalm  cxxii.  6, 
"  They  shall  prosper  that  love  thee."  In  1818,  and  for  the  first  time, 
an  Episcopal  clergyman,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Doane,  preached  from  the  text, 
"  Render  therefore  unto  Caesar."  The  sermons,  it  will  be  seen,  were 
practical,  and  evidently  were  sometimes  decidedly  personal.  The  last 
was  preached  in  1830. 

The  day  was  not  without  other  attractions.  Thus  in  1794  Theodore 
Dwight  delivered  an  oration  before  the  Connecticut  "Society  for  the 
Promotion  of  Freedom  and  the  relief  of  Persons  unlawfully  liolden 
in  bondage,"  2  in  the  afternoon  at  the  North  (now  Centre)  Meeting- 
House,  and  at  the  same  place  in  the  evening,  Dr.  West,  of  Stockbridge, 
preached. 

In  1815  the  steamboat  "Robert  Fulton"  came  up  the  river,  and  re- 
maining over  Election  Day  was  visited  by  thousands. 

The  parade  in  1790,  as  we  learn  from  the  "  Connecticut  Mirror," 
was  viewed  with  particular  satisfaction,  because  "  the  Horse  were  in 
uniforms  made  out  of  the  manufactures  of  this  State  ;  which  shows  their 
patriotism  and  good  sense.  .  .  .  The  Commander-in-Chief  (Governor 
Huntington)  dined  in  a  beautiful  cloth  from  the  Hartford  manufactory." 
A  correspondent  of  the  "Courant"  presumed  that  this  patriotic  example 
would  have  great  weight  in  introducing  so  laudable  a  fashion. 

1  He  did  not  forget  to  mention  the  Election  Ball,  and  added  that  on  the  Monday  follow- 
ing a  second  and  more  select  one  was  held. 

2  This  existed  in  1791,  if  not  earlier,  and  may  have  been  a  branch  of  the  Rhode  Island 
Society  for  the  Abolition  of  the  Slave  Trade.  Chauncey  Goodrich  was  vice-president, 
Ezekiel  Williams,  Jr.j  assistant  secretary,  and  Theodore  Dwight,  secretary.  The  Hartford 
committee  of  correspondence  consisted  of  Dr.  Lemuel  Hopkins,  Theodore  Dwight,  Thomas  Y. 
Seymour,  and  Ezekiel  Williams,  Jr.  New  London,  Windham,  and  Tolland  counties  also  had 
committees. 


SOCIAL   LIFE   AFTER  THE   REVOLUTION. 


593 


The  ceremony  and  splendor  were  gradually  dispensed  with.  The 
clergymen,  whose  dinners  had  often  cost  "  as  much  as  one  hundred  dol- 
lars," were  not  allowed  to  dine  at  public  expense  ;  then  the  foot-guard 
was  restricted  in  the  same  manner ;  the  Governor,  who  formerly  was  a 
school-girl's  embodiment  of  Wallace  or  other  hero  of  romance,  descended 
from  his  horse,  and  now,  as  one  has  well  remarked,  is  distinguished 
from  his  driver  by  the  fact  of  being  inside  the  carriage.  Governor  Hub- 
bard discarded  the  cockade.  The  members  of  the  Assembly  discon- 
tinued their  procession  about  1836,  and  the  general  parade  has  been  of 
a  simpler  nature  since  1852. 

The  Election,  or,  as  it  was  afterwards  called,  the  Inauguration  Ball, 
was  usually  held  at  Ransom's,  in  a  third-story  room  with  a  spring  floor, 
recessed  window-seats,  three  chandeliers,  and  with  oval  mirrors  at  each 
end.  In  1797  it  was  given  in  the  theatre,  when  the  managers  were 
Joseph  Hart,  Elias  Morgan,  Nathaniel  Terry,  and  Henry  Seymour.  In 
1804  they  were  Ward  Woodbridgc,  Samuel  Tudor,  Charles  Sigourney, 
Walter  Mitchell,  William  Watson,  John  Butler,  George  Pierce,  and 
Henry  Wyles.  Dancing  began  at  seven,  and  was  sometimes  kept  up 
until  two.  On  one  happy  occasion  the  sun  shone  on  the  State  House 
as  the  company  broke  up.  The  following  is  a  fac-simile  of  one  of  the 
invitations  which  has  been  preserved. 


IEL3BSJTO0R  $M&» 


/THE  COMPANY  OF 


Is  requited  at  Morgan's  Assembly-Room,  this  evening, 
at  seven  o'clock; 


c.  COLT, 

S.  TUDOR,  Jm 

J.  TRUMBULL*   J  i 

A  HAYDEN, 


S.  IT  HUNTINGTON, 
C.  MUNN, 
A.  KILBOURN, 
H.  M,  CURTIS, 


HARTFORD,  Ma*  5, 1819. 


The  rest  of  the  week  was  observed  as  a  holiday  season  in  the  State, 
particularly  among  apprentices,  who  went  zealously  into  turkey-shoot- 
ings and  athletic  sports.  In  1766  William  Pratt,  Daniel  Olcott,  and 
eighteen  other  young  men  living  north  of  the  bridge  challenged  Ashbel 
Steel,  John  Barnard,  and  eighteen  others  on  the  south  side  "  to  play  a 
game  at  Bowl  for  a  Dinner  and  Trimmings  "  on  Friday  after  Election. 
In  1767,  and  on  the  same  day,  a  match  game  of  cricket  was  played  in 
Cooper  Lane,  now  Lafayette  Street.  "The  Southside,"  which  had  given 
the  challenge,  was  beaten. 

The  visit  of  Lafayette  in  September,  1824,  was  a  long-remembered 
holiday.  He  was  expected  on  the  night  of  the  2d ;  triumphal  arches 
were  erected  at  the  foot  of  Morgan  Street  and  on  the  west  side  of  the 
State  House  ;  the  Hartford  Bank  and  other  buildings  were  decorated 
with  evergreens  and  flowers ;  the  State  House,  Phoenix  Bank,  and  pri- 
vate houses  generally  were  illuminated,  and  crowds  walked  the  streets 


594  MEMORIAL   HISTORY  OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

in  the  rain  till  one  o'clock ;  but  the  civilities  extended  everywhere  on 
his  route  from  Boston  delayed  his  progress,  and  he  was  obliged  to 
spend  the  night  at  Stafford  Springs.  The  escort  under  Major  Hart 
that  went  out  to  meet  him  next  morning  included  three  companies  of 
infantry,  one  of  artillery,  and  one  rifle  corps,  and,  as  described  by  a  par- 
ticipant, the  uniforms  and  weapons  were  of  all  kinds,  and  some  wore  no 
uniforms  at  all.  Lafayette  was  accompanied  by  his  son,  George  Wash- 
ington, Monsieur  Vassuer,  Mr.  Colden  of  New  York,  and  a  servant. 
Proceeding  through  Morgan  and  Main  streets,  amid  the  noise  of  cheers, 
bells,  and  cannon,  he  alighted  at  Bennett's  Hotel  and  received  the  con- 
gratulations of  the  Mayor.  Breakfast  was  furnished  by  the  city  corpo- 
ration, and  among  the  guests  were  John  Trumbull  and  John  Caldwell, 
who,  forty  years  before,  were  members  of  the  corporation  when  he  was 
given  the  freedom  of  the  city.  Four  others,  the  Hon.  Thomas  Seymour, 
Jonathan  Bull,  John  Morgan,  and  Daniel  Hinsdale,  were  prevented  by 
age  or  infirmity  from  attending.  After  breakfast,  Lafayette,  escorted 
by  the  First  Company  of  Foot  Guards  under  Major  Olmsted,  proceeded 
to  the  State  House,  where  Governor  Wolcott  addressed  him  in  the 
name  of  the  State.  A  reception  followed,  at  which  the  good-humored 
Lafayette  addressed  some  trifling  question  to  each  one  presented.  If  a 
man  answered  that  he  was  married,  the  General  would  exclaim,  "  Lucky 
dog  !  "  If  the  answer  was  "  No,"  "  Happy  boy  !  "  As  the  "  Courant " 
described  it,  the  ladies  introduced  "  were  taken  by  the  hand  in  the  most 
affectionate  manner."  Nearly  one  hundred  Revolutionary  officers  and 
soldiers  were  present  and  greeted  him  with  deep  emotion.  A  parade 
under  General  Johnson  came  next,  and  had  the  weather  been  favor- 
able some  four  thousand  men  would  have  taken  part.  As  it  was,  the 
reviewer,  in  the  words  of  the  "  Courant,"  "  discovered  much  satisfac- 
tion at  the  elegant  appearance  of  the  troops."  The  school-children 
marched  in  procession,  wearing  colored  badges  with  the  motto  "  Nous 
Vous  Aimons,  Lafayette ! "  but  a  more  impressive  feature  was  the  pres- 
ence in  the  State  House  yard  of  a  number  of  deaf-mutes,  bearing  the 
motto,  "  We  Feel  what  our  Country  Expresses."  In  behalf  of  the  school 
children,  Dr.  Comstock  presented  a  gold  medal,  bearing  on  one  side  a 
fac-simile  of  the  motto  and  ornaments  on  the  badges ;  the  medal  enclosed 
in  a  paper  containing  some  verses  by  Mrs.  Sigourney.  After  the  re- 
view, Lafayette  visited  the  house  of  Daniel  Wadsworth,  where  he  was 
shown  a  sash  and  the  epaulets  he  had  worn  as  major-general,  —  articles 
he  had  given  to  the  late  General  Swift,  of  Cornwall,  and  recognized  the 
former,  which  was  blood-stained,  as  that  he  had  worn  at  the  battle  of 
Brandywine.  He  left  at  half-past  three  in  the  afternoon,  on  the  "  Oliver 
Ellsworth,"  and  was  slightly  sea-sick,  according  to  the  "  Gazette,"  "  but 
was  not  incommoded  by  the  motion  of  the  boat."  The  committee  of 
arrangements  for  the  celebration  were  John  T\  Peters,  Gaius  Lyman, 
Cyprian  Nichols,  Thomas  Day,  and  Henry  L.  Ellsworth. 

Fashions  began  to  change  more  frequently  toward  the  end  of  the 
last  century,  and  to  receive  more  attention  from  the  press.  "  An 
(Economical  Association"  was  formed  in  November,  1786,  by  the  ladies 
of  the  town 

"  "Who,  taking  into  serious  consideration  the  unhappy  situation  of  their  coun- 
try, and  believing  that  the  calamities  are  caused  in  great  measure  by  the  luxury 


SOCIAL   LIFE   AFTER   THE   REVOLUTION.  595 

and  extravagance  of  individuals,  hope  that  those  Ladies  that  used  to  excel  in 
dress  .  .  .  will  endeavor  to  set  the  best  examples,  by  laying  aside  their  richest 
silks  and  superfluous  decorations,  and  as  far  as  possible  distinguish  themselves  by 
their  perfect  indifference  to  those  ornaments  and  superfluities  which  in  happier 
times  might  become  them.  .  .  .  Until  June  25^  next  we  will  not  purchase  any 
Gauze,  Ribbons,  Lace,  Feathers,  Beaver  Hats,  Silks,  Muslins,  and  Chintzes,  ex- 
cept only  for  weddings  and  mourning  .  .  .  (and  pledge  ourselves)  to  dress  plainly, 
to  encourage  industry  and  frugality  in  making  entertainments  and  receiving  visits, 
and  to  avoid  unnecessary  expense,  especially  in  foreign  articles."  1 

This  was  subscribed  to  by  "  more  than  One  Hundred  Ladies  of  the 
first  families,"  and  was  to  be  renewed  if  advisable ;  but  as  the  pledge 
was  not  mentioned  when  the  date  of  its  expiration  came  around,  and 
the  merchants  continued  to  advertise  their  "  Tammies,  Corduroys, 
Pelongs,  and  Tabby  Velvets,"  we  must  draw  our  own  conclusions.2 

A  bonnet  from  Boston  or  New  York,  about  1790,  was  generously 
handed  around  to  be  copied.  We  read  of  black  satin  cloaks  with  white 
linings ;  of  frocks  of  barry  and  London-smoke  color.  In  1791  Mrs. 
Goodrich  sent  from  Hartford  to  her  mother  a  pair  of  cloth  shoes 
k'  almost  as  handsome  as  sattin."  The  Norwich  belle  of  that  year  was 
described  as  wearing  so  small  a  straw  hat  that  head,  hat,  and  all  were 
no  bigger  than  the  head  of  a  great  pin ;  her  figure  was  supported  on 
the  tips  of  her  toes,  and  she  had  "  a  little  flick  about  three  inches  long 
at  each  heel."  In  1797  Mr.  Fabre,  of  Prison  Street,  Hartford,  suggested 
in  the  "  Courant "  that  the  young  lady  who  still  owed  for  an  eight- 
shilling  feather  pay  up  quickly,  to  avoid  further  trouble. 

Peter  Parley  described  the  women  of  1800  or  thereabout  as  wear- 
ing close-fitting  short-waisted  gowns  of  silk,  muslin,  or  gingham,  with 
kerchief  over  the  shoulders  and  breast;  but  his  grandmother  Ely,  who 
was  conservative,  retained  her  long  tapering  waist  and  high-heeled 
shoes.  Girls  wore  a  large  white  Vandyke;  the  younger  ones,  low  neck 
and  short  sleeves.  In  1802  the  newspapers  ridiculed  the  style  of  wear- 
ing the  hair  "like  a  crow's  nest  or  a  frightened  owl,"  and  again  in  1803 
as  "  truly  ridiculous  among  decent  persons."  In  1804  trailing  gowns 
were  denounced.  A  fashion-book  introduced  into  Hartford  this  year, 
descrihed  the  prevailing  colors  in  Paris  to  be  puce,  coquelicot  green, 
and  amber,  and  recommended  the  following  attire  as  suitable  for  prome- 
nading :  "A  round  dress  of  cambric  muslin;  spencer  cloak  of  black 
velvet  trimmed  with  broad  lace ;  black  velvet  bonnet  with  broad  lace, 
and  a  bearskin  muff."  These  great  muffs,  almost  the  size  of  the  origi- 
nal animal,  figure  in  all  the  stories  of  sleighrides  to  Windsor,  New- 
gate, and  elsewhere ;  and  tender  hand-pressings  were  indulged  in  safely, 
under  their  cover.  About  1803  marten  became  the  fashionable  fur ; 
bonnets  were  of  St.  Cloud,  Imperial  chip,  Leghorn,  cane,  willow,  and 
paper;  and  the  town  boasted  of  two  milliners.  Long  silk  and  kid  gloves 
were  worn,  tortoise-shell  combs,  ear  "  pendals  "  and  hoops,  gold  and 
gilt  bracelets.     Ladies'  great-coats  and  spencers  were  often  made  by 

1  The  resolutions,  which  were  first  printed  in  the  "Courant"  of  November  6,  may  also 
be  found  in  full  in  "The  Wolcott'Memorial." 

'2  Some  years  before  this  a  Madame  Wyllys  had  appeared  at  the  North  Meeting-House  in  a 
calico  apron,  —  a  fabric  then  so  new  and  stylish  that  the  sisters  about  her  could  not  fix  their 
minds  on  the  sermon.  The  article  may  have  been  made  by  Sally  Tripper  of  Draw  Lane,  who 
in  1766  advertised  "  Female  Aprons,  for  ladies  from  eighteen  to  fifty." 


596  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

"  taylors."  In  1807  Peter  Choice,  hair-dresser,  "  accomplished  "  ladies' 
heads,  and  also  cut  their  profiles  in  paper.1  In  1809  the  "  Courant "  re- 
printed from  the  New  York  "  Medical  Repository  "  an  article  condemn- 
ing the  fashionable  shoe  with  its  semblance  of  a  sole,  and  the  practice 
of  exchanging  a  morning  gown  with  long  sleeves  for  a  book-muslin  or 
cambric  with  short,  wide  sleeves,  and  of  leaving  neck  and  breast  almost 
bare  or  covered  with  thin  gauze  ;  the  arms  naked  almost  to  the  shoulder. 
In  1811  the  death,  by  lightning  stroke,  of  Miss  Roulstone,  of  Providence, 
was  held  up  as  a  warning  to  those  who  wore  "  death-inviting  corselets 
braced  with  steel. "  At  that  date  our  grandmothers  were  to  be  seen 
in  bottle-green  habits  and  brown  shag  Devonshire  bonnets  with  vulture 
plumes,  and  carrying  pagoda  parasols.  The  newspapers  were  never 
weary  of  rebuking  the  rage  for  foreign  fashions,  many  of  which  were 
unsuited  to  our  climate,  as  well  as  foolish.  Thus  in  1799,  when  long 
waists  were  said  to  be  gaining  ground  in  England,  "  the  American 
fair "  were  urged  "  to  declare  independence  and  resist  the  tyranny  of 
fashion  .  .  .  from  short  waists  to  long,  from  long  to  slender,  will  be  the 
progress  of  its  encroachments,  till  female  health  and  beauty  suffer  all 
the  pains  and  penalties  of  the  whalebone  period"  In  1801  the  "  Courant" 
copied  a  parody  in  the  hope  that  Hartford  ladies  might  be  persuaded 
"to  purchase  more  flannels  and  fewer  muslins  as  winter  approaches." 
In  this  a  young  lady  exclaims  :  — 

"Plump  and  rosy  was  my  face,  and  graceful  was  my  form, 
Till  fashion  deemed  it  a  disgrace  to  keep  my  body  warm." 

Old  ladies  attest  the  truth  of  this  by  recollecting  that  they  went  to 
church  in  midwinter  in  white  cambric  gowns  and  yard-square  camel' s- 
hair  shawls.  The  wife  of  Governor  Joseph  Trumbull  remembered 
driving  in  an  open  sleigh  from  Middletown  to  Berlin,  on  an  intensely 
cold  night,  in  a  low-necked,  short-sleeved  muslin  ball-dress ;  her  only 
outside  wrapping  an  unlined  broadcloth  cloak. 

Party-dresses  worn  by  young  ladies  were  usually  very  simple. 
When  Mrs.  Sigourney's  dancing  days  began,  say  1805,  a  sash  passed 
over  one  shoulder  and  was  matched  by  the  shoes,  and  variety  lay  in 
the  style  of  wearing  the  hair :  as  "a  full  or  half-mane,"  that  is,  flow- 
ing, or  fastened  with  a  comb.  The  "  slips "  worn  at  the  Hartford 
assemblies  were  so  plain  that  "a  dressmaker  could  cut  and  baste  three 
in  a  day."  Older  or  married  ladies  wore  finer  apparel,  and  one  recol- 
lection of  "  the  stately  Mrs.  Chester  "  is,  that  she  sometimes  appeared 
in  a  pearl-colored  satin  trimmed  with  white  fur.  There  were  two 
mantua-makers  in  town,  and  perhaps  three  milliners,  in  1813,  and  the 
dress-goods  named  in  Mr.  Warner's  article  were  still  in  market.  By 
this  time  rank  was  no  longer  distinguished  by  dress,  and  on  Sunday 
the  blacksmith's  wife  exchanged  her  short-gown  and  "  tire  "  for  a  gown 
that  once  only  the  judge's  wife  would  have  worn.  A  little  later,  "  leg- 
of-mutton  sleeves,"  broad  linen  collars  reaching  to  the  shoulders,  etc., 
came  in,  —  costumes  that  may  be  found  on  the  steel-plate  ladies  who 
simper  in  the  "Annuals"  and  "Tokens"  of  that  day. 

In  1769  Robert  Robinson,  Hartford  tailor,  reproached  the  gentle- 
men of  the  town  for  allowing  their  "  cloaths  "  to  be  made  by  women. 

1  He  said  in  his  advertisement  that  there  was  no  room  in  his  shop  "  for  bystanders,  lazy 
ones,  and  smoakers." 


SOCIAL   LIFE   AFTER  THE   REVOLUTION.  597 

It  was  not  many  years  before  he  had  several  competitors ;  but  the 
tailoress  continued  to  make  her  yearly  visits  from  house  to  house,  and 
on  the  outskirts,  the  travelling  shoemaker  followed  at  her  heels.  The 
masculine  mind  did  not  always  dwell  on  politics.  "  I  do  desire  Mr. 
Wolcott."  wrote  Mrs.  Chauncey  Goodrich,  in  1793,  "  in  his  next  letter 
to  Mr.  Goodrich,  to  inform  him  what  fashions  have  lately  arrived  and 
his  opinion  of  them."  What  these  fashions  were,  is  satirically  told  in 
the  London  papers  of  different  years,  as  quoted  in  the  "  Courant."  In 
1791  the  buck  of  the  period  has  a  hat  with  a  two-inch  brim ;  three 
yards  of  cravat;  a  waistcoat  one  third  collar,  one  third  body,  and  four- 
teen inches  long ;  the  breeches  reaching  from  the  breast  to  the  middle 
of  the  calf  of  the  leg.  In  1793  his  coat  is  like  a  cartman's  frock ;  his 
hair  is  turned  up  under  his  hat,  and  patches  of  frizzly  hair,  daubed 
with  pomatum  and  powdered,  extend  from  ears  to  chin.  Ten  yards  of 
tape  dangle  from  each  knee,  and  even  in  dog-days  his  throat  is  muffled 
in  muslin.  To  be  extremely  stylish,  he  must  sit  in  the  presence  of  la- 
dies with  a  cigar  in  his  mouth,  and  on  all  occasions  must  play  the  rake.1 
How  one  fashion  had  spread,  the  complaint  of  "  Watch-box,"  in  the 
"  Courant "  of  Aug.  12, 1799,  tells  us  :  "  Every  Booby  in  the  city  makes 
it  his  business  to  smoke  segars  incessantly  in  the  street,  and  the  in- 
forming officers  seem  to  be  asleep." 

"About  1800,"  says  S.  G.  Goodrich,  speaking  of  Ridgefield,  —  and 
this  will  doubtless  apply  to  Hartford,  —  "  men  of  all  classes  wore  long, 
broad-tailed  coats  with  huge  pockets,  long-waisted  coats,  knee-breeches, 
low-crowned  hats  often  with  such  broad  brims  that  they  had  to  be  held 
up  by  cords.  The  parson  and  a  few  others  wore  silk  stockings  in  sum- 
mer and  worsted  in  winter ;  the  common  people,  generally  wool  or  blue 
and  gray  mixed."  A  Jeffersonian  plainness  succeeded :  pantaloons  and 
leather  shoestrings  came  in ;  "  by  1820  hair-powder  was  undemocratic, 
but  butternut-colored  top-boots  were  still  clerical." 

Edward  Seymour,  in  1804,  patriotically  advertised:  "No  king  or 
consular  Cloths  on  hand  ;  but  an  assortment  that  will  be  useful  to  an 
American  constitution  at  this  season."  Breeches,  silk  stockings,  and 
square-toed  boots  were  then  worn  only  by  Conservatives  and  Federalists. 
This  style  was  retained  for  many  years  by  General  Terry  and  others, 
and  Doctor  Bobbins,  as  is  well  remembered,  never  changed.  Between 
1805  and  1812  we  find  the  Hartford  gentlemen  wearing  frieze  surtouts 
trimmed  with  black  velvet,  lion-skin  great-coats  with  large  capes,  Bruns- 
wick and  Corunna  cords,  blue  mixed  and  scarlet  broadcloths,  fearnot 
and  forest  cloths,  white,  buff,  and  scarlet  cassimeres,  Swarow  boots,  and 
carrying  silver-mounted  whips  and  pocket  "  lanthorns."  The  dandies  of 
1818  were  described  as  bathing  their  hair  in  perfumed  oil,  wearing  large 
trousers,  and  a  "black  velvet  binding "  for  a  collar.  After  1820  the 
trousers  became  tighter,  extending  to  the  ankle ;  the  high  neckcloth 
no  longer  concealed  all  the  shirt-bosom ;  the  high-collared,  long-tailed 
coat  was  double-breasted,  and  cut  squarely  away  in  front,  and  the  hair 
was  brushed  over  the  face. 

To  speak  superficially  and  disconnectedly  of  the  town's  progress  in 
prosperity  and  in  the  acquisition  of  various  luxuries  and  necessities  of 

1  From  1792  on,  for  twelve  years  or  so,  the  expressions  "citizen"  and  "citess"  (citi- 
zeness)  occur  in  newspapers  and  letters,  —  a  French  fashion  that  could  not  have  caused  much 
alarm. 


598  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

life  :  in  1790  there  were  at  least  forty-two  stores  of  all  kinds ;  most 
of  them  small,  it  is  true,  and  kept  in  the  houses  of  their  proprietors.1 
Chaises  were  made  in  Hartford  as  far  back  as  1769,  and  were  common 
by  1807,  when  the  "  Courant"  rebuked  ladies  for  riding  alone  in  them, 
thus  exposing  themselves  to  accidents.2  William  Lawrence  was  taxed 
three  dollars  for  his ;  a  receipt  dated  1801,  describing  it  as  a  two-wheeled 
carriage,  having  a  top ;  on  wood  springs.  Coaches  were  taxed  fifteen 
dollars  at  this  same  date,  and  in  1830  were  owned  only  by  Ward  Wood- 
bridge,  Samuel  Tudor,  General  Terry,  Julius  Catlin,  and  Daniel  Wads- 
worth, —  the  latter's  a  lumbering  English  affair,  hung  on  straps,  driven 
by  a  liveried  coachman,  and  drawn  by  four  horses  with  outriders  when 
its  owner  went  to  the  Springs.3  Indeed,  by  1840  there  were  not  more 
than  six  coaches  ;  they  were  considered  "  a  little  ostentatious  "  by  most 
of  "  the  first  families,"  who  contented  themselves  with  "  fall-back " 
chaises  and  rockaways.  Wilton  and  ingrain  carpets  were  sold  in  1792; 
and  at  the  same  date  "  forte  pianos  "  were  owned  by  a  few  families. 
The  Parson  Williams  house  in  East  Hartford  displayed  one  of  the  first 
wall-papers  in  the  county.  The  most  expensive  looking-glasses  in  1790 
cost  thirty  dollars.  "  Umbrellas  from  India"  were  sold  in  1791,  and  a 
few  years  after,  William  Howe  and  Jeremiah  Wadsworth  advertised 
the  loss  of  theirs.  William  Lawrence,  who  is  said  to  have  owned  the 
first  one  in  town,  was  more  fortunate,  and  the  remains  of  the  umbrella 
still  exist.  It  is  a  clumsy,  brass-ornamented  structure,  was  used  for 
shade  solely,  and  was  carried  by  a  servant  who  walked  behind  the 
ladies. 

In  1792  the  city  was  described  by  an  enthusiastic  visitor  as  "  the 
key  of  trade  between  Vermont  and  the  ocean,"  while  a  correspondent 
of  the  "  Courant "  said  he  was  struck  by  its  increasing  industry  and 
opulence,  and  boldly  predicted  that  it  would  eventually  become  the  sole 
place  of  residence  for  legislation.  This  letter,  either  intentionally  or 
through  the  carelessness  of  the  type-setter,  is  dated  at  "  Harrford,"  —  a 
pronunciation  that  was  once  very  common.  In  1808  "a  stranger" 
remarks  in  print  that  "  the  dwelling-houses,  stores,  etc.,  are  generally 
in  a  stile  of  superior  elegance.  That  Gothic  and  clumsy  appearance 
(of  former  years)  is  entirely  done  away.  The  sidewalks,  as  far  as  they 
extend,  are  highly  accommodating  [but]  in  many  places  ladies  are 
to  be  seen  hopping  about  as  though  they  were  stepping  from  log  to 

1  Tradition  says  that  Ehenezer  Plummer,  who  came  from  Newburyport  in  1747,  was 
obliged  to  open  his  dry-goods  store  in  Glastonbury,  as  Hartford  already  had  one. 

2  Kendall  (Travels,  i.  134)  says  that  in  1807,  in  Hartford,  "there  were  kept  two  coaches, 
two  phaetons,  ten  coachecs,  and  three  other  four-wheeled  carriages  on  springs,  and  one  hundred 
and  ninety  single-horse  chairs  or  chaises,  of  various  values."  —  Ed. 

3  Stafford  Springs,  as  well  as  Saratoga,  was  a  very  fashionable  resort  in  the  early  part  of 
this  century,  and  a  correspondent  of  the  "  Evening  Post,"  some  years  back,  copied  from  the 
hotel  register  a  list  of  arrivals  in  July  and  August,  1805,  which  included  the  following  Hart- 
ford people  :  Colonel  Daniel  Wadsworth,  Daniel  Buck,  Mr.  Christopher  Colt,  Mrs.  Colt  and 
infant,  two  black  servants, Mr.  Thomas  K.  Brace,  Miss  Frances  Brace,  Miss  Betsey  Kingsbury, 
Miss  Lucy  Lee,  Thomas  Day,  Horace  Olmsted  and  lady,  Ward  Woodbridge  and  lady,  Stephen 
B.  Goodwin  and  lady,  John  Lee,  Leverett  Trumbull,  Thomas  H.  Gallaudet,  John  Caldwell, 
Jr.,  John  Butler,  David  Goodwin,  Rev.  Henry  Grew  and  lady,  Jonathan  Bull  and  lady,  Aaron 
M.  Church,  Sheldon  "W.  Candee,  Oliver  Kingsbury,  Hezekiah  Flagg,  William  Watson,  Seth 
Terry,  Eliphalet  Terry,  Jr.,  Colonel  Daniel  Wadsworth  and  lady,  Joseph  Trumbull,  Captain 
Roland  Lee  and  lady,  Samuel  Trumbull  and  lady,  Colonel  Moses  Tryon.  Between  1830  and 
1840  the  Sulphur  Spring,  on  Asylum  Street,  was  "the  place  to  go  to,"  for  stay-at-homes.  It 
was  in  the  lot  on  which  Bull's  market  now  stands,  and  Captain  Hartshorn,  of  the  city  watch, 
kept  a  bath-house  there. 


SOCIAL   LIFE   AFTER   THE   REVOLUTION. 


599 


log  in  a  trackless  swamp."1  A  soda-water  fountain  was  put  up  at 
the  Good  Samaritan  drug-store,  in  1818,  by  Joseph  Armington,  who 
warranted  the  waters  to  surpass  those  at  Ballston  in  their  medicinal 
properties.  Household  ornaments  were  few,  and  were  chiefly  family 
portraits,  mourning-pieces,  and  framed  samplers ;  and  Miss  Catherine 
Cogswell  was  viewed  with  awe  by  her  schoolmates  because  she  had 
"  seen  pictures  "  at  the  Wadsworths.     In  1812  Nathan  Ruggles  opened 


The  State  House.      The  Hartford  Hotel.  Circus. 

Taint  Shop. 


Two  Dwellings.      Universalis!  Church.  •'  Times  "  Building  and 

Fox's  Building.     U.  S.  Branch  Bank.  Museum. 


STATE-HOUSE    SQUARE   ABOUT   1825. 
(Drawn  by  Mr.  II.  C.  White,  from  suggestions  by  Mr.  F.  S.  Browu  and  others.) 

a  Heraldry  Office  near  the  bridge;  a  source  to  which  some  spurious  but 
highly  cherished  coats-of-arms  may  be  referred.  While  there  were 
many  well-to-do  families  before  1830,  "  great  wealth  "  was  confined  to 
a  few ;  and  the  writer  of  "  The  Patten  Letters,"  in  bewailing  the  ex- 
travagance of  individuals  in  1820,  states  that  one  person  in  town  owes 
as  much  as  one  thousand  dollars. 

In  the  diary  of  Mason  F.  Cogswell,2  who  with  a  friend  visited  Hart- 
ford in  1788,  we  get  a  pleasant  glimpse  of  society  at  that  time  :  — 


1  Kendall  (Travels,  i.  130),  who  was  in  Hartford  in  1804,  found  "the  streets  wide  and 
regular,  the  houses  well  built,  and  in  some  instances  elegant ;  particularly  a  small  number, 
which  have  been  built  under  the  direction  of  Colonel  Wadsworth,  a  gentleman  who  displays 
much  architectural  taste.     In  all  parts  of  the  town  many  of  the  buildings  are  of  brick."  —  Ed. 

2  New-Englander,  January,  1882.     He  was  then  a  student  in  New  York. 


600  MEMORIAL  HISTORY   OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

"  We  were  rather  in  dishabilles;  but  't  was  no  matter,  we  were  travellers,  and 
they  [the  Wadsworths]  were  none  of  them  in  the  habit  of  regarding  a  powdered 
head  and  a  pretty  coat  as  the  standard  of  excellence,  —  their  tastes  are  formed 
upon  better  principles.  After  delivering  our  compliments  and  letters  we  were 
about  leaving  them,  but  were  prevented  by  their  importunities  to  stay  and  spend 
the  evening.  .  .  .  We  laid  aside  our  hats  and  whips,  and  resolved  to  stay  as  long 

as  they  wanted  us.     The  beautiful  Miss  H s  [Hopkins],  the  handsome  Miss 

S r  [Seymour],1  and  the  pretty  Miss  B — 11  [Bull]  were  of  our  party.     Music, 

dancing,  and  sociality  constituted  our  amusements.    Miss  B — 11  sung  '  the  Her- 
mit '  sweetly.  .  .  .  The  [nine-o'clock]  bell  rung  much  earlier  than  I  wished." 

He  dined  at  Dr.  Strong's  next  day,  and  among  others  mentions 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wadsworth,  their  daughters  Harriet  and  Caty,2  their  son 
Daniel,  and  Miss  St.  John.  "  After 
dinner  the  ladies  retired  to  dress  for 
a  visit  to  Miss  Bull."  The  gentlemen 
amused  themselves  "  in  the  parlor  with 
music  until  tea-time,  when  we  followed 
the  ladies.  I  was  pleased  with  Miss 
Bull  yesterday,  but  more  so  to-day.  I 
trow  she  is  a  good  girl."  The  evening 
was  spent  at  Colonel  Wadsworth's  in 
"  delightfully  instructive"  conversation. 
"  We  ran  counter  to  all  the  rules  of 
modem  politeness  ;  we  did  not,  to  my 
recollection,  say  a  word  about  fash- 
ions or  plays  .  .  .  nor  did  we  scan- 
dalize a  single  character.  .  .  .  Harriet 
has  read  a  good  deal,  and  reflected  a 
good  deal  on  what  she  has  read."  He 
praises  her  "  pleasingly  original "  ob- 
servations, her  happy  temper,  her  talent 
of  adapting  her  conversation.  "  Al- 
though she  is  not  a  beauty,  yet  her  coun- 
tenance is  beautifully  expressive.  .  .  .  Caty  seems  to  possess  all  the 
virtues  of  her  sister,3  but  that  they  are  of  a  younger  growth.  She 
wants  a  little  of  that  grace  which  enables  Harriet  to  do  everything  to 
advantage."     He  adds,  sarcastically  :  — 

"As  for  Daniel,  he  is  a  strange  youth.  With  his  ]iochets  full  of  money  he  had 
rather,  at  any  time,  sit  down  at  home  betwixt  his  two  sisters,  and  by  some  new  act 
of  tenderness  call  forth  their  affection  toward  him,  than  to  be  in  the  best  and  most 
fashionable  company,  at  the  gaming-table,  or  in  any  place  where  he  can  spend 
his  money  in  an  honorable  and  polite  way.  'T  is  true  as  it  is  strange  ;  and  further- 
more he  is  warmly  attached  to  the  principles  of  virtue  and  morality,  and  really 
he  is  not  ashamed  of  his  God." 

Returning  to  town  .in  a  few  weeks,  Mr.  Cogswell  drinks  tea 
"with  smiling  Cate,"  and  is  made  "  very  welcome  and  very  happy;" 

1  Daughter  of  Thomas  Seymour,  the  first  mayor. 

2  Afterward  Mrs.  Nathaniel  Terry. 

8  Their  miniatures,  by  Trumbull,  are  in  the  School  of  Fine  Arts,  at  New  Haven,  and  are 
more  pleasing  than  the  enlarged  copies  in  the  Wadsworth  Athenaeum. 


MASON    F.    COGSWELL. 


SOCIAL   LIFE   AFTER  THE   REVOLUTION.  601 

chats  physic  with  Dr.  Hopkins;1  gallops  "out  to  the  hill"  to  visit  the 
Talcott  family;2  describes  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wolcott  as  a  "charming 
couple,"  and  Miss  Julia  Seymour  as  "  certainly  a  pretty  girl,  and  a 
good  one  too."  He  refers  frequently  to  "  pompion  pies."  A  more 
sober  view  of  society  is  given  by  John  Trumbull,  who,  writing  to  Oliver 
Wolcott  in  1789,  said:3  — 

"  Our  circle  of  friends  wants  new  recruits.  Humphreys,  Barlow,  and  you  are 
lost  to  us.  Dr.  Hopkins  lias  an  itcli  of  running  away  to  New  York,  but  I 
trust  his  indolence  will  prevent  him.  Webster  has  returned  and  brought  with 
him  a  very  pretty  wife.  I  wish  him  success,  but  I  doubt  in  the  present  decay  of 
business  in  our  profession  whether  his  profits  will  enable  him  to  keep  up  the 
style  he  sets  out  with.  I  fear  lie  will  breakfast  upon  Institutes,  dine  upon  Dis- 
sertations, and  go  to  bed  supperless." 

Mrs.  Lee,  of  Rhode  Island,  whose  recollections  of  Election  Day  in 
1701  have  already  been  quoted,  took  tea  at  the  Wyllys  mansion  on 
the  day  before  election  with  President  Stiles  and  Colonel  lngersoll, 
Attorney-General  of  the  State.4 

"The  Colonel  [George  Wyllys]  was  thin  and  spare,  with  baize  around  his 
feet.  .  .  .  The  mansion  I  admired  ;  and  the  manners  of  the  Colonel's  family 
combined  urbanity  with  dignity.  The  room  where  we  sat  was  spacious,  and 
there  was  a  greater  display  of  silver  than  I  had  seen  before.5  There  was  a  large 
mahogany  table  in  the  parlor,  and  under  it  stood  a  finely  wrought  silver  chafing- 
dish,  and  a  silver  teakettle  stood  on  it ;  .  .  .  there  was  also  a  large  silver  tea-urn. 
On  the  table  stood  a  large  silver  waiter  and  a  large  silver  teapot,  silver  sugar-dish, 
and  silver  cream-pot.  This  was  surrounded  by  a  richly  ornamented  set  of  china 
service ;  in  unison  with  that  were  elegant  chairs,  carpets,  and  mirrors.  It  was 
impressive  evidence  of  an  ancient  family  of  wealth." 

An  extract  from  a  letter  written  by  Mrs.  Susanna  (Wyllys)  Strong 
in  March  of  that  year  will  help  to  complete  this  agreeable  picture:  — 

"  Our  good  papa  never  enjoyed  his  health  better,  and  Every  Morning  Miss 
Woodbridge  and  myself  are  waked  with  an  old-fashioned  song  by  the  old  gentle- 
man at  our  chamber  door,  — so  gallant  is  eighty-two  !  " 

Mr.  Henry  Wansey,  of  England,  who  visited  Hartford  in  1794,  ob- 
served, as  he  says  in  his  Diary,  — 

"that  the  people  here  were  all  very  good  politicians,  and  ready  to  ask  me 
more  questions  than  I  was  inclined  to  answer.   ...   I  never  observed  a  single 

1  Mary  Anne  Wolcott,  at  one  time  under  his  care,  complained  of  Lis  heroic  treatment : 
"I  am  laid  on  a  bed  of  straw  at  night  ...  in  the  morning  plunged  in  cold  water  till  the  breath 
forsakes  me,  or,  rather,  have  it  poured  upon  me  ;  then  they  take  the  hint  and  wrap  me  in  a 
warm  blanket  till  they  perceive  returning  life  .  .  .  nauseous  drugs  next  .  .  .  and  a  dish  of  soup 
meagre,  which  is  my  breakfast."  —  Wolcott  Memorial. 

2  Their  country  house  was  on  or  near  Prospect  Hill,  but  was  set  on  fire  by  a  slave  who 
disliked  the  yearly  changes,  and  thought  one  house  enough.  The  dwelling  could  not  have 
been  totally  destroyed,  as,  in  171H,  Starr  Chester  was  allowed  to  practise  inoculation  "in  the 
house  lately  occupied  by  Colonel  Samuel  Talcott  in  the  West  Division." 

3  Wolcott  Memorial. 

4  Armsmear,  p.  31. 

5  The  statement  is  sometimes  made  that  before  the  Revolution  "there  was  not  enough 
plate  in  the  State  to  load  a  wheelbarrow."  That  there  was  no  small  quantity  in  Hartford 
County  alone,  is  proved  by  old  advertisements  of  silver  stolen,  and  by  tankards,  etc.-,  of  pre- 
Revolutionary  make  still  existing. 


602  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

person  in  rags,  or  with  any  appearance  of  distress  or  poverty.  .  .  .  (The  members 
of  the  legislature)  were  plain  in  their  dress,  plain  in  their  manners;  no  other  quali- 
fications than  good  common  sense  actuated  by  the  love  of  their  country." 

Mrs.  Sigourney  has  left  a  pleasing  account  of  her  first  visit  to  Hart- 
ford in  1805,  with  "  faithful  Lucy  Calkins,"  afterward  a  housekeeper 
in  the  Wadsworth  family.  She  speaks  of  the  garden  with  its  damask 
roses;  of  the  precise,  well-chosen  language  of  Madam  Wadsworth,  then 
a  widow;  of  the  clock-like  precision  with  which  the  household  duties 
were  performed  ;  of  the  fine  pictures  and  select  library;  and  of  Pauline, 
a  French  orphan  who  had  been  educated  by  and  admitted  into  the  fam- 
ily, and  who  then,  though  no  longer  young  and  though  decidedly  stout, 
was  a  light-footed  dancer,  and  lived  in  the  daily  hope  of  weighing  three 
hundred  pounds.  She  saw  the  antique  portraits  and  worn  Turkey  car- 
pets in  the  Wyllys  house.  She  describes  herself  as  lying  awake  at  night 
and  hearing  the  bells  of  the  North  and  South  churches  ringing  the  hour 
of  nine ;  striking  alternately  two  strokes,  then  joining  in  unison  to  give 
the  day  of  the  month.  Lucy  Calkins  said  on  her  return,  "  1  have  been 
to  London ! " 

In  1810  the  town,  according  to  S.  G.  Goodrich,  "  dealt  in  lumber,  and 
smelt  of  molasses  and  old  Jamaica,  for  it  had  still  some  trade  with  the 
West  Indies.  It  had  a  high  tone  of  general  respectability  and  intelli- 
gence. There  were  a  few  merchants  and  many  shopkeepers.  A  few 
dainty  patricians  still  held  themselves  aloof."  He  might  also  have 
added,  "  The  silk-mercers  were  turning  tea-merchants,  and  the  tea- 
merchants  authors."  The  best  society  was  no  longer  confined  to  one 
or  two  localities,  but  had  built  itself  new  houses  in  such  remote  regions 
as  Trumbull  Street,  and  some  were  actually  talking  of  going  out  as  far 
as  Lord's  Hill.  Prospect  Street  was  filling  up,  and  up  to  the  period 
that  closes  with  our  chapter,  to  go  no  farther,  its  hospitable  homes  en- 
tertained our  most  cultured  citizens,  and  every  stranger  of  note  who 
visited  the  town.  Dr.  Hawes,  on  coming  to  the  city  in  1818,  "  was 
not  pleased  at  first  with  the  appearance  of  things.1  He  was  struck 
with  what  he  calls  '  a  less  familiar  courtesy  (than  in  Boston)  and  an 
apparent  coldness,'  a  kind  of  'negative  quality  in  almost  everything,'  " 
but  admitted  that  his  congregation  was  superior  to  the  one  in  Park 
Street "  in  respect  to  number,  character,  elegance,  and  I  believe  in  every 
other  respect."  He  was  "  disconcerted  "  before  these  "  judges,  lawyers, 
doctors,  merchants,  and  people  in  the  highest  grades  of  society,"  call- 
ing them,  elsewhere,  "  intelligent,  dignified,  devout,  and  thoughtful ; " 
and  again,  "  fine  lawyers  and  fastidious  folks." 

The  harmless  gossip  about  the  society  of  that  later  day  includes 
recollections  of  quick-tempered  Nathaniel  Terry,  who  would  fell  a  man 
to  the  earth  without  stopping  to  think  ;  but  in  his  gentle  moods  would 
stuff  the  pockets  of  little  vagabonds  with  the'  plums  from  his  garden  ; 
and  who  when  he  walked  the  street  was  encompassed  about  by  a  flock 
of  children  who  knew  only  the  sunny  side  of  his  nature ;  of  methodical 
Judge  Williams  ;  of  the  simple  dress  and  tastes  of  Governor  Ellsworth  ; 
of  the  benevolence  of  Daniel  Wadsworth,  whose  big  gunboat  sleigh 
ploughed  the  drifts  laden  with  food  for  the  poor  and  delicacies  for  the 
sick ;  of  "  the  young  and  gallant  stranger,"  as  Whittier  was  dubbed  by 

1  Life,  by  Dr.  Lawrence. 


SOCIAL   LIFE   AFTER   THE   REVOLUTION.  603 

certain  of  the  fair;  of  Deacon  Seth  Terry,  who,  when  consulted  by  two 
voluble  ladies  on  a  law-matter,  shook  his  finger  at  them,  shouting : 
"  Women !  speak  low !  slow !  one  at  a  time !  "  of  the  artist  Trumbull 
and  his  beautiful  English  wife.  And  of  the  ladies,  there  was  the  first 
Mrs.  Sigourney  (Miss  Carter  of  Boston),  whose  timidity  so  often 
prevented  the  display  of  her  accomplishments.  At  a  party  at  Mr. 
Tudor's  one  evening,  the  company  had  gone  into  the  supper-room  in  a 
body,  —  for  never  before  in  society's  annals  had  a  table  been  set, — 
when  an  Englishman  who  was  talking  with  Mrs.  Sigourney  brought  a 
guitar  and  begged  her  to  sing,  as  they  were  alone.  Touching  the  strings, 
she  began,  "  Will  you  come  to  the  Ball  ?"  and  stopped  :  for  the  supper- 
room  was  deserted  in  an  instant,  Two  others,  Mrs.  Tudor  and  Mrs. 
Chester,  are  thus  pleasingly  associated  in  an  anecdote.  At  the  close 
of  the  War  of  1812,  Captain  Garland,  a  paroled  English  naval  officer 
who  had  made  many  friends  in  Hartford  society,  was  bidding  them 
farewell  at  an  evening  party,  when  Mrs.  Chester,  extending  her  hand, 
said,  "  1  hope  the  rose  and  myrtle  will  always  mingle  in  our  Garland !" 
The  delight  of  the  company  at  this  was  doubled  when  Mrs.  Tudor  ex- 
claimed, "  We  can  never  meet  as  enemies  !  "  The  late  Miss  Hetty  Bull, 
herself  a  queen,  used  to  describe  society  as  more  graceful  in  its  manners 
and  more  refined  in  its  conversation  then  than  now.  "  There  was  more 
time  for  refinement  and  reading,"  she  would  say  with  an  impressive 
bow ;  "  I  fear  the  young  people  of  to-day  do  not  know  that  there  is  a 
Goldsmith;"  and  would  quote  Dr.  Cogswell's  remark  that  the  ladies 
he  met  were  fitted  to  grace  any  court.  It  is  said  that  sectarianism  di- 
vided society  strongly  then  ;  it  is  undoubtedly  true  that  it  was  much 
more  exclusive  than  at  present, 

Let  us  compare  witli  these  descriptions  of  the  town,  two  of  the  more 
simple  but  no  less  contented  life  of  the  suburbs.  The  first  is  from  an 
account  in  Brillat-Savarin's  "Physiologic  du  Gout,"  of  an  expedition 
after  wild  turkeys  made  while  in  Hartford  in  1794  :  — 

"Accordingly  one  fine  day  Mr.  King  and  I  set  out,  mounted  on  two  hacks, 
■with  the  hope  of  arriving  towards  evening  at  the  farm  of  Mr.  Bulow  [Barlow  1] 
situate  about  five  mortal  leagues  from  Hartford,  in  Connecticut.   .  .   . 

"About  two  hours  were  spent  in  looking  over  the  farm  and  its  dependencies. 
I  should  willingly  describe  it  all,  but  I  prefer  to  show  the  reader  the  four  buxom 
daughters  of  Mr.  Bulow,  for  whom  our  arrival  was  a  great  event. 

"  Their  age  was  from  sixteen  to  twenty ;  they  were  radiant  with  freshness 
and  health,  and  they  were  altogether  so  simple,  lithe,  and  easy  that  the  most  or- 
dinary action  seemed  to  lend  them  a  thousand  charms.  .  .   . 

"  The  four  sisters  were  fully  equipped  with  fresh  dresses,  new  sashes,  pretty 
hats,  and  dainty  boots,  and  it  was  evident  that  they  had  taken  some  pains  on 
our  account.  I  had,  for  my  part,  the  intention  of  making  myself  agreeable  to 
one  of  the  young  ladies,  who  took  my  arm  as  naturally  as  if  she  had  been  my 
wife.  .   .   . 

"  During  the  intervals  of  conversation  Mr.  Bulow  would  from  time  to  time 
ask  his  eldest  daughter,  Maria,  to  give  us  a  song.  And  she  sang  without  being 
pressed,  and  with  charming  hesitation,  the  national  air  '  Yankee  Doodle,'  the 
'  Lament  of  Queen  Mary,'  and  one  on  Major  Andre,  which  are  all  very  popular 
in  this  country.  Maria  had  taken  some  lessons  in  singing,  and  in  this  solitary 
place  was  considered  quite  a  '  cantatrice ; '  but  the  great  merit  of  her  song  was, 
above  all,  the  quality  of  her  voice,  which  was  at  the  same  time  sweet,  fresh,  and 
unaffected. 


604  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

"As  they  were  getting  the  horses  ready,  Mr.  Billow  took  me  aside  and  said 
the  following  remarkable  words  :  '  Yon  behold  in  me,  my  dear  sir,  a  happy  man, 
if  there  is  one  on  earth ;  everything  yon  see  around  you  and  what  you  have  seen 
at  my  house  is  produced  on  my  farm.  These  stockings  have  been  knitted  by  my 
daughters,  my  shoes  and  my  clothes  come  from  my  herds ;  they  with  my  garden 
and  my  farm-yard  supply  me  with  plain  and  substantial  food.  The  greatest 
praise  of  our  government  is  that  in  Connecticut  there  are  thousands  of  farmers 
quite  as  content  as  myself,  and  whose  doors  like  mine  are  never  locked."'1 

The  second  consists  of  some  recollections  of  Rocky  Hill  in  1816. 
The  grown  people  had  sedate  parties,  to  which  the  ladies  took  their 
knitting,  and  were  served  with  apples,  walnuts,  and  cider.  The, chief 
amusement  of  the  men  on  Thanksgiving  afternoon  was  turkey  and 
goose  shooting.  Whenever  a  strolling  fiddler  came  around,  the  young 
people  got  up  dances,  "  with  nothing  to  eat,"  at  their  own  houses,  or 
on  the  sanded  floor  of  Governor  Wolcott's  ball-room  at  Cherry  Farm. 
"Bombazctte"  and  "calico"  balls  were  popular;  and  if  more  elegance 
was  required,  the  girls  could  wear  their  mother's  gold  beads  and  silk 
dresses.  Huskings  shortened  many  an  otherwise  monotonous  evening ; 
and  once,  in  Richard  Seymour's  kitchen,  pumpkins  were  rolled  in,  cut 
up,  stewed,  made  into  pies,  baked  in  the  presence  of  the  buskers,  and 
eaten  before  the  company  went  home.  "  Did  we  sing  ?  Oh,  yes ; 
always,  when  we  were  spinning ;   and  such  lovely  minor  tunes ! " 

"  We  no  longer  '  go  in,'  we  '  enter,'  "  says  one  who  looks  backward 
and  laments.  "  The  hearty  '  thank  you  '  has  gone  out  of  fashion  ;  we 
do  not  talk  of  books  or  the  one  party  of  the  year ;  the  excitement  of 
the  day  is  the  arrival  of  our  neighbor's  coal."  How  thorough  is  the 
degeneracy  of  the  times  is  still  better  proved  by  the  remark  of  an  aged 
lady  who  upbraided  her  nephew  for  keeping  so  many  cats.  "  But,  Aunt 
Peggy,"  was  the  answer,  "  you  have  always  told  us  that  you  had  eleven  !  " 
"  Ah,  yes  ;  but  cats  are  not  what  they  used  to  be  !  " 


1  Brillat-Savarin  on  this  expedition  killed  a  wild  turkey  with  which  he  feasted  his  friends 
on  his  return  to  Hartford,  together  with  wings  of  the  partridge  he  had  shot,  served  en  pcqrillote, 
and  gray  squirrels,  which  were  stewed  in  Madeira. 


y 


THE   PRESS.  605 


SECTION  XIII. 

THE  PRESS. 

NEWSPAPERS,    PUBLISHING  HOUSES,  ETC. 

BY    CIIARLES    HOPKINS    CLARK. 

The  first  press  in  Hartford  was  set  up  in  1764  by  Thomas  Green.1 
On  the  29th  of  October  in  that  year  he  published,  as  an  experiment,  the 
first  number  of  "  The  Connecticut  Courant."  This  was  so  well  received 
that  on  the  3d  of  December  he  began  its  regular  weekly  publication. 
From  that  time  to  the  present  it  has  continued,  without  a  break  in  its 
record  or  a  change  in  its  name,  so  that  long  ago  it  became  the  oldest 
newspaper  in  the  country.  The  very  few  that  might  otherwise  dispute 
the  claim  have  undergone  change  of  name  or  of  location,  or  have  been 
abandoned  for  a  time  and  then  revived.  The  "  Courant "  has  gone  on 
without  interruption  for  more  than  one  hundred  and  twenty-one  years. 
From  the  quaint  and  crude  beginning  of  "  No.  00  "  of  Oct.  29,  1764,  it 
has  developed  into  the  fully  equipped  modern  newspaper. 

During  its  long  career  the  "  Courant"  has  benefited  not  a  little  by 
the  efforts  and  experiences,  not  always  primarily  successful,  of  others 
than  its  owners.  Between  1764  and  1868  not  less  than  one  hundred 
different  periodical  publications  were  undertaken  in  Hartford.  Scarcely 
half  a  dozen  of  these  survive  here  to-day.  In  the  majority  of  cases  the 
successive  experiments,  one  often  being  merged  in  another,  have  ter- 
minated in  the  absorption  by  the  "  Courant "  of  their  good-will  and 
subscription  lists.  In  the  last  instance,  however,  when,  in  1867,  the 
"  Evening  Press  "  was  merged  in  the  "  Courant,"  the  name  of  the  latter 
was  retained,  but  the  personal  force  and  spirit  of  the  "  Press  "  took 
control  of  the  older  journal. 

A  study  of  the  files  of  the  "  Courant "  is  alike  a  study  of  the  growth 
of  the  State  and  country  and  of  the  development  of  newspaper-making. 
In  the  early  years,  indeed  far  down  toward  modern  times,  such  an  ele- 
ment as  local  news  had  no  place  in  a  journal.  It  seems  to  have  been 
the  theory  of  the  editor  that  everybody,  as  a  matter  of  course,  knew  what 
had  happened  at  home,  and  so  almost  all  of  that  was  passed  by  without 
recording.  There  was  a  far  greater  proportion  of  essay-writing  and 
serious  discussion  than  there  is  in  the  modern  journal ;  and  a  great  deal 
of  early  American  literature  made  its  first  appearance  in  newspaper 
columns  and  notably  in  those  of  the  "  Courant."  This  journal  published 
the  first  sketch  of  Trumbull's  "  McFingal,"  and  later,  when  literary 
pirates  stole  and  reprinted  that  "  Epic "  to  his  loss  and  that  of  his 
authorized  publishers,  the  "  Courant "  began  agitation  which  led  to  the 

1  Thomas  Green  was  a  great-great-grandson  of  Samuel  Green,  Sr.,  who  in  1649  was  the 
printer  at  Cambridge,  Mass.  There  were  three  Samuels  and  three  Timothys,  besides  others 
of  the  surname,  who  were  printers  at  Cambridge,  New  London,  New  Haven,  or  Hartford. 


606  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

State  copyright  law,  and  that  was  the  basis  of  the  national  law  which 
followed. 

In  the  "  Courant"  of  the  10th  of  June,  1765,  a  mournful  correspon- 
dent asks :  — 

"  Who  without  the  most  melancholy  Apprehension  can  behold  in  this  poor 
colony  a  thousand  ladies,  each  of  whom  costs  not  less  than  307  per  Annum  in 
Board,  Cloathing,  and  Attendance,  Half  of  which  she  does  not  earn1?  Here  is  a 
clear  annual  loss  of  more  than  15,000/,  which,  together  with  the  ill  example  of 
above  1000  pairs  of  idle  hands,  gives  us  a  too  sure  Presage  of  speedily  obtaining 
the  Appellation  of  a  bankrupt  Colony." 

The  writer  could  hardly  have  dreamed  that  in  about  five  years  the 
"  Courant "  would  be  managed  by  a  woman. 

The  files  of  the  "  Courant"  have  been  eagerly  studied  by  historians, 
and  are  a  running  picture  of  the  times  from  before  the  Stamp  Act. 
This  journal  has  been  acknowledged  as  one  of  the  forces  that  led  to  the 
separation  of  the  colonies.  Its  founding  has  been  attributed  to  the 
spirit  of  unrest  prevailing  at  that  time.  Its  columns  have  always  been 
open  to  correspondents,  and  its  contributors  have  included  the  leading 
men  of  the  day  for  almost  a  century  and  a  quarter.  Its  long  and  pros- 
perous career,  unbroken  by  one  failure,  is  in  itself  ample  evidence  of 
its  hold  upon  the  people  of  the  colony  and  State.  The  "  Courant "  dis- 
cussed the  oppressions  by  Great  Britain,  the  question  of  independence, 
the  Declaration,  the  Revolution,  the  Constitution,  and  all  the  stirring 
events  of  the  country's  existence.  In  the  twenty-five  presidential  elec- 
tions the  "  Courant"  lias  on  ten  occasions,  besides  Washington's  undis- 
puted candidacy,  favored  the  successful  candidate,  and  twelve  times  it 
has  favored  the  defeated  candidate;  but  its  own  State  has  been  carried 
only  four  times  against  the  candidate  urged  by  the  "  Courant."  The 
first  time  was  in  1836,  when  Van  Buren  had  a  plurality  of  scarcely  five 
hundred  votes,  and  the  other  times  were  1852  Pierce,  1876  Tilden,  and 
1884  Cleveland. 

The  "  Courant"  has  experienced  comparatively  few  changes  of  own- 
ership. In  1767  or  1768  Green  went  to  New  Haven,1  having  taken  Ebene- 
zer  Watson  into  partnership,  leaving  him  to  manage  the  "  Courant." 
Watson  died  in  1777,  and  until  1778  "  the  widow  Watson  "  conducted  it, 
—  perhaps  the  first  woman  editor  in  America.  In  1778  she  took  George 
Goodwin  into  partnership,  and  in  1779  she  married  Barzillai  Hudson. 
The  firm  then  became  Hudson  &  Goodwin.  In  1815  George  Goodwin 
&  Sons  bought  the  paper,  and  they  held  it  until  1836,  when  they  sold  it 
to  John  L.  Boswell.  He  established  in  1837  the  "  Daily  Courant."  In 
1850  he  took  William  Faxon  into  partnership,  but  in  1854  the  firm  dis- 
solved at  the  death  of  Mr.  Boswell.  Thomas  M.  Day,  Esq.,  bought  the 
"  Courant "  then,  and  in  1857  he  took  into  partnership  Mr.  A.  N.  Clark, 
who  had  been  Mr.  Boswell's  book-keeper,  and  the  firm  became  Day  & 
Clark,  and  later,  A.  N.  Clark  &  Co.  In  1867,  upon  consolidation  with 
the  "  Press,"  the  firm  Hawley,  Goodrich,  <fe  Co.  was  organized,  consist- 
ing of  General  Joseph  R.  Hawley,  Charles  Dudley  Warner,2  and  Stephen 
A.  Hubbard,  the  editors  who  had  edited  the  "  Press,"  and  Wm.  H. 
Goodrich,  the  business  manager,  who  had  been  with  the  "  Courant." 

1  His  Hartford  house,  "lately  occupied"  by  him,  is  advertised  to  rent,  Feb.  8,  1768. 

2  See  page  170. 


THE    "COURANT"    BUILDING. 
ON   STATE   STREET,    FACING   THE   POST-OFFICE. 


y 


THE  PRESS.  609 

They  are  still  the  owners  of  the  paper.  The  "  Courant "  was  first  a 
Federal  paper,  then  Whig,  and  finally  Republican;  but  it  received  a  more 
vigorous  republicanism  from  the  "  Press,"  which  was  the  organ  of  the 
new  party. 

The  "  Press  "  was  established  in  1856,  but  its  antecedents  ran  far 
back  of  that  day.  In  1836  the  Connecticut  Antislavery  Society,1  which 
had  been  organized  here  soon  after  the  Garrison  agitation  began,  estab- 
lished the  "  Christian  Freeman,"  an  avowedly  Antislavery  journal.  It 
was  edited  by  WillianuH.  Burleigh.2  In  1845  it  was  merged  in  the 
kv  Charter  Oak,"  also  edited  by  Burleigh,  which  was  a  most  outspoken 
advocate.  Burleigh's  office  in  the  old  .Mitchell  building3  on  State 
Stred  was  mobbed  during  the  Mexican  War  because  of  his  opposition, 
which  was  the  prevailing  sentiment  of  the  Abolitionists. 

The  "  Charter  Oak"  was  merged  in  the  "Republican,"  which  Bur- 
leigh established.  When  he  left  Hartford  it  was  sold  to  J.  1).  Baldwin, 
who  afterward  became  the  editor  and  owner  of  the  "  Worcester  Spy." 
In  1852  Mr.  Baldwin  sold  out  to  M.  H.  Bartlett  &  Co.,  and  D.  W.  Bart- 
lett  and  Joseph  R.  Hawley  were  its  editors  until  1850,  when  it  was 
absorbed  in  the  "  Evening  Press."  By  this  time  the  Republican  party 
had  become  a  sufficient  power  to  desire  an  "organ,"  after  the  manner 
of  the  day.  One  hundred  men,  including  Gideon  Welles,  John  M.  Niles, 
D.  F.  Robinson,  James  M.  Bunce,  Calvin  Day,  Thomas  T.  Fisher,  Jona- 
than  F.  Morris, and  Mark  Howard  subscribed  one  hundred  dollars  apiece 
for  this  object,  and  the  "Press"  was  undertaken  by  Faxon  &  Pierce. 
Mr.  Faxon  had  formerly  been  connected  with  the  "Courant"  and  was 
afterward  chief  clerk  of  the  Navy  Department  under  Mr.  Welles.  After 
the  war  he  returned  to  Hartford  and  was  State  bank  commissioner  for 
some  years  and  then  president  of  the  Hartford  Trust  Company,  holding 
the  office  until  his  death  in  September,  1883.  He  was  universally  re- 
spected for  his  integrity  and  good  judgment.  Joseph  R.  Hawley  took 
Mr.  Pierce's  place  as  partner  of  Mr.  Faxon  in  1857. 

1  The  Antislavery  feeling  ran  strong  in  Hartford,  and  many  picturesque  incidents  mark 
its  history.  For  instance,  about  1835,  a  negro  woman,  a  runaway  slave,  who  had  been  living 
in  Hartford  some  years  as  a  servant,  met  on  the  street  ami  recognized  the  nephew  of  her  former 
owner.  He  also  recognized  her  in  spite  of  her  efforts  to  avoid  him,  and  he  spoke  in  the  kind- 
est way  to  her.  He  assured  her  that  the  family  had  ceased  to  count  her  as  their  property,  and 
that  he  had  only  friendly  feeling  for  her.  He  added  that  he  had  some  of  her  clothing  at  the 
hotel  where  he  was  stopping,  and  asked  her  to  walk  there  with  him  to  get  it.  She  incautiously 
went  with  him  to  his  room,  and  when  once  she  had  entered  it,  —  it  was  on  the  third  floor,  —  he 
locked  the  door  and  had  her  captive.  She  did  not  hesitate  an  instant,  but  rushed  to  the  front 
window  and  jumped  out,  preferring  death  to  capture.  Fortunately  she  fell  upon  an  awning 
and  her  life  was  saved.  Mr.  Elisha  Colt,  in  whose  family  she  had  served,  raised  a  purse  and 
bought  her  liberty  for  her.  Another  later  incident  was  the  case  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  James  Pen- 
nington. He  had  escaped  from  slavery  when  a  boy  and  had  been  educated  for  the  ministry 
abroad.  He  was  a  man  of  remarkable  ability,  and  had  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divin- 
ity from  Heidelberg  University.  He  was  settled  in  Hartford,  pastor  of  the  Talcott  Street 
Church,  when  the  fugitive  slave  law  passed,  and  he  became  fearful  of  his  capture.  Joseph  R. 
Hawley,  then  a  young  lawyer  in  the  office  of  John  Hooker,  visited  his  former  owners  and 
bought  him  for  Mr.  Hooker,  obtaining  a  formal  bill  of  sale.  Mr.  Hooker,  as  he  has  himself 
described  it,  held  the  deed  for  a  day  in  order  to  enjoy  the  unique  sensation  of  owning  a 
Doctor  of  Divinity,  and  then  he  placed  on  the  town  records  a  deed  giving  the  Rev.  Dr.  James 
Pennington  his  own  freedom. 

2  See  page  166. 

3  Since  replaced  by  the  "  Courant "  building,  erected  1880.  The  Mitchell  building  was 
one  of  the  oldest  of  brick  in  the  city.  It  was  for  many  years  a  centre  of  the  printing  busi- 
ness, and  many  newspapers  were  published  there.  The  Hartford  Fire  Insurance  Company's 
first  office  was  there.     This  is  the  budding  seen  on  fire  on  page  453. 

vol.  I.  — 39. 


610  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 


HON.    JOSEPH    R.    HAWLEY. 

(By  pennisson  of  Messrs.  Harper  &  Brothers.) 

Joseph  R.  Hawley  was  born  in  Stewartsville,  North  Carolina,  Oct. 
31,  1826,  where  his  father,  a  New  England  minister,  was  settled.  The 
family  returned  shortly  afterward  to  Farmington,  and  Connecticut  has 
ever  since,  save  for  a  few  years  spent  at  Cazenovia,  New  York,  been 
his  home.  He  has  been  its  governor,  representative  in  Congress  and 
United  States  Senator,  and  has  been  prominent  in  politics  ever  since 
the  Antislavery  agitation  and  the  formation  of  the  Republican  party. 
He  graduated  at  Hamilton  College  in  1817,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
in  Hartford  in  1850,  forming  a  partnership  with  the  Hon.  John  Hooker. 
It  was  in  Hawley's  office  and  by  his  invitation  that  Niles,  Welles,  and 
others  met,  Feb.  4,  1856,  and  organized  the  Republican  party  of  Con- 
necticut. In  1857,  after  the  "Press"  was  established,  he  practically 
dropped  the  law  for  editorial  work.  When  the  war  broke  out  he  was  the 
first  man  in  Connecticut  to  enlist,  and  was  made  captain  of  Company  A, 


THE   PRESS.  611 

First  Regiment.  Subsequently  he  was  made  lieutenant-colonel  of  the 
Seventh  Connecticut,  Alfred  H.  Terry  (now  General)  being  colonel. 
He  was  before  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  and  was  in  the  battles  of 
Morris  Island,  Fort  Wagner,  James  Island,  Pocotaligo,  Olustee,  etc., 
and  with  the  Army  of  the  James  at  Richmond  and  Petersburg.  He 
was  made  colonel  in  1862,  brigadier-general  in  1861,  and  major-general 
by  brevet  in  1865.  He  was  military  governor  for  a  while  at  Wilming- 
ton, North  Carolina,  and  was  Terry's  chief  of  staff  after  the  occupation 
of  Richmond.  In  1866  he  was  elected  Governor  of  Connecticut  and 
defeated  in  1867.  In  1868  he  was  a  delegate  to  and  president  of  the 
convention  that  nominated  Grant,  and  on  taking  the  chair  made  the 
speech,  so  often  quoted,  in  which  he  declared  against  repudiation,  that 
every  bond  must  be  held  sacred  as  a  soldier's  grave.  He  was  elected  to 
Congress  in  1872,  to  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by  Mr.  Strong's  death,  and 
in  1873  was  re-elected.  He  was  president  of  the  Centennial  Commission 
in  1876,  and  in  1881  was  elected  United  States  Senator. 

In  1861  Hawley  &  Faxon  were  succeeded  by  J.  R.  Hawley  &  Co.,  the 
"  company  "  consisting  of  Francis  Gillette,  John  Hooker,  and  Thomas 
T.  Fisher.  Mr.  Faxon  had  gone  to  the  Navy  Department.  In  1860 
Charles  Dudley  Warner  had  been  called  to  the  "Press"  as  assist- 
ant editor,  and  in  1861,  when  Hawley  enlisted,  Stephen  A.  Hubbard 
was  called  from  the  "  Winsted  Herald"  to  the  "Press."  He  and  E.  C. 
Stedman,  now  the  well-known  poet,  had  taken  that  small  country  journal 
and  made  it  one  of  the  best  known  Connecticut  papers.  In  1863  Warner 
and  Hubbard  bought  interests  in  the  "Press,"  and  in  1867  the  con- 
solidation with  the  "Courant"  took  place.  The  little  weekly  paper 
printed  on  a  sheet  fourteen  inches  by  eight  inches  has  grown  to  a 
four-paged  daily  and  weekly  of  which  each  page  is  thirty  inches  by 
twenty-three  inches. 

When  the  " Press  "  was  merged  in  the  "Courant,"  its  place  as  an 
afternoon  journal  was  taken  by  the  "  Post,"  of  which  the  following  sketch 
is  by  request  furnished  by  one  of  the  editors :  In  1858  the  "  Morning- 
Post,"  published  mornings,  and  the  "  Connecticut  Post,"  published  weekly, 
were  established  by  J.  M.  Scofield.  He  sold  the  papers  in  1865  to 
W.  P.  Fuller  and  E.  G.  Holden,  afterward  connected  with  the  "  Post " 
of  Detroit.  They  sold  in  1866  to  David  Clark,  and  he  again  sold  to 
the  Hon.  Marshall  Jewell,  Ezra  Hall,  and  H.  T.  Sperry.  In  1868  the 
"Morning  Post"  was  changed  to  an  evening  journal.  Isaac  H.  Bromley, 
of  the  "  Norwich  Bulletin,"  was  made  a  partner,  but  resigned  in  1873, 
and  the  "  Evening  Post  Association  "  was  formed.  Messrs.  Jewell,  Sperry, 
and  J.  A.  Spalding  became  the  owners  of  the  stock.  After  Mr.  Jewell's 
death  in  1883  the  surviving  proprietors  purchased  his  interest.  It  was 
started  as  a  Douglas  organ,  but  since  Mr.  Scofield's  retirement  it  has 
been  a  Republican  newspaper,  and  is  active  and  influential  in  the  affairs 
of  the  State  and  the  city. 

Turning  back  now  a  century  to  the  next  journal  after  the  "  Courant," 
we  find  the  "  Freeman's  Chronicle,"  or  "  American  Advertiser,"  by 
B.  Webster,  "  at  his  office  opposite  the  Court  House,"  a  weekly  begun 
in  September,  1783,  which  ran  only  about  a  year. 

The  "  American  Mercury  "  was  established  in  1784  by  Joel  Barlow, 


612  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

who  was  its  editor,  while  Elisha  Babcock  was  its  publisher.1  It  continued 
until  1833,  when  it  disappeared  in  the  "Independent  Press."  The 
"  Mercury  "  printed  the  "  Echo,"  which  the  "  Hartford  wits  "  prepared, 
and  was  a  famous  journal  in  its  day.  It  was  an  anti-Federal  sheet, 
and  at  the  time  of  the  Hartford  Convention  (1814-1815)  it  abounded 
in  ridicule  of  and  attacks  upon  the  members.  On  the  first  anniversary 
of  the  meeting,  Dec.  15,  1815,  it  printed  as  a  mark  of  disgrace  the 
names  of  the  members,2  and  announced  that  it  would  do  so  every  year. 
On  that  first  anniversary,  too,  in  Hartford  the  "  Democrats  "  raised  a 
flag,  keeping  it  at  half-mast  all  the  morning  and  hauling  it  to  the  top  in 
the  afternoon.  The  attempt  to  perpetuate  the  celebration  was  a  failure, 
and  in  a  year  or  two  it  was  abandoned.  The  "  Mercury  "  passed  out  of 
Barlow's  hands  before  his  departure  for  Europe  in  1788.  Charles  Bab- 
cock succeeded  his  father  as  publisher,  and  G.  F.  Olmsted  followed  him. 

In  1833  the  "  Independent  Press  "  was  established.  The  first  num- 
ber appeared  July  1.  This  absorbed  the  subscription  list  of  the  "Amer- 
ican Mercury."  Its  editor  was  the  Hon.  William  James  Hamersley, 
afterward  mayor  of  Hartford.  J.  Hubbard  Wells  was  the  publisher. 
The  "  Independent  Press "  was  published  about  two  years. 

The  "  Hartford  Gazette,"  semi-weekly,  first  appeared  in  January, 
1794.  It  was  published  "  Monday  arid  Thursday  by  Beach  &  Storrs, 
opposite  the  Court  House."  The  firm  afterward  became  L.  Beach  & 
Co.,  and  then  Beach  &  Jones.  The  "  Gazette  "  was  a  short-lived  journal, 
and  did  not  reach  its  second  volume.3 

The  first  number  of  the  "  Connecticut  Mirror"  (weekly)  was  published 
July  10,  1809,  by  Charles  Hosmer.  The  office  was  "fifteen  rods  north- 
east of  the  State  House  "  until  September,  1811,  when  it  was  removed 
to  "the  building  formerly  occupied  by  Mr.  Charles  Sigourney  "  on  Main 
Street.  In  December,  1811,  Mr.  Hosmer  formed  a  copartnership  with 
Horatio  G.  Hale.  The  firm  of  Hale  &  Hosmer  was  dissolved  Nov.  14, 
1814,  and  for  the  next  year  Mr.  Hosmer  was  again  the  sole  publisher.  In 
politics  the  "Mirror"  was  strongly  Federal.  During  the  War  of  1812- 
1815  it  was  the  organ  of  the  "  extreme  right "  of  the  Federal  party.  Its 
editor  was  Theodore  Dwight,  who  was  secretary  and  afterward  historian 
of  the  Hartford  Convention.  The  secret  journal  of  the  convention  was 
printed  day  by  clay  at  the  "  Mirror  "  office,  Mr.  Hosmer  himself  setting 
it  in  type  and  working  it  off  at  the  press,  without  assistance,  carefully 
distributing  all  the  type  before  he  left  the  room.  On  the  20th  of  May, 
1816,  with  the  forty-seventh  number  of  the  eighth  volume,  Mr.  Hosmer 
relinquished  the  publication  to  Benjamin  L.  Hamlen,  who  had  been  long 
in  the  "  Mirror  "  office,  and  who  pledged  himself  that  the  journal  should 
be  in  the  future  as  in  the  past,  "  decidedly  federal."  After  a  year  Mr. 
Abner  Newton,  Jr.,  became  a  partner,  and  untiLAug.  24,  1818  (Vol.  X. 
No.  11),  the  publishers  were  Hamlen  &  Newton.  This  partnership  was 
dissolved  ten  days  before  the  meeting  of  the  Constitutional  Convention 
of  1818.     In  October,  1818,  William  L.  Stone  and  Solomon  Lincoln 

1  Vol.  i.  no.  1,  "published  by  Barlow  &  Babcock,"  July  12,  1784. 

2  Those  from  Connecticut  were  Chaufrcey  Goodrich,  John  Treadwell,  James  Hillhouse, 
Zephaniah  Swift,  Nathaniel  Smith,  Calvin  Goddai'd,  and  Roger  M.  Sherman. 

3  Lazarus  Beach  and  his  partner  removed  to  Newlield,  and  began  to  publish  there,  in  the 
spring  of  1795,  "The  American  Telegraph." 


THE  PRESS.  613 

became  proprietors  and  publishers  and  Mr.  Stone  became  editor.  His 
salutatory  appeared  on  the  19th  of  October.  The  copartnership  was 
dissolved  June,  1820,  and  Mr.  Lincoln  became  sole  publisher,  though 
Mr.  Stone's  connection  with  the  paper,  as  editor,  continued  until  1821, 
when  he  became  one  of  the  proprietors  and  editors  of  the  "New  York 
Daily  Advertiser."  For  the  next  year  or  two  the  "  Mirror  "  appears 
to  have  languished,  but  in  February,  1822,  it  received  new  life.  It 
passed  into  the  hands  of  Goodsell  &  Wells  as  publishers,  and  John  G. 
C.  Brainard  1  left  the  practice  of  law  at  Middletown  for  the  more  con- 
genial task  of  editorship.  Mr.  Lincoln's  valedictory  and  the  salutatory 
of  the  new  editor  appears  in  the  number  for  the  25th  of  February.  Of 
Brainard's  management  Duyckinck  says,  not  altogether  unjustly,  that 
he  "  neglected  the  politics  of  his  paper,  dismissing  the  tariff  with  a  jest, 
while  he  displayed  his  ability  in  the  literary  and  poetical  department." 
The  majority  of  his  poems  were  written  for  the  "Mirror"  and  first 
appeared  there,  many  of  them  tossed  off  at  a  demand  for  "  copy." 
Brainard  published  a  collection  of  poems  in  1825.  In  1827  he  left  the 
paper,  and  in  1828  he  died  of  consumption.  Mr.  Dwight  left  the 
"  Mirror "  in  1815,  and  went  to  Albany,  but  in  1835  he  returned  to 
Hartford.     He  frequently  wrote  for  the  "  Courant "  after  his  return. 

In  the  spring  of  1828  George  D.  Prentice2  came  to  Hartford  to  edit 
a  now  paper,  the  "  New  England  Weekly  Review."  He  was  then  twenty- 
four  years  of  age,  a  native  of  Preston,  and  a  graduate  of  Brown  Univer- 
sity ;  had  studied  law,  but  was  not  yet  admitted  to  the  bar.  Under  his 
charge  the  "  Review  "  soon  became  one  of  the  most  popular  newspapers 
in  New  England.  His  wit  was  as  bright  and  his  sarcasm  as  biting  in 
1829  and  1830  as  they  were  ten  years  later,  when,  in  the  "  Louisville 
Journal,"  he  had  established  a  national  reputation,  and  when  "  Prentice's 
Last "  went  weekly  the  rounds  of  the  American  press.  It  was  to  its 
literary  department  more  than  its  political  that  Prentice's  "Review" 
owed  its  popularity.  "  Many  of  the  poems  of  the  editor  appeared  in  its 
columns ;  and  he  succeeded,"  says  Mr.  Everest,3  "  in  drawing  around 
him  a  band  of  correspondents  whose  united  contributions  gave  it  a 
degree  of  literary  interest  rarely  equalled  by  a  weekly  newspaper." 
Many  of  these  contributions  were  anonymous.  Among  those  which  bear 
the  names  or  known  signatures  of  the  authors  in  1829-1830  are  poems 
and  prose  by  James  Otis  Rockwell ;  Park  Benjamin  ("  Hermion ") 
while  a  .student  at  Washington  College,  and  afterward  ;  Willis  Gaylord 
Clark  ;  the  Rev.  Walter  Colton  ;  Lieutenant  George  W.  Patten  ("  Harp 
of  the  Isles"),  then  a  cadet  at  West  Point;  Sumner  Lincoln  Fairfield 
and  Mrs.  Fairfield  ;  Miss  S.  C.  Aikin  ("  Herida  "),  of  Poughkeepsie;  the 
sister  of  Mrs.  James  G.  Brooks,  afterward  Mrs.  James  Hall;  Robert 
Morris,  of  Philadelphia;  S.  M.  Clark  and  Miss  Frances  A.  Whipple,  of 
Hartford  ;  etc.  In  politics,  the  "  Review  "  was  anti-Federal  and  anti- 
Jackson.  It  supported  the  administration  of  John  Quincy  Adams  and 
advocated  his  re-election.  During  Jackson's  first  term  it  was  an  influ- 
ential organ  of  the  opposition.  In  the  early  summer  of  1830  it  was  the 
first  newspaper  in  Connecticut  to  nominate  Henry  Clay  for  the  Presi- 
dency.   In  June  of  that  year  Prentice  announced  his  intention  of  writing 

i  See  page  164.  2  See  page  165. 

3  Poets  of  Connecticut,  p.  321. 


614  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

the  life  of  Mr.  Clay,  and  set  out  on  a  journey  to  the  West  to  collect 
materials  for  his  work.  He  did  not  return  to  Connecticut.  In  Septem- 
ber he  established  the  "  Louisville  Journal,"  and  made  his  home  in 
Kentucky.  Before  leaving  Hartford  he  bade  a  temporary  "  good-by  " 
to  his  readers,  and  informing  them  that  "  Mr.  J.  G.  Whittier,  an  old 
favorite  of  the  public,"  would  probably  have  charge  of  the  "  Review  " 
in  his  absence,  he  "  congratulated  them  on  the  prospect  of  their  more 
familiar  acquaintance  with  a  gentleman  of  such  powerful  energies  and 
such  exalted  purity  and  sweetness  of  character."  "  I  have,"  he  adds, 
"  made  some  enemies  among  those  whose  good  opinion  I  value ;  but  no 
rational  man  can  ever  be  the  enemy  of  Mr.  Whittier." 

Prentice  had  been  among  the  very  first  to  recognize  the  merits  of 
the  young  Quaker  poet  and  to  predict  his  fame.  In  June,  1829,  he  re- 
printed in  the  "  Review  "  "  The  Outlaw,"  a  poem  written  by  Whittier 
while  a  student  at  Haverhill  Academy,  with  the  editorial  comment, 
"  We  consider  it  a  prodigy  of  precocious  talent."  About  this  time  Mr. 
Whittier  went  to  Boston  to  edit  the  "  Manufacturer,"  "  a  newspaper  in 
the  tariff  interest,"  and  Prentice,  in  a  complimentary  notice  of  the  paper, 
expressed  his  high  appreciation  of  the  ability  of  its  editor. 

To  which  follows  a  little  poem  by  Whittier,  from  the  last  number  of 
the  "  Manufacturer,"  —  "  To  a  Star."  It  is  too  good  to  be  lost,  though 
its  author  has  not  cared  to  gather  it  into  the  "  complete  collection  "  of 
his  poems.  Nor  do  we  find  in  that  collection  "  Silent  Worship "  or 
"  The  Worship  of  Nature,"  copied  by  Prentice  in  August  and  Septem- 
ber from  the  "  Essex  Gazette."  The  first  (acknowledged)  contribution 
from  "  our  favorite  Whittier  "  was  published  Sept.  24, 1829,  in  the  lines 
to  S.  E.  M.  Mr.  Whittier's  name  appeared  as  editor  July  19,  1830. 
In  his  leader,  under  the  title  "  Egotism  Extra,"  he  declares  his  princi- 
ples as  follows  :  "  A  disciple  of  Penn,"  therefore  no  duellist :  "  a  cold- 
water  man,"  and  "  disposed  to  eschew  Jacksonism  as  he  would  a 
pestilence."  During  the  two  years  of  Mr.  Whittier's  editorship  he  con- 
tributed a  poem  or  prose  essay  to  almost  every  number  of  the  "  Review." 
In  the  autumn  of  1830  his  "  New  England  Legends  in  Prose  and  Verse  " 
were  published  at  Hartford  by  Hanmer  &  Phelps  ;  and  in  1832  he  edited 
the  "  Literary  Remains  "  of  J.  G.  C.  Brainard,  prefixing  a  sketch  of  his 
life  to  the  volume,  which  was  published  by  P.  B.  Goodsell,  the  publisher 
of  the  "  Connecticut  Mirror."  The  following  is  an  extract  from  a  brief 
letter  of  Mr.  Whittier  written  in  answer  to  a  request  to  describe  his  life 
in  Hartford :  — 

Amesbury,  Mass.,  1st  mo.,  13,  1885. 

"  My  dear  Friend,  — ...  My  Hartford  experience  lies  far  back,  buried  under 
between  fifty  and  sixty  years,  and  I  do  not  see  the  need  of  anything  from  me. 
I  boarded  first  at  the  old  Lunt  Tavern  and  afterward  at  Jonathan  Law's,  formerly 
postmaster  of  Hartford.  I  knew  well  some  of  the  best;  people  in  the  little  city. 
Judge  Buss,  Hon.  Mr.  Trumbull,  Hon.  Martin  Welles^  Dr.  Todd,  Mrs.  Sigourney. 
Crar3T  —  afterward  General  Crary,  Member  of  Congress  from  Michigan  —  and 
Charles  Emerson,  then  young  lawyers  there,  wrote  for  my  paper,  as  did  also 
F.  A.  P.  Barnard,  now  President  of  Columbia  College,  New  York.  Crary  and 
I  went  to  New  York  to  finish  Prentice's  Life  of  Henry  Clay,  which  lacked  two 
or  three  chapters.  We  boarded  for  two  weeks  at  the  tumble-down  old  Tontine 
Hotel  in  Wall  Street. 

I  was  chosen  a  delegate  by  the  Connecticut  National  Republicans  to  the 
Convention  which  nominated  Henry  Clay  for  the  Presidency,  but  was  not  able 


THE  PRESS.  615 

to  go.  I  took  some  pleasant  trips  into  the  country  to  Talcott  Mountains,  New- 
Haven,  Litchfield,  and  other  places,  and  on  the  whole  had  a  pleasant  time. 
There  is  really  nothing  worth  telling  of.  I  was  there  nearly  two  years.  You 
will  find  my  marks  in  the  file  of  the  old  "Review,"  if  there  is  one  in  existence.  .  .  . 

John  G.  Whittier. 

In  1832  Judge  Franklin  G.  Comstock  purchased  a  half  interest  in  the 
"  Review7  "  for  his  son,  William  G.  Comstock,  and  Hammer  &  Comstock 
became  the  publishers.  It  wras  an  active  anti-Jackson  paper,  one  of  the 
leading  "  Republican  "  journals  of  the  State.  In  1833  its  publishers 
began  the  "  Daily  Review,"  afterward  called  the  "  Daily  Morning 
Review."  This  was  the  first  daily  in  Hartford.  The  "  Courant "  did 
not  attempt  one  until  1837,  nor  the  "  Times"  until  1841.  The  "  Daily 
Review "  consisted  principally  of  political  articles,  deaths,  marriages, 
and  advertisements.  Mr.  Comstock  bought  out  Samuel  Hanmer,  Jr.,  in 
1834.  In  1830  the  paper  was  sold  to  a  number  of  local  political  leaders, 
and  Charles  M.  Emerson,  to  whom  Mr.  Whittier  refers  in  his  letter, 
was  made  editor.  Subsecpiently  it  was  sold  to  a  Mr.  Green,  who  sold  it 
to  Mr.  Bustecd,  and  it  died  in  1844  while  owned  by  the  Busteed  family. 

There  was  another  "  Newr  England  Review  "  a  few  years  later.  In 
1844  the  "  Columbian"  was  established  by  Wells  &  Willard.  In  1845 
they  sold  it  to  Nathan  C.  Geer,  and  in  1840  he  sold  it  to  Walter  S. 
Williams,  who  named  it  the  "  Xewr  England  Review,"  and  had  as  editor 
Lucius  F.  Robinson,  a  graduate  of  Yale  in  1843,  and  one  of  the  most 
promising  young  lawyers  of  his  day.  In  1848  J.  Gaylord  Wells  bought 
the  paper  and  made  it  the  "  Connecticut  Whig,"  a  daily,  with  Mr.  Rob- 
inson still  as  editor.  It  was  merged  in  the  "  Courant"  in  1849,  after 
the  presidential  campaign  had  ended.  The  "Courant,"  it  may  be  men- 
tioned here,  had  in  184.")  absorbed  the  "Daily"  and  "Weekly  Journal," 
established  in  1843  by  Elihu  Geer  as  a  Henry  Clay  protection  advocate. 
Mr.  Robinson,  between  1857  and  1803,  was  the  editor  of  Sprague's 
"American  Literary  Magazine,"  which  was  prepared  here  though  pub- 
lished in  New  York. 

Among  other  distinctively  literary  publications  of  Hartford,  aside 
from  the  "  Review "  and  the  early  newspapers,  which  w ere  little  but 
magazines,  there  have  been  the  "  Parterre,"  1829  ;  the  "  Pearl,"  estab- 
lished by  Isaac  Pray,  Jr.,  in  1830,  and  removed  to  Boston  1835 ;  the 
"Bouquet,"  established  bv  Melzar  Gardner  in  1831,  and  merged  in  the 
"  Pearl"  in  1833  ;  the  "  Museum,"  in  1836  ;  and  in  1847  the  "  Nonpa- 
reil," edited  by  William  II.  Burleigh,  who  published  the  "  Charter  Oak," 
as  already  mentioned. 

Mr.  Frank  L.  Burr  has  by  request  furnished  the  following  sketch  of 
the  "  Hartford  Times." 

The  "  Hartford  Times  "  was  started  at  the  beginning  of  the  year 
1817.  Its  publisher  was  Frederick  D.  Bolles,  a  practical  printer,  and 
at  that  time  a  young  man  full  of  confidence  and  enthusiasm  in  his 
journal  and  his  cause.  That  cause  was,  in  the  party  terms  of  the  day, 
"  Toleration."  First,  and  paramount,  of  the  objects  of  the  Toleration- 
ists  was  to  secure  the  adoption  of  a  new  Constitution  for  Connecticut. 
Under  the  ancient  and  loose  organic  law  then  in  force,  people  of  all 
forms  and  shades  of  religious  belief  were  obliged  to  pay  tribute  to  the 
Established    Church.      Such  a  state  of  things  permitted  no  personal 


616  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF  HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

liberty,  no  individual  election  in  the  vital  matter  of  a  man's  religion; 
and  it  naturally  created  a  revolt.  The  cry  of  "Toleration!"  arose. 
The  Federalists  met  the  argument  with  ridicule.  The  "  Democratic 
Republicans  "  of  the  Jeffersonian  fold,  were  the  chief  users  of  the  Toler- 
ation cry,  and  the  "  Hartford  Times  "  was  established  on  that  issue,  and 
in  support  of  the  movement  for  a  new  and  more  tolerant  Constitution. 
It  proved  to  be  a  lively  year  in  party  politics.  The  Toleration  issue 
became  the  engrossing  theme.  The  "  Times  "  was  under  the  editorial 
care  of  John  M.  Niles,1  then  a  young  and  but  little  known  lawyer  from 
Poquonnock,  who  subsequently  rose  to  a  national  reputation  in  the  Senate 
at  Washington.  It  dealt  the  Federalists  some  powerful  blows,  and  en- 
listed in  the  cause  a  number  of  men  of  ability,  who,  but  for  the  peculiar 
issue  presented  —  one  of  religious  freedom  —  never  would  have  entered 
into  party  politics.  Among  them  were  prominent  men  of  other  denomi- 
nations than  the  orthodox  Congregationalists.  No  wonder ;  they  were 
in  one  sense  struggling  for  life.  There  was  a  good  deal  of  public  speak- 
ing ;  circulars  and  pamphlets  were  handed  from  neighbor  to  neighbor ; 
the  "campaign"  was  in  short  a  sharp  and  bitter  one,  and  the  main 
issue  was  hotly  contested.  The  excitement  was  intense.  When  it 
began  to  appear  that  the  Toleration  cause  was  stronger  than  the  Fed- 
eralists had  supposed,  there  arose  a  fresh  feeling  of  horrified  apprehen- 
sion much  akin  to  that  which,  seventeen  years  before,  had  led  hundreds 
of  good  people  in  Connecticut,  when  they  heard  of  the  election  of  "  the 
Infidel  Jefferson  "  to  the  Presidency,  to  hide  their  Bibles,  —  many  of 
them  in  the  hay-mow,  —  under  the  conviction  that  that  evident  instru- 
ment of  the  Evil  One  would  seek  out  and  destroy  every  obtainable  copy 
of  the  Bible  in  the  land.  The  election  came  on  in  the  spring  of  1818, 
and  the  Federal  party  in  Connecticut  found  itself  actually  overthrown. 
It  was  a  thing  unheard  of  —  not  to  be  believed  by  good  Christians; 
Lyman  Beecher,  in  his  Litchfield  pulpit  and  family  prayers,  as  one  out 
of  numerous  cases,  poured  out  the  bitterness  of  his  heart  in  declarations 
that  everything  was  lost,  and  the  days  of  darkness  had  come. 

In  fact  it  proved  to  be  the  day  of  "  the  new  Constitution,"  —  the 
existing  law  of  1818;  and  under  its  more  tolerant  influences  other 
churches  rapidly  arose.  The  Episcopalians  and  the  Baptists  and  the 
Methodists,  all  feeling  their  indebtedness  to  the  party  of  Toleration, 
thenceforth  voted  generally  with  the  Democratic  party,  —  a  state  of 
things  which  continued  till  about  the  time  of  the  new  departure  in 
national  politics  when  the  Fremont  party  was  formed ;  and  that,  with 
the  historic  events  thereafter  following,  took  off  most  of  the  Baptists 
and  Methodists  to  vote  with  the  new  and  enthusiastic  Republican  party, 
with  its  Antislavery  banner. 

The  "  Times,"  successful  in  the  main  object  of  its  beginning,  after 
witnessing  this  peaceful  political  revolution  continued,  and  with  several 
changes  of  proprietors.  It  was  about  sixty  years  ago  that  the  paper 
became  the  property  of  Bowles  &  Francis  as  its  publishing  firm,  —  the 
Bowles  being  Samuel  Bowles,  the  founder,  many  years  later,  of  the 
"  Springfield  Republican,"  whose  son,  the  late  Samuel  Bowles,  built  up 
that  well-known  journal  to  a  high  degree  of  prosperity.  Subsequently 
the  "  Times  "  passed  into  the  hands  of  a  firm  consisting  of  Mr.  Benjamin 
H.  Norton  (who  was  in  later  years  consul  to  Halifax)  and  Mr.  John 

i  Vol.  ii.  page  529. 


THE  PRESS.  617 

Russell  (the  father  of  Dr.  Gurdon  W.  Russell,  of  Hartford),  who  con- 
tinued as  its  publisher  till  1836.  It  was  during  these  years,  from  1828, 
when  General  Jackson  was  first  elected  President,  and  1832  when  he 
was  re-elected,  and  the  years  following,  down  to  Van  Buren's  election 
in  1836,  that  Gideon  Welles  lent  to  its  editorial  columns  the  aid  of 
his  vigorous  and  powerful  pen. 

In  1837  the  publishers  of  the  "  Times"  were  Jones  &  Watts,  the 
latter  a  pressman,  and  the  former  a  graduate  of  Washington  (now 
Trinity)  College,  who  ran  the  paper  for  a  year  or  more,  and  pretty 
nearly  ran  it  into  the  ground.  Henry  A.  Mitchell,  who  took  the  estab- 
lishment in  the  summer  of  1838,  found  its  condition  such  as  required 
the  publisher  to  be  (what  he  was  not)  a  practical  printer  and  also  a 
man  of  determined  "  reform"  principles,  to  restore  order  out  of  chaos. 

Jan.  1,  1839,  was  the  beginning  of  a  change  in  the  "  Times,"  which 
came  gradually  to  be  seen,  and  has  ever  since  been  more  and  more 
pronounced.  It  was  the  turning-point  in  the  history  of  the  paper.  At 
that  date  Alfred  E.  Burr,  then  a  printer  in  the  "  Hartford  Gourant" 
office  (of  which  he  had  been  for  some  years  the  foreman),  after  refus- 
ing a  very  liberal,  advantageous,  and  urgent  offer  of  the  chance  to 
become  the  proprietor  of  the  "Courant,"  practically  almost  on  his  own 
terms,  became  a  joint-proprietor  of  the  "Times"  with  Judge  Mitchell. 
Mr.  Burr  had  entered  the  "  Courant "  office  as  a  printer's  boy,  and 
there  learned  his  trade  as  a  printer.  Mr.  George  Goodwin  the  elder, 
at  the  time  of  Mr.  Burr's  departure  from  that  office,  —  where  he  had 
"made  up"  and  put  to  press  the  first  number  of  the  "Daily  Courant" 
in  1837, — was  quite  an  old  man;  and,  feeling  that  the  "Courant" 
must  pass  into  other  hands,  he  and  his  sons  were  very  desirous  that 
Mr.  Burr  should  be  its  publisher  and  owner.  But  while  the  offered 
terms  were  in  other  respects  extremely  favorable,  two  conditions  were 
imposed  which  defeated  the  wish  of  the  Messrs.  Goodwin.  One  was 
that  the  young  man  should  join  the  Whig  party,  and  the  other  that  he 
should  attend  an  Orthodox  church.  It  was  an  offer  well  calculated  to 
test  the  moral  fibre  of  the  man.  He  had  entered  the  "  Courant"  office  at 
the  age  of  twelve  years,  and  had  worked  hard  and  faithfully  for  twelve 
of  life's  best  years  to  save,  if  possible,  a  few  hard-earned  dollars, — 
working  often  all  night  as  well  as  all  day ;  and  at  twenty-one  he  was 
the  possessor  of  hardly  twenty  dollars  thus  laboriously  gained.  The 
offer  of  such  an  opportunity  to  enter  upon  a  smooth  and  easy  road 
to  assured  prosperity,  after  long  years  of  hard  and  un remunerative  toil, 
was  such  a  chance  as  few  young  men  meet  with.  To  reject  it  all  for 
conscience'  sake  was  an  act  still  more  rare  than  the  offer  itself.  This 
was  done,  greatly  to  the  sorrow  of  Mr.  Goodwin.  The  "  Courant " 
passed  into  other  hands,  and  Mr.  Burr,  in  January,  1839,  became  a 
part-owner  of  the  "  Times."  He  found  the  establishment  practically  a 
wreck,  —  the  mechanical  department  ill-furnished  and  in  confusion,  the 
accounts  also  in  confusion,  and  the  property  of  but  little  value  as  it 
stood.  He  went  to  work  to  remedy  this,  by  hard  and  constant  applica- 
tion, acting  for  a  while  as  printer,  foreman,  itemizer,  and  even  book- 
keeper ;  for  the  establishment  —  a  weekly  and  semi-weekly  paper  then 
—  could  not  for  a  time  even  afford  to  employ  a  clerk. 

It  took  many  years  of  this  close  and  hard  labor  to  bring  things  into 
proper  shape.     On  Jan.  1,  1841,  Mr.  Burr  bought  out  Judge  Mitchell's 


618 


MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 


THE    HON.  ALFRED  E.  1U  'I;  I;. 


share  in  the  proprietorship,  giving  his  notes  for  the  amount.  March  2, 
1841,  he  began  the  publication  of  the  "  Daily  Times."  It  began  with  a 
subscription  list  of  only  three  hundred.  The  office  was  on  the  second 
floor  of  the  old  Central  Row  corner,  and  the  printing  department  was 
the  corner  room,  and  the  editorial  and  business  part  in   the  room 

adjoining.  The  press,  worked  by  a  pow- 
erful negro  at  the  wheel  and  two  men 
handling  the  flies,  could  barely  print  five 
or  six  hundred  papers  an  hour  on  one 
side.  All  folding  in  those  days  was  done 
by  hand.  In  1846  a  new  and  larger 
press,  built  to  order,  was  introduced; 
but  this  also  proved  too  slow,  and  in 
1848  the  "Times"  was  the  first  Con- 
necticut newspaper  that  was  printed  on 
a  cylinder  press,  —  a  Taylor  single  cylin- 
der, air-cushion  machine,  built,  like  its 
predecessor,  to  order.  On  that  press 
the  "  Times "  was  printed  for  twenty 
years, —  improved  machinery  being  in- 
troduced only  after  the  fire,  which,  in 
March,  1869,  destroyed  the  printing 
establishment.  In  1854  Mr.  F.  L.  Burr's 
name  was  added  to  the  publishing  firm, 
which  then  became  Burr  Brothers.  This  has  ever  since  been  the 
name  and  style  of  the  firm,  —  a  later  addition  having  been  made  in 
1879,  when  Mr.  W.  0.  Burr,  son  of  the  senior  publisher,  became  a 
member. 

The  history  of  the  "  Hartford  Times  "  would  be  almost  a  life  history 
of  its  publishers,  and  a  history  of  the  Democratic  party  of  Connecticut. 
The  senior  proprietor,  born  March  27, 1815,  is  probably  the  oldest  active 
journalist  in  New  England,  if  not  in  the  country.  He  has  made  the 
"  Times  "  what  it  is.  It  began  in  1841  the  sensible  departure  from  the 
custom  of  the  party  press  in  those  days  of  depending  upon  "  Govern- 
ment patronage,"  and  relied  instead  upon  its  own  merits  as  a  news- 
paper for  support.  Another  change,  1846,  was  so  evidently  proper  and 
really  necessary,  after  it  had  been  once  fairly  made,  as  to  cause  wonder 
why  it  had  not  been  made  sooner,  —  namely,  the  abolition  of  the  old 
and  vicious  credit  system  in  dealing  with  subscribers  everywhere,  and 
the  establishment,  instead,  of  a  system  of  advance  payment.  Gradually 
the  others,  who  were  shocked  at  the  stand  taken  by  the  "  Times,"  and 
incredulous  as  to  its  success,  one  by  one  followed  its  example. 

In  its  political  course  the  "  Times  "  has  always  had  the  confidence 
of  the  party  with  which  it  has  been  identified,  and  which  it  has  materi- 
ally helped  to  success  in  many  a  hard-fought  contest.  Yet  it  has  not 
hesitated  on  more  than  one  occasion  to  differ  squarely  with  its  party 
when  it  felt  that  the  party  was  wrong ;  as  in  the  historic  matter  of  the 
repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  in  1854  when  the  Democrats,  after 
their  overwhelming  triumph  of  '52,  lost  sight  of  their  own  party  tradi- 
tions, and  illustrated  the  folly  of  those  who  "  feel  power  and  forget 
right."  The  "  Times,"  breaking  with  Senator  Toucey  on  this  question, 
—  and  indeed  with  the  National  Administration  and  most  of  the  Demo- 


THE  PRESS.  619 

cratic  party, — plainly  warned  that  party  of  the  effects  of  the  proposed 
repeal.  It  predicted  a  terrible  civil  war  and  disunion  as  likely  to  fol- 
low; but  the  Democrats — at  that  day  the  blind  followers  of  blind 
guides  —  persisted  in  repealing  the  Compromise.  What  followed  has 
become  the  most  momentous  part  of  our  country's  history.  These 
results  were  clearly  foreseen  by  the  senior  editor  of  the  "  Times." 
His  prescience  in  watching  the  drift  of  national  events  was  as  marked 
as  his  sagacity  in  business  and  local  political  affairs.  By  his  untiring 
labors  he  had  more  than  once  placed  his  party  in  Connecticut  in  the 
position  of  advantage,  while  others  had  the  credit  of  it.  He  cared 
nothing  for  that,  but  worked  always  for  principle,  and  for  what  he 
believed  to  be  the  cause  of  Justice  and  Right.  In  the  history  of  the 
Connecticut  Democracy  he  has  been  throughout  the  Warwick,  —  the 
maker  of  kings,  while  steadily  and  adroitly  refusing,  himself,  all  posts 
of  honor.  To  his  discernment  and  sagacious  energy,  and  his  rare 
tact,  most  emphatically,  are  due,  more  than  to  any  other  man  or  score 
of  men,  the  successes  of  the  Connecticut  Democrats,  though  he  always 
sought  to  put  that  credit  on  somebody  else.  His  saving  work  for  his 
party,  like  his  practical  benefactions  to  the  needy,  would  never  be  as- 
certained from  him  —  nor  from  anybody  else  if  he  could  prevent  it. 

It  was  in  the  years  1854  and  1855  that  the  Hon.  Gideon  Welles, 
who  had  been  for  most  of  the  time  since  1827  an  editorial  writer  on  the 
"  Times,"  joined  the  then  just  organizing  "new  party,"  which  in  the 
last-named  year  took  the  name  and  shape  of  the  great  Republican 
party.  Mr.  Welles  began  his  work  for  the  Republicans  in  the  columns 
of  the  "  Evening  Press,"  a  Republican  journal,  which  had  been  begun 
in  1856.  In  building  up  the  Connecticut  Republicans  no  one  voice  was 
so  powerful  through  the  press  as  that  of  Gideon  Welles.  President 
Lincoln  called  Mr.  Welles  to  his  Cabinet.  It  is  but  justice  to  truth, 
and  to  one  of  the  most  remarkable  men  who  in  those  days  of  noted 
leaders  were  in  any  way  connected  with  the  Government  at  Wash- 
ington, to  say  that  Mr.  Lincoln  trusted  to  no  member  of  his  Cabinet 
for  advice  and  counsel  more  fully  than  he  did  to  Mr.  Welles ;  and  it 
is  also  true  that  no  one  was  worthier  of  that  trust. 

It  was  well  for  our  country  that  Mr.  Lincoln  had  such  a  man  in  his 
Cabinet.  More  than  the  country  yet  knows,  it  was  the  saving  firmness 
and  wisdom  of  Gideon  Welles  that  at  critical  junctures  served  unseen 
to  turn  the  tide  of  fortune  in  favor  of  the  Government.  He  was  not 
given,  like  so  many  others,  to  blowing  his  own  horn ;  but  he  prompted 
one  or  two  of  the  most  important  measures  of  the  war,  and  his  counsel 
at  all  times  was  so  good  that  the  sorely-tried  President  learned  to  value 
and  rely  upon  it.  He  kept  a  diary  of  the  experiences  of  those  stormy 
years  through  the  first  two  Republican  administrations  —  for  he  was  in 
Johnson's  as  well  as  Lincoln's  Cabinet  —  and  this  important  manu- 
script, it  is  to  be  hoped,  may  yet,  in  part  at  least,  be  given  to  the  public. 
Portions  of  it  would  surprise  the  public  in  more  directions  than  one. 

Mr.  Welles  returned  to  Hartford  after  the  end  of  Mr.  Johnson's 
administration,  and  resumed  his  old-time  cordial  relations  with  the 
"  Times "  and  its  publishers.  He  was  daily  in  the  office,  as  of  old, 
reading  the  newspapers  and  making  characteristic  comments  on  men 
and  events  and  the  various  political  occurrences  of  the  day.  His  pres- 
ence was  always  a  welcome  one  in  the  "  Times  "  office.     There,  more 


620  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

especially  in  the  twenty  years  "before  the  war,"  lie  never  failed  to  make 
one  of  the  friendly  company  of  prominent  politicians  and  others  whose 
stories,  anecdotes,  wit,  and  uproarious  mirth  made  the  old  "  Times  " 
office  a  favorite  resort,  in  those  years,  for  people  who  gathered  there 
just  to  enjoy  the  fun.  Pleasantly  and  lovingly  remembered  as  impor- 
tant individuals  in  that  lively  group  were  William  James  Hamersley, 
Thomas  H.  Seymour,  Charles  Chapman,  and  many  more.  It  was  not 
the  most  favorable  condition  for  the  preparation  of  the  editorial  and 
other  matter  for  a  daily  paper,  in  the  midst  of  such  lively  but  distract- 
ing surroundings ;  but  the  editorial  work  was  done,  for  many  years,  in 
the  midst  of  just  that  state  of  things.  The  paper  is  now  conducted  on 
better  business  principles,  though  it  lacks  the  old-time  social  features 
in  its  business  office.  The  "Times"  has  now  grown  to  the  position  of 
the  leading  Connecticut  journal  in  circulation,  and  rests  on  a  basis 
of  assured  prosperity. 

The  Democratic  or  Jefferson  and  Jackson  school  of  politics  had 
various  exponents  besides  the  "  Hartford  Times."  The  "  Mercury,"  as 
has  been  explained,  ran  into  the  "  Independent  Press  "  in  1833,  edited 
for  two  years  by  Mr.  Hamersley.  Thomas  PI.  Seymour,  who  was  after- 
ward Governor  of  Connecticut  and  United  States  Minister  to  Russia, 
was  the  editor  of  the  weekly  "  Jeifersonian,"  published  for  two  years 
by  Henry  Bolles.  In  1835  John  B.  Eldridge,  who  had  edited  the 
"  Connecticut  Centinel "  in  New  London  and  the  "Springfield  Whig" 
in  Springfield,  Mass.,  established  the  "  Patriot  and  Democrat."  In 
1840  he  was  appointed  marshal  of  Connecticut,  and  the  paper  was 
merged  in  the  "  State  Eagle,"  conducted  by  James  Holbrook,  which 
was  discontinued  in  1842.  Mr.  Eldridge  died  in  Hartford  in  1882. 
He  had  acquired  a  large  property,  and  for  years  was  the  president 
of  the  Connecticut  Fire  Insurance  Company. 

The  "  Connecticut  Common  School  Manual,"  a  monthly,  one  of  the 
earliest  educational  journals  of  the  country,  was  started  in  Hartford 
in  1838  by  Dr.  Henry  Barnard,  then  commissioner  of  common  schools 
in  the  State.  This  was  continued  for  four  years  and  then  resumed  in 
1851,  when  Dr.  Barnard  returned  to  Connecticut.  In  1855  it  was 
turned  over  to  the  State  Teachers'  Association,  and  Dr.  Barnard  began 
the  "  American  Journal  of  Education,"  a  quarterly,  which  is  now  in 
its  thirty-first  year.  This  has  been  the  medium  of  bringing  out  a 
series  of  educational  tracts  and  treatises,  which  constitute  a  library  of 
education  of  fifty-two  volumes  of  500  pages  each,  containing  over  800 
titles,  making  it  the  largest  issue  of  such  a  character  in  print. 

The  "  Hartford  Telegram,"  a  morning  Democratic  paper,  was  estab- 
lished in  1883  by  D.  C.  Birdsall  and  William  Parsons.  It  was  re- 
organized in  1885,  and  is  now  owned  by  D.  C.  Birdsall  and  Colonel  E. 
M.  Craves  ;  the  latter  acting  as  editor. 

There  are  two  Sunday  papers :  the  "  Journal,"  established  in  1867 
and  made  the  "  Sunday  Journal  "  in  1874,  by  Captain  Joseph  H.  Bar- 
num,  who  has  been  its  editor  and  publisher  since  1869;  and  the  "  Sunday 
Globe,"  established  in  1876  by  C.  W.  Griswold,  now  edited  and  published 
by  Allen  Willey. 

It  is  not  in  place  to  present  the  whole  array  of  newspapers  at  present 


THE  PRESS.  621 

flourishing  in  the  city,  which  includes  the  "  Weekly  Underwriter,"  one 
of  the  leading  insurance  journals  of  the  country,  published  by  H.  S. 
Hay  den;  the  "Poultry  World,"  by  H.  H.  Stoddard;  the  "Connecticut 
Farmer ; "  the  "  Hartford  Herold ;  "  and  many  others  devoted  to  special 
objects.  Elihu  Geer's  "  City  Directory,"  established  in  1837,  is  regarded 
as  the  model  directory  of  the  country. 

Not  less  than  sixteen  distinctively  religious  journals  have  been 
established,  and  have  had  a  sufficient  existence  in  Hartford  to  leave  a 
recollection.  Several  of  them  still  exist  and  hold  place  among  the 
leading  papers  of  this  class  in  the  country.  The  "  Congregationalist," 
now  of  Boston,  the  leading  paper  of  that  sect,  was  begun  in  Hartford 
in  1839  by  Elihu  Geer,  and  after  running  for  several  years  was  removed 
to  Boston.  It  was  an  outgrowth  of  the  "  Northern  Watchman,"  an 
older  journal,  which  was  merged  in  it  when  the  "  Congregationalist " 
was  established.  The  "  Churchman,"  of  Now  York,  the  leading  Episco- 
pal paper,  was  established  in  Hartford  in  1865  by  the  Messrs.  Mallory. 
It  dates  back,  however,  to  the  "  Calendar,"  which  was  established  in 
1845  and  continued  until  1865,  and  that  was  preceded  by  the  "Epis- 
copal Watchman,"  founded  in  1828;  and  that  by  the  "Churchman's 
Magazine,"  founded  in  1821.  Indeed,  the  Episcopal  press  comes  next 
in  point  of  numbers  to  the  Congregational  in  Hartford. 

Naturally  the  Congregational  as  the  exponent  of  the  original  State 
religion  stands  first.  The  "  Congregationalist"  has  been  already  spoken 
of.  The  "  Religious  Herald,"  still  of  Hartford,  is  now  one  of  the  oldest 
papers  of  this  sect.  It  was  established  in  1841  by  D.  B.  Moseley,  a 
printer  who  had  been  foreman  in  the  "  Courant "  composing-room. 
Mr.  Moseley  is  still  the  editor  and  publisher  of  the  "  Religious  Herald." 
The  paper  was  preceded  by  the  "Connecticut  Observer,"  published  from 
1825  to  1841  by  Hudson  &  Skinner,  edited  by  the  Rev.  Horace  Hooker ; 
and  before  that  there  was  the  "  Connecticut  Evangelical  Magazine," 
established  in  1800  by  Hudson  &  Goodwin  of  the  "  Courant,"  and  pub- 
lished several  years.  The  "Christian  Sentinel"  was  published  from 
1845  to  1847,  by  the  firm  of  Brown  &  Parsons,  for  the  East  Windsor 
Theological  Seminary. 

The  "  Christian  Secretary,"  an  influential  Baptist  paper,  was  estab- 
lished in  1822.  Its  editors  have  been  Elisha  Cushman,  Sr.,  Gurdon 
Robbins,  Philemon  Canfield,  Normand  Burr,  Elisha  Cushman,  Jr.,  and 
S.  Dryden  Phelps.    Dr.  Phelps  has  been  editor  and  proprietor  since  1876. 

The  "  Catholic  Press  "  was  established  in  Hartford  in  1835,  but  was 
removed  to  Philadelphia.  The  "  Connecticut  Catholic,"  established  in 
1875,  has  a  large  circulation  through  the  State.  It  is  edited  by  J.  E. 
Scanlan  and  published  by  J.  F.  Scanlan. 

Between  1846  and  1855  the  Second  Advent  belief  was  represented 
by  at  least  three  papers,  —  the  "  Bible  Advocate,"  the  "Second  Advent 
Watchman,"  and  the  "  Lover  of  Zion." 

It  will  be  seen  from  this  brief  review  that  the  Hartford  press  has 
always  been  active  and  vigorous,  and  that  many  famous  names  are 
connected  with  its  history.  It  should  not  be  forgotten  that  outside 
journals  are  also  related  to  Hartford.  Noah  Webster  in  1793,  in  New 
York,  established  the  "  Minerva,"  out  of  which  grew  the  "  Commercial 


622  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

Advertiser  ;  "  and  his  cousin  Charles  R.  Webster,  who  went  from  Hart- 
ford to  Albany  in  1783,  was  called  "the  father  of  printing  "  there.  He 
established  the  "Albany  Gazette"  and  the  "Albany  Daily  Advertiser," 
and  with  his  twin  brother  George,  and  their  nephews,  the  Skinners, 
built  up  a  large  business.  The  "  Springfield  Republican  "  was  founded 
by  Mr.  Bowles,  from  the  "  Hartford  Times  ; "  Robert  Bonner,  of  the 
"  New  York  Ledger,"  was  a  compositor  in  the  "  Courant"  office;  the 
"Churchman"  and  the  "  Congregationalist "  were  Hartford  papers; 
Prentice  made  the  "  Louisville  Journal,"  now  the  "  Courier- Journal ;" 
and  there  are  other  instances  that  might  be  cited. 


With  the  exception  of  one  or  two  almanacs,  dated  1765,  having  a 
Hartford  imprint,  although  probably  printed  in  Boston  for  the  Hart- 
ford market,  the  first  publication  here  after  the  "  Connecticut  Courant  " 
was  a  controversial  pamphlet  entitled  "  An  Explanation  of  the  Say- 
brook  Platform,"  which,  though  anonymous,  is  known  to  be  by  Gov- 
ernor Thomas  Fitch.  The  publishing  business,  however,  had  little 
importance  until  it  was  taken  up  by  Hudson  &  Goodwin.  Begin- 
ning with  their  work,  it  went  on  to  a  very  large  development ;  at  one 
time  the  city  was  a  great  centre  for  the  publication  of  school  text-books, 
and  later  for  subscription  books  of  various  sorts.  It  was  in  Hartford 
that  the  Webster  and  Gallaudet  &  Hooker  spelling-books,  Peter  Par- 
ley's works  and  Goodrich's  histories,  Olney's,  Smith's,  and  Woodbridge's 
geographies,  the  works  on  natural  science  and  mathematics  by  Coin- 
stock  and  Davies,  and  other  widely  known  text-books  were  published ; 
and  many  of  the  best  known  names  in  Hartford  are  associated  with 
this  business. 

George  Goodwin,  of  the  firm  of  Hudson  &  Goodwin,  was  born  in 
1757,  and  entered  the  office  of  the  "  Courant"  in  1766.  He  conducted 
the  paper  while  the  "  Widow  Watson  "  was  its  proprietor ;  and  subse- 
quently he  became  the  partner  of  her  husband,  Barzillai  Hudson,  in  the 
firm  of  Hudson  &  Goodwin,  which  was  succeeded  by  George  Goodwin 
&  Sons.  Mr.  Goodwin  lived  to  be  eighty-seven  years  old.  During  his 
long  life  he  was  one* of  the  most  respected  citizens  of  Hartford,  and  the 
names  of  both  partners,  now  numerously  represented  in  the  city,  have 
always  been  honorably  conspicuous.  The  firm  brought  out  Webster's 
spelling-book  and  an  edition  of  the  Bible  among  their  publications. 

In  1820  Samuel  G.  Goodrich  (Peter  Parley)  published  an  edition  of 
Trumbull's  poems,  which  was  practically  a  subscription  book,  being 
printed  after  a  guaranty  subscription  had  been  made.  It  was  illus- 
trated by  Elkanah  Tisdale,  who  was  the  engraver  of  the  Graphic  Com- 
pany, which  was  in  its  day  a  very  important  concern,  engraving  bills 
even  for  banks  in  Canada,  besides  those  in  many  of  the  States.  The 
firm  of  Danforth,  Wright,  &  Co.,  which  late:r>  became  the  American 
Bank-note  Company,  was  the  lineal  descendant  of  this  company. 

The  subscription  publishing  business  of  the  latter-day  sort  traces 
directly  to  Silas  Andrus,  who  was  at  one  time  a  prominent  figure  in 
the  city,  and  built  the  "  Melodeon  building,"  on  Main  Street.  Andrus 
published  an  edition  of  the  once  famous  "  Adventures  of  Captain  Riley." x 

1  The  brig  "Commerce,"  in  which  Riley  was  wrecked  on  the  Barbary  coast,  was  owned 
in  Hartford. 


THE  PRESS.  623 

He  began  business  in  the  brick  house  on  the  west  side  of  Trumbull 
Street,  just  above  Church  Street,  but  subsequently  built  on  Kinsley 
Street,  east  of  the  corner  of  Main  Street.  He  took  into  partnership 
James  Walker  Judd,  and  they  took  in  Homer  Franklin,  so  that  the 
firm  was  successively  Andrus  &  Judd,  and  Andrus,  Judd,  &  Franklin. 
This  firm  failed  in  October,  1839,  and  its  property  was  sold  out  among 
many  different  concerns.  Andrus  published  many  standard  works,  not 
copyrighted ;  such  as  Rollin's  histories,  and  Josephus,  and  also  many 
editions  of  the  Bible,  from  a  folio  down  to  24mo.  To  facilitate  auction 
sales  he  bound  some  of  his  publications  in  covers  entirely  of  gilt. 

David  F.  Robinson,  who  began  in  the  employment  of  Silas  Andrus, 
established  himself  in  the  same  business  in  1824,  and  his  house  grew  to 
large  importance,  especially  in  the  publication  of  school  books  and  the 
sale  of  books  by  subscription.  Mr.  Robinson  was  at  an  early  date 
associated  under  the  linn  of  D.  F.  Robinson  &  Co.1  with  Bissell  B.  Bar- 
ber, who  was  a  bookbinder.  They  published  together,  among  other 
books,  a  "  History  of  the  United  States,"  by  S.  G.  Goodrich.  Mr. 
Robinson,  who  came  to  Hartford  as  a  boy,  acquired  a  handsome  prop- 
erty in  his  business,  and  took  a  leading  position  in  the  city's  affairs. 
He  was  from  1839  to  1853  the  president  of  the  Hartford  Bank.  He 
took  H.  Z.  Pratt  into  partnership,  and  the  firm  was  Robinson  & 
Pratt.  They  published  and  sold  by  subscription  the  Cottage  Bible, 
edited  by  Dr.  William  Pat  ton,  which  had  an  immense  sale.  They  also 
published  Olncy's  school  hooks,  geography,  atlas,  etc.,  and  Comstock's, 
including  his  chemistry,  philosophy,  and  others  equally  well  known. 
The  business  grew  to  such  proportions  that  the  concern  removed  to 
New  York,  where  the  firm  was  successively  Robinson,  Pratt,  &  Co.,  and 
Pratt,  Woodford,  &  Co.,  which  included  0.  P.  Woodford  and  E.  P. 
Farmer  and  T.  K.  Brace,  Jr.  A.  S.  Barnes,  now  at  the  head  of  the 
large  publishing  house  in  New  York,  was  in  the  employment  of  Mr. 
Robinson.  Professor  Charles  Davies,  editor  of  the  Legendrc  and  other 
text-books,  was  living  in  Hartford  in  1836,  in  the  house  on  Prospect 
Street  now  the  headquarters  of  the  Travelers  Insurance  Company. 
The  publication  of  his  works  was  put  into  Mr.  Barnes's  hands,  and 
from  that  beginning  the  present  publishing  house  grew  up. 

In  Hartford,  Robinson  &  Pratt  let  their  business  gradually  drift  into 
that  of  book-selling,  and  their  store  on  the  site  of  the  present  Hills's 
block,  on  Main  Street,  was  to  Hartford  what  the  Corner  Bookstore  was 
to  Boston.  They  sold  out  to  Daniel  Burgess,  who,  under  the  name  of 
D.  Burgess  &  Co.,  took  Gordis  Spalding  into  partnership,  and  they  pub- 
lished Smith's  geography  and  grammar,  etc.  Finally  they  separated, 
Mr.  Burgess  taking  the  publication  business  and  moving  to  Asylum 
Street.  Mr.  Spalding  took  Amariah  Storrs  into  partnership,  and  in 
1841  this  firm  and  Mr.  Burgess  failed,  and  were  succeeded  by  John 
Paine,  of  New  York.  Brown  &  Parsons,2  who  had  a  large  bookstore 
on  State  Street,  bought  out  the  Spalding  &  Storrs  store,  and  for  a 
time  maintained  two.  Subsequently  they  took  the  south  corner  of 
Main  and  Asylum  streets,  and  for  many  years  that  was  the  centre  of 
the  Hartford  book-trade.     In  1852  Mr.  Parsons  retired,  and  Mr.  Brown 

1  D.  F.  Kobinson  &  Co.  published  Mrs.  Stowe's  first  volume,  "The  Mayflower  and  other 
Sketches." 

a  Flavins  A.  Brown,  long  time  City  Treasurer,  and  Edward  W.  Parsons. 


624  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

conducted  the  business  until  1858,  when  he  took  into  partnership 
W.  H.  Gross,  in  the  firm  of  Brown  &  Gross,  which  still  stands.  Mr. 
Gross  had,  since  1850,  been  with  William  J.  Hamersley. 

Mr.  Hamersley's  publishing  and  book  business  dated  back  to  the  old 
house  of  0.  D.  Cooke,  subsequently  0.  D.  Cooke  &  Sons.  This  was 
one  of  the  earliest  Hartford  houses  to  bring  out  valuable  and  stan- 
dard works.  It  was  followed  by  H.  &  F.  J.  Huntington,  and  F.  J. 
Huntington  &  Co.,  who  published  many  school  books.  Among  the 
Huntington  books  were  the  Burritt's  "  Geography  of  the  Heavens " 
and  Atlas,  and  Goodrich's  "  Geography  for  Beginners."  They  went 
to  New  York,  and  Hamersley  &  Belknap  took  their  Hartford  place, 
and  for  some  years  maintained  their  bookstore  on  Main  Street,  where 
George  P.  Bissell  &  Co.'s  banking-house  now  stands.  Mr.  Belknap 
retired  in  1849,  and  then  William  James  Hamersley  published  many 
famous  school  books,  including  Swift's  "  Natural  Philosophy,"  Rob- 
bins's  "Outlines  of  History,"  the  "Practical  Spelling-book"  of  Gal- 
laudet  &  Hooker,  Woodbridge's  Geography,  Sophocles'  Greek  books, 
and  others.  Mr.  Hamersley  began  the  publication  of  Niles's  "  Civil 
Officer,"  which  is  still  continued  by  Brown  &  Gross,  who  at  Mr. 
Hamersley's  death  took  many  of  the  works  that  he  had  published.  He 
brought  out  the  first  edition  of  Dr.  Bushnell's  "  God  in  Christ "  and 
"  Christ  in  Theology,"  De  Forest's  "  History  of  the  Indians  of  Connecti- 
cut," Mrs.  Sigourney's  "  Whispers  to  a  Bride,"  Stuart's  "  Life  of  Nathan 
Hale,"  and  other  works.  Brown  &  Gross  also  publish  the  "  Connecticut 
Register,"  begun  by  Green  in  1789. 

The  most  remarkable  development  of  the  subscription  business  traces 
back  to  the  work  of  Lucius  Stebbins,  who  at  first  colored  maps  by  a 
process  of  his  own  devising,  for  Smith's  and  Olney's  geographies, 
published  by  Mr.  Robinson.  As  the  school-book  business  moved  to  New 
York  he  began  publishing  historical  and  descriptive  works,  illustrated 
with  colored  wood-engravings,  and  sold  by  travelling  agents  ;  H.  H. 
Brownell  wrote  several  of  these.  They  included  histories  of  the  Old 
World,  and  the  New  World  and  the  Indians,  etc.  Stebbins  adopted  the 
name  of  the  American  Publishing  Company,  and  in  1859  sold  this 
business  to  the  firm  of  Hurlbut  &  Kellogg,  who  kept  the  name  of  the 
American  Publishing  Company ;  but  no  such  company  actually  existed 
until  April,  1865,  when  it  was  organized  by  William  N.  Matson,  Henry 
French,  J.  B.  Burr,  E.  G.  Hastings,  Thomas  Belknap,  Sidney  Drake, 
and  J.  G.  Parsons. 

This  company  has  had  wonderful  success,  under  the  management, 
first  of  Elisha  Bliss,  Jr.  and,  since  his  death  in  1880,  of  his  son, 
F.  E.  Bliss.  It  published  A.  D.  Richardson's  "  Beyond  the  Mississippi," 
of  which  160,000  copies  were  sold;  HeadleyV  Great  Rebellion,"  of 
which  250,000  were  sold ;  Mark  Twain's  "  Innocents  Abroad,"  which  sold 
in  immense  numbers,  and  other  of  his  early  w^orks.  The  company  has 
sold  not  less  than  2,000,000  books,  and  is  the  most  widely  known  of  all 
such  houses.    Its  list  of  books  includes  those  of  many  famous  authors. 

Hurlbut  &  Kellogg  were  succeeded  by  Hurlbut  &  Williams  (A.  M. 
Hurlbut  &  Walter  S.  Williams),  who  published  and  sold  by  subscrip- 
tion the  "  Nurse  and  Spy,"  just  at  the  height  of  the  war  excitement, 
and  cleared  over  $80,000  the  first  year.     They  subsequently  with  others 


THE  PRESS.  627 

organized  the  Hartford  Publishing  Company,  which  had  Professor 
Stowe's  "  History  of  the  Bible "  in  its  list.  This  company  eventually 
ran  out.  Not  less  than  eight  subscription  concerns  grew  up  out  of  the 
establishment  started  by  Mr.  Stebbins,  and  there  are  a  number  of  well- 
known  concerns  in  the  business  now,  including,  beside  the  American 
Publishing  Company,  0.  D.  Case  &  Co.,  who  published  Greeley's  "  His- 
tory of  the  Civil  War  ; "  S.  S.  Scranton  &  Co.  ;  J.  B.  Burr  &  Co.  ; 
A.  D.  Worthington  ;  J.  B.  Betts  ;  E.  Gateley  &  Co.,  etc. 

The  largest  printing-house  in  the  State,  and  one  of  the  largest  in 
the  United  States,  is  that  of  the  Case,  Lockwood,  &  Brainard  Company. 
It  has  more  than  fifty  presses  and  employs  an  average  of  about  two 
hundred  persons.  It  has  no  special  work,  but  covers  the  whole  field  of 
printing,  binding,  book-making,  etc.  This  house  is  the  outgrowth  of  the 
firm  of  Case,  Tiffany,  &  Co.,  which  was  formed  in  1836  by  Newton  Case, 
E.  D.  Tiffany,  and  A.  D.  Waters.  There  were  various  changes  in  the 
firm,  but  the  name  remained  the  same  until  1857,  when,  on  the  retire- 
ment of  E.  D.  Tiffany  and  A.  G.  Cooley,  the  name  became  Case, 
Lockwood,  &  Co.  In  1874  the  company  already  named  was  incorpo- 
rated. James  Lockwood  had  been  taken  into  partnership  in  1853  and 
Leverett  Brainard  in  1858.  Webster's  Unabridged  Dictionary  was 
first,  and  for  fifteen  years,  printed  by  Case,  Tiffany,  &  Co.  The  same 
house  has  printed  a  great  many  of  the  books  sold  by  local  subscription 
publishing-houses.  In  1840  it  bought  the  plates  of  the  Cottage  Bible, 
already  mentioned,  which  had  for  many  years  a  great  sale.  Its  present 
large  building,  on  the  corner  of  Pearl  and  Trumbull  streets,  was  occu- 
pied in  April,  1867,  and  is  one  of  the  large  industrial  establishments  of 
the  city. 

There  are  several  other  firms  in  the  printing  and  binding  busi- 
ness ;  and  although  a  large  part  of  the  book-making  interest  drifted 
long  since  to  New  York  City,  the  printing-press  is  still  active  in  many 
ways  here. 


628  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY, 


SECTION  XIV. 


SCHOOLS  AND  EDUCATION. 

BY    THE    HON.    HENRY    BARNARD,    LL.D. 

{Condensed  by  the  Author.) 

The  First  Schools. —  The  District   System.  — Reminiscences. —The   Grammar 
and   High   Schools.  —  Female   Education. 

The  first  law  of  Connecticut  on  the  subject  of  children  and  schools 
did  little  more  than  declare  the  motive,  and  make  obligatory  the  prac- 
tice which  had  grown  up  out  of  the  character  of  the  founders  of  the 
River  Towns,  and  the  circumstances  in  which  they  were  placed.  They 
did  not  come  here  as  isolated  individuals,  drawn  together  from  widely 
separated  homes,  entertaining  broad  differences  of  opinion  on  all  mat- 
ters of  civil  and  religious  concernment,  and  kept  together  by  the  neces- 
sity of  self-defence  in  the  eager  prosecution  of  some  temporary  but 
profitable  adventure.  They  came  after  God  had  set  them  in  families  ; 
and  they  brought  with  them  the  best  pledges  of  good  behavior,  in  the 
relations  which  father  and  mother,  husband  and  wife,  parents  and  chil- 
dren, neighbors  and  friends,  establish.  They  came  with  a  foregone 
conclusion  of  permanence,  and  with  all  the  elements  of  the  social  state 
combined  in  vigorous  activity,  —  every  man  expecting  to  find  or  make 
occupation  in  the  way  in  which  he  had  been  trained.  They  came  with 
earnest  religious  convictions,  made  more  earnest  by  the  trials  of  perse- 
cution ;  and  the  enjoyment  of  these  convictions  was  a  leading  motive  in 
their  emigration  hither.  The  fundamental  articles  of  their  religious 
creed,  that  the  Bible  was  the  only  authoritative  expression  of  the  Divine 
Will,  and  that  every  man  was  able  to  judge  for  himself  in  its  interpre- 
tation, made  schools  necessary  to  bring  all  persons  "  to  a  knowledge  of 
the  Scriptures,"  and  an  understanding  "  of  the  main  grounds  and  prin- 
ciples of  the  Christian  religion  necessary  to  salvation."  The  constitu- 
tion of  civil  government,  which  they  adopted  from  the  outset,  which 
declared  all  civil  officers  elective,  and  gave  to  every  inhabitant  who 
would  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  the  right  to  vote  and  to  be  voted  for, 
and  which  practically  converted  political  society  into  a  partnership  in 
which  each  member  had  the  right  to  bind  the  whole  firm,  made  univer- 
sal education  identical  with  self-preservation.  But  aside  from  these 
considerations,  the  natural  and  acknowledged  leaders  in  this  enterprise 
—  the  men  who,  by  their  religious  character,  wealth,  social  position,  and 
previous  experience  in  conducting  large  business  operations  commanded 
public  confidence  in  church  and  commonwealth — were  educated  men, 
as  highly  and  thoroughly  educated  as  the  best  endowed  grammar  schools 
in  England  could  educate  them  at  that  period  ;  and  not  a  few  of  them 
had  enjoyed  the  advantages  of  the  great  universities,  and  several  had 


SCHOOLS  AND  EDUCATION.  629 

themselves  been  practical  teachers.  Such  men,  with  families,  could  not 
live  anywhere  without  schools,  and  they  did  not  live  long  so  in  Hartford ; 
and  it  is  to  their  eternal  credit  that  the  school  which  they  set  up  for 
their  own  children  was  open  and  enjoyed  by  families  less  intelligent. 

The  first  permanent  settlement  of  Hartford  was  made  by  the 
religious  friends  and  congregation  of  Rev.  Thomas  Hooker,  in  1636; 
and  in  1637  John  Higginson,  before  he  became  chaplain  of  the  fort  at 
Saybrook,  was  a  resident  and  "  schoolmaster  "  at  Hartford ;  and  Win- 
throp  mentions  "  one  Mr.  Collins,  a  young  scholar  who  came  from  Bar- 
badoes,  and  had  been  a  preacher,  who  was  established  at  Hartford  to 
teach  a  school,  in  1640."  These  masters  taught  before  the  first  formal 
vote  of  the  town,  so  far  as  the  records  now  show,  in  April,  1643  ;  and 
the  engagement  with  Mr.  Andrews  was,  not  to  set  up  a  school,  but  "  to 
teach  the  children  in  the  school,"  as  an  institution  already  in  existence. 

In  1665,  after  the  extension  of  the  Constitution  of  1638  and  the 
Charter  of  1662  over  the  settlements  of  New  Haven,  there  existed 
within  a  quarter  of  a  century  from  the  first  permanent  settlement  of 
Hartford,  in  1636,  practices  and  requisitions  of  public  instruction  as 
follows :  — 

First.  —  The  industrial  element  and  training.  Children  and  appren- 
tices were  brought  up  by  their  parents  and  guardians  to  habits  of  chore- 
doing  and  mutual  help  in  the  family,  and  in  the  work  of  the  farm  and  of 
the  shop.  This  grew  in  part  out  of  the  practical  absence  of  servants  as 
a  class,  which  made  mutual  help  absolutely  necessary  ;  and  partly  out  of 
an  early  statute  relating  to  children,  which  imposed  on  parents  and 
guardians  the  duty  of  bringing  them  up  "  to  some  honest  employment 
in  husbandry  or  trade,  profitable  to  themselves  and  to  the  common- 
wealth." Here  was  the  industrial  element,  or  technical  instruction  in 
its  most  natural,  universal,  and  economical  conditions;  and  to  these 
home-practices  may  we  still  look  for  its  further  development,  in  prefer- 
ence to  school-shop,  or  other  formal  instruction  in  the  use  of  tools. 

Second.  —  Early  religious  instruction.  The  practice  of  family  devo- 
tion and  catechetical  instruction  of  children,  inherited  by  the  first 
settlers  from  pious  ancestors,  although  following  different  methods  in 
primers  and  manuals  of  piety,  and  enforced  in  church  and  secular 
organizations  by  pains  and  penalties  on  every  family,  excluded  the 
"  barbarism  "  of  a  single  child  "  without  a  knowledge  of  some  orthodox 
catechism,  and  without  being  taught  the  Commandments  and  capital 
laws." 

Third.  —  Universal  elementary  instruction.  Every  town  of  at  least 
fifty  householders  was  obliged  "  to  appoint  one  within  the  town  to  teach 
the  children  to  read  and  write,  whose  wages  were  to  be  paid  either  by 
parents  or  masters  of  such  children,  or  by  the  inhabitants  in  general," 
as  might  be  ordered  by  the  town ;  and  for  neglect,  such  town  must  pay 
a  penalty.  The  work  of  teaching  the  alphabet  and  rudimentary  reading- 
was  done  by  school-ma'ms. 

Fourth.  —  Preparatory  college  instruction.  In  advance  of  the  Code 
of  1650,  even  within  the  first  year  of  settlement,  the  town  had  a  "mas- 
ter able  to  instruct  such  children  as  were  sent  to  him,  so  far  as  they 
may  be  fitted  for  the  university ; "  and  a  school  of  this  grade  has  always 
existed  in  Hartford,  the  town  never  having  been  called  on  "  to  pay  five 
pounds  to  the  next  such  school "  for  any  one  year's  neglect. 


630  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

Fifth.  —  College  education,  or  preparation  for  professional  and  public 
life.  "  To  provide  that  learning  may  not  be  buried  with  the  fathers  in 
church  and  commonwealth,"  it  was  ordered  that  contributions  shall  be 
taken  up  for  the  maintenance  of  poor  scholars  at  Cambridge,  and 
parents  with  means  "  having  promising  children  "  sent  them  to  college. 

Sixth.  —  Supply  of  educated  ministers.  The  study  and  pulpit  of  the 
teacher  of  the  First  Church  of  Hartford  was  from  the  start  a  "  school  of 
the  Prophets,"  and  that  church  with  its  ministers  may  be  regarded  as 
the  first  Theological  Seminary  in  Connecticut. 

Seventh.  —  Special  instruction.  "  To  secure  suitable  knowledge  and 
practical  skill  in  the  treatment  of  diseases,"  the  General  Court  inter- 
posed very  early  to  license  several  "  educated  men  to  practise  physic 
and  surgery,"  and  voted  an  "  annual  salary  of  fifteen  pounds  so  long 
as  they  devote  their  time  and  attention  to  the  sick  and  suffering  mem- 
bers of  the  colony;"  and  to  protect  the  patients  from  overcharges, 
either  for  travel  or  drugs,  a  moderate  fee  bill  was  established.  The 
older  practitioners  were  "  entreated  to  impart  their  knowledge  and  skill 
to  young  candidates." 

Eighth. — The  River  Towns  were  supplied  from  the  start  with  men  of 
good  legal  ability  and  experience,  and  Hartford  was  never  without  hun- 
gry young  men 

"  Hanging  round  courts  of  law  in  search  of  human  prey," 

and  was  never  poorly  off  for  men  of  mark  and  learning  to  shape  legis- 
lation and  administer  justice  in  the  high  office  of  magistracy. 

Ninth.  —  Race  instruction.  "  To  convey  the  law  and  knowledge  of 
God  and  His  word  to  the  Indians  and  natives  among  us,"  it  is  ordered 
in  the  Code  of  1650  "  that  one  of  the  teaching  elders  shall  every  year 
go  among  the  neighboring  Indians  and  make  known  to  them  the  Coun- 
sels of  the  Lord  ; "  and  to  aid  them  in  the  work,  an  allowance  is  made 
by  the  General  Court  for  interpreters. 

Such  was  the  system  and  agencies  of  public  instruction  in  actual 
operation  in  the  town  of  Hartford  in  1665/ 

With  this  general  statement  of  the  origin  and  progress  of  schools 
and  education  in  Connecticut  from  1636  to  1665,  when  the  provisions 
of  the  Code  of  1650  relating  to  schools  and  children  were  extended  over 
all  the  towns,  we  will  now  glance  briefly  at  the  development  of  public 
instruction  in  Hartford. 

From  the  time  the  town  came  into  possession  of  the  Hopkins  bequest 
in  1666,  and  other  benefactions  and  bequests  for  a  Latin  School,  and 
especially  after  the  requirements  of  the  Act  of  1772  by  which  six  hun- 
dred acres  of  land  were  appropriated  "  to  each  of  the  four  County 
towns  for  the  benefit  of  a  Grammar  School,  and  for  no  other  end  or  use 
whatever,"  the  school  begun  in  1636  —  sometimes  called  in  the  town  votes 
relating  to  it  a  Latin  School,  a  Grammar  School,  or  a  Free  School  — 
was  maintained  with  more  or  less  efficiency  down  to  1798.  There  was 
much  wrangling  over  the  employment  of  a  master,  the  accommodations 
of  the  children,  and  the  management  of  funds,  and  many  efforts  were 
made  to  get  better  and  larger  accommodations  and  more  efficient  man- 
agement ;  but  a  master  "  able  to  instruct  youths  so  far  as  they  may  be 
fitted  for  college  "  was  continuously  employed,  and  the  school  so  taught 


SCHOOLS   AND   EDUCATION.  631 

was  the  main  reliance  of  the  town  (exclusive  of  the  East  and  West 
Divisions  first  set  off  as  ecclesiastical  societies  with  school  privileges, 
and  afterward  incorporated  as  towns,  as  was  also  the  Wintonbury 
neighborhood  or  parish)  for  school  instruction,  except  that  given  to  little 
children  and  girls  in  women-schools,  of  which  there  were  at  no  time 
less  than  two.  With  all  the  disadvantages  of  "  over-crowding,"  and 
many  recitations,  or  "  saying  lessons,"  this  employing  a  grammar 
master  did  keep  alive  the  study  of  Latin  and  Greek,  and  a  succes- 
sion of  college  men  in  Hartford,  till  the  Grammar  School  was  elimi- 
nated from  the  town,  society,  and  district  system  about  1770,  and 
was  finally  assigned  to  trustees  incorporated  for  its  special  manage- 
ment in  1798. 

The  school,  or  "  schul,"  of  the  town  until  1762  was  managed  by  a 
committee  charged  with  "the  prudentials  of  the  schools"  and  with 
"  power  to  place  and  displace  the  master,"  in  the  absence  of  any  direct 
action  of  the  town.  About  17G0  the  school  building,  which  had  stood 
for  seventy  years  in  Main  Street  (then  one  hundred  feet  wide),  directly 
in  front  of  what  is  now  known  as  the  Russ  House,  and  just  south  of 
Linden  Place,  had  become  too  small  for  the  boys  of  a  community  of  two 
thousand  people,  which  was  the  population  of  the  town  in  1760. 
Directly  south  of  the  school-house  in  Main  Street  were  "  horse  sheds," 
which  had  been  erected  by  permission  of  the  town  to  shelter  the  horses 
whose  owners  came  from  beyond  Rocky  Hill  to  attend  divine  service 
of  the  Second  Church  in  the  meeting-house  which  stood  nearly  opposite 
the  sheds  on  the  east  side  of  Main  Street  until  1754-1757. 

Hartford  began  early  to  deviate  from  the  original  town  system  of 
school  organization,  supervision,  and  management,  and  in  spite  of  more 
strenuous  efforts  and  liberal  expenditures  than  any  other  town  in  the 
State  has  put  forth  to  improve  and  perfect  public  schools,  has  not 
reaped  the  legitimate  fruits  of  such  efforts,  in  consequence  of  the 
hindrances  and  inequalities  of  the  district  system.  Prior  to  1760 
the  town  had  parted  with  all  supervision  over  the  public  schools  of 
East  and  West  Divisions ;  in  consequence  of  which  the  older  children 
of  these  divisions  (afterward  incorporated  as  the  towns  of  East  and  West 
Hartford)  lost  the  advantages  of  a  Town  Grammar  School,  which  were 
in  part  supplied  to  the  wealthier  families  by  incorporated  academies 
and  select  or  private  schools.  But  in  1760,  after  repeated  failures  to 
locate  a  single  house  so  as  to  accommodate  all  the  families  in  the  first 
and  second  societies  which  had  no  territorial  boundaries,  and  together 
practically  constituted  the  town,  the  two  Societies  memorialized  the 
General  Assembly  to  be  divided  into  two  independent  districts,  with  all 
the  powers  relating  to  schools  already  extended  to  school  societies. 
They  were  so  divided  in  June,  1761,  by  the  Little  River,  —  all  lying 
northerly  constituting  the  North  District,  and  all  south  of  it  the  South 
District.  It  was  not  long  before  the  North  District  was  again  divided 
into  the  Middle  and  the  North  Middle,  and  the  last  into  the  Northwest 
and  Arsenal,  and  later  by  the  West  Middle,  districts.  The  same 
disintegration  went  on  in  the  South ;  first  by  setting  off  the  Rocky 
Hill,  then  the  Washington,  and  finally  the  Southwest,  —  giving  the  town 
ten  districts,  all  working  to  great  disadvantage,  with  inequalities  of 
school  privileges  and  of  taxation. 


632  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

In  the  absence  of  official  reports  of  school  visitors,  and  written  or 
printed  records  of  any  kind,  we  must  resort  to  the  reminiscences  of 
pupils  and  teachers  for  the  condition  of  these  schools  as  they  were 
years  ago.  Fortunately  we  have  several  communications  of  this  kind  in 
response  to  our  request  for  information  as  to  teachers,  books,  studies, 
and  discipline  when  the  writers  were  pupils. 

In  1840  the  venerable  Noah  Webster,  whose  early  education  was  in 
the  common  and  grammar  schools  of  Hartford  before  the  Revolution, 
and  who  was  himself  a  teacher  of  a  district  school  for  a  short  period 
before  leaving  college,  wrote  as  follows :  — 

"  When  I  was  young  (b.  1759),  the  books  used  were  chiefly  or  wholly  Dil- 
worth's  Spelling  Book,  the  Psalter,  Testament,  and  Bible.  No  geography  was 
studied  before  the  publication  of  Dr.  Morse's  small  book  on  that  subject  in  1789. 
No  history  was  read,  as  far  as  my  knowledge  extends,  for  there  was  no  abridged 
history  of  the  United  States.  Except  the  books  above  mentioned,  no  book  for 
reading  was  used  before  the  publication  of  the  Third  Part  of  my  Institute,  in 
1785.  In  some  of  the  early  editions  of  that  book,  I  introduced  short  notices  of 
the  geography  and  history  of  the  United  States,  and  these  led  to  more  enlarged 
descriptions  of  the  country.  In  1788,  at  the  request  of  Dr.  Morse,  I  wrote  an 
account  of  the  transactions  in  the  United  States  after  the  Revolution,  which  ac- 
count fills  nearly  twenty  pages  in  the  first  edition  of  his  American  Geography. 

"  Before  the  Revolution,  and  for  some  years  after,  no  slates  were  used  in  com- 
mon schools  :  all  writing  and  the  operations  in  arithmetic  were  on  paper.  The 
teacher  wrote  the  copies  and  gave  the  sums  in  arithmetic ;  few  or  none  of  the 
pupils  having  any  books  as  a  guide.  Such  was  the  condition  of  the  schools  in 
which  I  received  my  early  education. 

"The  introduction  of  my  Spelling  Book,  first  published  in  1783,  produced  a 
great  change  in  the  department  of  spelling  ;  and  from  the  information  I  can  gain, 
spelling  was  taught  with  more  care  and  accuracy  for  twenty  years  or  more  after 
that  period  than  it  has  been  since  the  introduction  of  multiplied  books  and 
studies. 

"  No  English  grammar  was  generally  taught  in  common  schools  when  I  was 
young,  except  that  in  Dilworth,  and  that  to  no  good  purpose.  In  short,  the  in- 
struction in  schools  was  very  imperfect  in  every  branch  ;  and  if  I  am  not  misin- 
formed, it  is  so  to  this  day  in  many  branches.  Indeed  there  is  danger  of  running 
from  one  extreme  to  another,  and  instead  of  having  too  few  books  in  our  schools, 
we  may  have  too  many." 

The  North  District,  or,  as  it  has  been  variously  designated  since  its 
first  creation  in  1761,  the  Middle,  the  Centre,  the  First  District,  has 
been  the  scene  of  much  diversified  pedagogical  experience,  of  which  the 
pupils  have  lively  reminiscences. 

Mrs.  David  F.  Robinson  (now  —  1886  —  in  her  eighty-third  year) 
writes  to  the  "  Hartford  Courant "  respecting  the  Common  School  in 
Rocky  Hill  District  as  it  was  when  she  (as  Anne  Seymour)  was  a 
pupil,  from  1807  to  1817,  as  follows  :  — 

"  The  small  brick  school-house  with  its  one  large  room  and  a  recess  for  hats, 
coats,  and  wood,  is  not,  like  Whittier's,  '  still  sitting  by  the  road '  known  as  the 
New  Britain  Avenue,  near  a  quarter  of  a  mile  west  of  the  Retreat.  It  was  taken 
away  long  ago,  and  one  far  more  commodious  erected  a  short  distance  east  of  the 
old  site  on  the  same  avenue,  when  Dr.  Barnard  was  superintendent  of  our  com- 
mon schools  [and  secured  a  better  plan  by  promising  the  district  a  school  library 
if  the  building  was  erected  and  fitted  up  after  plans  submitted  by  him.    Although 


SCHOOLS  AND   EDUCATION.  633 

his  plans  were  not  fully  followed,  the  district  in  1842  came  into  possession  of  a 
library  of  over  three  hundred  volumes].  In  this  district,  seventy  years  ago,  we 
had  a  master  in  the  winter  and  a  mistress  in  the  summer  terms.  A  candidate 
for  the  winter  term,  the  master,  was  subjected  to  an  examination  by  a  board  of 
three,  Mr.  Calvin  Seymour  being  chief  examiner.  This  occurred  at  the  school- 
room in  the  evening,  and  we  were  allowed  with  our  knitting-work  to  attend  the 
trial.  This  was  very  amusing  to  us,  especially  when  the  aspiring  master  missed 
in  spelling. 

"  The  Eev.  Mr.  Flagg  was  our  teacher  one  winter  ;  he  was  a  Universalist  min- 
ister, the  first  one  I  heard  of  in  Hartford,  excepting  Elnathan  Winchester,  who 
was  said  also  to  be  a  Restorationist,  an  intimate  friend  of  Dr.  Strong  and  a  devout 
Christian.  I  can  recall  very  little  about  Mr.  Flagg,  for  I  was  very  young,  except 
his  long  nose  and  the  long  switches  which  lay  quietly  on  his  desk.  Mr.  Flagg 
was  obliged  to  leave  school  before  the  close  of  the  term,  and  '  Captain  Dan'l'  was 
employed  as  his  substitute,  which  made  much  amusement.  The  Captain  was  an 
experienced  sailor,  and  he  told  the  committee  that  he  could  teach  navigation  and 
keep  the  school  in  order,  and  he  informed  the  scholars  that  if  the  boys  behaved 
badly  he  should  thrash  them,  —  he  could  use  a  cat-o'-nine-tails  if  necessary,  — 
but  he  never  would  punish  a  girl ;  so  if  they  broke  the  rules  in  any  way  he  should 
make  the  boys  pay  the  penalty ;  so,  said  he,  '  Boys,  look  out  for  yourselves ;  and, 
girls,  we  shall  know  whether  you  care  for  the  boys  or  not.' 

"  He  was  succeeded  by  Miss  Mary  Allen,  a  tall  nice-looking  spinster  of  lym- 
phatic temperament  and  quite  too  indolent  to  attempt  discipline  in  the  ordinary 
way.  Every  morning  at  recess  one  of  us  girls  had  the  privilege  of  brushing  her 
long,  silky  brown  hair,  while  she  paid  a  visit  to  the  land  of  Nod.  There  was  a 
big  colored  boy,  whom  common  sense  admitted  for  a  time  to  attend  district 
school.  He  was  the  only  one  in  the  district,  and  possibly  it  was  common  sense 
that  suggested  that  he  should  have  a  whole  bench  to  himself  at  the  further  side  of 
the  room.  Miss  Allen's  mode  of  punishing  the  girls  was  to  send  them  to  this 
bench  of  Erastus  Boston's,  where  they  seated  themselves  very  reluctantly,  and  on 
the  very  end  of  it,  with  their  backs  towards  'Rastus.  Sometimes  they  shed  abun- 
dant tears,  and  'Rastus  pitied  them,  believing  they  were  penitent  tears,  and  not 
on  his  account  at  all.  At  one  time  Miss  Allen,  like  Mrs.  Chick,  '  made  an  effort.' 
A  lad  was  lying  upon  his  desk,  with  his  head  out  of  the  open  window,  face  down- 
ward. Miss  Allen  seized  his  feet,  and  to  the  horror  of  us  all  he  went  out  of  the 
window  and  to  the  ground,  making  a  bad  wound  on  the  top  of  his  forehead.  It 
was  not  dangerous,  but  it  caused  a  tumult.  Poor  Miss  Allen  was  really  sorry,  and 
would  have  punished  herself  by  sitting  on  'Rastus  Boston's  bench  all  day,  if  it 
could  have  undone  the  mischief. 

"  The  next  summer,  1817,  brought  a  blessed  dispensation,  with  Miss  Damie 
Lawrence  for  our  teacher.  A  true  woman,  lady,  and  above  all  a  worker  for  and 
a  lover  of  Christ.  Her  method  of  teaching  was  fifty  years  before  her  time,  and  not 
at  all  in  the  ordinary  routine.  She  needed  no  discipline,  for  we  loved  her  so 
truly  and  she  interested  us  so  entirely,  that  whatever  she  wished  us  to  do  and 
learn  was  a  pleasant  thing  for  us.  Reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic  were  given 
in  the  usual  way,  except  that  our  reading-lessons  wrere  made  a  text  for  some  in- 
teresting instruction  in  connection  with  them,  —  the  Testament  lesson,  history, 
poetry,  and  everything.  Our  Scripture  lesson  gave  her  occasion  to  tell  us  much 
about  the  Saviour. 

"  When  our  lesson  was  a  tribute  to  the  memory  of  Washington,  she  spent  a 
little  time  in  telling  us  about  him,  and  in  time  Ave  were  told  of  the  history  of  our 
country  from  the  embarkation  of  the  Pilgrims.  When  we  read  one  of  Cowper's 
fables  in  verse,  she  told  all  about  the  poet,  his  love  for  pets,  animals,  and  birds, 
of  the  Rev.  John  Newton  and  the  Olney  hymns.  To  this  oral  instruction  after 
the  reading-lesson  the  whole  school  listened.  One  afternoon  in  each  week  the 
mothers  and  other  interested  ones  came  in  to  hear  the  speaking  of  short  extracts 


634  MEMORIAL   HISTOEY   OF  HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

from  the  Scriptures  or  elsewhere  in  poetry  or  prose.  Sometimes  an  original  piece 
in  rhyme  composed  by  Miss  Lawrence  was  recited  by  the  whole  school  together, 
full  of  instruction  in  good  manners,  for  school  and  for  home  as  well. 

"  She  liked  to  have  us  commit  to  memory  much  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount, 
and  other  sayings  of  Jesus,  such  passages  from  the  Old  Testament  as  '  Though  the 
n«--tree  shall  not  blossom,'  from  Habakkuk,  and  Ruth's  pathetic  appeal  to  her 
inother-in-law,  the  twenty-third  and  other  Psalms ;  for  she  said  if  we  committed 
them  to  memory  then,  we  should  not  forget  them.  Among  the  forty  pupils  there 
were  a  pair  of  twins  of  seven  summers,  one  of  each  sex,  and  the  girl  was  blind 
from  birth  and  had  been  able  to  walk  but  one  year.  Every  day  the  brother  led 
her  to  school  slowly  and  patiently,  even  cheerfully.  One  day  Miss  Lawrence  sat 
by  the  window  and  watched  them  on  their  way  to  school,  and,  as  it  was  before 
school-time,  she  composed  some  lines  about  them  which  she  taught  the  little 
blind  girl  to  repeat  to  her  friends  at  home.  She  also  composed  a  piece  for  her  to 
speak  on  visitors'  day,  which  drew  tears  from  all  eyes  except  the  blind  ones, 
although  its  sentiment  far  excelled  its  literary  merit.     Part  of  it  ran  thus  :  — 

'  Your  happy  eyes  the  sun  can  view, 
And  Nature's  beauteous  works  so  fair, 
Your  Bibles  read  —  your  friends  behold  ; 
And  in  their  labors  with  them  share. 
While  my  poor  eyes,  from  light  concealed, 
Can  scarce  distinguish  night  from  day  ; 
Like  other  children  cannot  see 
To  labor,  walk,  —  to  read  or  play. ' 

But  the  little  girl  was  so  delighted  to  have  a  part  in  the  performance  that  her 
heart  had  room  for  no  other  feeling.  Her  disposition  was  so  cheering  that 
her  mother  once  remarked  that  she  was  the  happiest  of  her  nine  children.  Her 
mind  was  perceptive  and  her  memory  wonderfully  retentive.  She  had  learned 
the  passage  from  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  '  Enter  into  thy  closet,'  etc.,  and  as 
she  had  no  closet  in  her  little  bedroom  she  made  an  oratory  of  an  old  clock  which 
had  long  ago  closed  its  account  with  time,  and  whose  hands  had  been  idle  and  its 
pendulum  motionless  for  years.  This  was  large  enough  for  her  little  frame,  and 
at  a  certain  hour  her  sweet  voice  was  heard  in  her  prayers  and  hymns  and  songs 
as  well.  Truly  the  advantages  of  this  beautiful  summer-time  should  have  made 
good  children  of  us  all.  But  I  sadly  fear  that  it  did  not  in  every  case.  Dear 
Miss  Lawrence  !  seventy  years  of  experience  of  life  and  study  of  character  have 
not  changed  my  childhood  reverence  and  love  for  you. 

"  If  this  little  sketch  may  seem  to  some  of  my  younger  readers  a  picture  of 
many  teachers  whom  they  have  known,  they  may  be  sure  that  such  a  person  was 
a  rare  exception  in  the  teacher's  chair  of  seventy  years  ago.  Her  system  of 
digression  and  object-teaching  were  perhaps  prophetic  of  present  methods.  At 
the  close  of  Miss  Lawrence's  last  term  a  well-to-do  farmer  in  Ohio  received  a  favor- 
able answer  to  his  offer  of  marriage,  and  the  then  far  West  acquired  a  blessing  as 
great  as  the  Board  of  Home  Missions  ever  provided  for  it.  Since  that  time  we 
have  heard  little  about  her,  and  now  —  Ah,  Ave  know  where  she  is  now  !  She 
is  in  that  brighter  world  where  she  laid  up  her  treasures  and  her  hopes  while  on 
earth,  and  to  which  she  strove  by  her  wise  and  charming  mode  of  instruction  to 
guide  her  pupils,  while  by  her  lovely  example  she  led  the  way." 

Professor  Thomas  A.  Thacher,1  LL.D.,  of  Yale  College,  educated 
until  he  entered  college  in  1831,  in  the  schools  of  Hartford,  -where 
he  was  born,  wrote  as  follows :  — 

"  If  in  complying  with  your  request  to  give  you  some  account  of  my  school 
experiences  before  my  admission  to  the  grammar  school,  at  the  age  of  eleven,  I 

l  Died,  April,  1886. 


SCHOOLS   AND  EDUCATION.  635 

•write  chiefly  of  myself,  my  egotism  must  be  charged  to  the  nature  of  my  task. 
But  the  years  of  my  life  which  preceded  May,  1826,  are  so  remote,  that  in  writ- 
ing of  them  I  almost  seem  to  myself  to  he  calling  to  mind  some  other  boy. 

"Besides  the  instruction  which  I  received  at  home,  I  attended  no  less  than 
seven  schools  before  I  was  eleven  years  old.  The  order  of  my  attendance  is  not 
distinctly  remembered,  but,  so  far  as  I  can  tell,  the  first  school  was  kept  by  the 
well-known  and  most  excellent  ladies,  the  daughters  of  Mrs.  Ruth  Patten.  It 
was  a  girls'  school,  or,  as  it  would  now  be  called,  a  school  for  young  ladies.  Dur- 
ing the  forty  years  which  preceded  my  exceptional  admission  to  it,  it  had  gained 
great  celebrity,  and  was  resorted  to  by  many  scholars  from  various  parts  of  the 
country,  and  even  from  foreign  parts.  When  the  school  was  closed  in  the  year 
1825,  its  teachers  counted  up  nearly  four  thousand  pupils  in  whose  education 
they  had  shared.  My  own  attendance  there  was,  as  I  have  said,  exceptional,  of 
course ;  but  I  may  have  been  permitted  to  accompany  my  elder  sisters,  who  were 
pupils  there,  because  of  the  partiality  of  good  Mrs.  Patten  for  children  whose  par- 
ents boasted,  as  she  did,  of  Lebanon  as  their  birthplace.  It  was  in  Lebanon  that 
her  father,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Wheelock,  instituted  and  maintained  the  Indian  School, 
which  afterward  became  Dartmouth  College.  In  this  school  '  the  time  was 
divided  between  study,  painting,  embroidery,  and  some  needle-work.'  The  line 
of  work  to  which  I  gave  some  attention  was  the  last  named.  I  practised  needle- 
work,—  at  least  so  far  as  to  learn  to  sew  patches  together,  —  and  I  succeeded  in 
the  praiseworthy  task  of  knitting  a  pair  of  garters. 

"  Mrs.  Patten  did  not  engage  in  teaching  at  the  time  of  which  I  speak.  Even 
her  daughters  were  well  advanced  in  years.  But  I  well  remember  their  gentle- 
ness and  gentility,  and  a  certain  combination  of  cheerfulness  and  sobriety  which 
characterized  them.  Their  long  service  in  the  trying  profession  of  teaching  had 
not  soured  them.  From  my  own  experience  there,  I  should  say  that  they  were 
especially  conscientious  in  their  quiet  endeavors  to  awaken,  religious  feeling  in 
their  pupils.  They  lived  and  taught  in  a  plain  mansion  in  Church  Street,  just 
west  n[  the  present  site  of  Christ  Church.  The  exterior  of  the  house  was  not 
very  inviting;  but  there  is  scarcely  a  more  charming  picture  brought  down  in  my 
memory  from  my  childhood  than  the  bright,  cheerful  apartment  occupied  as  a 
sitting-room  by  the  aged  and  still  cheerful  mother  of  this  unique  family.  Her 
presence  in  it  would  have  been  enough  to  make  it  attractive  to  a  child  ;  but 
the  slanting  rays  of  the  sun,  the  pots  of  flowers,  and  the  Franklin  fire,  all  have 
their  place  in  the  picture. 

"  There  was  a  brother  in  this  family  who  was  well  known  as  a  teacher  for 
upwards  of  twenty  years,  during  which  period  he  had  in  all  three  thousand  pupils. 
His  school  was  known  as  a  '  Literary  Institution.'  In  its  earlier  years  it  was  open 
to  both  sexes,  but  at  the  time  when  I  attended  it, — as  I  did  for  three  months, — 
the  scholars  were  all  boys,  and  only  the  ordinary  branches  of  a  boy's  education 
were  taught.  Mr.  Patten  was  educated  at  Dartmouth  College,  and  fitted  boj's 
for  college  as  well  as  for  business  during  a  part  of  his  life  in  Hartford;  but  when 
I  attended  his  school  he  had  lost  the  power  of  stimulating  his  scholars  in  their 
studies,  and  had  the  air  and  ways  of  one  who  had  wearied  of  his  profession. 
His  school  had  no  connection  with  that  of  his  mother  and  sisters.  It  was  kept 
in  a  spacious  room  in  a  building  on  the  west  side  of  Main  Street,  just  above 
Asylum  Street. 

"  At  an  earlier  date  than  that  at  which  Mr.  Patten  was  my  teacher,  I  attended 
for  a  short  time  a  school  kept  by  a  middle-aged  woman,  in  a  room  in  the  second 
story  of  a  house  which  stood  on  a  spot  which  is  now  covered,  I  think,  by  the 
west  end  of  the  South  Congregational  Church.  She  was,  in  her  tones  of  voice, 
in  her  air  and  manner,  and  in  her  methods  of  government,  as  unlike  the  gentle 
ladies  in  Church  Street  as  could  well  be  imagined.  I  remember  but  little  of  her 
except  her  severity  of  appearance  and  the  appalling  penalties  with  which  she 
threatened  the  boys  whom  she  thought  especially  ill-deserving.     As  I  was  very 


636  MEMORIAL   HISTORY  OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

young,  you  will  easily  believe  that  I  was  terrified  when  she  threatened  one  boy 
with  bleeding  from  the  arm,  and  another  with  actual  hanging  by  the  neck.  For 
both  these  punishments  she  made  deliberate  preparation,  and  gave  every  indica- 
tion which  she  could  give  that  the  time  had  come  for  their  infliction.  For  the 
one,  the  bowl  which  should  receive  the  blood  was  brought  in,  the  sleeve  Avas 
stripped  up,  and  I  believe  the  lancet  was  exhibited.  For  the  other,  a  cord  was 
slipped  through  a  hook  in  the  ceiling  (such  a  hook  as  was  often  used  in  the  old 
times  for  drying  beef),  and  a  box  or  chair  was  placed  under  it,  on  which  the 
culprit  was  soon  to  be  ordered  to  mount.  Meanwhile  the  executioner  was  doing 
and  saying  what  she  could  to  heighten  the  fears  of  the  offenders.  This  was, 
of  course,  all  in  terrorem  only,  while  she  appeared  to  intend  to  carry  out  her 
threats.  So,  after  a  show  of  very  serious  doubt  as  to  what  she  should  do,  she 
concluded  to  give  the  boys  one  more  trial.  But  you  can  imagine  the  terror  of 
the  younger  children. 

"  I  next  attended  the  school  for  children,  kept  by  Mrs.  Benton,  usually 
called  '  Miss  '  Benton  by  the  scholars.  You  must  remember  it  distinctly.  As  I 
recall  her,  she  now  seems  to  have  been  about  seventy  years  old  when  I  Avent  to 
her  school.  As  things  were  then,  she  kept  a  good  school.  She  was  very  ener- 
getic and  business-like,  and  filled  up  her  forenoon  and  afternoon  sessions  with 
spirited  teaching.  The  children  generally  caught  her  spirit.  I  envied  the  very 
fervid  way  in  which  Emma  Robbins  and  other  older  girls  studied  their  spelling- 
lessons.  The  boy  who  sat  next  to  me  I  remember  very  vividly,  but  I  have  not 
seen  him,  that  I  remember,  since  we  attended  that  school ;  and  now,  after  the 
long  interval  of  sixty  years,  he  seems  to  me  more  of  a  myth  than  a  reality.  And 
yet  he  may  be  living  still  —  for  I  am.  His  name  was  Thornton  Gannett,  a 
nephew  of  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Ezra  S.  Gannett,  of  Boston. 

"  There  was  another  boy  in  the  school,  whose  name  I  will  not  give,  from  whom 
I  learned  a  more  impressive  lesson  than  any  which  Mrs.  Benton  taught  me ;  and 
as  our  being  in  the  same  school  was  the  occasion  of  it,  I  will  report  it  to  you  : 
I  had  received  from  a  little  cousin  in  western  New  York  a  present  of  a  small 
engraved  picture,  which  was  in  my  eyes  very  beautiful.  One  day  I  showed  this 
to  the  boy  referred  to,  and  to  him  it  seemed  as  beautiful  as  it  did  to  me.  So  he 
expressed  a  desire  to  buy  it,  and  offered  me  a  price  which  seemed  to  me  a  full 
equivalent  for  the  picture,  and  even  more,  —  sticks  of  candy,  peppermints,  cakes, 
and  other  things,  to  a  degree  of  profusion  which  astonished  me,  and  overcame  my 
scruples  about  selling  a  present.  So  the  bargain  was  made,  and  it  was  agreed 
that  we  should  meet  on  the  way  to  school  in  the  afternoon,  I  with  my  picture, 
and  he  with  the  parcel  with  which  I  was  to  be  enriched.  We  met  and  exchanged 
possessions.  He  liked  his  bargain  :  mine  seemed  to  me  immense,  for  I  could  not 
refrain  from  looking  within  the  wrapper,  nor  from  nibbling  a  little  at  one  or  two 
of  the  nice  things.  So  we  hurried  on  together.  As  we  were  about  to  enter  the 
school,  my  friendly  companion  suggested  a  danger  which  had  not  occurred  to  me, 
namely,  that  Mrs.  Benton  might  confiscate  my  parcel  if  she  should  discover  it  in 
the  school-room.  So  he  proposed  —  and  I  thought  how  kind  he  was  in  doing  so  — 
that  it  should  be  concealed  under  one  of  the  low  beams  of  an  unoccupied  barn 
which  stood  near  the  sidewalk  a  little  north  of  the  school.  This  could  be  done 
the  more  securely  because  all  the  other  children  had  gone  in.  So  the  parcel  was 
hidden,  and  we  hurried  in  and  took  our  seats.  I  w#ll  remember  how  kind  the 
boy  seemed,  and  how  much  wiser  for  being  two  years  older  than  I.  The  after- 
noon seemed  very  long.  But  it  ended  at  last,  and  I  hurried  out  to  get  quick 
possession  of  my  unprecedented  treasures.  But  alas  for  the  crushing  disappoint- 
ment of  my  unsuspecting  hopes ;  the  awful  perfidy  of  a  trusted  friend ;  his 
deliberate  robbery  !  He  had  outrun  me  from  the  school,  and  before  I  reached 
the  barn  he  had  fled  out  of  it,  and  was  running  up  the  street  with  all  that  he 
had  given  me  for  my  precious  picture  in  his  hands.  And  my  case  was  hopeless, 
for  he  was  much  too  old  and  strong  to  be  called  to  account  by  me  personally ; 


SCHOOLS  AND  EDUCATION.  637 

and  then  I  could  say  nothing  about  it  at  home,  for  I  was  conscious  of  having 
done  wrong  in  selling  my  gift.  So  I  had  nothing  to  do  but  to  think  of  the 
case.  I  need  not  trace  out  my  varied  reflections,  either  on  the  consequences  of 
my  own  impropriety  or  on  my  discovery  that  such  perfidy  and  crime  could  exist 
in  the  world  as  that  from  which  I  was  suffering.  The  material  involved  in  the 
case  was  trifling,  but  the  lessons  were  as  grave  as  any  that  I  have  ever  learned. 
So  far  as  I  know,  the  boy  from  whom  I  suffered  such  unexpected  wrong  and 
anguish  has  lived  an  honest  life  ever  since.  Perhaps  his  own  reflections  on  his 
petty  crime  against  me  awoke  his  soul  to  the  enormity  of  such  wrong-doing 
and  established  within  him  a  purpose  to  sin  no  more.  It  may  have  been  a  graver 
event  in  his  life  than  it  was  in  mine.  I  have  seen  him  repeatedly  during  this 
long  interval  of  sixty  years,  but  never  without  thinking  of  my  suffering  at  his 
hands  in  those  early  days. 

"I  next  .went  to  a  school  kept  by  a  lady  in  a  house  which  stood  just  south 
of  the  late  site  of  Washington  College,  —  now  Trinity.  This  was,  for  aught  that 
I  remember,  a  good  school  for  instruction  in  reading,  spelling,  the  multiplication 
table,  and  so  on  ;  but  the  occurrence  which  I  most  vividly  recall  was  the  teach- 
er's sending  me  out  one  day  to  get  her  some  apples.  Now  the  only  apples  in  that 
vicinity  were  growing  in  an  orchard  which  belonged  to  Mr.  John  Buss,  situated 
just  behind  the  old  botanical  garden  of  the  college,  and  between  the  lane  and 
Little  River.  I  was  fully  impressed  with  the  fact  that  I  had  no  right  to  the 
apples.  But  the  order  was  plain,  and  I  was  too  recent  a  scholar  in  the  school  and 
too  young  ami  timid  to  ask  to  be  excused.  So  I  started  out  in  fear  and  trem- 
bling on  my  strange  errand,  —  on  the  one  hand,  afraid  to  disobey  my  teacher,  and 
on  the  other,  in  disti'essing  fear  because  of  the  nature  of  the  order  which  I  was  to 
execute.  The  first  steps,  however,  were  easy.  I  crept  along  down  the  lane  and 
stepped  up  upon  the  bank  to  the  high  rail  fence  which  separated  me  from  the 
orchard.  So  far  all  was  right  and  safe.  But  how  was  I  to  induce  myself  to 
climb  that  fence  and  steal  the  fruit  which  hung  in  full  view  on  the  trees?  I  hesi- 
tated long,  but  finally  concluded  that  I  might  be  pardoned  if  I  gathered  a  few 
apples  from  the  ground,  if  I  could  find  them.  So  I  cautiously  climbed  the  fence 
and  commenced  my  search  ;  but  it  was  rewarded  with  my  finding  only  one  little 
red  windfall  smaller  than  a  butternut.  I  could  do  no  more,  but  hurried  back  with 
a  comparatively  unwounded  conscience  and  delivered  my  booty.  You  should 
have  heard  the  laugh  of  ridicule  with  which  my  instructor  in  morals  greeted  me, 
and  her  taunting  inquiry  in  the  hearing  of  the  school,  '  Why  did  you  not  get  a 
wheelbarrow  to  bring  it  in  1 ' 

"  During  the  year  which  preceded  my  admission  to  the  grammar  school  I  en- 
joyed excellent  instruction  from  a  Mr.  S.  H.  Minor ;  first  for  three  months  in  the 
district  school-house  on  the  South  Green,  and  afterward  in  a  private  school  which 
he  kept  in  the  front  room  of  a  wooden  house  which  was  for  several  years  occupied 
by  Mr.  Asa  Francis.  This  house  is,  I  think,  still  standing  ;  the  school-house  on 
the  Green  has  long  since  disappeared.  Whether  Mr.  Minor  is  still  living  or  not 
I  do  not  know  ;  but  if  he  were  living  I  should  be  glad  to  testify  to  my  respect 
for  him  and  to  thank  him  for  his  great  value  to  me  as  a  teacher.  I  wish  that  all 
boys  of  ten  years  could  be  taught  grammar  as  he  taught  it." 

Mr.  Alfred  E.  Burr,  editor  of  the  "  Hartford  Times,"  writes :  — 

"In  the  winter  of  1821-1822  I  attended  the  Blue  Hill  (now  called  Gravel 
Hill)  school.  The  school-house  was  a  small  frame  building,  with  one  room.  It 
was  situated  on  the  south  side  of  Albany  Turnpike,  near  the  Adams  Tavern. 
The  teacher  was  paid  $10  a  month,  and  he  'boarded  round,'  each  family  board- 
ing him  a  certain  number  of  days  for  each  scholar  it  sent  to  the  school.  The 
school-room  was  warmed  by  a  square  box-stove,  in  which  wood  was  burned,  some 
of  it  green,  furnishing  as  much  smoke  as  warmth.     The  tax-payers  paid  a  part 


638  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

of  their  taxes  in  wood,  most  of  it  green.  All  the  scholars,  about  thirty  in  number, 
were  in  one  chilly  and  dreary  room.  Reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic  were 
taught.  There  was  no  class  in  grammar  or  in  geography.  Scholars  were  pun- 
ished for  failing  in  their  lessons,  for  coming  late  to  school,  for  whispering,  laugh- 
ing aloud,  or  for  not  responding  to  the  bell-call  at  recess.  The  punishments  were 
by  the  ferule  on  the  open  hand,  or  by  stout  sticks  upon  the  legs  or  across  the 
back.  The  blows  were  laid  on  severely.  From  the  first  of  May  till  November 
there  were  no  sessions. 

"  Two  or  three  years  later  I  was  sent  to  the  Up-Neck  school.  The  district 
embraced  all  the  territory  now  belonging  to  the  Arsenal  and  Northeast  Districts. 
The  old  school-house,  of  brick  and  of  the  plainest  construction,  stood  in  the  road- 
way opposite  the  dwelling  of  Captain  George  Cook,  now  about  No.  942  Main 
Street.  It  had  but  one  room  and  a  vestibule.  It  was  warmed,  so  to  speak,  by 
an  old-fashioned  Franklin  stove,  —  the  wood  furnished  by  the  tax-payers,  a  little 
jag  at  a  time.  The  studies  and  discipline  were  about  the  same  as  at  Gravel  Hill, 
except  that  a  small  class  recited  from  Morse's  geography  every  morning.  About 
forty  scholars  attended.  The  teacher  received  the  same  pay,  $10  per  month,  and 
'boarded  round'  among  the  different  families  of  the  district.  He  mended  all 
the  pens,  wrote  the  copy  lines  in  the  writing-books,  usually,  '  Many  men  of  many 
minds,'  and  '  Birds  of  a  Feather  Flock  Together.'  The  classes  were  directed  to 
'stand  up,'  and  their  lessons  were  rapidly  disposed  of.  Then  followed  an  hour 
in  close  attention  to  writing  and  arithmetic.  Due  credit  should  be  given  to  those 
old-time  schools  for  the  thorough  manner  in  which  they  drilled  the  scholars  in 
the  addition,  multiplication,  and  subtraction  tables.  I  fear  our  modern  schools 
are  hardly  equal  to  them  in  the  thoroughness  of  their  teaching  of  these  rudimen- 
tary but  very  important  rules.  The  teachers  of  the  olden  time  appeared  to  rely 
largely  upon  corporeal  punishments  to  subdue  the  scholars  and  bring  them  up 
(or  down)  to  their  own  standards  of  discipline.  I  once  witnessed  the  whipping 
of  a  small  boy  upon  the  bare  hand  till  it  was  black  and  blue,  his  offence  being  in 
picking  up  a  dead  robin  at  recess  which  a  young  man  in  the  neighborhood  had 
shot ;  and  I  have  seen  the  jackets  stripped  from  boys  and  lashes  laid  upon  their 
backs  for  slight  offences  committed  against  the  rules  of  the  school.  The  school- 
boys were  required  to  make  the  fire,  sweep  the  room,  and  close  it." 

Such  was  the  condition  into  which  the  common  schools  of  the  town 
had  drifted  under  the  operation  of  the  District  System,  without  the  con- 
trolling influence  of  direct  intelligent  central  supervision,  and  the 
stimulus  of  a  public  High  School,  to  which  all  the  districts  could  look 
as  the  common  standard  of  attainment,  and  for  the  completion  of  a 
thorough  practical  education.  So  inadequate  was  the  provision  deemed 
by  the  few  families  who  cared  most  for  the  education  of  their  children, 
that  more  money  was  expended  by  them  on  private  schools  and  acade- 
mies and  seminaries  out  of  the  State,  than  was  spent  by  the  rest  of  the 
community  on  all  the  public  schools  within  the  town. 

In  1838  a  systematic  agitation  was  begun  for  improved  school- 
houses,  teachers,  and  supervision,  and  a  public.  High  School,  which  in 
the  course  of  a  generation  resulted  in  a  complete  revolution  of  the 
popular  idea  of  the  common  school  as  to  buildings  and  teachers,  and 
in  the  establishment  of  a  public  High  School  by  which  a  systematic 
course  of  study,  in  advance  of  anything  before  offered  to  the  few 
families  by  select  and  academic  institutions,  was  secured  to  the  whole 
community ;  and  although  gross  inequalities  of  school  privileges  be- 
tween different  districts  still  exist,  the  possibility  of  a  good  public- 
school  education  is  now  secured. 


SCHOOLS  AND  EDUCATION. 


639 


The  accompanying   statistics  exhibit  the  condition  of  the  different 
districts  and  of  the  whole  town  at  the  close  of  the  year  1885-1886. 


Number  and  Name 

of 

District. 

School-Houses. 

3 

*  "3 

1  1 
=  I 

i 

a   . 

a 

c3 

U 

<1 

Teachers. 

it 

=  -T 

Ko5 

"3 

1 

02 

a 

S 

si 

a 
% 
f. 
Q 

1.  First  School  District 

2.  South  School      " 

3.  Second  North     " 

4.  West  Middle      " 

5.  Arsenal               " 

6.  Washington       " 

7.  Southwest           " 

8.  Northeast            " 

9.  Northwest           " 
10.  Gravel  Hill 

High  School  .     .    . 

5 
2 

23 

37 

12 

12 

9 

7 

1 

6 

2 

1 

10 

1272 

2073 

604 

560 

489 

350 

46 

341 

112 

30 

555 

$218,000 

190,000 

40,000 

154,000 

20,000 

25,000 

1,200 

30,000 

10,000 

3,000 

315,000 

2211 

3255 

1330 

920 

933 

458 

70 

429 

145 

24 

1417 

2470 

732 

553 

624 

410 

57 

321 

72 

26 

624 

856 

1599 

459 

386 

379 

265 

27 

251 

51 

14 

467 

5 
2 
4 
2 
4 

*2 

*8 

26 

42 

13 

14 

10 

8 

1 

6 

2 

1 

8 

1 
1 
1 
1 
1 

1 

1 

1 
1 
1 
1 

1 

1 

1 

17 

120 

6432 

$1,006,200 

9775 

7306 

4754 

27 

132 

Financial  Statement. 


Funds  and  Endowments. 

Other  Resources. 

Number  and  Name 
of 

Total. 

District. 

School 

Town 

Town 

District 

Other 

Fund. 

priation. 

Deposit. 

Tax. 

Tax. 

Sources. 

1.   First  School  District 

$1,769 

$3,317 

§319 

$10,335 

$17,765 

$1,151 

§34,656 

2.    Soutli  School 

2,604 

4,882 

469 

15,683  i    11,465 

827 

35,930 

3.    Second  North        " 

1,064 

1,995 

192 

3,158         5.669 

3,419 

15,497 

4.   West  Middle 

736 

1,380 

133 

2,149       16,925 

2,385 

23,708 

5.    Arsenal                  " 

746 

1,400 

134 

4,492        4,217 

83 

11,072 

6.    Washington          " 

367 

687 

66 

2,140        2,825 

89 

6,174 

7.    Southwest             " 

56 

105 

10 



171 

8.    Northeast              " 

343 

644 

62 

2,068        5,108 

63 

8,288 

9.    Northwest             " 

116 

217 

21 

700        1,524 

12 

2,590 

10.    Gravel  Hill 

119 

36 

3 

16  1      .... 

173 

High  School    .     .     . 

25,000 

7,017 

32,017 

§7,920 

§14,663 

§1,409 

$65,740    $65,498 

§15,046 

§170,276 

Number  and  Name 

of 

District. 

Districts, 

List 
of, 
1884. 

Rate 

of 
Tax. 

Teachers' 
Salaries. 

Fuel  and 
Incident- 
als. 

New 
Build- 
ings. 

Repairs 

Other 
Objects. 

Total. 

1.  First  School  District 

$22,246 

§2,510 

§1,151 

$2,639 

$28,546 

$12,797,747 

Mills 

H 

2.  South  School 

' 

30,924 

6,236 

§44,060 

855 

1,551 

83,627 

12,781,320 

1 

3.  Second  North 

• 

13,590 

777 

364 

974 

15,704 

6,140,950 

1 

4.  West  Middle 

' 

10,190 

3,311 

697 

8,486 

22,684 

10,935,979 

5.  Arsenal 

' 

8,390 

187 

1,836 

10,413 

2,188,300 

2h 

6.  Washington 

' 

3,450 

271 

46 

2,043 

5,810 

1,025,570 

3 

7.  Southwest 

' 

412 

133 

544 

8.  Northeast 

< 

4,375 

656 

40 

1,919 

6,990 

1,133,678 

5 

9.  Northwest 

' 

1,030 

86 

66 

216 

1,399 

101,626 

n 

10.  Gravel  Hill 

' 

304 

45 

46 

395 

High  School  . 

21,726 

3,585 

4,641 

499 

3,014 

33,465 

§116,637 

§17,610 

§48,701 

$3,905 

$22,714 

$209,577 

$47,105,172 

640  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

Hartford  has  enjoyed  every  year,  from  the  first  year  of  its  settle- 
ment in  1636-1637,  the  services  of  a  teacher  whose  ability  to  "  fit  young 
persons  resorting  to  him  for  the  university"  made  the  school  a  Gram- 
mar, or  Latin  school, —  such  a  school  as  the  law  of  the  State,  until  1798, 
made  obligatory  on  every  town  having  one  hundred  families,  and  which 
the  law  of  1672  designated  a  County  Free  School.  To  the  support  of 
this  school  has  been  applied  the  income  of  various  bequests,  —  of 
Mr.  John  Talcott,  in  1649 ;  of  Mr.  William  Gibbins,  in  1654 ;  and  more 
largely  of  Mr.  Edward  Hopkins. 

Governor  Hopkins  died  in  London,  in  April,  1658,  having  by  his 
Will,  dated  London,  March  7,  1657,  after  sundry  legacies  (to  his  pastor 
Rev.  Mr.  Hooker,  and  others),  made  the  following  bequest:  — 

"  And  the  residue  of  my  estate  there  [in  New  England]  I  do  hereby  give  and 
bequeath  to  my  father  Theophilus  Eaton,  Esq.,  Mr.  John  Davenport,  Mr.  John 
Cullick,  and  Mr.  William  Goodwin,  in  full  assurance  of  their  trust  and  faithful- 
ness in  disposing  of  it  according  to  the  true  intent  and  purpose  of  me,  the  said 
Edward  Hopkins,  Avhich  is  to  give  some  encouragement  in  those  foreign  planta- 
tions for  the  breeding  up  of  hopeful  youths  both  at  the  grammar  school  and 
college,  for  the  public  service  of  the  country  in  future  times." 

"  My  further  mind  and  will  is,  that  within  six  months  after  the  decease  of 
my  wife,  five  hundred  pounds  be  made  over  into  New  England,  according  to  the 
advice  of  my  loving  friends,  Major  Robert  Thomson  and  Mr.  Francis  Willoughby, 
and  conveyed  into  the  hands  of  the  trustees  before  mentioned,  in  further  prosecution 
of  the  aforesaid  public  ends,  which  in  the  simplicity  of  my  heart  are  for  the  up- 
holding and  promoting  the  kingdom  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  those  distant 
parts  of  the  earth." 

This  last  bequest  of  .£500,  which,  according  to  the  plain  reading  of 
the  will,  on  the  death  of  Mrs.  Hopkins  in  1699  should  have  been 
paid  "into  the  hands  of  the  trustees  above  mentioned,"  or  their  assigns, 
and  been  applied  as  was  by  them  provided  in  their  deed  of  distribution,  did 
find  its  way,  by  decision  of  the  Master  of  Rolls,  in  1712,  into  "the  Uni- 
versity chest"  of  Harvard  College,  where  it  has  been  carefully  adminis- 
tered in  the  interest  of  classical  studies,  the  Divinity  School,  and  the 
Grammar  School  of  Cambridge.  After  many  hindrances,  the  trustees 
(the  members  surviving  in  1664)  made  distribution  of  the  estate  in  their 
hands  ;  namely,  .£400  to  the  town  of  Hartford,  and  the  residue,  "  both, 
that  which  is  in  New  England  and  the  £500  which  is  to  come  from  Old 
England,"  to  New  Haven  and  Hadley,  for  the  support  of  grammar 
schools  according  to  the  will  of  the  donor.  New  Haven  realized  £412, 
and  Hadley,  where  Mr.  Goodwin  resided,  £212.  These  sums,  though 
small  when  measured  by  later  endowments,  were  adequate  as  a  stimulus 
to  keep  alive  three  preparatory  schools  for  nearly  two  hundred  and  fifty 
years  ;  and  in  spite  of  all  sorts  of  devices  to  divert  both  principal  and 
interest  to  elementary  instruction,  the  Hopkins  funds  in  Hartford, 
New  Haven,  and  Hadley  are  not  only  intact,  but  represent,  for  Grammar 
School  purposes,  a  capital  of  at  least  $80,000.  The  treasurer  of  the 
Hartford  Grammar  School  reports  the  market  value  of  the  fund,  in  the 
hands  of  the  trustees,  at  $47,664. 

Some  of  the  purposes  of  a  Public  High  School  had  been  realized  in 
Hartford  by  the  original  Town  School,  and  afterward  by  the  Endowed 
County  Free  School  and  Grammar  School,  until  the  latter  after  1798 


SCHOOLS  AND  EDUCATION.  641 

became  a  strictly  Classical  School  for  boys  only.  Although  the  school 
under  the  new  organization  was  much  better  taught,  and  its  financial 
affairs  more  satisfactorily  managed,  and  in  all  respects  realized  the  pur- 
poses of  its  original  and  principal  benefactors,  as  well  as  the  objects  set 
forth  in  the  memorial  of  the  town  asking  for  the  act  of  incorporation, 
down  to  1828,  still  it  did  not  answer  the  requirements  of  the  population, 
and  did  not  stand  in  proper  relations  to  the  public  schools.  Its  curricu- 
lum was  narrow,  the  building  entirely  inadequate,  even  for  the  small 
number  of  pupils  (25  to  30),  and  its  best  training  was  limited  to  a  few 
boys  fitting  for  college.  The  new  building,  completed  in  1828,  with  an 
able  corps  of  teachers  and  enlarged  course  of  studies  was  a  vast  im- 
provement on  the  old  order  of  things  ;  but  in  its  best  condition,  from 
1828  to  1886,  the  Grammar  School  fell  far  short  of  a  Public  High 
School  for  the  town.  It  included  pupils  and  studies  and  teachers  of 
every  grade.  There  was  no  admission  for  girls,  and  it  stood  in  no  rec- 
ognized relation  to  the  common  schools,  on  which  its  direct  influence 
was  depressing.  In  this  state  of  things  an  agitation  was  begun  in 
1838  by  the  Secretary  of  the  State  Board  of  Commissioners  of  Com- 
mon Schools,  which  culminated  in  1847  in  the  opening  of  the  Hartford 
English  and  Classical  High  School,  now  known  and  seen  of  all  men  as 
the  Hartford  Public  High  School.  The  first  building  was  on  Asylum 
Street,  but  when  that  was  found  too  small  a  larger  one1  was  built  upon 
Hopkins  Street. 

in  the  report  of  the  School  Visitors  of  the  First  School  Society  of 
Hartford,  submitted  by  Rev.  George  Burgess,  Oct,  7,  1839,  we  find  the 
first  fruits  of  the  imitation  inaugurated  in  1838.  All  the  topics  sug- 
gested in  the  first  circular  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Board,  addressed  to 
school  visitors,  teachers,  and  the  friends  of  school  improvement  gener- 
ally, in  August,  1838,  are  introduced,  and  several  of  them  discussed  at 
some  length,  —  such  as  the  influence  of  select  schools  in  the  absence  of 
good  public  schools,  and  especially  one  of  the  highest  grade;  the  neces- 
sity of  substituting  property  taxation  for  the  rate-bill  as  at  that  time 
made  out ;  the  visitation  of  schools  by  parents ;  and  the  establishment 
of  seminaries  for  the  education  of  teachers.  To  this  document  is  ap- 
pended a  report  of  the  Hartford  Town  Association  for  the  Improvement 
of  Common  Schools,  which  had  been  established  "  under  the  recom- 
mendation of  the  State  Commissioner  of  Common  Schools;"  and  the 
results  of  the  inquiries  and  deliberations  of  the  Executive  Committee 
are  submitted  "  in  discharge  of  a  duty  committed  to  them  by  the  high- 
est authorities."  This  report  points  out  the  advantages  of  a  system  of 
public  schools  for  the  city  or  society,  "under  the  provision  of  the  exist- 
ing laws  of  the  State  (Act  of  1839),  which  allows  the  union  of  two  or 
more  districts  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  school  of  a  higher 
order;  and  also  permits  any  school  society,  as  such,  to  establish  within 
itself,  and  maintain  by  tax,  any  number  of  schools  of  different  grades ; 
and  this  committee  believe  that  one  or  other  of  these  provisions  of  the 
law  may  be  advantageously  employed  at  present  in  this  society."  The 
committee  therefore  "respectfully  suggest  that  a  single  school  of  a  higher 
order  than  either  of  those  which  now  exist  should  be  established  by 
a  vote  of  the  society ;  or,  if  it  should  be  preferred,  that  the  several  dis- 
tricts embraced  within  the  limits  of  this  society  should  be  invited  to 

1  For  picture  of  the  High  School,  see  page  495. 
VOL.   I.  —  41. 


642  MEMOEIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

unite  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  such  a  school ;  and  in  that  event, 
should  the  districts  without  the  city  decline  such  a  union,  it  be  still 
proposed  on  the  part  of  those  within  the  city." 

In  1840,  with  enough  else  to  do  to  occupy  all  my  time,  I  consented 
to  go  on  to  the  Board  of  School  Visitors,  with  a  full  understanding  with 
my  colleagues  (some  of  the  best  men  in  the  city)  that  the  Board  would 
investigate  thoroughly  the  condition  of  the  public  schools,  and  education 
generally  in  the  city,  and  would  not  hesitate  to  grapple  with  the  prob- 
lem of  reorganization,  if  the  facts  should  call  for  it.  With  that  view, 
for  the  first  time  the  condition  of  the  schools  as  to  attendance,  and 
special  character  of  each  private  school,  were  carefully  ascertained, 
and  the  results  were  presented  in  a  series  of  propositions  which  were 
accepted  by  the  Board,  together  with  a  plan  for  consolidating  the  three 
city  districts  into  one,  and  establishing  a  system  in  which  two  High 
Schools,  or  one  with  two  departments,  one  for  boys  and  the  other  for 
girls,  formed  an  essential  feature.  The  following  are  the  features  of 
the  plan  submitted  by  me  for  the  city  districts :  — 

1.  To  consolidate  the  districts  into  one,  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  all  the 
schools  into  one  system  of  management,  studies,  and  books,  and  of  making  the 
school  interest  one  of  the  leading  interests  of  the  city. 

2.  To  establish  such  a  system  of  gradation  of  schools  as  shall  secure  as 
thorough  a  course  of  instruction  for  all  the  children  of  the  city,  rich  or  poor,  as  is 
now  provided  in  the  best  private  schools.  The  committee  propose  for  considera- 
tion the  following  outline  :  — 

First.  —  Primary  schools  to  be  located  in  different  parts  of  the  district,  for 
the  young  children,  where  all  the  arrangements  of  the  school-room,  the  play- 
ground, and  the  exercises,  shall  be  adapted  to  promote  the  health,  manners, 
moral  culture,  and  the  gradual  harmonious  development  of  the  mind  of  the 
young.  The  alphabet,  easy  lessons  in  reading,  oral  instruction  in  respect  to  real 
objects,  maps  and  figures,  habits  of  observation,  vocal  music,  and  drawing  on  the 
slate,  would  form  the  course  of  instruction  for  these  schools.  They  are  to  be  taught 
by  females,  and  we  would  add,  they  should  be  under  the  supervision,  in  part  at 
least,  of  the  mothers  of  the  district. 

Second.  —  Intermediate  or  secondary  schools.  These  schools  are  to  take  up 
the  education  of  children,  where  the  primary  schools  leave  it,  and  to  carry  it  for- 
ward to  as  high  a  point  as  is  now  attained  in  the  first  classes  of  the  present 
schools.  Two  schools  of  this  class,  if  properly  located,  would  answer;  but  owing 
to  the  location  of  the  present  district  school-houses,  three  might  he  necessary  at 
first.  Each  school  would  require  a  male  principal  of  the  first  order  of  qualifica- 
tions, a  female  principal,  and  a  sufficient  number  of  female  assistants. 

Third.  —  Two  High  Schools,  or  one  with  two  departments,  one  for  boys  and 
the  other  for  girls,  to  which  the  pupils  who  shall  be  found  qualified  in  the  studies 
of  the  secondary  schools,  on  due  examination,  shall  be  admitted,  and  there  taught 
the  higher  mathematics,  mechanical  and  natural  philosophy,  natural  history, 
physiology,  moral  and  mental  philosophy,  political  economy,  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States  and  of  Connecticut,  American  history  and  biography,  book- 
keeping, rhetoric,  and  drawing  with  reference  to  its  use  in  various  kinds  of  business. 
To  these,  or  to  so  much  of  them  as  might  be  deemed  advisable,  a  preparatory 
classical  course  could  be  added  without  increasing  the  expense.  This  department, 
if  established  at  all,  should  be  capable  of  giving  a  thorough  English  and  a  pre- 
paratory classical  education,  so  that  those  who  know  what  a  good  education  is, 
may  be  anxious  to  avail  themselves  of  its  advantages,  and  the  poorest  parent  who 
has  worthy  and  talented  children  may  see  the  way  open  to  them  of  all  the  advan- 
tages of  a  good  and  eventually  of  a  liberal  education. 


SCHOOLS  AND  EDUCATION.  643 

3.  The  studies,  books,  discipline,  and  supervision  of  the  schools,  and  the 
management  of  the  property  and  concerns  of  the  district,  are  to  be  intrusted  to 
a  Board,  two  thirds  of  whom  shall  be  elected  annually,  and  the  other  third  hold 
over.  It  is  also  proposed,  for  the  purpose  of  giving  efficiency  to  the  action  of  the 
Board,  that  they  elect  a  superintendent,  who  shall  visit  the  schools,  employ  the 
teachers,  meet  with  them  for  instruction,  visit  the  parents  and  guardians  of  such 
children  as  are  not  sent  to  school  at  all,  or  attend  irregularly,  see  to  the  repairs 
and  management  of  the  school-houses ;  in  fine,  to  devote  his  whole  time  to  the 
prosperity  of  the  schools. 

4.  The  schools  are  to  be  free,  and  to  be  supported  like  any  other  great  public 
interest.  The  education,  so  far  as  it  goes,  is  to  be  as  good  as  money  can  secure ; 
and  then,  like  the  air,  light,  and  water,  it  is  to  be  open  alike  to  rich  and  poor. 

The  plan  for  the  reorganization  of  the  city  districts,  and  summary 
of  the  condition  of  the  common  schools  generally  in  the  Society,  were 
approved  by  the  Visitors,  and  on  my  motion  the  plan  was  referred  to 
a  sub-committee  to  elaborate,  and  commend  in  a  special  report  to  the 
intelligent  and  effective  sanction  of  the  Society  and  city  districts. 
The  general  features  of  the  two  reports  were  approved  by  the  School 
Society,  and  the  question  of  consolidation  was  referred  to  the  districts 
directly  interested,  for  their  action.  The  report  of  Dr.  Bushnell  was 
such  a  masterly  discussion  of  the  whole  subject,  —  the  policy  of  a  con- 
solidated in  place  of  district  or  divided  administration ;  the  advantages 
of  a  closely  graded  system  for  the  whole  city,  terminating  in  a  Public 
High  School,  in  place  of  a  more  loose  and  differing  gradation  in  the 
three  districts,  without  scholars  enough  in  either  to  constitute  a  school 
of  the  highest  grade ;  the  right  and  policy  of  property  taxation  for 
school  purposes ;  the  evils  of  the  early  withdrawal  of  children  from 
school  from  the  want  of  additional  instruction  which  a  high  school 
would  afford  ;  the  advantages  of  a  union  of  the  Hartford  Grammar 
School  with  the  City  High  School  to  both,  in  a  more  full  realization 
than  has  yet  been  possible,  of  the  intent  of  the  donors  of  the  fund  by 
which  the  Grammar  School  is  supported ;  the  evils  of  private  schools 
covering  the  same  ground  with  the  public  schools,  and  attended  by  the 
wealthy  and  educated  only,  and  thus  creating  a  separation,  when  the 
whole  law  of  American  citizenship  requires  harmony  of  views  and  inter- 
est. So  satisfactorily  were  these  and  other  topics  treated,  that  I  printed 
the  document,  with  an  account  of  the  school  systems  of  Boston,  Nan- 
tucket, Charlestown,  Roxbury,  Lowell,  Portland,  Philadelphia,  Cincin- 
nati, and  Louisville,  for  gratuitous  circulation  in  other  cities  of  the 
State,  —  New  Haven,  New  London,  Norwich,  Bridgeport,  Norwalk, 
Stamford, — where  the  same  suggestions  were  applicable,  and  where 
the  general  policy  recommended  for  Hartford  has  been  since  adopted. 

The  district  meetings  which  followed  in  the  winter  of  1842  will  not 
soon  be  forgotten  by  those  who  participated  in  the  discussions  or  wit- 
nessed the  grim  satisfaction  which  interested  tax-payers  seemed  to  take 
in  blows  given  and  returned  in  a  cause  so  domestic  and  peaceful,  theo- 
retically considered,  as  that  of  education  :  "  vested  rights,"  "  steady 
habits  in  the  good  old  ways,"  "  no  taxation  for  other  people's  children," 
"  let  well  enough  alone,"  "  what  was  good  enough  for  the  father  was 
good  enough  for  the  son,"  "  none  of  your  high  schools  for  me,"  —  these 
were  the  phrases  and  topics  which  abounded  in  the  nine  meetings  which 
were  held  in  the  three  city  districts  before  the  votes  were  reached  by 


644  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

which  two  of  the  districts  assented  to  the  proposition  of  consolida- 
tion. Governors  and  ex-governors,  judges  and  senators,  lawyers,  doc- 
tors, clergymen  (and  none  did  better  service  than  Drs.  Bushnell  and 
Burgess),  representatives  of  all  occupations,  editors,  bankers,  mechanics, 
shared  in  the  discussions  ;  but  owing  to  the  political  connection  of  some 
of  the  prominent  advocates  and  opponents  of  the  scheme,  the  vote  actu- 
ally given,  especially  in  the  South  District,  where  the  vote  was  adverse 
to  the  union,  was  not  always  on  the  merits  of  the  question. 

In  1845  the  plan  of  a  reorganization  of  the  public  schools  of  the 
town  was  resumed,  so  far  as  the  establishment  of  the  High  School  was 
concerned,  which  in  its  indirect  action  was  calculated  to  effect  most  of 
the  improvements  contemplated  by  the  union  of  the  districts.  This 
agitation  was  inaugurated  and  continued  mainly  by  Mr.  James  M.  Bunce, 
who  for  nearly  one  year  gave  up  his  whole  time  to  the  enterprise,  as- 
sisted by  A.  M.  Collins,  chairman  of  the  committee,  D.  F.  Robinson,  and 
others.  The  first  meeting  was  held  Jan.  5,  1847,  notice  having  been 
given  January  1.  No  pains  was  spared  to  inform  and  interest  the 
public  in  the  enterprise.  Public  meetings  were  held  in  which  animated 
debates  were  conducted  ;  individuals  were  seen  and  conversed  with ;  the 
ignorant  informed ;  the  indifferent  aroused,  —  the  rich  to  feel  that  prop- 
erty would  be  more  secure  in  a  well-educated  community,  and  the  poor 
to  feel  that  they  could  not  have  the  advantages  of  good  schools  unless 
those  schools  were  also  cheap.  The  press  was  enlisted,  and  pamphlets 
published  and  distributed,  in  which  the  whole  subject  was  fully  ex- 
plained. Finally,  the  plan  was  carried  by  an  overwhelming  vote  of  the 
largest  town-meeting  ever  held  in  Hartford.  Much  of  the  expense  of 
all  these  preliminary  movements  was  borne  by  Mr.  Bunce ;  and  to  the 
completion  of  the  building  he  personally  contributed  $1,000. 

An  arrangement  was  effected  with  the  trustees  of  the  Grammar 
School,  by  which  that  institution  was  practically  incorporated  with  the 
High  School,  to  form  its  classical  department,  they  to  appoint  and  sup- 
port one  teacher,  and  to  limit  their  pupils  to  thirty-five.  Mr.  William 
B.  Capron,  then  rector  of  the  Grammar  School,  removed  with  his 
pupils  to  the  new  High  School  building,  and  had  charge  of  that  de- 
partment until  1853,  when  he  was  succeeded  as  rector  of  the  Grammar 
School  and  associate  principal  by  his  brother,  S.  M.  Capron. 

Joshua  D.  Giddings  was  called  from  a  grammar  school  in  Provi- 
dence to  take  charge  of  the  High  School,  but  resigned  after  a  few 
months  on  account  of  impaired  health.  He  was  succeeded  by  Thomas 
K.  Beecher,  who  remained  until  1850.  In  an  interregnum  of  a  few 
months  the  school  was  under  the  care  of  McLauren  F.  Cook  and  Cephas 
A.  Leach,  who  was  followed  in  July,  1851,  by  T.  TV.  T.  Curtis,  under 
whom  the  school  prospered  greatly  for  a  decade. 

In  September,  1861,  Mr.  H.  A.  Pratt,  previously  at  the  head  of  the 
Suffield  Literary  Institute,  was  called  to  the  principalship,  followed  in 
April,  1865,  by  S.  M.  Capron,  who  had  been  rector  of  the  classical  de- 
partment since  1853.  Under  Mr.  Capron,  to  avoid  the  possibility  of 
friction,  it  was  arranged  between  the  trustees  of  the  Grammar  School 
and  the  High  School  committee,  that  both  schools  should  be  under 
his  sole  charge.  This  arrangement  was  continued  under  Mr.  Joseph 
Hall,  who  had  been  assistant  since  1864,  and  was  appointed  principal 
after  Mr.  Capron's  death,  Jan.  4, 1874. 


SCHOOLS  AND  EDUCATION.  645 

Of  the  education  of  the  women  of  the  first  generation  we  have  no 
certain  information ;  but  from  the  character  of  the  men  who  shaped 
the  policy  and  institutions  of  Connecticut,  and  of  the  families  to  which 
their  wives  belonged,  and  from  the  character  and  influence  of  the  first 
generation  reared  in  their  early  homes,  we  are  safe  in  placing  the 
women  of  Hartford  as  high  in  intelligence,  virtue,  and  accomplishments 
as  those  of  any  New  England  community.  We  are  obliged  to  confess 
we  have  no  certain  evidence  of  the  existence  of  any  very  good  schools 
which  they  could  have  attended  in  the  limits  of  Hartford  till  near  the 
beginning  of  the  present  century.  It  is  certain  that  from  the  best 
public  school,  which  always  had  a  man  of  grammar-school  and  college 
training  as  its  teacher,  they  were  excluded  down  to  within  forty 
years.  The  dame  schools  and  the  district  schools  were  always  open 
to  girls ;  and  with  the  ability  to  read,  and  access  to  good  books,  sen- 
sible conversation,  and  the  responsibilities  of  the  family,  the  bright- 
est of  the  sex  will  appear  better  in  society  than  the  average  man,  no 
matter  what  may  have  been  his  school  privileges.  At  the  opening 
of  this  century  Hartford  society  had  women  of  great  general  intelli- 
gence, refined  manners,  and  large  personal  influence,  —  women  who 
had  been  educated  in  Dr.  Dwight's  school  at  Green  Farms ;  at  the 
Moravian  Seminary  at  Bethlehem ;  at  Mrs.  Graham's  school  at  New 
York ;  at  the  Tisdale  School  at  Lebanon ;  Mrs.  Rowson's  academy  at 
Boston ;  and  Miss  Pierce's  school  at  Litchfield ;  and  many  more  who 
had  been  educated  in  clergymen's  families,  and  by  reading  good  books 
and  doing  good  work  in  training  their  own  families  at  home.  Of  a  few, 
strictly  speaking,  girls'  schools  and  female  seminaries  which  belong  to 
the  first  quarter  of  the  present  century  we  will  write  briefly. 

The  school  which  attracted  most  attention  and  educated  a  large 
number  of  girls,  before  1820,  was  established  by  Mrs.  Lydia  Bull 
Royse,  about  1800.  She  was  born  in  Hartford,  Oct.  31,  1772,  a  lineal 
descendant  of  Captain  Thomas  Bull,  who  settled  here  in  1636,  and  was 
married  to  John  Royse  (b.  in  1772),  Oct.  27,  1792.  Their  married  life 
was  spent  in  New  York,  Richmond,  and  Newbern ;  and  after  his  death, 
which  occurred  in  1798,  Mrs.  Royse  returned  to  Hartford,  and  in  the 
year  following  opened  a  school  for  young  ladies,  —  day  scholars  and 
boarders.  Of  this  school  we  have  a  very  graphic  sketch  in  a  letter 
from  Rev.  Prof.  J.  J.  McCook,  of  Trinity  College,  who  married  a  grand- 
daughter of  Mrs.  Royse,  and  whose  mother,  Mrs.  Eliza  Lydia  Sheldon, 
carried  on  the  school  after  Mrs.  Royse  retired  from  it  in  1818. 

"  While  making  a  call  upon  Miss  Rockwell,  who  lives  in  one  of  the  oldest 
of  the  old  houses  in  East  Windsor  Hill,  I  noticed  upon  the  wall  an  '  Aurora,' 
done  in  water-colors  and  of  a  style  and  proportions  which  at  once  recalled  one  in 
my  wife's  possession,  —  the  work  of  her  grandmother,  Mrs.  Lydia  Royse.  Upon 
inquiry,  I  found  that  the  resemblance  was  not  accidental.  Miss  Rockwell's  elder 
sister,  now  long  since  dead,  had  been  a  pupil  in  Mrs.  Royse's  school  more  than 
sixty  years  before.  From  Miss  Rockwell  I  learned  the  following,  which,  though 
by  no  means  explicit  or  full,  yet  is  all  that  I  was  able  to  get  from  her  of  the 
matters  suggested  by  you  for  my  researches. 

"  After  learning  all  that  the  academy  on  the  hill  could  teach  them,  the  best 
families,  it  seems,  were  accustomed  to  send  their  daughters  to  Mrs.  Royse's,  in 
Hartford,  for  a  finishing  course.  Miss  Rockwell's  sister  was  sent  just  as  the 
school  was  about  to  break  up,  in  1817.     But  she  recalled  the  names  of  several 


646  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

of  her  girl-friends, — Ann  Watson,  Frances  and  Maria  Bissell,  Helen  and  Ursula 
Wolcott,  —  names  still  well  known  in  the  locality,  one  of  them  historical,  who 
were  there  as  early  as  1810.  One  of  these,  Miss  Maria  Bissell,  she  remembers, 
came  in  one  day,  and  said,  '  Now  look,  Henrietta,  and  I  will  show  you  how 
Madame  Javet  dances ; '  and  thereupon  capered  about  the  room,  executing  some 
of  those  grandes  manoeuvres  which  must  have  made  the  dancing  of  the  period 
such  a  fearful  and  wonderful  sight.  This  Madame  Javet,  then,  was  one  of  the 
teachers  in  Mrs.  Royse's  school,  and  her  name  suggests  what  I  have  heard  from 
my  cousin,  Miss  Sheldon,  —  Mrs.  Royse's  granddaughter,  —  that  she  had  under- 
stood that  there  were  among  the  teachers  members  of  the  families  of  certain 
French  emigres  driven  from  their  country  by  the  events  of  the  Revolution,  and 
here,  as  in  every  country  to  which  they  came,  finding  in  teaching  a  resource 
when  all  other  resources  had  failed.  The  'accomplishments,'  which  then  made 
a  large  part  of  female  education,  when  education  was  given  at  all,  were  naturally 
confided  to  them.  Not  all  the  accomplishments,  however ;  for  Mrs.  Royse  her- 
self taught  drawing,  painting,  and  needlework.  The  walls  of  the  Rockwell  parlor 
are  covered  with  paintings  done  under  her  instruction.  In  addition  to  the  sub- 
ject above  alluded  to,  I  observed  a  '  Ruth  and  Naomi,'  of  the  usual  sentimental 
type ;  a  '  Cybele '  driving  a  team  of  lions  hitched  to  a  gorgeous  chariot,  herself 
more  gorgeous  still,  the  fierce  grin  of  the  lions  in  striking  contrast  to  their  lamb- 
like and  somewhat  wooden  attitude,  —  Cupid  sits  in  front  and  holds  the  reins; 
the  '  Arch  of  Titus,'  a  fair  likeness ;  finally,  the  '  Romps,'  where  a  lot  of  oddly 
apparelled,  old-fashioned  looking  little  girls  are  surprised  in  the  midst  of  a  jolli- 
fication by  their  school-mistress,  the  very  frills  of  whose  monstrous  cap  seem  to 
fling  out  their  folds  in  horror  at  the  enormity  they  are  forced  to  witness.  In 
the  foreground  is  the  ringleader  of  the  malefactors,  standing  demurely  by  the 
side  of  an  overturned  writing-table,  her  hands  and  apron  all  covered  with  ink- 
stains,  of  which  the  floor,  too,  has  received  a  plentiful  share.  Miss  Ursula 
Wolcott,  upon  whom  I  called  after  leaving  Miss  Rockwell,  showed  me,  with 
mild  pride,  a  piece  that  she  had  done  at  the  school.  It  is  the  '  Parting  of  Hector 
and  Andromache,'  with  the  customary  accompaniments  of  tents,  warriors,  and 
weeping  Astyanax.  This  is  in  needlework,  very  beautifully  done ;  only  the 
faces  are  painted  in.  Work  of  this  latter  kind  seems  to  have  been  done  by 
Mrs.  Royse's  own  hand,  as  a  charge  in  one  of  Miss  Wolcott's  bills  seems  to  show. 
This  bill,  written  in  a  beautiful  hand,  I  transcribe.  It  will  give  you  definite 
enlightenment  on  certain  points  supposed  to  be  of  capital  importance,  —  at  least, 
by  that  one  of  the  respected  parents  upon  whom  commonly  fidls  the  duty  of 
auditing  and  liquidating  such  accounts  :  — 

"  '  Major  Woolcott  To  Mrs.  Royse,  Dr. 

For  Miss  Ursula  Woolcott —  Tuition  14  weeks $7.62 

Drawing  Picture,  6/  —  Stationery,  3/9  —  Medicine,  3/    .     .     .     .  " 2.12h 

30  &J  Silks  ©lO120,  18/2  —  33  yds.  Chenille  @  4|tf.,  12/4 5.09 

14.83 

Painting  Picture  included 5.50 

Board,  12  weeks,  @  13/6 27 

41.83 
5.50 


Hartford,  April  8th,  1813.' 


47.33 
Rec'd  Payment,  Lydia  Royse. 


"  The  bill,  now  yellow  with  age,  is  folded  carefully  for  filing,  and  on  the 
back  is  written,  no  doubt  in  the  Major's  hand,  '  Miss  Royse  Bill  for  Suley.' 

"  She  is  still  '  Miss  Suley.'     And,  though  now  sixty-six  years  distant  from 


SCHOOLS  AND  EDUCATION.  647 

her  girlhood,  has  not  lost  the  gentle,  agreeable  manners,  the  cultivation  of  "which 
formed,  no  doubt,  one  of  the  most  important  items  in  the  school  curriculum. 

"  The  old  lady  could  remember  but  little  concerning  the  course  of  instruction, 
except  the  painting  and  needlework,  her  memory  on  the  subject  had  not  been 
roused  for  so  many,  many  years.  Miss  Rockwell,  not  having  attended  the  school, 
knew  nothing  definitely  on  this  point.  She  only  supposed  that  they  taught 
reading,  writing,  arithmetic,  and  geography,  with  French,  dancing,  painting,  and 
needlework ;  and  she  remembered  specifically  that  Mrs.  Royse's  school  was  '  far 
ahead  of  the  Misses  Pattens.'  From  which  it  is  apparent  that  rivalries  and 
emulations  may  have  existed  even  at  that  remote  period  to  agitate  if  not  disturb 
the  reputed  tranquillity  of  educational  circles. 

"  Its  celebrity,  in  fact,  seems  to  have  been  such  that  pupils  were  drawn  to  it 
from  a  considerable  distance.  Miss  Rockwell  mentioned  the  names  of  several 
from  other  States  than  Connecticut ;  and,  since  the  room  for  boarders  was  always 
limited,  the  majority  of  these  pupils  appear  to  have  occupied  quarters  in  the 
town,  and  to  have  attended  the  classes  along  with  the  day  scholars.  Among 
these  outside  pupils  of  Mrs.  Royse  was  Mrs.  Willard  (Emma  Hart,  of  Berlin), 
since  become  so  eminent. 

"  Whether  there  was  any  religious  instruction  given,  or,  if  there  were,  what 
was  its  character,  I  cannot  ascertain.  In  one  school  that  I  have  heard  of,  ten  or 
fifteen  years  later,  every  girl  was  required  to  '  learn  her  own  catechism '  and  to 
recite  it  to  the  teacher.  The  result  of  this  was  that  the  brightest  of  them  learned 
the  whole  list,  —  their  own  by  special  application,  those  of  the  others  by  hearing 
them  recited.  What  the  effect  of  this  wide  comprehensiveness  was  upon  the 
theological  faculties  of  the  young  misses  I  have  never  been  told ;  but,  at  all 
events,  here  was  one  of  the  earliest  attempts  that  I  have  noticed  at  the  realization 
of  that  ideal  of  the  present  day,  — a  '  purely  undenominational  school.'  I  hardly 
think  this  feature  could  have  been  copied  from  anything  in  Mrs.  Eoyse's  school ; 
but  that  her  influence  over  her  pupils  was  distinctly  religious  I  can  scarcely  doubt, 
for  she  was  a  devout  member  of  the  Episcopal  Church. 

"  The  locality  of  the  school  was,  for  one  part  of  the  time,  in  a  building  still 
standing  on  the  corner  of  Main  and  Belden  streets ;  the  rest  of  the  time  in  the 
old  Whitman  House  on  Main  Street,  where  College  Street  (Capitol  Avenue)  now 
joins  it.     It  was  on  this  latter  spot  when  Miss  Rockwell  attended  it. 

"  The  immediate  cause  of  its  suspension,  after  its  honorable  career  of  not  far 
from  twenty  years,  seems  to  have  been  the  death  of  Mrs.  Royse's  son-indaw, 
Mr.  George  Sheldon,  one  of  Hartford's  earliest  book-publishers,  the  partner  of 
'  Peter  Parley,'  and  from  all  accounts  an  accomplished  and  most  estimable  per- 
son. 'After  his  death,'  Miss  Rockwell  told  me,  she  'never  saw  Mrs.  Royse  or 
Mrs.  Sheldon  smile.' 

"  Later  on,  Mrs.  Sheldon  opened  a  school,  being  associated  with  Mrs.  Grosve- 
nor  in  its  management.  Concerning  it  I  have  little  knowledge.  It  was  in 
existence  in  1824.  .  .  .  Those  who  remember  Mrs.  Grosvenor,  her  associate,  will 
easily  believe  that  the  school,  under  such  direction,  must  have  been  a  thoroughly 
good  one,  and  powerfully  influential  upon  the  characters  as  well  as  the  intellects 
of  its  pupils,  some  of  whom  still  survive." 

Lydia  Maria  Huntley,  better  known  to  this  generation,  and  in  Amer- 
ican literature  by  numerous  publications,  as  L.  H.  S.  (Lydia  Huntley 
Sigourney),  was  born  in  Norwich  in  1791,  and  came  to  Hartford  in 
1811  "to  perfect  her  education  at  two  of  the  best  seminaries  then  exist- 
ing, by  devoting  herself  to  the  accomplishments  of  drawing,  painting  in 
water-colors,  embroideries  of  various  kinds,  filigree,  and  other  things  too 
tedious  to  mention."  On  her  return  to  Norwich  she  opened  a  seminary 
for  young  ladies  in  connection  with  Miss  Nancy  Maria  Hyde,  who  died  in 


648  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

1814.  Their  enterprise  was  successful ;  so  much  so,  that  Miss  Huntley 
was  invited  by  Mr.  Daniel  Wadsworth  to  open  a  select  school  for  young 
ladies  here,  which  she  did  in  1815,  the  number  being  limited  at  first  to 
fifteen,  and  after  the  first  year  to  twenty-five.  In  a  chapter  entitled 
"  Educational  Remembrances,"  in  her  "  Letters  of  Life,"  published  in 
1866,  Mrs.  Sigourney  gives  a  pleasing  account  of  the  studies  and  meth- 
ods of  her  school ;  and  in  an  earlier  work  entitled  "  My  Pupils,"  she  has 
given  some  very  affectionate  notices  of  her  scholars.  The  instruction 
was  thorough  in  the  elementary  branches  of  reading,  arithmetic  (in- 
cluding accounts),  penmanship,  composition,  and  history.  A  knowledge 
of  grammar  was  given  by  frequent  and  careful  practice  (oral  and  writ- 
ten) in  composition,  and  the  use  of  Lindley  Murray's  Exercises, — 
which  she  characterizes  as  "  the  best  work  of  the  kind  then  extant." 
Much  attention  was  paid  to  deportment  and  self-regulation,  and  to  fre- 
quent and  pleasant  out-of-door  festivals.  This  school  was  much  prized 
by  our  best  educated  families  till  1819,  when  Miss  Huntley  was  mar- 
ried to  one  of  our  well-known  merchants,  Mr.  Charles  Sigourney. 
Mrs.  Sigourney  ever  after  took  an  active  interest  in  all  schools  and 
educational  movements,  and  was  one  of  the  founders  and  directors  of 
the  first  institution  (at  Philadelphia)  for  the  medical  education  of 
women  in  the  United  States. 

In  1819,  and  for  several  years  after,  Dr.  Lyman  Strong,  a  college 
graduate,  taught  a  select  school  for  young  ladies,  which  one  of  his  pu- 
pils (Miss  Caroline  Lloyd,  now  — 1886  —  living  at  the  age  of  eighty-five) 
designates  as  the  school  of  the  most  thorough  instruction  and  even 
pleasant  discipline  of  all  she  attended. 

Early  in  1823,  Catherine  E.  Beecher,  of  Litchfield,  with  her  sister 
Mary  (Mrs.  Thomas  C.  Perkins),  opened  a  school  for  young  ladies  in  a 
small  room  over  a  store  on  Asylum  Street,  with  an  attendance  of  seven 
pupils.  In  the  autumn  of  the  same  year  it  was  announced  in  the  "  Cou- 
rant  "  that  "  Misses  C.  and  M.  Beecher  will  commence  their  winter  term 
on  the  20th  of  November.  No  scholar  under  twelve  years  of  age  need 
apply,  and  none  will  be  received  for  less  than  one  quarter.  Price  of 
Tuition,  $6.  Drawing,  $2.  It  is  particularly  requested  that  those 
who  contemplate  attending  the  first  quarter  should  commence  at  the 
beginning  of  the  term."  This  advertisement  is  the  germ  of  the  Hart- 
ford Female  Seminary.  The  attendance  rapidly  increased  from  seven 
to  one  hundred,  as  the  teachers  were  sisters  of  the  principal  of  the 
Grammar  School,  and  daughters  of  one  of  the  most  eminent  divines  in 
Connecticut.  The  principal,  Miss  C.  E.  Beecher,  soon  saw  the  hopeless- 
ness of  realizing  any  high  ideal  of  female  education  without  more  class- 
rooms with  better  equipments,  and  without  more  assistants,  and  better 
division  of  labor  in  the  work  of  instruction  and  management.  By  per- 
sistent appeals  to  the  mothers  of  her  pupils  she  succeeded  in  bringing 
fifty  public-spirited  citizens  of  the  town  into  an  organization  for  the 
erection  and  equipment  of  such  a  building  as  she  wished,  which  was 
erected  in  1827,  and  the  association  was  incorporated  in  the  same 
year,  under  the  title  of  the  Hartford  Female  Seminary. 

The  building  was  opened  in  1827  by  an  address  to  the  people  on 
Female  Education  by  Rev.  Thomas  H.  Gallaudet,  who  was  always  inter- 
ested in  its  promotion,  and  for  a  period  gave  instruction  in  the  Semi- 
nary in  Composition  and  Moral  Philosophy.     But  the  master  spirit  was 


SCHOOLS  AND  EDUCATION.  649 

Miss  Catherine  Beecher.  In  this  new  structure  (still  standing  and  oc- 
cupied for  its  original  purpose),  with  its  study-hall  for  one  hundred  and 
fifty  pupils,  lecture-room,  and  six  recitation-rooms,  Miss  Beecher 
strove  to  realize  her  idea  of  female  education,  without  any  knowledge  of 
what  Mrs.  Willard  was  doing  at  Waterford  and  Troy,  or  Miss  Grant 
and  Miss  Lyon  at  Ipswich  ;  and  until  her  health  broke  down  under  her 
manifold  duties  as  principal,  she  maintained  an  institution  not  inferior  to 
any  in  the  country,  and  which  became  the  model  after  which  many  oth- 
ers were  instituted,  and  attained  the  highest  reputation.  Her  own  views 
of  education  were  embodied  in  a  paper  which  was  printed  in  1829,  in  a 
pamphlet  entitled  "  Suggestions  respecting  Improvements  in  Education, 
presented  to  the  Trustees  of  the  Hartford  Female  Seminary,  and  pub- 
lished at  their  Request,"  which  had  an  extensive  circulation,  and  influ- 
enced very  widely  and  favorably  the  development  of  female  education. 

Miss  Beechcr's  health  broke  down  under  her  many  labors,  but 
her  system  was  carried  out  by  her  assistants  in  similar  institutions  in 
different  parts  of  the  country  ;  namely,  by  Miss  Mary  Dutton,  in  the 
"Grove  Seminary"  at  New  Haven;  by  Miss  Frances  Strong,  in  the 
"  Huntsville  Female  Seminary "  at  Alabama  ;  by  Miss  Julia  Hawks 
(Mrs.  Gardell),  first  at  Springfield  and  afterward  in  Philadelphia. 

Since  its  opening  in  1827  the  Seminary  has  been  under  the  charge 
of  the  following  principals:  Miss  C.  E.  Beecher,  1827-1833;  John  P. 
Brace,  1833-1845  ;  Helen  A.  Swift,  1840  ;  Mary  M.  Parker,  1847  ;  Maria 
Jewell,  1848;  Frances  A.  Strong,  1850-1851;  Ann  Maria  Crocker, 
1855-1856 ;  Miss  X.  S.  Ranney,  ls.38-1800  ;  Mr.  and  Mrs.  M.  S.  Crosbv, 
18G1-18G0  ;  William  T.  Gage,  1870-1882  ;  M.  Louise  Bacon,  1883-188(3. 

In  May,  1827,  Mrs.  Kinneer  opened  a  boarding-school  for  young 
ladies  in  the  then  well-known  Hart  house,  on  the  corner  of  Arch  and 
Prospect  streets,  which  had  before  been  occupied  for  a  time  by  Mr. 
Charles  Sigourney  before  he  built  on  Lord's  Hill  the  house  now  owned 
and  occupied  by  Mr.  Julius  Catlin.  Mrs.  Kinneer  came  with  five  years 
of  successful  experience  in  conducting  a  young  ladies'  seminary  in 
Derby.  In  her  announcement  she  pledges  herself  to  give  the  utmost 
attention  to  the  morals  and  behavior  of  her  pupils  ;  and  that  no  efforts 
will  be  spared  to  render  her  school  in  all  respects  as  perfect  as  any 
similar  institution  in  the  State.  The  situation  of  her  school  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Washington  College  will  enable  her  to  receive  any 
desirable  assistance  in  several  branches  of  instruction  from  gentlemen 
connected  with  that  institution.  Those  pupils  who  may  wish  to  study 
French  will  find  it  advantageous  to  board  in  her  family,  where  that  lan- 
guage is  spoken.  She  hopes  that  her  experience  in  teaching  will  recom- 
mend her  school  to  a  share  of  public  notice,  and  for  the  satisfaction 
of  those  who  may  wish  to  make  further  inquiries,  the  following  gen- 
tlemen are  referred  to  :  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Brownell,  Professors  Doane 
and  Humphreys,  the  Rev's  N.  S.  Wheaton,  H.  Croswell,  J.  M.  Gar- 
field, D.  Burhaus,  R.  Sherwood,  S.  Jewett,  S.  Gilbert,  G.  B.  Andrews, 
T.  Strong  (Greenfield,  Mass.),  General  Lee  (Granville,  N.  Y.),  Mr. 
Sheldon  Smith  (Newark,  N.  J.),  and  Mr.  Richard  M.  White  (New 
York).  "  Price  of  tuition  in  Rhetoric,  Latin,  Composition,  Philosophy, 
Chemistry,  Astronomy,  Belles  Lettres,  etc.,  $8  per  term  of  16  weeks  ; 
Music,  |12 ;  Painting,  $5  ;  Latin,  $8  ;  French,  $8  ;  Board  may  be  had  in 
the  family  of  the  Instructress  on  the  most  reasonable  terms." 


650  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

The  pupils  of  this  school,  not  only  from  the  town,  but  from  other 
parts  of  the  State,  and  from  other  States,  were  mainly  from  families  in 
connection  with  the  Episcopal  Church.  It  originated  in  the  same  move- 
ment which  led  to  the  charter  of  the  Hartford  Academy  in  1819  and 
its  establishment  in  1829,  and  of  Washington  College  in  1823,  —  a  de- 
sire of  many  families  of  the  State,  not  in  connection  or  sympathy  with 
the  "  Standing  Order  "  in  politics  or  religion,  to  have  the  advantages  of 
education  in  schools  under  teachers  of  the  same  religious  profession. 
When  Mrs.  Kinnecr  retired  from  the  field,  her  place  was  filled  by  the 
Misses  Draper  (Julia,  Catharine,  and  Ella),  who  in  1843  opened  a 
young  ladies'  seminary  under  the  same  religious  auspices,  at  26  Trum- 
bull Street,  which  was  continued  till  1850,  after  the  opening  of  the  High 
School  in  1847. 

In  1836  the  Misses  Watson  (Elizabeth,  Sarah,  and  Mary)  opened 
a  select  school  for  boarding  and  day  pupils  at  their  old  home  (264 
Main  Street),  which  gave  to  a  small  number  of  young  ladies  a  very 
thorough  education.  They  were  assisted  in  special  subjects  by  other 
local  teachers  and  professors. 

T.  W.  T.  Curtis,  on  resigning  his  position  in  the  High  School  in 
1858,  opened  a  select  school  for  young  ladies,  which  was  advertised  as 
a  day  and  boarding  school,  in  the  Brinley  house,  on  Asylum  Street, 
which  had  a  good  attendance  from  the  town  and  from  abroad. 

In  1873  the  Seminary  of  Mount  St.  Joseph  was  instituted  by  Rt. 
Rev.  F.  P.  McFarland,  as  a  normal  or  training  school,  in  which  the 
young  ladies  of  his  diocese  might  perfect  themselves  in  the  highest 
branches  of  a  liberal  education,  hallowed  by  religion.  It  occupies  a 
lovely,  elevated,  and  healthful  site,  on  the  finest  avenue  in  Hartford. 
The  Seminary  building  possesses  much  architectural  beauty  as  well  as 
massiveness,  and  meets  the  wants  of  a  first-class  boarding-school.  It 
is  thoroughly  ventilated,  heated  by  steam,  lighted  by  gas,  and  furnished 
throughout  with  all  the  modern  improvements.  The  course  of  study 
embraces  the  English,  French,  Latin,  and  German  languages,  with  a 
thorough  course  of  mathematics,  to  which  special  attention  is  paid ; 
vocal  and  instrumental  music,  including  the  harp,  piano,  guitar,  and 
organ  ;  drawing  ;  plain  and  ornamental  needlework  ;  embroidery  in 
gold,  chenille,  silks,  etc.  ;  artificial  flowers  in  wax,  muslin,  etc. 

The  great  event  in  female  education  in  Hartford  and  in  Connecticut 
was  the  opening  of  the  Public  High  School  for  young  ladies  as  well  as 
for  young  men,  —  on  the  same  terms  of  admission  and  with  equal  privi- 
leges in  the  most  advanced  subjects  and  methods  in  (English,  French, 
German,  Latin,  and  Greek)  languages  and  science.  From  1847  to  1885, 
out  of  a  total  of  1203  graduates,  650  were  girls  ;  out  of  an  attendance 
of  547  in  1885,  261  were  girls,  with  about  an  equal  number  of  each  sex 
in  the  classical  and  the  English  department.        > 

The  State  Normal  School 2  at  New  Britain,  organized  and  opened  for 
the  reception  of  pupil-teachers  in  May,  1850,  was  the  outcome  of  many 
efforts  and  suggestions  extending  back  nearly  a  half-century.  In  the 
discussions  in  town-meetings,  the  press,  and  the  legislature  on  the  ap- 
propriation of  the  capital  and  income  of  the  funds  arising  from  the  sale 

1  See  vol.  ii.  p.  295. 


SCHOOLS  AND  EDUCATION.  651 

of  Western  Lands  reserved  in  the  State's  deed  of  cession  to  the  United 
States  in  1794-95,  the  importance  of  better  qualified  teachers  was  re- 
peatedly recognized,  and  was  the  main  motive  for  assigning  the  fund 
to  schools  so  as  to  secure  better  compensation  for  longer  terms,  and  in 
that  way  hold  out  larger  inducement  for  young  people  of  talent  and 
education  to  become  teachers. 

The  first  recognition  of  the  importance  of  special  training  for  the 
office  of  teaching  appears  in  the  Plan  of  an  Academy  for  Schoolmasters, 
by  Professor  Olmsted,  at  that  time  (1816)  Principal  of  the  Union  School 
in  New  London.  In  1823  the  importance  of  a  County  Seminary  was 
touched  upon  by  Professor  Kingsley,  of  Yale  College,  in  the  "  North 
American  Review,"  and  by  Professor  William  Russell,  a  graduate  of  the 
University  of  Glasgow,  then  Principal  of  New  Township  Academy,  in 
New  Haven ;  but  it  was  more  thoroughly  dealt  with  in  1824  by  the  Rev. 
T.  H.  Gallaudet,  Principal  of  the  American  Asylum  at  Hartford,  in  the 
"  Connecticut  Observer,"  the  first  article  appearing  over  the  signature 
of  "A  Father,"  on  the  24th  of  January,  1825. 

In  1838  the  subject  was  introduced  into  the  legislature  by  Henry 
Barnard,  member  of  the  House  from  Hartford,  as  one  of  the  measures 
which  might  reasonably  be  anticipated  from  the  better  supervision  of 
Common  Schools  by  a  State  Board,  for  which  he  introduced  a  bill  for  a 
Public  Act.  As  Secretary  of  the  Board,  Mr.  Barnard  began  the  pub- 
lication of  the  "  Connecticut  Common  School  Journal,"  and  through 
that  medium  and  his  annual  reports  discussed  fully  the  professional 
education  of  teachers,  and  the  history  of  Normal  Schools  in  Europe  and 
in  this  country.  In  the  ensuing  four  years,  the  essays  of  Mr.  Gallaudet, 
and  the  report  of  Professor  Stowe  on  Normal  Schools  and  Teachers' 
Seminaries  in  Europe,  and  all  that  portion  of  Professor  Bache's  Report 
on  Education  in  Europe,  as  the  views  of  Cousin,  Guizot,  Mann,  Stephens, 
Caiter,  Johnson,  and  other  educators  on  the  same  subject,  were  spread 
before  the  people  of  the  State,  and  finally  embodied  in  a  volume  which 
in  successive  editions  has  furnished  material  and  guidance  for  legis- 
lative and  individual  action  in  this  department  of  popular  education 
all  over  the  country. 

In  May,  1839,  the  subject  was  urged  upon  the  legislature  by  the 
Board  of  Commissioners  in  their  first  annual  Report,  as  well  as  by 
the  Secretary  ;  and  a  resolution,  appropriating  $5,000  for  the  educa- 
tion of  teachers,  was  reported  by  the  Committee  on  Education,  ex- 
plained and  advocated  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Board,  passed  the  House 
without  a  dissenting  voice,  after  a  full  expression  of  opinion,  but  was 
lost  in  the  Senate.  What  the  legislature  refused  to  do,  the  Secretary 
undertook  to  do  for  Hartford  County  at  his  own  expense.  To  show 
the  value  of  even  temporary  instruction  in  school  methods  and  man- 
agement, an  invitation  was  extended  to  the  teachers  of  Hartford 
County  to  come  together  and  spend  a  few  weeks  under  the  general 
charge  of  Professor  Wright,  assisted  by  Professor  Davies,  the  Rev. 
Thomas  H.  Gallaudet,  Professor  Brace  of  the  Hartford  Female  Sem- 
inary, Mr.  Snow,  Principal  of  the  Centre  District  School,  and  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Barton,  who  had  been  connected  with  the  Teachers'  Seminary  at 
Andover.  Thus  was  begun  in  Connecticut  a  temporary  assemblage 
of  teachers  which  has  since  been  known  as  the  Teachers'  Institute, 
and  which  was  continued  at  other  points  in  the  State  by  Mr.  Barnard 


652  MEMOEIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

in  the  three  succeeding  years,  and  was  gradually  introduced  into  every 
State,  until  now  it  is  the  essential  part  of  their  school  systems ;  and 
in  the  year  just  closed  probably  has  reached  more  than  two  hundred 
thousand  teachers. 

Without  going  further  into  detail,  the  subject  was  urged  on  the 
attention  of  the  legislature  and  the  people  in  each  year  till  1849,  when 
eleven  thousand  dollars  was  appropriated  toward  the  establishment  of 
a  Normal  School  or  Seminary  "  for  the  training  of  teachers  in  the  best 
methods  of  instructing  and  governing  common  schools  in  this  State;" 
and  trustees  were  appointed,  one  from  each  county,  for  its  management. 
This  Board  organized  on  the  7th  of  August,  1849,  and  invited  proposals 
for  the  location  of  the  Seminary,  and  appointed  Henry  Barnard  Princi- 
pal, who,  in  virtue  of  the  office,  would  become  Superintendent  of  Com- 
mon Schools.  Mr.  Barnard  accepted  the  appointment  "  on  condition 
that  an  Associate  Principal  should  be  appointed  to  take  the  immediate 
charge  and  instruction  of  the  Seminary,  while  he  gave  such  attention 
to  the  institution  as  should  be  found  compatible  with  the  general  super- 
vision of  the  common  schools  of  the  State,  —  for  which  his  studies  and 
previous  experience  might  in  some  measure  have  qualified  him." 

The  Normal  School  has  been  under  the  charge  of  the  following 
principals  :  T.  D.  Stone,  1850-1852 ;  John  D.  Philbrick,  1853-1855 ; 
David  N.  Camp,  1855-1857;  Charles  F.  Dowd,  1857-1858  ;  Henry  B. 
Buckham,  1858-1864  ;  John  N.  Bartlett,  1864  ;  Homer  B.  Sprague, 
1864-1867 ;  Isaac  N.  Carleton,  1867-1881 ;  C.  F.  Carroll,  since  1881. 
It  had  270  students  enrolled  in  the  year  1885-1886. 


y 


PROMINENT  BUSINESS  MEN.  653 

SECTION  XV. 

PROMINENT  BUSINESS  MEN. 

BY    MISS    MARY    K.    TALCOTT. 

Some  Hartford  Names.  —  Old  Mercantile  Houses  and  the  Managers.  —  Sketches 
of  Various  Citizens. 

The  merchants  of  Hartford  in  1650  were  of  a  very  different 
stamp  from  those  who  now  occupy  our  offices  and  counting-rooms. 
The  epitaph  of  Richard  Lord, 

"To  Marchantes  as  a  patterne  lie  might  stand, 
Adventring  Dangers  new  by  Sea  and  Land,"  1 

gives  us  an  idea  of  the  merchant's  life  then,  when  a  man  went  on 
trading  voyages  in  his  own  vessel  to  Virginia,  the  Barbadoes,  and  other 
far-away  countries,  to  dispose  of  his  own  merchandise  and  bring  home 
the  products  of  strange  lands.  This  was  what  William  Whiting,  Thomas 
Olcott,  Thomas  Stanton,  and  Richard  Lord  did  ;  and  this  was  done  by 
their  successors,  more  or  less,  even  through  the  eighteenth  century. 

The  trade  of  Hartford  before  the  Revolution  was  almost  entirely 
with  the  West  Indies,  the  produce  of  those  islands  being  brought  here 
from  the  earliest  days  of  the  English  settlement.  At  a  later  period  a  few 
vessels  went  to  Lisbon  and  the  Mediterranean  with  fish,  and  to  Ireland 
with  timber;  but  the  frequent  wars  during  the  middle  of  the  last  cen- 
tury made  such  ventures  perilous.  The  trade  with  the  West  Indies, 
however,  increased  steadily ;  in  the  "  Connecticut  Courant,"  Feb.  29, 
1768,  is  the  announcement  of  the  arrival  at  Barbadoes,  from  Hartford, 
of  Captains  Chenevard,  Olcott,  Caldwell,  Bigelow,  Goodwin,  Forbes,  and 
Bunce,  —  all  well-known  Hartford  names. 

Several  Hartford  men,  namely,  Thomas  Seymour.  Richard  Seymour, 
Zechariah  Seymour,  and  John  Skinner,  were  members  of  a  stock  com- 
pany, chartered  by  the  Assembly  in  1732,  named  "  the  New  London 
Society,  united  for  Trade  and  Commerce,  for  the  purpose  of  promoting 
and  carrying  on  Trade  and  Commerce  to  Great  Britain  and  His  Majesty's 
Islands  and  Plantations  in  America,  and  for  encouraging  the  Fishery." 

Among  the  prominent  merchants  before  the  Revolution  was  John 
Austin,  who  had  been  a  midshipman  in  the  English  navy  during  the 
reign  of  Queen  Anne.  Being  attracted  by  the  progress  of  the  religious 
colony,  he  left  the  service,  and  turning  his  fortune  into  goods,  settled 
in  Hartford,  where  he  married  Mary,  widow  of  Nathaniel  Hooker,  and 
daughter  of  Nathaniel  Stanley.  His  daughter  Mary  married,  first, 
John  Ellcry,  of  Hartford,  and  second,  John  Ledyard,  a  man  of  distinc- 
tion and  influence,  and  of  literary  culture,  one  of  the  founders  of  Dart- 
mouth College.  He  was  born  in  Bristol,  England,  in  1700,  but  came 
to  America  at  an  early  age,  settling  first  on  Long  Island,  and  then  at 
Groton,  where  the  children  of  his  first  wife  were  born,  among  them 
Colonel  William  Ledyard,  the  hero  of  Fort  Griswold,  killed  Sept.  6, 

i  See  p.  249. 


654 


MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 


THOMAS    YOUNGS    SEYMOUR. 
(From  a  miniature  by  Trumbull ) 


1781.  John  Ledyard,  the  famous  traveller,  who  died  at  Cairo  in  1788, 
on  the  eve  of  an  expedition  into  the  interior  of  Africa,  was  his  grand- 
son.    Another  grandson  was  Thomas  Youngs  Seymour,  son  of  Thomas 

Seymour,  the  first  mayor.  He  was  born 
June  19,  1757  ;  graduated  from  Yale 
College,  1777.  Before  leaving  college 
he  was  offered  a  commission  by  Colonel 
Sheldon,  and  served  in  the  Light  Dra- 
goons during  the  years  1777  and  1778, 
being  with  General  Gates's  army  during 
the  campaign  against  Burgoyne;  and 
he  is  represented  on  his  black  charger 
in  the  foreground  of  Trumbull's  paint- 
ing of  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne.  He 
was  appointed  by  General  Gates  to  es- 
cort General  Burgoyne  to  Boston,  and 
he  performed  this  delicate  duty  so  much 
to  Burgoyne's  satisfaction  that  he  pre- 
sented him  with  a  beautiful  leopard- 
skin,  which  Seymour  often  used  after- 
ward while  commanding  the  Governor's 
Horse  Guards,  of  which  he  was  the 
first  major.  He  practised  law  in  Hartford,  and  held  many  positions  of 
trust,  both  State  and  municipal,  dying  May  16,  1811. 

Another  prominent  merchant  in  the  ante-Revolutionary  days  was 
Captain  John  Keith,  a  native  of  Scotland,  who  had  been  a  sea-captain. 
He  dwelt  and  kept  his  shop  (about  1762)  in  the  wooden  building  still 
standing,  Nos.  176,  178  State  Street,1  He  married,  in  1751,  Marianne, 
widow  of  Captain  John  Lawrence,  and  daughter  of  Captain  John  Beau- 
champ.  Her  son  by  her  first  marriage,  John  Lawrence,  born  June  11, 
1711),  held  the  office  of  Treasurer  of  Connecticut  from  1769  to  1789. 
He  died  in  1802,  in  the  house  he  built  in  1785,  which  until  recently 
stood  on  the  corner  of  State  and  Market  streets ;  and  another  beside  it 
was  built  by  him  for  his  son  William. 

William  Ellery,  son  of  John  Ellery,  mentioned  above,  was  a  mer- 
chant on  a  large  scale  here,  both  before  and  after  the  Revolution,  and 
in  1776  his  "  Great  Store  "  was  on  the  river-bank,  near  the  foot  of  the 
present  Potter  Street. 

Colonel  Samuel  Talcott,  whose  store  was  on  Main  Street,  was  an- 
other prominent  merchant  engaged  in  many  enterprises  for  developing 
the  resources  of  the  country,  and  he  also  headed  a  regiment  in  the  last 
French  and  Indian  war. 

The  wholesale  business  of  this  period  (1750-1830)  consisted  chiefly 
in  exporting  goods  to  the  West  Indies,  importing  the  produce  of  those 
islands,  and  sending  it  into  the  surrounding  country  and  up  the  Con- 
necticut River.    After  peace  Avas  declared,  in  1783,  a  thriving  business 2 

1  C.  J.  Hoadly's  Annals  of  Christ  Church,  pp.  43,  44. 

2  The  following  advertisement  shows  the  nature  of  the  trade  :  — 

Tomorrow  will  be  landed  the  Cargo  of  Brigantine  Friendship,  from  Barbadoes,  viz  :  30  Hhds. 
Rum,  30  Hhds.  Molasses,  best  quality,  20  Hhds;  Sugar,  do.  John  Caldwell  &  Co. 

They  want  to  purchase  Corn,  Corn  Meal,  Oats,  Alewives,  Hay,  Red  and  White  Oak  Hogshead 
Staves,  Boards,  and  Shingles,  and  a  number  of  Horses  for  Shipping.  —  Connecticut  Courant  of 
July  22,  1799. 


PROMINENT   BUSINESS   MEN.  655 

sprang  up,  increasing  in  extent,  with  Barbadoes,  Cuba,  and  the  French 
island  of  San  Domingo.  The  vessels  employed  in  this  trade  were 
denominated  "  Horse  Jockeys,"  and  were  strong  and  heavily  built,  — 
dull  sailers,  with  low  decks  and  very  high  waist,  of  from  one  hundred 
to  two  hundred  tons  burden,  and  generally  excellent  sea-boats.  Many 
of  the  smaller  ones  were  sloop-rigged,  one-masted  vessels,  with  a  stout, 
short  mast,  carrying  a  very  large  standing  topsail.  The  larger  vessels 
were  either  two-topsail  schooners  or  full-rigged  brigs.  These  vessels 
made  two,  or  at  the  most  three,  voyages  a  year,  prudently  avoiding  the 
West  Indies  in  the  hurricane  season,  and  lying  a  long  time  in  port  to 
procure  their  cargoes,  it  being  customary  to  send  their  own  long-boats 
to  the  distant  sugar  estates  to  transport  the  molasses  aboard.  This 
severe  boat  duty  was  very  harassing  to  the  crews,  and  often  caused 
fevers  and  death. 

"  When  a  voyage  was  determined  upon,  the  cargo  was  purchased  by  notes 
given  for  a  certain  number  of  gallons  of  rum  or  molasses,  or  a  certain  number  of 
bushels  of  salt,  at  the  return  of  the  vessel ;  so  that  but  a  small  amount  of  money 
was  required  to  carry  on  the  trade.  No  incorporated  insurance  offices  being  in 
existence,  a  policy  was  opened,  and  individuals  took  the  risks  in  such  sums  as 
they  chose  on  '  vessel,'  '  inbound  cargo,'  or  '  stock,'  the  owner  always  having  a  part 
uninsured.  The  rate  of  'stock  on  deck' was  about  ten  percent.  The  vessel 
carried  from  thirty  to  seventy  head  of  horses  and  cattle,  with  sheep  and  pigs, 
ami  any  quantity  of  poultry  in  coops  on  the  awning.  One  puncheon  of  water 
(one  hundred  and  ten  gallons),  one  bundle  of  hay  (live  hundred  pounds),  and 
ten  bushels  of  oats  were  the  allowance  put  in  for  each  head  of  stock.  The  ves- 
sels were  frequently  commanded  by  owners  or  part-owners,  or  an  owner  went 
out  as  supercargo,  to  transact  the  affairs  of  the  voyage."1 

These  supercargoes  were  often  youthful  scions  of  old  Hartford  fam- 
ilies, and  the  yellowing  files  of  the  "  Connecticut  Courant "  show  that 
many  of  them  succumbed  to  the  yellow  fever  in  Jamaica,  Demerara, 
and  other  places  in  those  southern  seas. 

P>< 'sides  the  trade  with  the  West  Indies,  there  was  some  trade  to 
Ireland,  carried  on  by  the  Hookers  of  Windsor  and  the  Bulls  of  Hart- 
ford, in  flaxseed,  potatoes,  and  staves.  There  was  also  a  small  trade 
to  Madeira,  in  corn  and  pipe-staves  and  a  few  horses,  and  in  the  same 
articles  with  Spain  and  Portugal.  There  was  occasionally  an  adventure 
to  the  coast  of  Africa  for  cargoes  of  ebony,  wool,  and  ivory. 

Among  the  captains  and  merchants  of  early  days  were  Colonel 
Jeremiah  Wadsworth,  William  Ellery,  Barnabas  Deane,  John  Coleman, 
Charles  Caldwell,  John  Morgan,  John  Caldwell,  Joseph  and  William 
Hart,  Strong  &  Smith  (Rev.  Nathan  Strong  and  Solomon  Smith), 
Thomas  Sanford,  Ely  &  White,  Captain  John  Smith,  James  Burr,  Sam- 
uel Olcott,  Michael  Olcott,  Daniel  Olcott,  Samuel  Marsh,  Normand 
Butler,  John  Chenevard,  Bull  &  King,  James  Bull,  Hezekiah  Merrill, 
Daniel  Jones. 

The  name  of  Colonel  Jeremiah  Wadsworth  occurs  in  other  chapters  of 
this  history,  and  he  may  well  be  called  the  foremost  citizen  of  Hartford 
during  the  Revolutionary  period  and  the  years  following.  He  was  the 
wealthiest  man  in  the  city,  largely  concerned  in  the  West  India  trade, 

1  This  extract  and  many  of  the  facts  in  this  section  are  derived  from  a  series  of  articles 
which  appeared  in  the  "  Hartford  Times  "  in  1858. 


656 


MEMORIAL  HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 


a  leader  in  all  mercantile  enterprises,  and  a  firm  supporter  of  the 
patriot  cause.  He  was  born  in  Hartford,  July  12,  1743,  the  son  of  the 
Rev.  Daniel  Wadsworth,  pastor  of  the  First  Church.  In  his  early 
youth  he  was  placed  under  the  care  and  in  the  service  of  his  mother's 
brother,  Matthew  Talcott,  a  merchant  in  Middletown.  When  about 
eighteen  years  of  age  he  was  seized  with  symptoms  of  consumption  ; 
and  following  the  advice  of  friends,  he  shipped  before  the  mast  in  one 
of  his  uncle's  vessels.  Here  he  soon  recovered  his  health,  and  contin- 
ued to  follow  the  sea  as  mate,  and  afterward  master,  of  a  vessel.  In 
1773  he  removed  to  Hartford,  and  soon  afterward  the  war  deprived 
him  of  his  employment  at  sea.  He  was  offered  the  position  of  deputy- 
commissary  under  Colonel  Joseph  Trumbull ;  and  so  satisfactorily  did 
he  execute  his  duties,  that  on  the  resignation  of  his  principal  he  was 
appointed  by  Congress  his  successor  in  the  office  of  commissary-general 

of  purchases.  After 
the  arrival  of  the 
French  troops  he 
became  commissary 
of  the  French  army, 
and  acted  in  that 
capacity  until  the 
close  of  the  war. 
He  shared  largely 
in  the  confidence  of 
General  Washing- 
ton, and  the  prin- 
cipal officers  of  both 
the  American  and 
French  armies  held 
frequent  consulta- 
tions with  him.  In 
July,  1783,  Colonel 
Wadsworth  em- 

barked for  France, 
for  the  purpose  of 
rendering  an  ac- 
count of  his  admin- 
istration to  the 
French  Govern- 

ment, and  obtaining 
a  final  settlement  of 
his  business.  The 
latter  part  of  the  next  year  he  returned  home,  having  invested  a  consid- 
erable part  of  the  funds  he  had  obtained  from  jlie  French  Government 
in  French,  English,  and  Irish  goods,  which  he  brought  home  and  sold 
in  Hartford  and  Philadelphia.  He  was  a  member  of  the  State  Con- 
vention for  ratifying  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  a  member 
of  Congress  six  years,  member  of  the  Council  of  Connecticut,  1795- 
1801.  "He  died  April  30,  1804,  leaving  one  son,  Daniel  Wadsworth, 
who  sustained  his  father's  reputation  for  liberality,  and  did  much  for 
the  growth  and  prosperity  of  Hartford.  The  Wadsworth  Athenaeum 
is  a  lasting  memorial  of  his  desire   to  promote  literary  and  artistic 


COLONEL   JEREMIAH   WADSWORTH    AND    HIS    SON. 
(Prom  a  painting  in  Wadsworth  Athenaeum.) 


PROMINENT  BUSINESS  MEN.  657 

objects.  He  married  Faith  Trumbull,  daughter  of  the  second  Governor 
Jonathan  Trumbull,  and  lived  for  many  years  in  the  mansion  on  Pros- 
pect Street,  now  occupied  by  the  Hartford  Club.  His  death  took  place 
in  July,  1848. 

After  the  Revolution  the  names  of  Jacob  Ogden  and  John  Morgan 
became  prominent,  both  coming  here  the  same  year,  1781.  Ogden  was 
born  in  Newark,  New  Jersey,  and  had  been  engaged  in  carrying  on  iron- 
works in  Colebrook ;  but  they  were  accidentally  burned,  Aug.  30, 1781, 
and  he  then  moved  to  Hartford.  He  was  a  merchant  of  enterprise,  and 
built  the  long  wooden  block  on  the  south  side  of  Ferry  Street,  and  for 
his  residence,  in  1794,  the  building  on  State  Street,  afterward  Ran- 
som's coffee-house,  and  later  the  Exchange  Hotel.1  He  remained  here 
fifteen  or  twenty  years,  and  afterward  he  kept  a  hotel  in  New  Haven 
for  twenty  years. 

John  Morgan  was  born  in  Killingworth  in  1753,  and  was  graduated 
from  Yale  College  in  1774.  He  was  a  merchant  of  widely  extended 
fame,  celebrated  for  his  private  enterprise  and  public  spirit,  being  con- 
nected with  almost  every  undertaking  in  the  early  commercial  history 
of  Hartford,  and  a  promoter  of  the  prosperity  of  our  city  in  its  infancy. 
He  was  the  projector  and  the  principal  proprietor  of  the  bridge  across 
the  Connecticut,  and  on  the  street  leading  to  it  he  built  what  was  in  its 
day  the  finest  block  of  stores  in  the  town,  —  the  old  yellow  block  now 
standing  on  the  southeast  corner  of  Morgan  and  Front  streets.  His 
own  residence,  also,  was  on  Morgan  Street  (named  for  him),  —  the 
handsome  house  since  known  as  the  "  Webb  house  "  and  the  "  Ellsworth 
house."  His  garden  comprised  the  land  stretching  from  this  house 
down  to  Commerce  Street.  He  was  a  warden  of  Christ  Church  for 
many  years  ;  "  and  to  his  zealous  labors  and  liberal  contributions  the 
parish  was  indebted  for  its  temporal  prosperity  more  than  to  those  of 
any  other  individual."  He  met  with  reverses  in  his  latter  days,  which 
reduced  him  to  comparative  poverty.  He  died  in  Hartford,  Sept.  19, 
1842,  aged  eighty-nine. 

Elias  Morgan,  his  half-brother,  was  a  hardware  merchant,  and  a 
man  of  considerable  note.  He  is  said  to  have  built  the  house  his 
brother  John  lived  in,  on  Morgan  Street,  and  also  the  house  on  Pros- 
pect Street  now  occupied  by  George  M.  Bartholomew.  He  was  one  of 
the  founders  and  proprietors  of  the  "  New  Theatre,"  on  Temple  Street. 
He  died  in  St.  Croix,  West  Indies,  May  15,  1812,  aged  forty-one.2 

Another  prominent  name  was  that  of  Major  John  Caldwell,  who 
was  born  in  Hartford,  Dec.  21,  1755,  son  of  Captain  John  Caldwell, 
who  died  in  1758,  and  grandson  of  John  Caldwell,  who  came  to  Hart- 
ford about  1725  from  Beith,  in  North  Britain.  Major  Caldwell  was  an 
energetic,  public-spirited,  honest  man,  honorable  and  honored.  From 
the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  War  to  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution 
of  1818,  no  name  appears  more  frequently  or  prominently  in  the  history 
of  Hartford.  During  the  Revolution  he  helped  to  organize  a  troop  of 
volunteer  horse,  which  did  service  in  the  State  under  Governor  Trum- 
bull's orders,  and  which  was  incorporated  in  1788  as  the  Governor's 
Horse  Guards.  His  was  the  first  name  on  the  memorial  for  a  charter, 
and  he  was  chosen  the  first  major,  serving  until  1792.     The  same  year 

1  In  1819  the  iEtna  Insurance  Company  began  business  there. 

2  "Morgan  Family,"  by  N.  H.  Morgan,  p.  96. 
VOL.   I.  —  42. 


658  MEMORIAL  HISTOEY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

he  was  elected  president  of  the  Hartford  Bank,1  just  chartered,  —  a 
position  of  great  trust  and  responsibility ;  for  banking  was  then  an  ex- 
periment in  Hartford.  He  retained  this  position  until  1819.  He  was 
one  of  the  commissioners  to  build  the  State  House  at  Hartford,  in 
1794,  and  also  one  of  the  commissioners  to  supervise  and  lay  out  the 
bridge  and  causeway  to  East  Hartford.  His  name  is  first  on  the  list  of 
the  corporators  of  the  Asylum  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb.  Major  Cald- 
well was  a  merchant  in  a  large  sense.  He  owned  ships  employed  iu 
the  West  India  trade,  but  occasionally  making  Spanish  and  Mediter- 
ranean voyages,  and  engaged  to  some  extent  in  coasting.  Two  large 
ships,  the  "  Amphion  "  and  the  "  Glenthorne,"  were  built  for  him  in  a 
ship-yard  on  the  ground  now  occupied  by  the  Steamboat  Company,  which 
were  employed  in  carrying  flour  and  corn  to  Cadiz  and  Lisbon.  He 
was  one  of  the  largest  of  the  Hartford  underwriters,  who  before  the 
advent  of  insurance  companies  wrote  policies  on  all  the  foreign  com- 
merce, then  very  considerable,  of  the  Connecticut  River.  The  firm  of 
John  Caldwell  &  Co.  were  heavy  losers  by  the  depredations  of  the 
French  privateers  during  the  last  years  of  the  last  century,  both 
through  the  capture  of  their  own  vessels  and  as  insurers  of  others. 
During  the  financial  distresses  caused  by  the  War  of  1812  the  bulk  of 
his  fortune  was  swept  away  ;  and  after  his  retirement  from  active  life, 
about  1820,  he  retained  only  a  modest  competence.  He  died  May  26, 
1838,  in  his  dwelling  on  the  east  side  of  Main  Street,  about  seventy  feet 
south  of  Central  Row.  Sarah,  daughter  of  Major  Caldwell,  married 
Christopher  Colt,  of  Hartford,  who  was  at  one  time  in  partnership  with 
his  father-in-law.  One  of  their  sons  was  the  famous  inventor  of  the 
revolving  pistol,  —  Colonel  Samuel  Colt.  Margaret,  another  daughter, 
married  Jared  Scarborough,  a  man  of  prominence,  who  owned  part  of 
the  land  where  the  American  Asylum  now  stands,  and  land  on  Prospect 
Hill,  which  was  known  as  Scarborough  Hill. 

Michael  Olcotl,  who  was  Major  Caldwell's  half-brother,  was  asso- 
ciated with  him  in  the  shipping  business,  and  together  they  built  a  ship 
called  the  "  Four  Sisters,"  after  Mr.  Olcott's  four  sisters  (also  Major 
Caldwell's  half-sisters),  which  was  employed  in  the  European  trade.  Mr. 
Olcott  was  for  years  Quartermaster-General  of  the  State,  and  frequently 
represented  Hartford  in  the  General  Assembly.  He  lived  in  the  house 
now  standing  far  back  from  the  street,  on  the  corner  of  Main  and  Bel- 
den  streets,  and  died  there,  May  11,  1829. 

Another  noteworthy  man  of  that  time  was  Barnabas  Deane,  brother 
of  Silas  Deane,  of  Wethersfield,  the  diplomatist ;  and  when  the  latter 
went  to  Congress,  in  1774,  he  intrusted  the  management  of  his  business 
in  Hartford  and  Wethersfield  to  him.  When  the  expedition  against 
Ticonderoga,  which  was  planned  at  Hartford,  and  of  which  Silas  Deane 
was  one  of  the  chief  managers,  had  succeeded  in  the  capture  of  the  fort, 
Barnabas  Deane  was  sent  as  one  of  the  Connecticut  commissioners  to 
provide  supplies  for  the  garrison.  He  lived  in  the  fine  old  house  on 
Grove  Street,  now  occupied  by  Mr.  Nelson  Hollister.  The  building- 
known  as  Chapin's  Warehouse,  on  Commerce  Street,  was  built  by  him. 
He  carried  on  a  shipping  business,  and  also  had  a  distillery.  The 
firm  of  Barnabas  Deane  &  Co.  was  formed  in  March  or  April, 
1779, —  a  firm  which  owes  its  historical  interest  to  its  silent  partners 

1  See  page  331. 


/ 


PROMINENT  BUSINESS  MEN.  659 

rather  than  to  its  nominal  head.  These  partners  were  General  Na- 
thaniel Greene,  then  Quartermaster-General  of  the  Continental  Army, 
and  Colonel  Wadsworth,  Commissary-General.  Greene  and  Wadsworth 
supplied  the  greater  part  of  the  capital,  and  Deane  undertook  the  active 
management  of  the  business.  Extraordinary  precautions  were  taken 
to  conceal  the  fact  that  two  officers  so  high  in  rank  were  silent  partners 
and  capitalists  in  this  firm,  and  the  correspondence  was  carried  on  in 
cipher.  Greene  withdrew  before  the  end  of  1781,  but  Wadsworth's  con- 
nection with  Deane  was  not  dissolved  until  the  death  of  Mr.  Deane  in 
1794.  "  The  business  of  the  firm  was  that  of  general  traders.  During 
the  war  they  dealt  largely  in  the  staples  and  manufactures  that  were 
most  needed  for  the  use  of  the  army,  or  that  could  be  most  advan- 
tageously exchanged  for  provisions  and  forage.  They  were  owners,  or 
part  owners,  of  distilleries  of  '  country  rum '  and  '  Geneva ; '  tried,  not 
very  successfully,  to  establish  salt-works  ;  owned  grist-mills ;  were  in- 
terested in  one  or  two  privateers ;  imported  salt  from  the  Bermudas, 
through  the  southern  colonies  or  otherwise ;  and  bought  and  sold  or 
bartered  wool,  grain,  and  flour,  country  produce,  and  domestic  manu- 
factures. The  business  reputation  of  the  firm  was  high  at  home  and 
abroad ;  the  integrity  and  honor  of  its  partners  without  stain ;  nor  is 
there  a  vestige  of  evidence  that  its  founders  took  undue  advantage  of 
their  official  positions  to  extend  the  business  or  increase  the  profits 
of  the  firm."  1 

The  wars  in  which  nearly  all  the  European  nations  were  involved 
from  1792  until  1815  stimulated  the  commerce  of  the  United  States,  as  a 
neutral  country.  In  addition  to  the  supplies  desired  by  the  AVest  India 
planters,  the  British  Government  required  a  large  amount  of  fresh  beef 
and  flour  for  the  use  of  the  troops  in  the  numerous  garrisons  in  the 
islands,  and  the  naval  force  which  was  kept  cruising  in  those  seas. 
Great  Britain  being  at  war  with  Spain,  no  supplies  could  be  obtained 
from  the  Spanish  main,  and  only  from  the  United  States  could  supplies 
be  drawn.  An  agency  was  established  at  New  London,  under  charge 
of  the  British  Consul,  to  purchase  and  forward  live  cattle.  Many  Hart- 
ford merchants  despatched  vessels  from  New  London,  many  of  them 
being  of  too  large  a  size  for  the  Connecticut  River,  except  in  time  of 
freshets.  The  return  cargoes,  however,  were  often  brought  to  Hartford, 
as  the  salt  from  the  Bahamas  found  a  ready  sale  in  the  inland  towns  in 
Massachusetts,  Vermont,  and  New  Hampshire,  the  cattle  being  generally 
killed  and  packed  at  home,  thus  requiring  a  large  supply  of  salt.  Kiln- 
dried  corn-meal  was  a  great  article  of  export  in  those  days,  it  being  the 
food  of  the  slaves.  Kilns  for  drying  the  corn  abounded,  and  the  corn 
itself  was  grown  in  such  quantities  that  it  was  a  drug  in  the  market. 

By  the  revolt  of  the  negroes  of  San  Domingo,  and  the  massacre  and 
expulsion  of  the  white  inhabitants,  this  city  lost  a  very  extensive  and 
lucrative  commerce.  The  difficulties  between  the  United  States  and  the 
French  Republic  during  the  administration  of  President  Adams  were  a 
severe  check  to  the  West  India  trade.  Swarms  of  French  privateers 
sallied  out  from  Martinique  and  Guadeloupe,  capturing  many  of  our  ves- 
sels. And  although  the  French  Government  subsequently  in  the  sale 
of  Louisiana  to  the  United  States  arranged  for  the  payment  of  these 

1  "A  Business  Firm  in  the  Revolution,"  by  J.  Hammond  Trumbull,  LL.D.,  in  the  Maga- 
zine of  American  History,  July,  1884. 


6G0  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

captures,  neither  the  sufferers  nor  their  heirs  have  yet  been  reimbursed 
for  their  losses.  As  the  Napoleonic  wars  progressed,  more  and  more 
ports  were  interdicted  by  the  decrees  of  the  English  and  French  Govern- 
ments. St.  Bartholomew's  was  a  Swedish  possession,  and  being  a  per- 
mitted or  neutral  port,  it  was  the  only  place  in  the  West  Indies  where 
trade  could  be  legally  carried  on  after  the  non-intercourse  act  of  1809 ; 
and  Hartford  vessels  were  despatched  thither,  with  horses,  cattle,  and 
provisions,  which  were  much  needed  in  the  neighboring  islands,  over 
which  waved  the  flag  of  Great  Britain,  and  to  which  they  were  trans- 
ported in  small  island  vessels  called  drogers. 

During  the  War  of  1812  all  intercourse  with  the  West  Indies  was 
necessarily  prohibited,  but  more  or  less  smuggling  was  carried  on,  and 
trade  in  contraband  goods.  A  British  squadron  was  stationed  in  Gardi- 
ner's Bay,  under  command  of  Sir  Thomas  Hardy  ("Nelson's  Hardy  "), 
in  the  "  Ramillies,"  74  guns,  blockading  New  London  and  the  Sound, 
and  considerable  illegal  traffic  was  carried  on,  supplying  these  ships 
with  provisions,  etc.  Goods  were  also  smuggled  through  the  Canada 
line,  and  brought  down  the  Connecticut  River  from  Mclndoes  Falls. 

During  the  palmy  days  of  the  West  India  trade,  in  1791,  a  number 
of  business  men  purchased  a  tract  of  land  along  the  river  front,  expect- 
ing handsome  profits  from  the  venture.  Among  them  were  Jeremiah 
Wadsworth,  John  Morgan,  John  Caldwell,  Daniel  Jones,  and  Minturn 
&  Chapin  of  New  York.  With  the  exception  of  the  New  York  firm, 
the  purchasers  were  the  prominent  business  men  of  Hartford.  The 
land  they  bought  was  bounded  west  on  Front  Street,  south  on  a  line  ten 
rods  north  of  Morgan  Street,  which  is  now  called  Gordon's  Lane,  east 
by  Connecticut  River,  and  north  on  the  creek  that  enters  the  river  near 
the  water-works.  Docks  were  built  which  may  be  found  there  to-day, 
extending  north  to  the  cove  where  the  ice-houses  stand.  The  purchasers 
agreed  upon  a  plan  whereby  all  the  income  from  this  property  should 
be  pooled,  and  the  surplus  put  into  a  sinking-fund  until  the  accumulation 
should  equal  the  purchase-money.  The  scheme  was  considered  a  very 
promising  one,  and  the  promoters  expected  to  reap  a  golden  harvest. 
But  the  trade  which  they  had  relied  upon  to  make  the  speculation  a 
success  was  not  attracted,  their  docks  were  deserted,  their  warehouses 
empty,  and  the  name  "  Sinking  Fund,"  as  a  term  of  ridicule,  was  applied 
to  all  Front  Street,  and  river  property  north  of  the  bridge,  for  fifty 
years  thereafter.  It  was  only  this  one  locality,  however,  that  could  be 
called  deserted.  During  the  first  thirty  years  of  this  century  the 
wharves  on  the  river-bank  were  bustling  with  traffic,  and  lined  with 
vessels,  often  three  or  four  deep,  and  Hartford  was  truly  "  the  head  of 
sloop  navigation."  Large  warehouses  extended  all  along  the  bank  of 
the  river,  from  the  foot  of  Potter  Street  to  the  packing-houses  above  the 
bridge,  where  beef  and  pork  were  packed  for  the  export  trade,  large 
quantities  being  brought  down  the  river  in  brine,  and  inspected  and 
re-packed  here.  At  times  the  whole  line  of  docks,  from  the  bridge  to 
Grove  Street,  was  filled  with  hogsheads  of  sugar,  rum,  and  molasses, 
waiting  to  be  carted 1  into  the  large  warehouses,  or  the  numerous  scows, 
or  flat-boats,  loading  for  "  up  river."  This  same  territory  presents  a 
very  different  scene  to-day ;  the  docks  unoccupied,  the  warehouses  and 

1  The  trucks  were  a  contrivance  like  a  long  pair  of  skids  on  two  wheels,  with  their  heavy 
loads  of  casks  or  hogsheads  drawn  by  large  horses  hitched  tandem. 


PROMINENT  BUSINESS  MEN.  661 

stores  nearly  all  gone,  and  the  few  remaining  ones  deserted,  or  occupied 
for  mean  uses. 

A  fleet  of  seventy-five  or  more  flat-boats  —  large  flat-bottomed  vessels, 
with  a  centre-mast  and  two  square  sails  —  were  employed  in  the  up-river 
frame.  When  there  was  little  or  no  wind  the  passage  up  the  stream 
was  extremely  slow  and  laborious.  In  going  over  the  Enfield  falls  and 
rapids  two  men  were  required  on  each  side  with  long  poles  to  force  the 
boat  up  against  the  current.  Large  quantities  of  rum,  molasses,  sugar, 
salt,  coffee,  and  various  other  tropical  products  were  conveyed  to  Spring- 
field, Northampton,  and  the  river  towns  in  New  Hampshire  and  Ver- 
mont, even  as  far  north  as  White  River  Junction  in  Hartford,  Vt.,  and 
Littleton,  N.  H.  On  the  return  voyage  the  flat-boats  were  filled  with 
lumber,  beef,  and  pork.  Tbe  lumber  was  used  by  the  ship-builders,  who 
occupied  the  river  front  from  Grove  to  Potter  Street,  and  were  kept 
constantly  employed  on  account  of  the  superior  quality  of  ship-timber 
in  this  section,  and  the  good  reputation  of  the  work  done  here.  The 
river  above  the  bridge  was  frequently  filled  with  rafts  of  logs,  which 
were  in  great  demand  for  spars,  masts,  and  timber,  and  were  shipped 
all  along  the  coast. 

The  inland  transportation  of  goods  was  carried  on  by  lines  of 
freight-wagons.  One  line  ran  regularly  from  Northampton  to  Hartford, 
via  Wcstfield,  Granby,  etc.  A  semi-weekly  lino  ran  also  from  Hartford, 
Monson,  and  Brimfield,  Mass.  The  Albany  Turnpike  was  alive  with 
covered  wagons  running  between  Hartford  and  Norfolk,  Canaan,  and 
the  southern  towns  of  Berk  shire.  There  were  twenty  roadside  taverns 
between  the  old  Goodwin  Tavern  on  Albany  Avenue  and  New  Hartford, 
a  distance  of  twenty  miles.  The  construction  of  the  Boston  and  Albany 
Railroad  cut  off  both  the  inland  and  up-river  trade  from  Hartford,  as 
the  country  merchants  could  then  visit  Boston  easily,  and  freight  could 
be  more  quickly  transported  than  by  the  old  methods. 

The  wholesale  trade  centred  in  Commerce  and  Ferry  streets,  ex- 
tending gradually  to  State  Street,  which  was  not  extended  through  to 
the  river  until  after  1800.  Before  that  time  it  ran  no  farther  east  than 
Front  Street,  and  was  principally  occupied  by  residences.  Commerce 
Street  was  lined  with  warehouses  from  Morgan  Street  to  State  Street; 
and  in  1825  there  were  nineteen  large  business  houses  dealing  in  West 
India  goods  on  that  street,  and  seventeen  on  Ferry  Street.  Among  these 
merchants  were  Freeman  Kilbourn,  Eliphalet  Averill,  Elisha  Peck 
(who  afterward  went  to  New  York),  Nathan  and  Denison  Morgan,  Rus- 
sell Bunce,  David  Porter,  Solomon  Porter  &  Co.,  Indicott  &  Pomeroy, 
Frederick  Bange  (who  buklt  the  house  now  standing  on  the  south  side 
of  State  Street  with  pilasters  in  front),  Jeremiah  Brown,  Daniel  Buck 
&  Co.,  David  Watkinson,  Edward  Watkinson,  Eli  Ely,  James  M.  Bunce, 
S.  &  W.  Kellogg,  Haynes  L.  Porter. 

In  1828  there  were  three  banks,  —  the  United  States  Branch  Bank, 
Enoch  Parsons  president,  located  at  13  State  Street;  the  Hartford 
Bank,  Nathaniel  Terry  president,  16  State  Street ;  the  Phoenix  Bank, 
Charles  Sigourney  president,  148  Main  Street ;  there  was  also  the 
Bank  for  Savings  at  12  Asylum  Street,  Daniel  Wadsworth  president. 
A  man  who  did  a  great  deal  for  the  prosperity  of  Hartford  at  this 
time  in  the  way  of  improving  real  estate  was  Henry  L.  Ellsworth,  twin 
brother  of  Governor  Ellsworth,  mayor  of  the  city  in  1835.     He  built  up 


662  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

Central  Row  from  Main  Street  to  Prospect  Street,  but  a  portion  of 
the  buildings  have  been  torn  down.  He  also  erected  the  building  on 
the  corner  of  Main  and  Asylum  streets,  now  owned  by  the  Hon.  Julius 
Catlin. 

Regular  lines  of  packets  ran  between  Hartford  and  Boston,  New 
Bedford,  Nantucket,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  Norfolk,  and 
Richmond  in  1832,  and  occasional  vessels  arrived  from  the  British  Prov- 
inces with  lumber  and  plaster.  C.  H.  Northam  &  Co.  were  agents  for 
the  Norfolk  and  Richmond  line  ;  T.  K.  Brace  &  Co.,  for  the  Boston 
line  of  packets,  established  immediately  after  the  close  of  the  War  of 
1812,  composed  of  five  topsail  schooners,  carrying  both  freight  and 
passengers,  the  cabins  being  handsomely  furnished.  This  coasting  line 
brought  goods  around  the  cape  to  Hartford,  for  all  the  up-river  towns, 
flat-boats,  with  sails,  being  used  the  remainder  of  the  way.  One  of  the 
best  known  captains  of  this  time  was  Ebenezer  Flower,  afterward 
Mayor  of  Hartford.  The  building  of  the  Boston  and  Albany  Railroad 
eventually  destroyed  this  business,  but  it  was  very  profitable  while  it 
lasted.  There  was  also  a  line  of  packets  to  New  York,  and  later  Daniel 
and  Dudley  Buck  owned  a  line  of  steam-propellers  plying  between  this 
city  and  New  York,  the  "Sachem,"  "Seneca,"  "Uncas,"  and  "Osceola." 
At  the  time  of  the  Civil  War  these  vessels  were  sold  to  the  Government. 
There  was  also  a  line  of  steam-propellers  running  to  Albany,  and  M.  W. 
Chapin  owned  a  line  of  steam-schooners  for  Philadelphia,  —  the  "  Jose- 
phine "  and  the  "  Rough  and  Ready." 

The  largest  of  all  the  houses  in  the  West  India  trade,  that  of  E.  & 
R.  Terry,  was  not  established  near  the  river,  but  on  Main  Street,  at  the 
junction  of  the  Windsor  road  and  the  Albany  turnpike.  Eliphalet  and 
Roderick  Terry  were  the  sons  of  Judge  Eliphalet  Terry,  of  Enfield, 
where  the  family  had  been  settled  since  1700.  Mr.  Eliphalet  Terry  has 
received  notice  in  connection  with  the  Hartford  Fire  Insurance  Company, 
of  which  he  was  one  of  the  founders.  Roderick  Terry  was  born  March 
2,  1788  ;  died  Feb.  9,  1849.  For  a  long  period  the  store  of  E.  &  R. 
Terry  was  one  of  the  landmarks  of  Hartford  ;  but  before  his  death  Mr. 
Roderick  Terry  removed  to  State  Street,  where  he  carried  on  the  hard- 
ware business.  He  was  a  member  of  the  city  council,  and  alderman 
for  several  years  ;  member  of  the  legislature ;  one  of  the  directors  of  the 
Retreat  for  the  Insane ;  one  of  the  first  directors  of  the  Hartford  and 
New  Haven  Railroad  Company  ;  and  the  first,  and,  until  his  death,  only 
president  of  the  Exchange  Bank.  He  was  an  active  member  of  the  old 
North  Church,  and  for  many  years  chairman  of  the  church  committee. 

The  firm  of  H.  &  W.  Keney  (Henry  and  Walter)  was  established  in 
1830,  and  is  now,  if  not  the  oldest,  the  oldest  business  house  but  one 
in  Hartford.  It  has  been  in  one  sense  succeeded  by  Keneys  &  Roberts, 
in  which  the  brothers  are  in  partnership  with  Mr.  Ebenezer  Roberts ; 
but  they  maintain  also  their  old  original  firm  name  in  some  of  their 
business  relations,  and  are  among  the  most  widely  known  and  wealthi- 
est, as  well  as  most  respected,  of  Hartford  houses. 

Charles  Seymour  &  Co.,  the  oldest  firm  now  in  business,  dealing  in 
West  India  goods  and  hardware,  was  established  in  1799.  From  1801 
Charles  Seymour  carried  on  the  business  alone  until  1829,  when  he 
took  his  son,  Charles  Seymour,  into  partnership,  and  since  the  elder 
Mr.  Seymour's  death,  in  1852,  the  business  has  been  carried  on  by  the 


PROMINENT  BUSINESS  MEN.  663 

son,  in  the  store  on  Main  Street  built  by  his  father  in  1816.  About 
1820  the  West  India  merchants  began  to  take  up  special  branches  of 
the  business,  as  flour,  iron,  etc.,  and  Mr.  Seymour,  like  Mr.  Watkinson, 
selected  the  iron  business.  From  1830  until  1860  there  were  three 
iron-stores  in  the  city,  —  David  Watkinson  &  Co.,  afterward  Ezra 
Clark  &  Co.,  and  still  continuing  as  L.  L.  Ens  worth  &  Co.,  Charles 
Seymour  &  Co.,  and  Ripley  &  Co.,  afterward  Riplevs  and  Talcott,  and 
later  E.  G.  Ripley  &  Co.  (Russell  G.  Talcott).  Mr.  Philip  Ripley  was 
mayor  of  the  city,  1847-1851,  and  E.  G.  Ripley  president  of  the  iEtna 
Insurance  Company. 

The  well-known  name  of  David  Watkinson  occurs  among  the  West 
India  merchants,  and  he  entered  that  business  in  1799.  He  was  born  in 
Lavenham,  Co.  Suffolk,  Jan.  17,  1778,  son  of  Samuel  Watkinson,  who 
emigrated  to  this  country  in  1795,  settling  in  Middletown.  David  ac- 
quired a  knowledge  of  business  in  the  counting-room  and  store  of  Samuel 
Corpe,  then  one  of  the  leading  merchants  of  New  York.  The  death  of 
two  brothers  of  Mr.  Watkinson  of  yellow  fever  gave  him  a  distaste  to 
that  city,  and  he  removed  to  Hartford.  He  commenced  business  on  his 
own  account,  but  soon  associated  with  himself  his  brother  William,  and 
a  few  years  later  his  brother  Edward,  under  the  firm  name  of  Watkinsons 
&  Co.  Before  1819  his  business  was  changed  from  the  West  India  to 
the  hardware  and  iron  business,  and  in  that  year  Mr.  Ezra  Clark,  who 
came  to  Hartford  from  Northampton,  Mass.,  was  admitted  a  partner, 
and  later,  in  1835,  Alfred  Gill  and  Ezra  Clark,  Jr.,  became  members  of 
the  firm.  In  1841  Mr.  Watkinson  retired  from  active  mercantile  pur- 
suits, having  acquired  a  handsome  fortune,  and  by  his  uprightness, 
public  spirit,  and  liberality,  won  the  universal  respect  of  the  community 
in  which  he  lived.  His  name  is  found  as  original  subscriber,  and  fre- 
quently as  an  office-bearer,  in  almost  every  association  incorporated  to 
open  new  or  improve  old  avenues  of  travel,  or  to  increase  the  facilities 
of  business,  —  the  Union  Company,  chartered  in  1800  ;  the  Connecticut 
Steamboat  Company,  in  1818;  the  Enfield  Canal  Improvement  Com- 
pany ;  the  New  Haven  and  Springfield,  and  the  Hartford,  Providence,  and 
Fishkill  Railroad  Companies.  He  was  a  director  in  the  Hartford  Bank 
and  the  Hartford  Fire  Insurance  Company,  and  a  liberal  subscriber  to 
the  funds  of  the  Deaf  and  Dumb  Asylum,  of  which  he  was  a  director  and 
vice-president ;  to  the  Connecticut  Retreat  for  the  Insane,  of  which  he 
was  treasurer  and  director ;  to  Trinity  College,  of  which  he  was  trustee  ; 
to  the  Hartford  Female  Seminary  ;  to  the  Orphan  Asylum ;  to  the 
Young  Men's  Institute ;  and  to  the  Wadsworth  Athena?um.  Mr.  Wat- 
kinson was  a  member  of  the  Centre  Church,  and  one  of  the  constant  and 
liberal  givers  to  the  great  religious  enterprises  of  the  day.  His  wife  was 
Olivia,  daughter  of  Barzillai  Hudson,  of  Hartford.  He  died  in  his  resi- 
dence on  Prospect  Street,  Dec.  13, 1857.  His  beneficence  did  not  cease 
with  his  life;  for  by  the  terms  of  his  will  he  left  $40,000  to  the  Hartford 
Hospital,  and  $100,000  for  the  foundation  of  a  library  of  reference, 
now  the  valuable  Watkinson  Library.  The  Farm  School  (mentioned 
on  page  533)  wras  incorporated  in  1862. 

The  two  brothers  Nathan  and  Denison  Morgan  were  among  the 
most  prominent  and  successful  of  all  the  merchants  engaged  in  the 
West  India  trade.  They  were  not  partners,  but  carried  on  business 
separately,  each  having  a  store  on  Commerce  Street,  although  at  one 


664  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OP  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

time  Nathan  Morgan  was  on  Ferry  Street.  Thev  were  born  in  Groton, 
Conn. :  Nathan,  Oct.  10, 1786  ;  Denison,  Oct,  29,'  1790.  Nathan  settled 
in  Hebron  as  a  merchant,  but  soon  removed  to  Hartford.  "  He  was  a 
useful  and  prominent  member  of  Christ  Church,"  and  a  very  active  and 
efficient  business  man.  He  died  Jan.  21,  1837,  aged  fifty.  Denison 
Morgan  was  also  a  successful  and  substantial  merchant,  and  an  active 
member  of  Christ  Church.  He  died  May  7, 1855,  aged  sixty-four.  These 
two  brothers  built,  in  1824,  the  two  substantial  brick  houses  now  stand- 
ing on  the  south  side  of  Morgan  Street,  with  the  gable  ends  to  the  street. 

Edwin  Denison  Morgan,  afterward  Governor  of  New  York,  was  a 
nephew  of  the  above,  and  began  his  business  life  as  a  clerk  in  his  uncle 
Nathan's  store.  He  was  born,  Feb.  8, 1811,  in  Washington,  Mass.,  where 
his  father  resided  for  a  short  time  ;  but  his  boyhood  was  spent  in  Wind- 
sor. At  the  age  of  twenty,  in  1831,  he  became  his  uncle's  partner,  and 
the  firm  was  N.  &  E.  D.  Morgan.  In  1836  his  keen  business  foresight 
showed  him  the  changes  that  would  be  wrought  in  the  conditions  of 
trade  in  Hartford  by  the  building  of  the  Boston  and  Albany  Railroad,  and 
others  that  would  undoubtedly  follow,  and  he  removed  to  New  York, 
where  he  amassed  a  princely  fortune,  and  in  the  midst  of  his  business 
cares  served  as  an  alderman  of  New  York,  as  an  Assemblyman,  as  the 
war  governor,  1859-1863,  and  as  United  States  Senator,  besides  holding 
other  offices.  His  New  York  partners  were  also  Hartford  men,  —  first 
Morris  Earle,  who  had  been  in  business  with  Solomon  Porter,  and  later 
John  T.  Terry  (son  of  Roderick  Terry),  and  Solon  Humphreys. 

William  Ely,  another  well-known  Hartford  citizen,  was  born  in  Guil- 
ford, in  1767,  the  son  of  the  Rev.  Richard  Ely  ;  he  was  graduated  from 
Yale  College  in  1787,  and  then  studied  medicine  under  Dr.  Noyes,  of 
Lyme.  Seeing  the  opportunity  that  the  times  offered,  he  entered  upon 
commercial  pursuits,  and  building  a  ship  of  the  largest  class  then  em- 
ployed, sailed  in  her,  as  owner  and  supercargo,  to  the  East  Indies.  He 
fully  mastered  the  art  of  navigation,  and  once  saved  the  ship  when  the 
captain  had  given  up  hope.  He  was  complete  master  of  the  Dutch 
language  ;  so  that  during  his  residence  in  Holland  and  the  East  Indies 
he  conversed  with  the  fluency  of  the  native  Hollanders,  and  was  thus 
especially  able  to  conduct  business  there.  It  was  while  he  was  in  Hol- 
land that  the  portrait  was  painted  of  which  an  engraving  is  given  in 
this  work.  Mr.  Ely's  enterprises  brought  him  a  fortune  with  which  he 
retired  to  Hartford,  where  in  1811  lie  married  Clarissa  May  Davis, 
daughter  of  Major  Robert  Davis,  of  Boston,  a  member  of  the  Boston 
tea-party.  During  his  nearly  forty  years'  residence  in  Hartford  Mr.  Ely 
was  prominent  in  the  city's  affairs,  and  fulfilled  numerous  important 
trusts,  among  which  was  the  responsible  duty  of  locating  the  lands  in 
Alabama  granted  by  Congress  to  the  American  Asylum  for  the  Deaf 
and  Dumb.1  About  1832  he  built  the  spacious  mansion  on  Main  Street, 
still  occupied  by  his  family.    He  died  Feb.  21, 1847,  aged  eighty  years. 

Daniel  and  Dudley  Buck,  from  Wethersfield,  were  merchants  on  a 
large  scale,  dealing  in  groceries  at  wholesale  ;  they  added  a  paper  stock 
department  to  their  business,  and  were  the  first  to  import  linen  rags 
from  Leghorn.  Their  line  of  propellers  to  New  York  has  been  already 
mentioned.  Mr.  Daniel  Buck  lived  in  the  fine  old  house  on  Grove  Street, 
built  by  Barnabas  Deane.     The  business  operations  of  his  sons  involved 

1  See  page  427. 


PROMINENT  BUSINESS  MEN.  665 

him  so  much  that  lie  failed,  and  removed  to  Poqnonnock,  where  he  died, 
Jan.  19, 1860,  aged  eighty.  Mr.  Dudley  Buck,  who  died  May  8, 1867,  was 
the  father  of  Dudley  Buck  the  composer,  who  was  born  in  Hartford, 
March  10,  1839.  This  is  not  the  place  to  dwell  upon  his  musical  career, 
but  it  may  be  remarked  in  passing  that  he  is  a  man  of  whom  Hartford 
may  well  be  proud. 

In  1832  William  H.  Imlay  Avas  considered,  with  the  exception  of 
Daniel  Wadsworth,  the  wealthiest  man  in  Hartford.  He  was  born  in 
1780,  the  son  of  William  Imlay,  of  Hartford,  who  held  the  office  of 
Commissioner  of  Loans  at  the  time  of  his  death  in  1-807.  The  younger 
Imlay  began  his  business  career  in  1799,  dealing  in  West  India  goods 
and  iron,  with  Charles  Seymour  (firm  name,  Charles  Seymour  &  Co.), 
both  being  young  men,  and  Mr.  Imlay  still  under  age.  After  two  years 
they  separated,  and  each  carried  on  the  same  business  alone,  but  Mr. 
Imlay  went  largely  into  paints  and  dye-stuffs.  Later  he  engaged  in  the 
flouring  business,  and  bought  the  upper  grist-mills  on  the  present  Park, 
opposite  the  railroad  shops,  long  known  as  Imlay's  Mills.  He  was  a 
man  of  tremendous  activity,  but  made  the  mistake  of  attending  too 
much  to  details,  and  thus  wore  himself  out.  He  engaged  in  large 
enterprises  outside  of  his  legitimate  business,  having  an  interest  in 
timber  lands  in  Michigan,  with  saw-mills,  etc.  He  had  a  large  interest 
($200,000,  probably)  in  the  Atlantic  Dock  Company  in  Brooklyn,  and 
advanced  considerable  sums  of  money  to  push  forward  that  work  at  a 
time  when  his  aid  was  essential  to  its  success  ;  but  this  outlay  brought 
on  his  downfall.  His  subscription  of  £50,000  to  the  Hartford  and  Willi- 
mantic  Railroad  was  one  of  the  largest  original  subscriptions  made  in 
this  country  up  to  that  time.  The  first  brown-stone  front  on  Main 
Street  was  erected  by  him  about  1850,  —  the  present  State  Bank  build- 
ing. Oct  9,  1851,  he  stopped  payment,  but  with  tremendous  energy 
gathered  himself  up  again,  and  started  business  anew  in  a  paper-mill  at 
Poquonnock.  The  tract  of  land  called  Xook  Farm,  comprising  one  hun- 
dred and  forty  acres,  was  owned  by  him,  and  sold  about  1855  to  Francis 
Gillette  and  John  Honker,  who  cut  it  up  into  building  lots,  and  improved 
it  by  running  streets  through.  Mr.  Imlay's  residence  for  many  years  was 
on  Pearl  Street,  where  the  Pearl  Street  Church  now  stands.  He  failed 
again  in  1857,  and  died  in  Hartford,  Sept.  4,  1858. 

Another  of  our  wealthy  citizens  who  received  his  early  business 
training  in  the  West  India  trade  was  Charles  H.  Northam,  who  was 
born  in  Colchester  in  December,  1797.  He  came  to  this  city  in  1812, 
as  a  clerk  for  Nathan  Morgan.  Later  he  formed  a  partnership  with 
Mr.  Morgan,  which  lasted  only  five  years,  and  he  then  entered  into 
partnership  with  M.  W.  Chapin  in  the  shipping,  forwarding,  and  com- 
mission business.  This  firm  was  dissolved  in  1832,  each  continuing 
separately ;  Mr.  Chapin  taking  the  Philadelphia  packets,  and  Mr. 
Northam  the  Norfolk  and  Richmond  line.  He  was  prompt  to  see  the 
advantages  of  steam  navigation,  and  became  president  and  treasurer 
of  the  old  Connecticut  River  Steamboat  Company,  owning  the  boats 
"  Oliver  Ellsworth,"  "  Bunker  Hill,"  "  New  England,"  etc.  He  was 
president  of  the  Mercantile  Bank  from  1862  until  his  death  in  1881. 

Isaac  D.  Bull  was  the  son  of  Isaac  Bull,  who  was  a  druggist  in 
Hartford  for  about  thirty  years,  and  died  in  1824.  The  son  was  prob- 
ably the  first  wholesale  druggist  in  Hartford,  and  dealt  also  in  paints, 


666  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF   HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

oils,  and  window-glass.  His  first  store  was  on  Ferry  Street ;  but  he 
built  in  1825  the  store  now  standing  on  the  northeast  corner  of  Front 
and  State  streets.  He  was  succeeded  in  1844  by  George  M.  Welch, 
who  sold  out  to  George  W.  Williams  and  Horace  Hall  in  1854,  and  the 
building  is  now  occupied  by  their  successors,  D.  G.  Stoughton  and 
Co.  Mr.  Bull  died  Feb.  13,  1849,  aged  seventy-five.  His  sons,  Eben- 
ezer  Watson  Bull  and  Albert  H.  Bull,  were  also  in  the  drug  business. 
E.  W.  Bull  was  a  noted  druggist  at  the  stand  of  the  "Good  Samaritan,"  on 
State  Street,  which  was  the  leading  prescription  store  in  town.  He  was 
the  owner  of  "  Bull's  Garden,"  on  High  Street,  beautifully  laid  out  with 
rare  shrubs  and  trees.     He  died  Dec.  27,  1845,  aged  forty-six. 

The  present  firm  of  T.  Sisson  &  Co.  represents  the  old  house  of  Lee 
&  Hopkins,  subsequently  Lee  &  Butler,  wholesale  druggists,  on  Main 
Street,  since  1829.  The  members  of  the  firm  were  William  T.  Lee,  who 
came  here  from  Saybrook,  Daniel  P.  Hopkins,  and  Albert  W.  Butler,  a 
native  of  West  Hartford. 

The  house  of  Beach  &  Co.,  dealers  in  paints  and  general  dye-stuffs, 
dates  back  to  1832,  when  Messrs.  George  Beach,  Sr.,  Walter  Phelps, 
and  George  Beach,  Jr.,  were  the  partners.  The  elder  George  Beach 
was  born  in  Litchfield,  Nov.  29,  1788.  He  came  to  Hartford  in  his 
boyhood,  and  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits.  He  was  for  fifty  years 
cashier  and  president  of  the  Phoenix  Bank.  He  was  a  prominent 
member  of  Christ  Church,  and  gave  to  the  church  the  land  on  Market 
Street  upon  which  St.  Paul's  Church  and  the  Widows'  Home  now 
stand.  He  died  May  3,  18G0.  In  1849  the  present  firm  of  Beach  & 
Co.  was  formed,  composed  of  the  brothers  George  Beach  (then  Jr.), 
J.  Watson  Beach,  and  Charles  M.  Beach. 

Few  persons  have  been  more  closely  associated  with  the  progress 
and  prosperity  of  Hartford  than  James  Goodwin.1  He  was  born  March 
2,  1803,  son  of  James  Goodwin,  and  a  descendant  of  Ozias  Goodwin, 
one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Hartford.  He  received  his  education  at  the 
then  well-known  school  of  John  J.  White.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  he 
became  a  clerk  for  Joseph  Morgan,  whose  daughter,  Lucy,  he  married 
in  1832.  Before  he  had  completed  his  twenty-first  year  he  had  become 
the  proprietor  of  the  principal  line  of  mail  stages  running  to  the  east  of 
Hartford.  This  business  he  conducted  with  such  energy  and  judgment 
that  in  a  few  years  he  and  his  associates  controlled  all  the  more  impor- 
tant lines  leading  out  of  Hartford.  He  saw  early  the  coming  power  of 
railroads,  and  between  1835  and  1840  disposed  of  his  stage  interests, 
and  in  1839  he  became  a  director  in  the  Hartford  and  New  Haven  Rail- 
road Company.  He  was  one  of  the  original  incorporators  in  1847  of 
the  Connecticut  Mutual  Life  Insurance  Company,  and  his  name  will 
always  be  closely  identified  with  it.  In  1848  \\e  was  elected  its  presi- 
dent, which  position  he  retained  until  the  time  of  his  death,  with  the 
exception  of  three  years  when  Dr.  Guy  R.  Phelps  was  president.  He  was 
a  director  in  the  Hartford  Fire  Insurance  Company  for  nearly  forty  years, 
and  was  active  in  the  management  of  the  Collins  Company,  the  Hart- 
ford Carpet  Company,  Holyoke  Water  Power  Company,  Gatling  Gun 
Company,  Connecticut  Trust  Company,  and  many  other  business  enter- 
prises. He  was  a  director  of  the  Hospital,  a  trustee  of  Trinity  College, 
a  vestryman  of  Christ  Church,  and  connected  with  a  large  number  of 

1  For  a  portrait  of  Mr.  Goodwin,  see  page  512. 


PROMINENT   BUSINESS   MEN.  667 

benevolent  and  religious  societies  and  institutions.  His  courage,  self- 
reliance,  and  foresight  made  him  a  leader ;  and  he  had  the  full  confidence 
of  the  community  alike  in  his  judgment  and  in  his  integrity.  His  shap- 
ing hand  is  manifest  in  all  the  affairs  with  which  he  was  connected. 
His  life  was  marked  by  constant  usefulness  and  benevolence.  He  died 
March  15,  1878. 

Anson  G.  Phelps,1  the  philanthropist,  was  for  a  time  in  the  saddlery 
business  in  Hartford,  when  quite  a  young  man,  and  in  Hartford  mar- 
ried Olive  Eggleston.  He  was  born  in  Simsbury  in  1781,  and  was  a 
descendant  on  his  mother's  side  of  the  Rev.  Timothy  Woodbridge,  for 
nearly  fifty  years  pastor  of  the  First  Church  in  Hartford.  He  went  to 
New  York  in  1815.  Four  years  later  he  took  into  partnership  Mr. 
Elisha  Peck,  who  had  been  in  the  West  India  trade  in  Hartford,  and 
the  firm  became  large  importers  of  metals.  They  established  a  packet- 
line,  and  soon  became  the  leading  concern  in  that  business  in  the  coun- 
try. In  1831-1832  they  built  on  the  corner  of  Fulton  and  Cliff  streets 
the  largest  store  in  the  city.  It  fell  May  4,  1832,  and  seven  persons 
were  killed.  Later  Mr.  Peck  left  the  firm,  and  William  E.  Dodge  and 
D.  Willis  James,  sons-in-law  of  Mr.  Phelps,  went  in,  and  the  firm  be- 
came Phelps,  Dodge,  &  Co.  He  died  Nov.  30,  1853,  leaving  $581,000 
for  benevolent  and  philanthropic  purposes.  He  was  a  Sunday-school 
worker,  and  largely  engaged  in  missionary  and  Christian  work. 

William  E.  Dodge,2  his  son-in-law,  partner,  and  co-worker  in  benevo- 
lent enterprises,  was  born  in  Hartford,  Sept.  4,  1805,  son  of  Dr.  David 
Dodge.  He  removed  with  his  father  to  Norwich,  then  at  the  age  of 
thirteen  to  New  York,  where  he  became  an  errand-boy  in  a  dry-goods 
store  on  Pearl  Street.  After  a  few  years  in  this  business  on  his  own 
account  he  joined  his  father-in-law  in  1833.  He  was  one  of  the  early 
directors  of  the  Erie  Railroad,  and  was  largely  interested  in  other  rail- 
roads, in  manufactures,  and  in  insurance  and  banking  companies.  He 
was  a  member  of  Congress  in  1865,  and  President  of  the  New  York 
Chamber  of  Commerce,  1807-1875,  after  which  he  declined  a  re-election. 
During  the  war  he  gave  hearty  support  to  the  Government;  he  was  a 
member  of  the  Union  Defence  Committee,  and  Chairman  of  the  Com- 
mittee of  Conference  with  other  cities  to  aid  in  organizing  troops,  equip- 
ping regiments,  and  forwarding  supplies.  He  took  part  in  the  formation 
of  the  Loyal  League,  organized  to  strengthen  the  Government  in  1863. 
Mr.  Abram  S.  Hewitt,  in  his  speech  at  the  unveiling  of  the  statue  of 
Mr.  Dodge  in  New  York,  Oct.  22, 1885,  described  him  as  "  in  all  respects 
a  model  citizen."     He  died  in  New  York,  Feb.  9,  1883. 

Two  other  very  wealthy  New  York  merchants  were  Simsbury  boys, 
and  received  their  early  business  training  in  Hartford,  —  Amos  R.  Eno 
and  John  J.  Phelps.  They  were  clerks  in  the  dry-goods  store  of  Caleb 
Goodwin,  on  Main  Street,  near  Christ  Church,  and  went  into  partner- 
ship together  in  New  York. 

A  representative  of  Hartford  who  has  won  wealth  and  eminence 
abroad  is  Junius  Spencer  Morgan,  son  of  Joseph  Morgan,  and  a  descend- 
ant of  Miles  Morgan,  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Springfield.  Although 
not  a  native  of  Hartford,  having  been  born  in  West  Springfield,  now 
Holyoke,  April  14,  1813,  he  came  here  with  his  father  in  1817.  After 
attending  several  schools,  Mr.  Morgan  began  his  business  career  with 

1  For  portrait,  see  p.  656.  2  For  portrait,  see  p.  658. 


668  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

Alfred  Welles  in  Boston,  April  7,  1829 ;  there  he  remained  until  he 
was  twenty-one,  —  April  14,  1834.  In  July  of  that  year  he  entered 
the  New  York  banking-house  of  Morgan,  Ketchum,  &  Co. ;  but  after 
eighteen  months  he  decided  to  return  to  Hartford.  On  the  1st  of 
February,  1836,  he  became  the  junior  partner  in  the  firm  of  Howe, 
Mather,  A*  Co.,  which  did  a  large  and  successful  dry-goods  business 
when  Hartford  was  the  centre  of  a  large  trade  of  that  sort.  The 
firm  became  Mather,  Morgan,  &  Co.  Feb.  1,  1850,  but  was  dissolved 
just  a  year  later,  when  Mr.  Morgan,  at  a  very  urgent  invitation,  went 
to  Boston  to  join  James  M.  Beebe  in  the  same  business,  in  the  house 
of  J.  M.  Beebe,  Morgan,  A  Co.,  which  became  one  of  the  largest  in  the 
country.  In  1850  he  went  to  Europe  for  the  first  time,  and  there  met 
George  Peabody,  who  later  offered  him  a  partnership,  which  he  ac- 
cepted. He  entered  the  firm  of  George  Peabody  &  Co.  Oct.  1,  1854, 
and  ten  years  later  Mr.  Peabody  retired,  and  the  firm  of  J.  S.  Morgan 
&  Co.  took  the  place  of  the  older  one.  Under  his  name  the  house  has 
increased  in  strength  and  influence,  until  it  stands  among  the  great 
banking-houses  of  the  world.  During  the  war  Mr.  Morgan  at  frequent 
opportunities  rendered  valuable  assistance  in  England  to  the  govern- 
ment of  this  country.  He  married  in  Boston.  May  2,  1836,  Juliet, 
daughter  of  the  Rev.  John  Pierpont,  of  the  Hollis  Street  Church.  His 
father  built  for  him  in  1840  the  house  on  Farmington  Avenue,  in 
Hartford,  now  the  residence  of  Mr.  H.  K.  Morgan.  While  in  Hart- 
ford Mr.  Morgan  entered  actively  into  social  and  public  affairs.  He 
was  vestryman  in  Christ  Church  (1845-1849),  adviser  of  the  Orphan 
Asylum  (1849-1853),  a  corporator  of  the  Young  Men's  Institute,  and 
a  trustee  for  two  years  (1838-1840),  and  vice-president  1839.  He  was 
a  member  of  the  Governor's  Foot  Guard  from  1838  to  1841.  He  has 
always  maintained  his  interest  in  the  city  and  its  institutions,  and  has 
lately  (1886)  made  generous  gifts  to  Trinity  College  and  to  the  Hart- 
ford Orphan  Asylum,  —  to  the  latter  a  sum  of  money  to  be  called  the 
Sarah  Morgan  fund,  in  memory  of  his  mother,  Mrs.  Sarah  Spencer 
Morgan. 

As  the  West  India  trade  declined,  a  new  industry  sprang  up  in 
Hartford,  —  the  wholesale  dry-goods  jobbing  and  commission  business. 
Earlier  in  the  century,  however,  there  were  a  few  dry-goods  merchants 
importing  foreign  goods  and  carrying  on  business  on  a  large  scale.  One 
of  the  most  prominent  of  these  was  Ward  Woodbridge,  who  was  con- 
sidered at  one  time  the  wealthiest  man  in  Hartford,  after  Daniel  Wads- 
worth  and  William  H.  Imlay.  He  imported  foreign  dry  goods,  and 
carried  on  a  cotton-factory  at  Monson,  Mass.  A  partnership  began  in 
1805  between  Samuel  Tudor,  Ward  Woodbridge,  and  Kneeland  and 
Ebenezer  Townsend,  as  Tudor,  Woodbridge,  &  Co.  From  1812  or  1813 
until  1818  he  was  in  partnership  with  Russell  Talcott  (firm  name, 
Woodbridge  A  Talcott).  Mr.  Talcott  died  in  1818.  Mr.  Woodbridge' s 
store  was  on  Main  Street,  about  where  Hart  &  Merriam  now  are ;  and 
it  was  afterward  occupied  by  James  R.  Woodbridge,  dealer  in  domestic 
dry  goods,  brother  of  Ward.  Mr.  Woodbridge,  after  his  retirement  from 
the  dry -goods  business,  was  president  of  the  Hartford  Savings  Bank. 
He  died  Oct.  31.  1856,  aged  eighty-six.  Mr.  Tudor  was  born  in  Wind- 
sor, 1770 ;  he  was  at  one  time  in  business  with  Phiio  Hillyer,  firm  of 


PROMINENT  BUSINESS  MEN.  6G9 

Tudor  &  Hillyer,  importers  of  dry  goods,  "  near  St.  John's  Tavern  ;  " 
and  at  a  later  date  he  dealt  exclusively  in  British  dry  goods.  His 
house,  still  standing,  though  much  changed  in  appearance,  was  on 
Main  Street,  near  what  is  now  called  "  Needham's  corner."  He  died 
Jan.  29,  1862,  aged  ninety-two. 

In  1825  the  wholesale  dry-goods  dealers  were  Watkinson  &  Arnold, 
Samuel  Tudor,  James  R.  Woodbridge,  and  James  T.  Pratt.  Watkinson 
&  Arnold  (Robert  Watkinson)  were  agents  for  the  sale  of  the  cotton 
goods  turned  out  by  a  large  manufacturing  company  of  South  Glaston- 
bury, and  also  for  the  Union  Manufacturing  companies  of  Marlborough 
and  Manchester.  The  stock  of  these  companies  was  principally  owned 
by  David,  Edward,  and  Robert  Watkinson.  This  store  was  on  Main 
Street,  in  the  house  nearly  opposite  the  Centre  Church,  now  known  as 
the  Ezra  Clark  place,  and  a  large  stock  of  carpets  was  also  kept. 
James  R.  Woodbridge  was  agent  for  the  Tankerhoosen  Company,  of 
Vernon,  manufacturers  of  cotton  goods.  There  were  at  that  date 
four  wholesale  and  twenty-two  retail  dry-goods  establishments  ;  now 
(1886),  there  are  five  wholesale  and  twelve  retail  concerns. 

The  name  of  James  T.  Pratt  on  the  above  list  belongs  to  another 
class  of  dry-goods  dealers,  —  the  jobbing  and  commission  merchants; 
and  it  may  be  said  that  he  here  commenced  that  business,  in  1824, 
which  has  since  grown  to  large  proportions.  He  was  first  a  clerk  in 
J.  B.  Hosmer's  dry -goods  store,  then  in  Robert  Watkinson's  dry-goods 
house,  and  from  1824  to  1836  he  was  a  commission  merchant  for  the 
sale  of  domestic  cottons  and  woollens,  also  a  general  jobber  of  imported 
and  fancy  goods.  A  part  of  this  time  he  was  associated  with  E.  G. 
Howe  and  Roland  Mather.  In  1836  he  retired  from  business  and  en- 
gaged in  farming  in  Glastonbury,  and  later  in  Rocky  Hill.  He  now 
lives  in  Wetherslield  in  an  honored  old  age. 

The  firm  was  at  different  times  Pratt,  Howe,  &  Co.,  and  Howe, 
Mather,  &  Co.  Junius  S.  Morgan  was  a  partner  at  one  time.  Mr. 
Edmund  G.  Howe  x  was  a  native  of  Mansfield,  born  in  1807,  and  came 
to  Hartford  in  1829.  Pratt,  Howe,  &  Co.  was  established  in  1831.  In 
1857  Mr.  Howe  retired  and  joined  the  banking-house  of  Ketchum, 
Howe,  &  Co. ;  but  he  returned  to  Hartford  in  1860,  and  the  firm  of 
Howe,  Mather,  &  Co.  was  revived,  and  continued  until  his  death  in 
1872.  He  was  active  in  business  circles,  and  was  one  of  the  organizers 
of  the  Hartford  Carpet  Company  and  the  Greenwoods  Company,  and 
the  City  Bank.  He  was  president  of  this  bank  from  1851  to  1857,  and 
of  the  Exchange  Bank  from  1866  to  1872.  He  was  vice-president  of 
the  Connecticut  Mutual  Life  Insurance  Co.,  a  director  of  the  "  Consoli- 
dated" Railroad,  and  the  first  president  of  the  Hartford  &  Wethersfield 
Horse  Railroad.  Mr.  Roland  Mather,  who  was  also  for  many  years  in 
the  firm,  is  still  active  in  a  large  number  of  Hartford  business  enter- 
prises, and  has  contributed  to  many  charities  in  the  city. 

Amos  Morris  Collins2  was  born  in  Litchfield,  March  30, 1788,  son  of 
William  Collins.  He  began  business  in  Blandford,  Mass.,  in  1810,  but 
removed  to  Hartford  in  1819,  and  opened  a  store  for  the  sale  of  dry 
goods  on  the  south  corner  of  Main  and  Temple  streets.  He  was  one 
of  the  first  to  engage  in  the  wholesale  dry-goods  commission  business, 
establishing  one  of  the  largest  houses  in  the  city.     Mr.  Collins  early 

1  For  a  portrait  of  Mr.  Howe,  see  p.  342.  2  For  a  portrait  of  Mr.  Collins,  see  p.  660. 


670  MEMORIAL  HISTORY  OF  HARTFORD  COUNTY. 

identified  himself  with  the  business  interests  and  charitable  and  re- 
ligious institutions  of  Hartford.  He  was  chosen  one  of  the  deacons 
of  the  North  Church  at  the  time  of  its  organization  in  1824,  and  re- 
tained the  office  until  his  death.  He  was  a  director  in  the  Hartford 
Bank  for  over  twenty-five  years  ;  a  trustee  of  the  Society  for  Savings ; 
a  director  of  the  Deaf  and  Dumb  Asylum ;  and  from  1842  until  1854 
he  held  office  in  the  Retreat  for  the  Insane,  as  director,  auditor,  and 
manager.  He  was  elected  mayor  of  Hartford  in  1843,  re-elected  in 
1845,  and  declined  the  nomination  for  a  third  term  offered  him  in 
1847.  He  was  deeply  interested  in  the  Hartford,  Providence,  and 
Fishkill  Railroad,  and  gave  much  of  his  time  for  a  year  or  two  to  the 
building  of  this  road.  His  wife  was  Mary,  daughter  of  Colonel  Moses 
Lyman,  of  Goshen,  whom  he  married  April  30,  1811.  He  died  Nov. 
10,  1858.  Dr.  Bushnell  wrote  of  him  in  the  "  Religious  Herald  "  as 
follows :  "  There  is  almost  nothing  here  that  has  not  somehow  felt  his 
power,  nothing  good  which  has  not  somehow  profited  by  his  beneficence. 
Banks,  savings  institutions,  railroads,  the  singular  anomaly  of  a  large 
wholesale  dry-goods  trade  which  distinguished  Hartford  as  an  inland 
city,  the  city  councils  and  improvements,  the  city  missions  and  Sunday 
schools,  the  Asylum  for  the  Dumb,  the  Retreat  for  the  Insane,  the 
high  school,  the  almshouse,  three  at  least  of  the  churches,  —  almost 
everything  public,  in  fact,  has  his  counsel,  impulse,  character,  benefi- 
cence, and,  what  is  more,  if  possible,  his  real  work,  incorporated  in  it." 

Calvin  Day,  who  died  in  Hartford,  June  10,  1884,  was  for  sixty-two 
years  a  resident  of  the  city,  and  during  the  latter  half  of  his  life  was 
one  of  its  leading  citizens.  He  was  born  in  Westfield,  Mass.,  Feb.  26, 
1803,  the  son  of  Ambrose  Day,  a  substantial  farmer  of  that  place. 
Coming  to  Hartford  in  1822,  he  soon  undertook  the  wholesale  dry-goods 
business,  and  became  largely  instrumental  in  making  Hartford,  as  it 
was  for  many  years,  a  great  distributing  point  in  this  industry.  From 
1828  to  1842  he  was  a  member  of  the  firms  of  A.  &  C.  Day  and  A.  &  C. 
Day  &  Co.,  his  elder  brother  Albert,  who  was  Lieutenant-Governor  of 
the  State  in  1856-1857,  being  the  senior  partner.  Subsequently,  and 
until  his  retirement  from  active  business  in  1862,  Mr.  Calvin  Day  was 
the  head  of  the  firm  of  Day,  Owen,  &  Co.,  one  of  the  most  widely  known 
of  the  great  Hartford  wholesale  houses.  Mr.  Day  was  largely  interested 
in  the  various  industries  of  Hartford,  manufacturing,  insurance,  and 
banking,  and  was  for  nearly  forty  years  a  director  in  the  Hartford  Bank 
and  the  Hartford  Fire  Insurance  Company.  He  was  also  connected 
with  the  management  of  many  of  the  humane  and  benevolent  institu- 
tions of  the  city,  and  was  one  of  the  leading  members  of  the  Centre 
Church.  He  was  for  many  years  vice-president  of  the  Retreat  for  the 
Insane;  for  the  last  sixteen  years  of  his  life  he/WTas  president  of  the 
Asylum  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb ;  and  for  forty-two  years  he  was  con- 
nected as  secretary  and  president  with  the  Wadsworth  Atheneum, 
which  he  was  influential  in  establishing.  He  Avas  also  largely  instru- 
mental in  securing  the  construction  of  the.  Hartford,  Providence,  and 
Fishkill  Railroad, "regarding  it  as  an  important  means  for  the  develop- 
ment of  the  city,  and  he  had  a  leading  part  in  its  management  for  many 
years.  He  was  major  of  the  Governor's  Foot  Guards  from  1833  to 
1835.  In  politics  he  was  originally  a  Democrat ;  but  he  left  the  Demo- 
cratic party  in  1854,  on  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  and 


PROMINENT  BUSINESS  MEN.  671 

with  his  friends,  Gideon  Welles,  John  M.  Niles,  and  others,  was  active 
in  establishing  the  Republican  party,  and  the  "  Hartford  Evening  Press  " 
as  the  party  organ  in  Connecticut.  He  was  one  of  those  who  prepared 
the  first  Republican  address  issued  in  Connecticut,  and  during  the  war 
he  was  a  close  adviser  of  Governor  Buckingham,  and  in  confidential 
relations  with  him.  Mr.  Day  was  thoroughly  identified  with  much  of 
what  was  best  in  the  growth  and  development  of  the  city,  and  died  at 
the  age  of  eighty-one  years,  widely  known  and  universally  esteemed  and 
respected.  He  married,  Dec.  5, 1827,  Miss  Catharine  Seymour,  of  Hart- 
ford, whose  decease  preceded  his  own  by  only  a  few  months. 

William  Lyman  Collins,  eldest  son  of  A.  M.  Collins,  was  born  in 
Blandford,  Mass.,  Feb.  10,  1812.  For  about  thirty-five  years  he  was 
connected  with  the  mercantile  interests  of  Hartford,  first  with  the  firm 
his  father  founded,  as  A.  M.  Collins  &  Sons,  and  later  as  Collins  Brothers 
&  Co.  This  firm  was  among  the  most  prudent  and  reliable  in  New 
England ;  and  so  much  confidence  was  reposed  in  it,  that  after  the  war 
broke  out,  when  banks  and  bankers  were  looked  upon  with  suspicion, 
the  house  of  Collins  Brothers  &  Co.  was  offered  large  sums  of  money, 
without  security,  by  its  correspondents.  Mr.  Collins  was  for  many 
years  a  director  in  the  City  Gaslight  Company,  also  in  the  Merchants 
Insurance  Company,  a  member  of  the  Managing  Board  of  the  Retreat, 
and  was  for  a  long  time  connected  with  the  Society  for  Savings.  The 
Park  was  one  of  his  favorite  projects,  to  which  as  the  Chairman  of 
the  Park  Commissioners  for  a  number  of  years  he  gave  Jiis-watrjfeiul 
attention;  and  Hartford  is  largely  indebted  to  his  refined  taste  and 
persevering  industry  for  the  plans  and  laying  out  of  this  ornament  to 
our  city.  He  was  one  of  the  first  projectors  of  the  Hartford  and 
Wcthersficld  Horse  Railroad.  The  Cedar  Hill  Cemetery  was  another 
enterprise  in  which  he  felt  a  deep  interest,  and  the  West  End  improve- 
ments were  more  due  to  him  than  to  any  other  citizen.  He  was  one  of 
the  foremost  in  establishing  the  Asylum  Hill  Congregational  Church. 
In  Mr.  Collins's  death,  Nov.  15,  1865,  the  city  lost  one  of  its  most 
enterprising  and  public-spirited  citizens. 

Erastus  Collins,1  one  of  the  four  Collins  brothers,  was  born  in  Bland- 
ford,  Feb.  10,  1815.  He  began  his  business  life  in  the  wholesale 
dry-goods  house  established  by  his  father,  Mr.  A.  M.  Collins,  and  was 
admitted  a  partner  at  the  age  of  twenty-one.  For  over  forty  years  he 
was  associated  with  the  successful  and  honorable  management  of  this 
large  house.  Under  the  firm  names  of  A.  M.  Collins  &  Sons,  Collins 
Bros.,  Collins  Bros.  &  Co.,  Collins  &  Fenn,  and  Collins,  Fenn,  &  Co., 
this  house,  which  was  dissolved  in  October,  1876,  was  widely  known 
throughout  the  country  as  one  of  the  leading  dry-goods  commission 
houses.  At  one  time  they  were  the  sole  agents  of  the  print-mills  of  the 
A.  &  W.  Sprague  Manufacturing  Company.  Mr.  Collins  was  a  director 
in  the  iEtna  Insurance  Company,  vice-president  of  the  City  Gaslight 
Company,  director  of  the  Society  for  Savings  and  the  Charter  Oak 
Bank,  also  of  the  American  Asylum  and  the  Hartford  Hospital.  He 
was  also  one  of  the  projectors  of  the  Hartford  and  Wethersfield  Horse 
Railroad  Company,  of  the  Cedar  Hill  Cemetery,  and  a  leader  in  the 
Young  Men's  Institute,  now  the  Hartford  Library.  He  was  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  Pearl  Street  Congregational  Church,  and  a  member  of 
the  Asylum  Hill  Congregational  Church  from  its  formation,  and  one 

1  For  a  portrait  of  Mr.  Collins,  see  page  666. 


672  MEMORIAL   HISTORY   OF   HARTFORD   COUNTY. 

of  the  organizers  of  that  Society.  On  his  retirement  from  business  in 
1876  until  his  death  in  1880,  he  bent  his  efforts  to  what  he  considered 
the  very  important  work  of  organizing  and  systematizing  the  charities 
of  the  city.  He  was  identified  with  the  material  and  educational 
progress  of  the  city,  and  contributed  largely  to  both. 

Henry  A.  Perkins,1  for  twenty-one  years  president  of  the  Hartford 
Bank,  was  a  leading  and  influential  man  in  business  affairs  in  the  city 
for  many  years.  He  was  born  in  Hartford,  Oct.  21,  1801,  son  of  the 
lawyer,  Enoch  Perkins.  He  began  banking  as  clerk  in  the  Phoenix 
Bank,  and  he  subsequently  became  the  cashier  of  its  Litchfield  branch. 
He  was  called  from  there  to  the  Mechanics'  Bank,  of  New  Haven,  but 
before  accepting  that  offer  he  was  asked  to  be  cashier  of  the  Hartford 
Bank,  and  took  the  office  in  June,  1829.  He  was  made  president  in 
June,  1853,  and  remained  with  the  bank  until  his  death,  June  29, 1874. 
He  held  numerous  private  trusts. 

A  firm  which  escaped  notice  earlier  in  this  section  was  Ward  & 
Bartholomew  (James  Ward  of  Guilford,  and  Roswell  Bartholomew  of 
Harwinton).  They  became  partners  in  1804,  succeeding  Beach  & 
Ward.  They  manufactured  jewelry,  and  were  silversmiths  and  copper- 
smiths, and  made  stills  for  the  whole  New  England  trade.  They  also 
did  a  large  business  for  those  days  making  church  bells,  which  they 
cast  at  their  works  on  Main  Street,  opposite  the  present  St.  John's 
Church.  Both  partners  became  men  of  means  and  influence,  and  they 
had  numerous  other  interests  in  the  city.  In  1814  they  took  Charles 
Brainard  into  partnership.  In  1830  Mr.  Bartholomew  died,  and  Mr. 
Ward  retired.  Mr.  Brainard  took  a  part  of  the  business,  and  subse- 
quently took  his  son  Charles  H.  into  partnership  with  him. 

This  should  not  be  considered  a  full  roll  of  the  leading  business 
houses  and  men  of  the  city.  Such  names  as  the  Churches,  from  whom 
F.  E.  Church  the  artist,  a  native  of  Hartford,  is  descended ;  Charles 
Sigourney,  Henry  Hudson,  John  Russ,  John  Olmsted,  John  Lee,  and 
many  others  suggest  themselves.  It  is  a  representative  list  rather 
than  a  catalogue,  showing  what  sort  of  men  have  built  up  the  material 
interests  of  the  city. 


O^Cvvy 


1  For  a  portrait  of  Mr.  Perkins,  see  page  332. 


INDEX  TO   VOLUMES   I.  AND   II. 


Abbe,  Simeon,  i.  127. 

Captain  Thomas,  ii.  147. 
Abbey,  Capt.  William  W.,  ii.  226. 
Abbot,  W.  C,  i.  5. 

Abbott,  Robert,  ii.  437,  4-38. 
A.  IS.  L'.  F.  M.,  organized  at  Farm- 
ington, ii.  L92. 
Abel,  Elizabeth,  ii.  549. 
Abernethy,  Caleb,  ii.  45. 
Acadia,  exiles  from,  i.  302. 
Adams,  Amasa,  ii.  484. 

Captain  Benjamin,  i  170. 
Chester,  i.  443,  506,  513,  534. 
Daniel,  ii.  2G8. 
David,  ii.  69. 
Elijah,  i.  126. 
Elizabeth,  i.  262. 
General  Ezra.  Jr.,  i.  185. 
Captain  Franklin  W.,  i.  184. 
Jacob,  ii.  396. 

Jeremy,  i.  227;  children,  227. 
Ensign  Joel,  ii.  401. 
John,  ii.  208. 
Ensign  Joseph,  ii.  399. 
Margaret,  ii.  159. 
Samuel,  ii.  268. 
Sherman  W.,    "Andros  Gov- 
ernment,"  i-  63;     "Bench 
and  Bar,"  105;  "Militia and 
Independent     Companies," 
175;  "Settlement  of   Hart- 
ford,"    221  ;      "Wethers- 
field,"  ii.  425,480;  "Eockv 
Hill,"  493. 
Stedman,  i.  127. 
Thomas,  ii.  434,  437. 
William  (Hartford),  i.  405. 
William (Farmington),  i.  239; 

ii.  166. 
William  (Weth'sfield),  ii.  480. 
Adgate,  Thomas,  i.  251. 
.Etna  Ins.  <  'c,  500,  502,  509,  514. 
/Etna  Ins.  Co.  Building,  i.  503. 
JStna  Life  Insurance  Co.,  i.  514. 
.Etna  National  Bank,  i.  346. 
.Etna  Nut  Co...  ii.  377. 
.Etna  Works,  ii.  302. 
Agawam,  Mass.     See  Springfield. 
Aikin,  Rev.  William  P.,  ii.  329. 
Albany  Convention,  i.  73,  82. 

"Gazette,"  i.  622. 
Alcott,  William  A.,  i.  173. 
Alden,  Dr.  Howard,  i.  141. 

Captain  J.  Deane,  i.  187. 
Alexander,  Abigail,  i.  267. 
George,  ii.  547. 
Thomas  A.,  i.  505. 
Alford,  Jane,  ii.  550. 
Nathaniel,  ii.  69. 
Allcock.     See  Olcott. 
Allen  (Allyn),  Capt.  Alex.,  i.  187. 
VOL.  I.  —  43. 


Allen,  Daniel,  i.  626. 

John  (Hartford),  i.  417. 

John  (Windsor),  ii.  541. 

J.  M.,  i.  509 

Mary,  i.  228;  ii.  555. 

Matthew,  ii.  547,  550. 

Captain  Matthew,  ii.  410. 

Pelatiah  (Bloomfield),  ii.  35. 

Captain  Pelatiah,  i.  179. 

Preserved,  ii.  404. 

Samuel,  ii.  547. 

Captain  Thomas,  i.  22S;  ii. 
547,  550. 

Timothy  C,  i.  502,  506,534. 

William,  ii.  407. 
Allerton,  Isaac,  i.  309. 
All.-vn,  Edward,  i.  272. 
Allison,  Mary,  i.  251. 
Allyn.  Anna;  i.  270. 

"  Captain  Benjamin,  ii.  512. 

Captain  Daniel,  i.  179. 

Edward,  ii.  388;  son  do.,  388. 

Elizabeth,  ii.  124. 

Colonel  Job,  i.  180,  341,  342. 

John  (Soflield),  ii.  388. 

Col.  John.  i.  65,  67,  68,  106, 
108,178,  180.  228,  295,  324; 
ii.  98,  345,  349,  502,  047. 

Martha,  i.  273. 

Capt.  .Matthew,  i.  75,  80,  109, 
110,  227,  260;  ii.  510.  516. 

Thomas  (Windsor),  i.  178. 

Thomas  (Middletown),  i.  252. 

Timothy  M.,  i.  194,  366,  372, 
385,502,  506,  546;  ii.  157. 

William,  ii.  388. 
Alsop,  Richard,  i.  157,  159,  327. 
Alvord    (Alford),    Alexander,    ii. 
547,  554. 

Benedict,  ii.  505,  506,547. 
American  Asvlum,  i.  425. 
American  Hosiery  Co.,  ii.  304,  305. 
Amer.  Jour,  of  Education,  i.  620. 
Amer.  Literary  Magazine,  i.  615. 
American  M'f'g  Co.,  ii.  254. 
"  American  Mercury,"  i.  611. 
American  National  Bank,  i.  345. 
American  Publishing  Co.,  i.  G24. 
American   Spring  Needle  Co.,  ii, 

303. 
Amistad  Captives,  i.  87. 
Amusements,  i.  356,  578. 
Anaesthesia,  discovery  of,  i.  547. 
"  Anarchiad,"  i.  159. 
Andrews,  Abigail,  i.  230. 

Alfred,  ii.  293. 

Edward,  ii.  89. 

Ethan  A.,  i.  128;  ii.  281,  310 
portrait,  280. 
Andrews,  Captain  Ezekiel,  ii.  308 

Francis,  i.  228. 


Andrews,  James  P.,  "  City  of  Hart- 
ford," i.  377. 

John,  i.  228,  255. 

Jonathan,  ii.  180,  377. 

Levi,  ii.  291. 

Captain  Lucius  M.,  i.  184. 

Nehemiah,  ii.  238. 

(Andrus)  Samuel,  ii.  368.  381. 

Rev.  Samuel  J.,  i.  424;  li.  115. 

Stephen,  ii.  210. 

William  i.  228;  children,  i. 
228. 
Andros,  Sir  Edmund,  i.  59;  por- 
trait, 66;  seal.  64;  in 
Wethersfield,  ii.  465;  quoted, 
504. 
Andrus  t  Andrews),  Asa.  ii.  187. 

Daniel,  ii.  321. 

Elizabeth,  ii.  551. 

John  (Farmington),  ii.  166- 

John  (Newington),  ii.  321. 

Joseph,  ii.  321,  456. 

Dr.  Joseph,  ii.  321. 

Joshua,  ii.  321,  327. 

Ensign  Lewis,  ii.  285. 

Mary,  i.  229. 

Samuel,  ii.  370. 

Silas,  i.  622. 

Timothy,  ii.  468. 
Antislaverv    movements,    i.    609; 
ii.   151,  190,  192;    Society, 
i.  592. 
"Architecture  in  Hartford,"  i.  463. 

Col  nial,  i.  354,  463. 
Arms,  William,  i.  126. 
Arms  and  Armor,  i.  175. 

Joseph,  i.  266. 
Arnold,  John,  i.228;  chikl'n.  229. 
Artillery,  i.  182*. 
Ashley,  Jonathan  (H'f'd),  i.  273. 

Jonathan  (Suffield),  ii.  407. 
Aspinwall,  Nathan,  i.  564. 
Assemblies,  i.  586,  588. 
Assembly,   General.      See   Court, 

General. 
Assistants.     See  Courts. 
Atkins,  Irenus,  ii.  53. 

Rev.  Irenus,  ii.  381. 

Phoebe,  ii.  380. 

Rollin,  ii.  53. 
Atkins  Clock  Co.,  ii.  50. 
Attorneys,  i.  115,  119. 
Atwater,    Captain   Enos,    ii.    375, 
381. 

Lvdia,  ii.  136. 
Atwater   M'f'g    Co.,    ii.  377. 
At  wood,  Charles  K.,  i.  132. 
Auctions,  i.  6,  322. 
Auer  Silk  Co.,  ii.  360. 
Austin,  Aaron,  ii.  411. 

Anthony,  Jr.,  ii.  388,  407. 


674 


INDEX. 


Austin,  Lieut.  Anthony,  ii.  388, 398. 
Elias,  ii.  411;  sons,  411. 
Dr.  James  H.,  i.  153. 
John,  i.  653. 
John  (Hartford),  i.  294,  295, 

299,  300. 
John  (Suffield),  ii.  396,  398. 
Moses  S.,  ii.  404. 
Richard,  ii.  388. 
Austin  Brothers,  ii.  404. 
Avenll,    Eliphalet,    i.    342,    502, 
505,  661. 
Major  Henry  P.,  i.  191. 
Avery,  John,  i.  405. 
Avon,    ii.  1;  called  Northington, 
1,    5;    incorporated,    1,   7; 
population,  8;  ecclesiastical 
society    organized,    5;     di- 
vided', 6,  pastors,  G;  mem- 
bership, 6;  church  buildings, 
5-7;    East    Avon    Church, 
6;   Baptist,  6;    agriculture, 
8;   Deercliff,  9,   12;  educa- 
tion, 8;  industries,  8;  mili- 
tary   history,    i.    91,    101  ; 
ii.  '8;    Monte  Video,  1,  3; 
the  Tower,  1,  2. 
Axes.     See  Collins  Co. 
Avrault,  James  A.,  i.  512. 

"  Nicholas,  ii.  469. 
Avres,  William  A..  "Parks  and 
Public  Works,"  i.  447  ; 
"  Travel  and  Transporta- 
tion," 551;  "  Manufacturers 
and  Inventions,"  563. 

Babcock,  Capt.  Charles,  i.  99. 

Charles,  i.  502. 

Elijah,  i.  84. 

Elisha,  i.  612. 
Backus,  General  Francis,  i.  185. 

Joseph,  i.  124. 

Rev.  Simon,  ii.  326,  327. 
Bacon,  Andrew,  i.  229,  260. 

Joseph,  ii.  63. 

Rev.  Leonard,  i.  187,  543. 

Major  Leonard  H.,  i.  191. 
Baker,  Hepzibah,  ii.  556. 

Jeffrey,  ii.  547. 

John,  i.  230,  272. 

Mary,  ii.  309. 

Timothy,  i.  251. 

William,  i.  77. 
Baldwin,    Henry,    "Social     Life 
after    the    Revolution,"    i. 
574. 

Thomas,  i.  299. 
Ball,  Francis,  i.  252. 

Rev.  Harvey,  ij.  408. 
Ballantine,  Mary,  ii.  125. 
Balloons,  i.  579. 

Balls,  Election,  i.  592,  593 ;  Ordi- 
nation, ii.  130. 
Bancraft,  Anna,  ii.  552. 

John,  ii.  547. 
Bancroft.  Benjamin,  ii.  400. 

Goody,  ii.  507. 

Lieutenant  Samuel,  ii.  511. 
Bandoliers,  i.  175. 
Banfield  (Benfield),  ii.  438. 

Adam,  i.  84. 
Bange,  Frederick,  i.  661. 
Bangs,  Rev.  Nathan,  ii.  65. 
Bank,  proposed  bv  Governor  Win- 
throp,  i.  3*27;    in    General 
Assembly,  328 ;  discussed  in 
Hartford,  329;  system,  Suf- 
folk (Boston  Alliance),  340; 
United  States,  338. 


Banks,  Connecticut,  and  specie 
payments,  i.  337,345,346; 
county,  347,  348. 

Hartford,  and  Government 
bonds,  i.  347;  high  credit  of 
bills,  345;  statistics,  348; 
iEtna,  346;  American  Na- 
tional (Hartford  County), 
345 ;  Charter  Oak,  345 ;  City, 
345,  347;  Conn.  River,  347; 
Exchange  (Manufacturers), 
342;  Farmers  and  Mechan- 
ics, 341  ;  First  National 
(Merchants  and  Manufac- 
turers), 346,  347;  Hartford, 
330-3  ;  Mercantile,  345  ; 
Phoenix  (Bank  of  Connec- 
ticut), 333,  335-7;  Slate, 
345  ;  National,  348  ;  Sav- 
ings, 347  ;  U.  S.  348. 
Banning,    Captain    Almon    C.   i. 

186. 
Baptists  and  Separates,  i.  400,  ii. 
32,  393 ;  associations,  i.  404; 
imprisoned,  400  ;  support 
Jefferson,  404  ;  legislation 
concerning,  107,  400. 
Barber,  Benjamin,  ii.  388. 

Colonel  Calvin,  ii.  302. 

Rev.  Daniel,  ii.  344. 

Ensign  David,  ii.  514. 

Rev.  Eldad,  ii.  125. 

Captain  Frederick  M.  i.  99. 

John  (Simsbury),  ii.  68,  69; 
son  Reuben,  69. 

John  (Suffield),  ii.  388. 

Jonathan,  ii.  68,  69. 

Joseph,  ii.  388. 

Dr.  Lucius  I.,  "  Simsburv," 
i.  341. 

Marv,  ii.  551. 

Dr.  Samuel,  ii* 68. 

Thomas  (Suffield),  ii.  388. 

Thomas  (Windsor),  ii.  498, 
505,  541,  547;  sons:  John, 
Samuel,  547. 

Thomas,   Jr.,    ii.   342,   349, 
359,  547. 

Sergeant  Thomas,  ii.  68. 

Titus,  ii.  360. 
Barbour,  Judge  Heman  H.,  i.  133. 

Colonel  Lucius  A.,  i.  180. 
Barding.     See  Bearding. 
Barker,  James,  ii.  388. 
Barkhamsted,  settled,  i.  203 
Barlow,  James,  ii.  388. 

Joel,  i.  124,  157;  works,  121, 
160,  611. 
Barnard,     Bartholomew,     i.    241, 
267,  272,  293. 

Elizabeth,  i.  265. 

Henry,  mentioned,  l.  543-6; 
works,  173,  205,  620; 
"Schools  and  Education," 
628  ;  portrait,  628. 

John,  i.  229 ;  kinsman  Francis, 
229. 
Barnes,  A.  S.,  i.  623. 

Ebenezer,  ii.  40,  46,  52. 

Eli,  ii.  54. 

Elizabeth,  ii.  380. 

Dr.  Julius  S.,  ii.  381. 

Lauren  (Loren),  i.  127. 

Martin,  ii.  376. 

Thomas,  i.  229;  ii.  39,  166. 

William,  i.  129. 

Judge    William,    i.    129;    ii. 
125. 
Barnes  Family,  ii.  52. 


Barnum,  Joseph  H.,  i.  620. 

Thomas,  i.  267. 
Barras,  Count  de,  ii.  479. 
Barry,  Matthew,  i.  237. 
Bartholomew,  Major  Asa,  i.  183. 

E.  S.,  i.  542;   his  Commerce, 
308. 

George  M  ,  i.  516. 
Bartholomew  &  Brown,  manufac- 
turers, ii.  53,  54. 
Bartholomew,  Roswell,  i.  672. 
Bartlett,  Benjamin,  ii.  387. 

David  W.,  i.  609;  ii.  11. 

Rev.  David  E.,  ii.  126. 

Elizabeth  G.,  ii.  125. 

Ephraim,  ii.  387. 

Fanny  L.,  ii.  124. 

John,"  ii.  521,  547. 

Rev.  John,  ii.  11. 

Colonel  Jonathan,  i.  183. 

M.  H.  "Avon,"  i.  609;    ii.  1. 

Robert,  i.  229. 

Rev.  Shubael,  ii.  115. 

Colonel  William  H.,  i.  181. 
Bartley,  Mrs.,  actress,  i.  5bO. 
Barton,  Major  Henry  P.,  i.  191. 
Bascom,  Hannah,  ii.  548. 

Hepzibah,  i.  250. 

John,  i.  250. 

Thomas,  ii.  548. 
Bassett,  Thomas,  ii.  498,  546,  548, 

552. 
Bassum   (Barsham),  William,    ii. 

430. 
Bates,  Anson,  i.  130. 

Apollos  D.,  i.  129. 

Lemuel,  ii.  83,  84. 

Phineas,  i.  206. 

Robert,  ii.  437,  438. 
Batterson,  James  G.,  ii.  38;   por- 
trait, i.  520,  521 ;  house,  483. 
Baxter,  James,  i.  197. 

Simon,  ii.  238. 
Bavsev  (Baisie),  Adrean,  i.  248. 
*  John,  i.  229 ;  daughters,  229, 
255. 
Beach,  Abraham,  i.  195. 

Charles  M.,  i.  666;  ii.  422. 

Colonel  Frank,  i.  93,  98. 

George,  i.  213,  339,  348,  666. 
Beadle,  Rev.  Elias  R.,  i.  395. 
Beale,  Thomas,  i.  230. 
Bearding  (Barding,  Bardon),  Na- 
thaniel, i.  230,  252;  daugh- 
ter Sarah,  230. 
Beattv,  Ambrose,  ii.  282. 
Beckl'ey,  Daniel,  ii.  460. 

Colonel  Everlin,  i.  181. 

Lieutenant  John,  ii.  472. 

Richard,  ii.  13,  322,  431,  438. 

Sarah,  i.  234. 
Beckwith,  A.  S.,  i.  342,  343. 

Matthew,  i.  239,  256. 

Stephen,  i.  267. 
Bedford,  Mary,  i.  239. 
Bedieut,  Morgan,  i.  229. 
Beebe,  Rebecca,  i.  257. 
Beecher,  Catherine  E.,  i.  173,  649. 
Beers,    Henry  A.,    "  Hartford  in 
Literature,"  i.  155. 

Seth  P.,  i.  130. 
Belcher,  Captain  Andrew,  ii.  278. 

Colonel  Samuel,  i.  183. 
Belden  (Belding),  Benj.,  ii.  460. 

Daniel,  ii.  439,  466. 

Ebenezer,  ii.  469. 

Captain  Ezekiel  P.,  i.  180;  ii. 
461,  476,  483. 

Horace,  ii.  354. 


INDEX. 


675 


Belden,  James  L.,  ii.  490. 
John,  soldier,  i.  178. 
John,  taverner,  ii.  438,  460. 
Lieutenant  John,  ii.  476. 
John  M.,  ii.  331. 
Captain  Jonathan,  ii.  285,  291. 
Lieut.  Jonathan,  ii.  466,  467. 
Rev.  Joshua,  ii.  327. 
Dr.  Josiah,  i.  140. 
Richard,  ii.  437,  438. 
Ruth,  i.  272. 
Samuel,  ii.  438,  439,  465. 
Samuel,  Jr.,  ii.  493. 
Ensign  Simeon,  ii.  476. 
Thomas,  i.  342. 
Captain  Thomas,  i.  180,  327; 

ii.  470,  471. 

William,  ii.  438. 

Belilinc;,  Abraham,  ii.  438. 

Bell,  Francis,  ii.  437,  438. 

Dr.  William  C,  i.  149. 
Beman,  Thomas,  ii.  238. 
Bement,  Martha,  i.  274. 
Benjamin,  Caleb,  ii.  437. 
Bennett,  John,  i.  350;  ii.  506,  548. 
Bentlev,    Rev.    William,    i.    402; 

'ii.  446. 
Benton,  Andrew,  i.  262,  272. 
Charles,  i.  385. 
Edward  ( Glastonbury),  ii.  208. 
Edward  (Hadley),  ii.  439. 
Joseph,  i.  255. 
.Mary,  i.  272. 
Beresford,  Dr.  James,  i.  144. 

Dr.  Samuel  B.,  i.  144. 
Berlin,  ii.  13  ;  called  Great  Swamp 
and  Kensington,  14;  settled, 
13;    Beekley    Quarter    and 
part    of    Middletown     an- 
nexed, 14;  parish   divided, 
17:  New  Britain  set  off,  21, 
280;  town  of  Berlin  formed, 
21;    reorganized,     21,    281; 
population,  i.  208;  ii.  461; 
town  meetings,  21;  records, 
21;   Great   Swamp   Society 
organized,  14  :  church  form- 
ed, 14;  its  seven  pillars,  14; 
pastors,    15,    17:  buildings, 
15,  17,  448;  second  church. 
(New    Britain),    16;    Ken- 
sington   Society  organized, 
17 f  church  formed/l8;  pas- 
tors, 18;  buildings,  18;  other 
churches,    20;    agriculture, 
23;  distilleries,  i.  211 J  edu- 
cation, 21,  449;  ii.  Indians, 
13,278;   manufactures,  22; 
military  history,  i.  91,  101; 
ii.  23:  "place  names,  13,  14. 
Berlin  Iron  Bridge  Co.,  ii.  23. 
Best  Manufacturing  Co  ,  ii.  521. 
Bestor.  Dr.  John,  i.  141. 
Betts,  John,  i.  230:  ii.  438. 
Mrs.  Mary,  i.  230. 
Roger,  ii."437,  438. 
Bidwell,  Abner,  ii.  200. 
Anna,  ii.  550. 
Ephraim,  ii.  215. 
John,  i.  230.  563;  ii.  89,   98, 

214;  children,  230. 
Thomas,  ii.  98. 
Bigelow,  Asa,  i.  197;  ii.  271. 
Benjamin,  i.  295. 
David  (Hartford),  i.  300. 
David  (Marlborough),  ii.  268, 

269. 
Elizabeth,  i.  233. 
John,  i.  268,  272. 


Bigelow,  John,  Jr.,  ii.  269. 

Captain  John,  i.  84. 

Jonathan,  i.  272. 

Jonathan,    committeeman,    i. 
306. 

William,  ii.  101. 
Bill,  Jonathan,  ii.  486. 
Billing,  Richard,  i.  230;  son  Sam- 
uel, 230. 
Billings  &  Edwards  M'f'g  Co.,  ii. 

496. 
Billings  &  Spencer  Co.,  i.  572. 
Bingham,  Jerusha,  ii.  379. 

"William,  ii.  303. 
Birchwood   (Birchard),    Sarah,    i. 
272. 

Thomas,  i.  230. 
Bird,  James,  ii.  166. 

Joseph,  ii.  166. 

Captain  Joseph,  i.  179. 

Dr.  Seth,  i.  140. 
Birdsall.  D.  ('.,  i.  620. 
Birge,  Alonzo  W.,  i.  372. 

John,  ii.  54. 

Nathan  L.,  ii.  57. 

Pelatiah,  ii.  562. 

Richard,  ii.  548;  sons,  548. 
Bishop,  Ann,  i.  262. 

Samuel,  ii   246. 

Samuel,  Jr..  i.  84. 
Bissell,  Aaron,  ii.  Ill,  112. 

Abigail,  ii.  550. 

Captain  Benoni,  ii.  517. 

Daniel,  ii.  514,  515. 

David,  i.  126. 

Captain  Ebenezer  F.,  ii.  513. 

Colonel  George  P.,  i.  93. 

Harvev,  ii.  394. 

Rev.  Henrv  N.,  ii.  127. 

Hezekiab,  i.  124;  son,  125. 

Captain  Hezekiah,  ii.  123. 

Rev.  Hezekiah,  ii.  31,  35. 

John,   ii.  107,  517,  548,  554, 
558. 

John,  Jr.,  i.  68,  178;  ii.  548. 

John,  attorney,  i.  116,  120,1l1. 

Jovse,  ii.  556. 

Marv.  ii.  549. 

Nathaniel,  ii.  108,  548. 

Samuel,  ii.  548. 

Thomas,  ii.  548,  551. 
Blachford  (Blatchford,  Blackfield), 

Peter,  i.  231. 
Black  Horse  Tavern,  i.  195. 
Blackleach,  John,  i.  273,  319;  ii. 
166,  438. 

[Welles.  Olcott,  Wadsworth], 
Marv,  i.  253,265. 
Blackley,  (Blatchley,  Blacksley), 

Thomas,  i.  231. 
Blair,  John,  i.  305. 
Blair  Manufacturing  Co.,  ii.  22. 
Blakeman,  Mary,  i.  244. 
Blanchard,  Captain,  ii.  515. 

Thomas,  ii.  568. 
Bligh,  Samuel,  i.  65. 
Blinn    (Blin),    Ensign   Elisha,    ii. 
469. 

Captain  James  E.,  i.  98. 

William,  ii.  448. 
Blish,  Ezra,  ii.  272. 
Bliss,  Elisha,  Jr.,  i.  624. 

F.  E.,  i.  624. 

Lawrence,  ii.  385. 

Thomas,  i.  231,  257. 
Block,  Adriaen,  i.  15;  ii.  497. 
Blodgett,  Captain  Daniel,  i.  179. 
Blood,  Caroline,  ii.  126. 
Bloodgood,  Louise,  ii.  160. 


IBloomfield,  ii.   29;    called   "The 
Wilderness,"    30:     Green- 
field,      554;       Messengers 
Farms,     30;     Wintonburv, 
31;  Bloomtield,  37;  settled, 
30;  Wintonburv  parish  or- 
ganized,  31,  351;    incorpo- 
rated,    29;     population,    i. 
208;      First     Church,      31; 
buildings,    31.  33;  pastors, 
11,  31,  33;  other  churches, 
32,  33;  agriculture,  29,30; 
burying-ground,  35;  educa- 
tion, 33;  Flora  and  Fauna, 
29;  Indians,    35;   manufac- 
tures, 34;  military  history, 
i.  91,  110;  ii.  34/36;  place 
names,  29,  30,  32,  34;  slav- 
erv,  35;  tavern,  34. 
Blott,  Marv,  i.  270. 
Blnmfield,  William,  i.  231;  daugh- 
ter Sarah,  231. 
Boardman,  (Bordman),  Major  Al- 
len  C,  i.  193. 
Andrew,  i.  232. 
Rev.  Benjamin,  i.  290. 
Chauncey,  ii.  53. 
Major  Chauncey  B.,  i.  193. 
Major  Henry,  i.  193. 
Lieutenant  Jonathan,  ii.  466. 
Joseph,  ii.  469. 
Nathaniel,  ii.  470. 
Lieutenant  Richard,  ii.  332. 
Samuel,  Sr.,  ii.  321,  427,  432, 

437,  461. 
Samuel,  Jr.,  ii.  456,  484. 
William,  ii.  486. 
Bollcs,  Mai.  James  G.,  i.  191,  500. 

John,  i.  400. 
Bolter,  James,  i.  331. 
Bolton,    i.   81,   83,   85,    179,    202, 

209. 
Boltwood,  Robert,  ii.  432,  439. 
Booge,  Rev.  Ebenezer,  ii.  5. 
Booth,  Rev.  Chauncey,  ii.  124. 
Robert,  ii.  279. 
General  Walter,  i.  185. 
Bosev  (Boosev).  Hannah,  i.  255. 
James,   i'.    265;    ii.   437,    461, 

463. 
Sarah,  i.  260. 
Boston  Alliance.     See  Banks. 

Port  Bill,  i.  83. 
Boswell,  Charles,  i.  342;  ii.  424; 
portrait,  ii.  422. 
John  L.,  i.  606. 
Bounties,  civil  war.  i.  95. 
Bouton,  John,  i.  251. 
Bovle,  Dr.  E.  L,  i.  152. 
Brace,  Rev.  Joab,  ii.  328,  330,  331, 
423. 
Jonathan,    i.    109,    110,    114, 

117,  124,  125,  385. 
Thomas  K.,  i.  385,  505,  589, 
662. 
Bracev  (Brace),  John,  ii.  439. 

Stephen,  i.  273. 
Bradrield,  Leslie,  ii.  437,  438. 
Bradford,  Gov.  William,  i.  30,  309; 
quoted,  i.  311;  ii.  498,535. 
Bradlev,  William,  i.  126. 

William  H.,  i.  160. 
Bradstreet,    Rev.    Simon,    i.   22; 

quoted,  i.  288;  ii.  538. 
Brady,  Rev.  John,  i.  411,  412. 
Brairiard,  Charles,  i.  672. 

Rev.  Chiliab,  ii.  221,  228. 

Jeremiah  G.,  i.  123. 

John  G.  C,  i.  129,  164,  613. 


676 


INDEX. 


Brainard,  Rev.  Nehemiah,  ii.  221. 
Brancker,  John,  ii.  516,  535,  537. 
Brandegee,  Elishama,  ii.  22,  23. 

Dr'  Elishama,  ii.  28. 
Branford,  settled,  i.  201;  ii.  438. 
Bray,  Colonel  Amaziah,  i.  183. 
Major  Asa,  ii.  370. 
John,  ii.  370. 
Brereton,  Hon.  William,  i.  327. 
Brewer,  Thomas,  ii.  205. 
Brewster,  Elisha,  i.  327. 
Elisha  (Bristol),  ii.  51 
Jonathan,  ii.  499,  556. 
Elder  William,  i.  28. 
Brewster  &  Ingraham,  ii.  54. 
Bridgeman,  James,  i.  231. 
Bricks,  exported,   i.  210;    manu- 
factured, 563;  ii.  484 ;  use  of, 
466. 
Bridges,  i.  211,  295. 
Brigham,    Dr.  Amariah,     i.  142, 

528. 
Brillat-Savarin,  i.  581,  603. 
Brin ley,  George,  i.  95,  548. 
Brinsmade,    Col.    Daniel     II..    i. 

183. 
Briscoe,  Judge  Charles  H.,  i.  133. 
Brissot    de    Warville,    quoted,    i. 

360. 
Bristol,  ii.  39;  called  Great  Forest, 
39;  lands  granted,  39;  set- 
tled, 40;  becomes  New  Cam- 
bridge,   45 ;    map    of,    41  ; 
incorporated     with      West 
Britain,   49;    West   Britain 
separates,    50;     Forestville 
settled,     54  ;     changes    in 
town,  60;  population,  i.  208; 
ii.    60  ;    winter    privileges 
granted,  44  ;    ecclesiastical 
society  organized,  45;  pas- 
tors, 44,  45;    church  build- 
ings,   46,    47  ;    sabba'-day 
houses,  50;  Baptist  Church, 
50,   61 ;    Episcopal   Society, 
45;    its   buildings,   47,    60; 
other  churches,  60;  banks, 
60;     distilleries,     i.     211; 
education,  51  ;  ii.  Indians, 
39,   44;   mails,   51;    manu- 
factures, 52;    militarv  his- 
tory, i.  91,  101,  102;~ii.  48, 
52,"  58;    mining,  58;    place 
names,  39,  40,43,44;  press, 
60;    slavery,    51  ;    taverns, 
52  ;      whipping-post,      50  ; 
witchcraft,  51. 
Bristol  Basin.     -See  Plainville. 
Bristol,  Julius  H.,  ii.  376. 
Bristow,  Richard,  i.  231. 
Broad  Brook.    -See  East  Windsor. 
Broadcloth,  manufacture  of,  i.  564. 
Broeklesbv,    Prof.   John,    i.    132; 
ii.  12. 
William,     "Architecture    in 
Hartford,"  i.  463. 
Brockmever,  Rev.  C.  A.,  i.  421. 
Brooke.  Lord,  i.  33,  34. 
Brooks,  Benjamin,  ii.  43,  45. 
Dr.  Daniel,  i.  529. 
Ebenezer,  ii.  388. 
John,  ii.  507,  548. 
Samuel,  ii.  214. 
William,  ii.  388. 
Bronson    (Brownson,     Brumpson, 
Brtinson),  Abigail,  ii.  559. 
Daniel,  ii.  40. 
Dorcas,  i.  247. 
Hon.  Greene  C,  ii.  362. 


Bronson,  John,  i.  231;  ii.  166,171; 
daughter  Mary,  245. 

Marv,  i.  237,  350. 

Oliver,  ii.  362;  house,  359. 

Richard,  i.  231;  ii.  39,  166. 
Brown,  Major  F.  M.,  i.  194. 

Frederick  S.,  "  Hartford  Co. 
Tobacco,"  i.  215. 

George  W.  &  Co.,  ii.  57. 

Colonel  Irenus,  i.  180. 

Jerome  B.,  i.  133. 

John,  ii.  43,  44,  46. 

Captain  John,  ii.  70. 

"Old  John,"  ii.  70. 

John  (Plymouth),  i.  54. 

(Olney)  Lydia,  ii.  380. 

(Parsons)  Lydia,  ii.  555. 

Marv,  ii.  554. 

Peter,  ii.  552. 

Mrs.  Phoebe  H.,  ii.  125. 

Captain  Samuel,  i.  99. 

Rev.  Samuel  R.,  ii.  125. 

William,  i.  126. 
Brown  &  Gross,  i.  624. 
Browne,  Francis,  ii.  106. 

Dr.  Gardner  S.,  i.  151. 

Marv,  i.  257. 

Nathaniel,  i.  266,  276. 
Brownell,  Charles  De  W.,  i.  132. 

Dr.  Clarence  M.,  ii.  105. 

Henry   H.,  i.   102,   132,   166; 
ii.  105;  portrait,  i.  6,  167. 

Rev.  Thomas  C,  i.  406,  435, 
438,  542. 

Dr.  William  R.,  i,  144. 
Browton,  John,  ii.  548. 
Brumpson.     -See  Bronson. 
Brandish,  John,  ii.  437,  460. 
Bryan,  Alexander,  i.  269. 

"  Richard,  i.  254. 
Buck,  Major  Barzillai  D.,  i.  193. 

Benjamin,  ii.  40. 

Daniel,  i.  193,  213,  664. 

Daniel,  i.  344. 

Rev.  Daniel,  ii.  308,  371. 

Dudley,  i.  664. 

Dudley,  composer,  i.  665. 

Dr.  Efiphalet,  i.  141. 

Emmanuel,  ii.  321,  439,  484. 

Enoch,  ii.  439. 

Ezekiel,  ii.  456. 

Henrv,  ii.  439. 

Hon/John  R.,  i.  133;    ii.  218, 
228;  quoted,  211. 

Ensign  Jonathan,  ii.  476. 

Samuel,  ii.  459. 
Buckingham.     See  Glastonbury. 
Buckingham,  Colonel  John,  i.  183. 

Joseph,  i.  81.  87. 

Thomas,  ii.  243. 

Rev.   Thomas   (Hartford),    i. 
79,  290. 

Rev.   Thomas   (Savbrook),   i. 
246;  ii.  441. 

Gov.  William  A.,  i.  90,  91. 
Buckland,  Aaron,  ii.  253. 

Henry  R.,  i.  131. 

Nicholas,  ii.  548,  549. 

Thomas,  ii.  505,  548,  558. 

William,  ii.  89. 
Buckley,  Capt.  William  S.,  i.  100. 
Buel,  Colonel  Elisha,  ii.  273,  274. 

General  Enos  H.,  i.  183. 

(Palmer)  Hannah,  ii.  555. 

(Pitkin)  Hannah,  ii.  104. 

Peter,  ii.  342,  548. 

Samuel  (Marlborough)  ii.  268. 

Samuel  (Windsor),  ii.  548. 

Timothy,  ii.  268. 


Buel,  William,  ii.  548. 

Captain  William,  ii.  268,  269. 
Bulkeley,  Caroline,  i.  71. 

Captain  Charles  E.,  i.  134. 

Dorothy,  ii.  207. 

Colonel  Edmond,  i.  181. 

Edward,  i.  120. 

Lieutenant  Edwin,  ii.  476. 

Judge  Eliphalet  A.,  i.  132, 
512;  portrait,  514. 

Rev.  Gershom,  ii.  207,  441; 
autograph,  441;  and  Andros 
usurpation,  i.  59,  64-6,  106; 
ii.  466;  chaplain  and  sur- 
geon, 463,  464;  exporter,  i. 
318. 

Justice,  i.  67,  68;  lawsuit, 
ii.  209,  227;  offices  held, 
462;  phvsician,  i.  137;  ver- 
satility,*" ii.  207;  mill,  484; 
his  Will  and  Doom,  207. 

Ichabod,  i.  129. 

Captain  John,  i.  180. 

Rev.  John,  i.  156;  ii.  274; 
daughter  Lucy,  274. 

Captain  Joseph,  ii.  477. 

Morgan  G.,  i.  385,  514. 

Patience  P.,  ii.  274. 

Stephen,  i.  71. 

Colonel  William,  i.  181. 
Bull,  A.  H.,  i.  666. 

Caleb,  i.  232;  sons,  232. 

Caleb,  Jr.,  i.  192,  377,  380, 
584. 

David,  i.  232,  330. 

E.  W.,  i.  666. 

Epaphras,  i.  84,  85. 

Capt.  Frederick,  i.  232;  ii.  480. 

Major  George,  i.  191,  193. 

Major  Isaac  D.,  i.  191,  665. 

Capt.Jonathan,  i.  191,377,  380. 

Maj.  Jonathan,  i. 73,  179,  232. 

Dr.  Jonathan,  i.  138,  232. 

Judge  Jonathan,  i.  232. 

Joseph,  i.  232;  ii.  98,  214. 

Martin,  ii.  181. 

Ensign  Roger,  ii.  472,  476. 

Susannah,  i.  233. 

Thomas,  i.  232;  ii.  166. 

Captain  Thomas,  i.  23],  238. 
Bunce,  Charles,  ii.  253. 

Elizabeth,  i.  269. 

Commander  Francis  M.,  i.  96. 

George,  ii.  253. 

James  M.,  i.  343,  645,  661. 

John  L.,  i.  337. 

Lewis,  ii.  253. 

Russell,  i.  661. 

Thomas  (Hartford),  i.  232. 

Thomas(Wetherstield),  ii.  439. 
Bunce  Brothers,  m'f'rs,  ii.  253. 
Bunch  of  Grapes  Tavern,  i.  330. 
Bunnel,  Rev.  John,  ii.  283. 

Gen.  John  N.,  i.  180,  185,  187. 

Nathaniel,  ii.  63. 
Burbank,  Lieut.  Abraham,  ii.  399. 

Major  James  B.,  i.  98. 

Jeremiah,  ii.  271. 

John,  ii.  388,  397. 
Burdett,  Charles  L.,    "  Sketch  of 

Hartford  County,"  i.  1. 
Burgess,  Bishop   George,   i.   406, 
642. 

Daniel,  i.  623. 
Burleigh,  William  H.,  i.  134,  160, 

609,  615. 
Burleson,  Edward,  ii.  388. 
Burlington,    ii.    63;    called    West 
Britain,    63;    settled,    63; 


INDEX. 


677 


early  families,  65;  included 
in  Bristol,  63  ;  incorporated, 
63;  area  reduced,  64;  popu- 
lation, i.  208 :   ecclesiastical 
society  organized, ii. 63;  Con- 
gregational   Church    form- 
ed, 64;  other  churches,  64; 
boundaries,  65;  distilleries, 
i.  211;  military  history,  91, 
101;  ii.  65;  natural  features, 
65. 
Burlinson,  Edward,  i.  293. 
Burlly,  Mary,  ii.  559. 
Burnham,  Colonel  George  S.,  i.  92, 
93,  186. 
Colonel  John  H.,  i.  93,  187. 
Major  Joseph,  i.  193. 
Michael,  i.  327. 
Nathaniel,  ii.  459. 
Reuben,  ii.  238. 
Thomas,  i.  118 ;  ii.  86,  87,  89, 

90. 
Timothv,  i.  192. 
William,  i.  68. 
Rev.  William,  ii.  14,  15. 
Burr,  Hon.  Alfred  E.,  i.  233,  617; 
portrait,  618. 
Benjamin,  i.  233. 
F.  L.,  i.  233;  i.  615,  618. 
Jehu,  i.  41. 
Peter,  i.  113. 
Thomas,  i.  276. 
General  Timothv,  i.  180,  185. 
W.  0.,  618. 
Burritt,  Elihu,  i.173;  ii.  312;  por- 
trait, ii.  312. 
Elijah  H.,  ii.  295. 
Burrows   (Burroughs),  Robert,  ii. 

437. 
Burt,  Abigail,  i.  252. 
Major  C.  C,  i.  194. 
Jonathan,  ii.  140,  143,  385. 
Burton,  Rev.  Nathaniel  J  ,  i.  389, 
393  ;     "  North     Congrega- 
tional Church,"  389. 
Bush,  Samuel,  ii.  388. 
Bushnell,  Hannah,  i.  247. 

Rev.  Horace,  i.  168,  390;  por- 
trait, 390. 
John,  i.  251. 
Josiah,  ii.  238. 
Rebecca,  i.  248. 
Stephen,  ii.  238.  241. 
Butler,  A.  W.,  i.  395,  666. 
Calvin,  i.  126. 
Ensign  Charles,  ii.  450,  472, 

473. 
Frederick,  ii.  453,  486. 
George,  i.  272. 
Horace,  ii.  303. 
Major  J.  Hartwell,  i.  97-. 
John  A.,  340. 
John,  i.  74. 
Dr.  John  S.,  i.  529. 
Joseph,  i.  233;  ii.  493. 
Rebecca,  i.  272. 
Deacon  Richard  ( H'f'd),  i.  228, 
233,234,238;  children,  233. 
Richard  (  Weth'slield),  ii.  439. 
Richard,  Jr.,  ii.  493. 
Samuel,  i.  233;  ii.  450,  402. 
Ensign  Samuel,  ii.  466. 
Sarah,  i.  236. 
Thomas,  i.  263,  207. 
Judge  Thomas  B.,  i.  113,  115; 

ii.  463. 
William  (Hartford),  i.  233. 
Wm.  (Wetherstield),  ii.439. 
WTilliam  (Windsor),  ii.  502. 


Butler  &  Hudson,  m'f'rs,  ii.  250. 
Buttolph,  John,  ii.  466. 

Cadwell,  Thomas,  i.  273. 
Cakebread,  Isaac,  i.  273 ;  ii.  388. 
Caldwell,  Major  John,  i.  189,  192, 
193,  332,  380,  499,  585,  657 ; 
daughters,  658. 
Thomas,  ii.  89. 
"Calendar,  The,"  i.  621. 
Calhoun,  David  S.,  i.  133. 
Calkins,  Rev.  Wolcott,  i.  287. 
Cambridge  Platform,  i.  279. 
Camp,    David    N.,    ii.   282,    317; 
"New  Britain,"  277;    por- 
trait, 278. 
Major  Henry  W.,  i.  100. 
John,  i.  273. 
Captain  John,  ii.  331. 
Deacon  John,  ii.  327,  332. 
Col.  Joseph,  i.  181;  ii.  333. 
Nicholas,  ii.  558. 
Colonel  Ozias,  i.  181,  191. 
Samuel,  ii.  340. 
Talcott,  ii.  218. 
Campbell,  Orville,  i.  99. 
Canals,  i.  211,  554. 
Candee,  Sheldon  W.,  i.  127. 
Cannon,  i.  22,  23.  17<i,  188,  294. 
Canton  (West  Simsbury),   ii.  67; 
settled,     68;     incorporated, 
71;  population,    i.   208;    ii. 
67;    Collinsville,    71,    75; 
ecclesiastical    history,    70; 
agriculture,    71;  education, 
71;    distilleries,    i.  211 ;    ii. 
72;   Indians,  07;   manufac- 
tures, 72;  military  history, 
i.  91,  101,  102;  ii.  70;  place 
names,  07,  68,  75. 
Cape  Breton,  expedition,  i.  81. 
Capitol,  State,  i.  388,  484;  views 

of.  449.  484-486. 
('apron,  S.  M.,  i.  644. 
Card  playing,  i.  74,  578. 
Carpenter,  David,  i.  231;  ii.  166. 

Judge  Elisha,  i.  113. 
Carpets,  manuf.  of,  i.  211;  ii.  160. 
Carriages,  i.  212,598;  ii.  176,  423. 
Carrier,  Andrew,  ii.  207-269. 
Andrew,  Jr.,  ii.  268. 
Benjamin,  ii.  268. 
Joseph,  ii.  273. 
Carrington,  Dr.  Edwin  W.,  i.  143. 
John  (Farmington),  ii.  166. 
John  (Wetherstield),  ii.  491. 
Carrique,  Rev.  Richard,  i.  421. 
Carroll,  John  F.,  i.  101. 
Carter,  Burwell,  ii.  339. 
Ezra,  ii.  268,  269. 
Jerusha,  ii.  275. 
Joshua  (Rocky  Hill),  i.  273. 
Joshua  (Windsor),  ii.  548. 
Ralph,  ii.  211. 
Carthagena,    expedition    against, 

i.  81. 
Case,  Abraham,  ii.  69. 
Amos,  ii.  69. 
A.  Wells,  ii.  254. 
Major  Clavton  H.,  i.  194. 
Sergeant  Daniel,  ii.  69,  72. 
Dennison,  ii.  230. 
Dudley,  ii.  69. 
Hosea,  ii.  69. 
Captain  Jacob  B.,  i.  184. 
Dr.  Jairus,  ii.  235,  236. 
General  Jarvis,  i.  185. 
John,  i.  260;  ii.  342,  343,  351, 
547. 


Case,  Captain  Josiah,  ii.  69. 

Levi,  "Notes    on     Canton," 
ii.  67. 

Orville,  ii.  72. 

Lieutenant  Owen  S.,  i.  101. 

Richard    (East   Hartford),    i. 
256,  273. 

Richard  (Simsbury),  ii.  68. 

Seth  P.,  i.  133. 

Seymour  N.,  i.  132. 

Svlvanus,  ii.  68. 

Thomas,  ii.  354,  360. 

William  C,  ii.  236. 

William  S.,  "Granby,"  ii.  229. 

Captain  Zaccheus,  ii.  69. 
Case  Brothers,  manufacturers,  ii. 

215,  254. 
Case,  Lockwood,  &  Brainard  Co., 

i.  627. 
"  Catholic  Press,"  i.  621. 
Catlin  (Cattel),  John,  ii.  437. 

Julius,  i.  339,  506. 

Samuel,  i.  77. 

Thomas,  i.  273. 
Cattle,  Jersey,  i.  213. 
Cattle  shows,  i.  580. 
Cavalry,  first  troop  of,  i.  178. 
Chaffee,  Abigail,  ii.  532. 

Dr.  Ralph  T,  i.  153. 
Chalker,  Rev.  Isaac,  ii.  222. 
Chamberlain,   Dr.  Charles  W.,  i. 
145. 

Colonel  Ezra  L.  H.,  i.  183. 

James,  ii.  116. 

Joseph,  ii.  252. 

Melvinia  A.,  ii.  312. 

Rufus,  i.  99. 

V.  B.,  i.  89. 
Chambers,  Francis,  i.  133. 
Champion,  Aristarchus,  ii.  214. 

General  Epaphroditus,  i.  185. 

Colonel  Henry,  ii.  252. 

General  Henry,  i.  185. 

General  Henry.  2d.  i.  185. 
Chandler,  Captain  H.  F.,  i.  187. 
Chapin,   Rev.  Alonzo  B.,   i.  173; 
ii.  227. 

Rev.  Calvin,  ii.  483,  495. 

Henry,  ii.  385. 

M.  W.,  i.  665. 

Samuel,  ii.  385. 
Chaplaine,  William,  i.  234. 
Chaplin  (Chaplaine),    Clement,    i. 

234,  215;  ii.  437,  441,  456. 
Chapman,    Charles,    i.   115,   131  ; 
portrait,  114. 

Hon.  Charles  R,  i.  133,  385. 

Edward,  ii.  549. 

General  Elijah,  i.  185. 

Colonel  George  D.,  i.  92. 

Hannah,  i.  232. 

Dr.  Isaiah,  i.  141. 

Captain  Samuel,  i.  179. 
Chappell,  George,  ii.  435,  437. 

George,  2d,  ii.  437. 
Charlestown,  Mass.,  i.  20. 
Charlton,  Sarah,  ii.  127. 
Charter.     See  Connecticut. 
Charter  Oak,  i.  67,  69,71. 
"  Charter  Oak,"  the,  i.  609. 
Charter  Oak  Mill,  ii.  253. 
Charter  Oak  Life.  Ins.  Co.,  i.  515; 

building,  517. 
Charter  Oak  Nati  Bank,  i.  346. 
Charters,  earlv,  inconsistent,  i.17. 
Chase,  Rev.  Austin  S.,  ii.  115. 

Bishop  Philander,  i.  406. 
Chastellux,    Marquis  de,   i.   330; 
ii.  479. 


678 


INDEX. 


Chatham,  i.  85,  209. 
Chauncey,  Marv,  ii.  554. 

Eev.  Nathaniel,  ii.  537,  539. 
Rev.  Peter  S.,  i.  406. 
Chenevard,  Captain  John,  i.  305, 

361,  380;  Jr.,  192. 
Chenev.  Benjamin,  ii.  246. 
Charles,  ii.  255,  256. 
Col.  Frank  W.,  i.  93;  ii.  265. 
George,  ii.  253,  255,  264,  266; 

children,  255. 
Nathaniel,  ii.  388. 
Ralph,  ii.  255. 
Silas,  ii.  246. 
Timothv,  ii.  246,  249,  255,  259, 

264. 
Ward,  ii.  255,  256. 
Chenev  Brothers,  i.  572;  ii.  251, 

255,  265. 
Chester,  Abigail,  ii.  478. 

Mrs.  Dorothy,  i.  234;  ii.  332; 

children,  i".  234. 
(Pitkin)  Eunice,  ii.  103. 
(Stevens)  Eunice,  ii.  219. 
(Williams)  Eunice,  ii.  325. 
Major  John,   i.  68,   109,  178, 
268;  ii.  427,  455,  462,  463, 
466. 
Major  John,  Jr.,  i.  68,  75,  110, 

179;  ii.  466. 
Colocel  John,  i.  110,180,  188; 

ii.  428,  468,  470. 
Colonel  (Judge)  John,  i.  83, 
85,   110,   114,  185;   ii.  453, 
462,  403,  471-4,  476,  483. 
Leonard,  i.  234;  ii.  436,  454; 
home   lot,  455,  456  ;    mill, 
482,  484;  tomb,  459;  arms, 
i.  234. 
Stephen,  ii.  68. 
Thomas,  i.  123,  125;  ii.  482. 
Cheverus,  Rev.  John  B.,  i.  410,  411. 
Child,  Asa,  i.  115,  130. 
Children,  training  of,  i.  575;  stub- 
born and  rebell  ious,  351,  353. 
Childs,  Rev.  Thomas  S-,  i.  423. 
"  Christian  Secretary,"  the,  i.  621. 
"  Christian  Sentinel,"  the,  i.  621. 
Christophers,  Judge  Richard,  i.  113. 
Church,  Rev.  Aaron,  ii.  239. 
Aaron  M.,  i.  127. 
Frederick  E.,  i.  672. 
James,  i.  380;  ii.  486. 
Joseph,  i.  340. 
Joseph,  Jr.,  i.  122,  189. 
Rebecca,  i.  258. 
Richard,  i.  234;  children,  234. 
Church,  absence  from,  i.  74,  353; 
architecture,  354;  ii.  31, 174, 
178  ;    attitudes  in,    i.  577; 
governor's  pew,  406 ;  sing- 
ing, "new  wav"  of,   175; 
ii.  283;  drum,  175,509,541; 
going  to,  44  ;  guard  seats, 
169  ;     seats,   dignified,    46, 
541 ;  seats  set  apart,  46, 170 ; 
sexes  separated  in,  46. 
Church  and  State,  connection  of, 

i.  75,  616. 
Churchill,  Lieutenant  Benjamin,  ii. 
451,  466. 
Captain  Charles,  ii.  327,  328, 

333,  470. 
James,  ii.  331. 
Churchill,  Joseph  and  Josiah,  ii. 
437. 
Nathaniel,  ii.  476. 
Captain  N.,  ii.  291. 
Sergeant  Samuel,  ii.  333. 


Churchill,  William  A.,  ii.  203. 

W.  W.,  ii.  303. 
Churchill  &  Stanley  Manufactur- 
ing Co.,  ii.  303. 
Churchill,  Lewis,  &Co.,  manufac- 
turers, ii.  303. 
"Churchman,"  i.  621. 
"Churchman's  Magazine,"  i.  621. 
Cigars,  manuf.  of,  i.  217;  ii.  403. 
Cincinnati  Society,  i.  588;  ii.  483, 

515. 
Circuses,  i.  578,  579. 
City  Bank',  i.  345. 
Clap,  Roger,  ii.  550;  quoted,  534-6. 

Rev.  Thomas,  i.  244. 
Clapp,  E.  Spencer,  ii.  544. 
Increase,  ii.  251. 
Colonel  John  B.,  i.  180;  ii.  480. 
Clapp,  Kenev,  &  Co.,  ii.  251. 
Clark.  Addison  L.  ii.  250. 
A.  N.,  i.  606. 
Captain  Anson  T.,  i.  184. 
Charles    Hopkins,    "  Growth 
of    the     County,"    i.    207; 
"Insurance,"    499;    "The 
Press,"  605. 
(Clarke)  Daniel,   i.   109,   119, 

178;  ii.  133,  278,  516,  548. 
Daniel  W.,  i.  505. 
David,  i.  611. 
Elizabeth,  i.  256. 
Ezra  and  Jr.,  i.  663. 
Lieutenant  Fayette  C,  i.  192. 
F.  W.,  ii.  253. 
George,  i.  251. 
George  H.,  i.  167. 
Rev.  George  H.,  i.  406. 
Henry  W.^ii.  297. 
Katherine,  i.  232. 
Joel,  ii.  82,  84. 
John,  ii.  166. 
Marcellus,  ii.  281. 
Nathaniel,  ii.  548. 
Samuel  (Wethersfield),  ii.  437, 

438,  460. 
Samuel  (Simsburv),  ii.  78,  82, 

84. 
Rev.  Samuel,  ii.  17. 
Sarah,  i.  251. 
Colonel  Simon,  i.  180. 
Bishop  Thomas  M.,  i.  406. 
Timothy,  Manufacturing  Co., 
ii.  180,  370,  377,  381. 
Clark   &    Cowles    Manufacturing 

Co.,  ii.  339. 
Clark  &   Haskell   Manufacturing 

Co.,  ii.  360. 
Clark  Brothers  &  Co.,  manufac- 
turers, ii.  376. 
Clark,  Norton,  &   Co.,   manufac- 
turers, ii.  376. 
Clarke,  Captain,  ii.  516. 

Charles  Horace,  "EastGran- 

by,"  ii.  77. 
Frances,  ii.  549. 
Henry,  ii.  548. 
John'(Hartfbrd),  i.  234. 
John   (Wetherslield),    ii.    435, 

436,  438,  454. 
Joseph,  ii.  549;    son  Joseph, 

549. 
Josiah,  i.  233. 
Nathaniel,  ii.  548. 
Nicholas,    i.   235,    263;    chil- 
dren, 235. 
Thomas,  i.  235,  255. 
Rev.  Walter,  i.  291. 
William  (Hartford),  i.  235. 
William  (Roxburv),  i.  234. 


Clary,  Dr.  George,  i.  145. 
Cleaver,  John,  ii.  215. 
Clemens,  Samuel  L.,  i.  170;  por- 
trait, 171:  house,  476. 
Clements,  Jasper,  i.  276. 
Clerc,  Laurent,  i.  426,  428. 
Clocks,  early  manufacture  of,   i. 

210,  564;  ii.  52,  255. 
Coddington,  William,  i.  22. 
Codman,  Robert,  i.  248. 
Coe,  Rev.  Daniel,  ii.  65. 
Colonel  Levi,  i.  181. 
Robert,  ii.  437,  438,  440. 
Coit,  Martha,  i.  269. 
Coffin,  Eunice,  i.  233. 

Sarah,  ii.  329. 
Coffing,  Lieutenant  John  C.,  i.  100. 
Cogswell,  Alice,  i.  425. 

Dr.  Mason  F.,  i.  141, 142.  425, 

599,  603;  portrait,  600. 
Robert,  ii.?268. 
Colchester,  i.  9,  179,  209. 
Cole,  Dr.  Harvey,  i.  151. 
Henry,  i.  257. 

James,  i.  235 ;  daughter,  235. 
James  2d,  ii.  437. 
John   (Farmington),    ii.   166, 

171. 
John     (Hartford),     i.     273  ; 

daughters,  273,  276. 
Joseph,  ii.  493. 
Nathaniel,  i.  236. 
Samuel,  ii.  439. 
Colebrook,  i.  10,  203. 
Colefax,  Jonathan,  ii.  464,  466. 

Mary,  i.  230. 
Coleman,  Dr.  Asaph,  i.  140,  141. 
Esther,  i.  236. 
John,  i.  237;  ii.  439,  465. 
Thomas,  ii.    437,.  461;   sons: 
Thomas,  439;  Noah,  i.  235; 
ii.  465. 
Colfax,  William,  ii.  439. 
Collier,  Judge  Goodwin,  i.  133. 

Joseph,  i.  232,  273. 
Collins,    Amos    M.,    i.   385,    669; 
portrait,  660. 
A.  P.,  ii.  282,  307. 
Captain  Charles  M.,  i.  184. 
David  C,  i.  213;  ii.  75,  76. 
Erastus,  i.  671;  portrait,  666. 
Colonel  John,  i.  183. 
Lorraine  (Laura),  ii.  136. 
Lucy,  ii.  328. 
Mr.,  teacher,  i.  629. 
Rev.  Nathaniel,  i.  270;  ii.  153. 
Samuel,  ii.  494. 
Samuel  W.,  ii.  76. 
Sibyl,  i.  270. 
William  L.,  i.  95,  671. 
Collins  Company,  ii.  72,  73,  75. 
Collinsville.     See  Canton. 
Colonies,    Union    of    Connecticut 

and  New  Haven,  i.  61. 
Colt,  Elisha,  i.  343,  348. 
John,  i.  259. 
Peter,   i.  192,   377,  380,  564, 

565. 
Colonel  Samuel,    i.  194,  565, 

658;  portrait,  562. 
Mrs.   Samuel,   i.  539 ;   house, 
475. 
Colton,  Rev.  Benjamin,  ii.  416. 
George,  ii.  385,  386,  388. 
Rev.  George,  ii.  239,  416. 
Combs  (Coombs),  Captain  Joseph, 

ii.  477. 
Comings,  Dr.  Benjamin  N.,  i.  1 45. 
"  Commerce  and  Banking,"  i.  308. 


INDEX. 


679 


Committee    of    Inspection,  Hart- 
ford, i.  306. 
Committees  of  War,  i.  80,  81,  82. 
Comstock,  Captain  John  C,  i.  132, 
186. 
Dr.  John  L.,  i.  142,  172.  59-4. 
William,  ii.  435,  437. 
William  G.,  ii.  94. 
Concerts,  i.  579,  580. 
Condell,  Mastin,  &  Butler,  manu- 
facturers, ii.  339. 
Cone,  Marvin,  ii.  250. 

Captain  Stephen,  i.  179. 
Colonel  William  E.,  i.  ISO. 
William  R.,  i.  130,  131,  542, 
548. 
Cone  &   Wadsworth  Manufactur- 
ing Co.,  ii.  250. 
"  Congregational  ist,"  i.  621. 
<  Jongress  Mills,  ii.  522. 
Conklin,  T.  A.,  ii.  301. 
Connecticut,  visited  bv  Winslow, 
i.  309;  ii.  497;  constitution 
of,  adopted,  i.  52 ;    planta- 
tions   at,    22,    23;    genesis 
of,    19;    settled,    36;    gov- 
ernment    organized,      37  ; 
charter,  63;    ii.  134;    towns 
confederated,  40  ;  first  high- 
way   in,    508;    house,   498; 
in  Pequot  war,  i.  49 ;  ii.  510; 
land  titles,  i.  19;  northern 
boundary,  ii.   139,  143.  144, 
146,  390;  rateable  persons  in 
(1654),  i.  55;  records,  earlv, 
108;  statutes,  107. 
Connecticut  "Catholic,"  i.  621. 
Common    School    Manual,    i. 

620. 
Convention,  i.  107. 
"Courant,"  i.  605. 
"  Evangelical    Magazine,"   i. 

621. 
Fire  Ins.  Co.,  i.  506;  building, 

491. 
General  Court.     See  Court. 
General  Life  Ins.  Co.,  i.  516. 
Historical  Societv,  i.  94. 
Homoeopathic     Medical     So- 
ciety, i.  149. 
Humane  Society,  i.  540. 
Land  Company",  i.  205. 
Medical  Society,  i.  525. 
Missionary  Society,  i.  205. 
Mutual  Life  Ins.  "Co.,  i.  511; 

building,  487. 
"Observer,"  i.  621. 
"  Post,"  i.  611. 
"Retreat  for  the  Insane,"  i. 

525. 
River  discovered,  i.  16;  ii.497; 
called  Fresh  River,  407  ;  and 
Great  River,   500;  changes 
in  bed,  428,  429 ;  course  of, 
i.   3;    low   water   mark   at 
Hartford,  3;  tide  in,  4;  navi- 
gation on,  ii.  567. 
River  Banking  Co.,  i.  330. 
River  Co.,  i.  362,  363;  ii.  567, 

569. 
Silk  Co.,  i.  343:  ii.  569. 
Trust  &  Safe  Deposit  Co.,  i. 

348. 
Valley  Orchard  Co.,  ii.  307. 
"Connecticut  Whig,"  i.  615. 
Conner,  Major  William,  i.  191. 
Conners,  Capt.  Solomon  P.,  i.  187. 
Constables,  i.  22,  23. 
Converse,  Edward  M.,  ii.  375. 


Converse,  H.  A.,  ii.  570. 

Major  Joseph  H.,  i.  100. 
Cook,  Alice,  ii.  221. 
Asa  S.,  i.  570. 
Rev.  Elisha  B.,  ii.  261. 
Jemima,  ii.  121. 
Captain  John,  i.  190,  377. 
Mary,  i.  264. 
Nathaniel,  ii.  388. 
Cooke,  Captain  Aaron  (Hartford), 

i.  75,  77,  80,  119,  273. 
Aaron  (Windsor),  i.  178 ;   ii. 

549,     550,     560;    children: 

Aaron,    549;    Joanna,    188, 

500. 
Dr.  Erastus  F.,  ii.  486. 
Joseph,  i.  244. 
Captain  Joseph,  i.  179. 
Nathaniel,  ii.  539,  549. 
Rose  T.     See  Terry. 
Sarah,  ii.  557. 
Cooley,    Benjamin,    ii.   385,    386, 

Francis  B..  i.  343,  430,  570. 
Dr.  George  P.,  i.  153. 
Nathan,  i.  130. 
Colonel  Samuel  A.,  i.  180. 

Coombs.     See  Combs. 

Cooper,  Sarah,  i.  236. 
Thomas,  ii.  498. 
Lieut.  Thomas,  ii.  385,386,388. 

Coplev,  Elizabeth,  ii.  556. 
Thomas,  ii.  388. 

Copper  Mining.     See  Mining. 

Corbin  Cabinet  Lock  Co.,  ii.  303. 

Corbin,  P.  &  F.,  ii.  302. 

Corlet,  Johanna,  i.  257. 

Cornbury,  Lord,  i.  68. 

Cornish,  Captain  James,  i.  179. 
Mr.,  ii.  516. 

Cornwall,  Horace,  i.  117,  132. 

Cornwell,  John,  i.  255. 

Sergeant    William,     i.     235; 
daughter,  270. 

Cotton,  Rev.  John,  i.  24,  279. 
Rev.  John.  Jr.,  i.  280;  ii.  441. 

Cotton,  manufacture  of,  i.  211,  564; 
ii.  251;  importation  of,  563. 

Oottltman,  John,  ii.  439,  450,  484. 

Council  of  Safety,  i.  190. 

Counties  organized,  i.  9,  61,  110. 

"Courant,"     Hartford,     i.     605; 
building,  607. 

Court,  General,  of  Connecticut, 
first  session,  i.  39,  105; 
divided,  106;  last  session, 
109 :  and  northern  boundary 
dispute,  ii.  146;  authorizes 
fairs  and  markets,  320; 
discusses  banks,  i.  328  ; 
ecclesiastical  legislation, 
107,  400;  establishes  uni- 
form currency,  312;  field 
of  legislation^  106;  grants 
monopolies,  314  ;  prohib- 
its sale  of  arms  and  liquor 
to  Indians,  ii.  500;  settles 
church  quarrels,  15,  46,  231, 
259,  350,  537,  538;  requires 
schools,  118,  172;  revises 
laws,  106-108;  and  statutes, 
107,  108. 
General,  of  Massachusetts  and 
Connecticut  Plantations,  i. 
20-23;  establishes  courts  in 
Connecticut,  37,  38;  anec- 
dote concerning,  ii.  112. 

Court  of  Assistants,  i.  109,  113. 

Court  of  Pleas,  i.  68. 


Court  of  Sessions,  i.  68. 

Court,    Particular,    i.    106,    109; 

enactments,  ii.  507. 
Court,  Superior,  i.  113. 
Court,  Supreme,  of  errors,  i.  113; 

chambers,  115. 
Courts,  County,  i.  110. 

town,    established,    i.   37;    ii. 
507. 
Covell,  Elijah,  ii.  217. 
Coventry,  i.  78,  80,  202. 
Cowdrey,  Moses,  ii.  238. 
Cowen,  Mrs.  Sidney  J.,  i.  94,  539. 
Cowles,  Alfred,  i.  129. 
Caleb,  ii.  14. 
Elijah,  if.  175,  185,  197. 
Esther,  i.  232. 
Major  Frank,  i.  193. 
General  George,  i.  185. 
Hannah,  i.  261. 
James,  ii.  197,  200,  201. 
James  L.,    "  Unionville,"    ii. 

199. 
Capt.  Josiah,  ii.  180,  377,  378. 
Samuel  (attornev),  i.  126. 
Samuel   (settler),   l.   260;    ii. 

166. 
Sarah,  i.  240. 

Solomon,  ii.  185;  son,  185. 
General  Solomon,  i.  83,  185. 
Thomas,  i.  133. 
Timothy,  ii.  89. 
Rev.  Whitfield,  ii.  78. 
Cowles  Paper  Co.,  ii.  202. 
Coxe,  Rev.  Arthur  C,  i.  160,  407. 
Cove,  Samuel,  ii.  562,  563. 
Crabbe,  Richard,  ii.  438,  461. 
Crane,    Benjamin,  i.  74 ;    ii.   435, 
439. 
Rev.  Cephas  B.,  i.  403. 
Julia  II  ,  ii.  127. 
Crarv,  Isaac  E.,  i.  130. 
Craufurd,  Gen.  Robert  B.,  i.  185. 
Crosby,  Erastus  H.,  i.  519. 

M'f'g  Co.,  ii.  217. 
Cross,  Samuel,  ii.  388. 

William,  ii.  435,  437. 
Croswell,  Rev.  Harry,  ii.  418,  423. 
Crow,  Christopher,  i.  233. 

(Warren,  Wilson),  Elizabeth, 

ii.  235,  274. 
John,  i.  235;  ii.  81,  87,89,97, 
274;  children,  i.  235. 
Crowfoot,  Joseph,  ii.  494. 
Crown  Point,  expedition  against, 

i.  82. 
Crum,  Frederick  W.,  ii.  201. 
Cullick,  Captain  John,  i.  53,  236, 

246;  children,  236. 
Cummings,  Ann,  ii.  158. 
Currency,  uniform,  established,   i. 
312;    Bills     of    Exchange, 
earlv,  323;  Bills  of  Credit 
issued,  324,  327 ;  legal  ten- 
der clause  (1740),  326 ;  paper 
currency  depreciates,    326; 
specie  payments,  early  legis- 
lation concerning,  324;  sus- 
pended, 337,  344,  346. 
Curtis,  Elizabeth,  i.  268. 
Frederick,  ii.  215. 
Henry,  ii.  549. 
John,"  ii.  437,  438. 
John,  attorney,  i.  120. 
Jonathan,  ii.  494. 
Dr.  Jonathan  S.,  i.  146,  149. 
Samuel,  ii.  469. 
Thomas,  ii.  437. 
Captain  Thomas,  i.  179. 


INDEX. 


Curtis,  Captain  William,  i.  251. 
Curtiss,    John    (Southington),   ii. 
370. 
John  (Wethersfield),  i.  328. 
Major  Peter,  ii.  81. 
Samuel,  ii.  375. 
Curtisville  M'fg  Co.,  ii.  215. 
Cushman,  Rev.  Elisha,  i.  401,  621; 
ii.  421. 

Daggett,  Rev.  Oliver  E.,  i.  291 ; 

ii.  286,  445. 
"Daily  Morning  Review,"  i.  615. 
Dana,  Hon.  Richard  H.,  ii.  445. 

Gen.  Samuel  W.,  i.  123,  185. 
Danburv  Association.      See  Bap- 
tists. 
Dancing  schools,  i.  585. 
Danforth,  Jonathan,  ii.  568. 
Captain  Thomas,  ii.  489. 
Davenport,  Rev.  James,  i.  284. 

Rev.  John,  i.  246. 
David,  the  Jew,  i.  321. 
Davie,  Humphrey,  i.  68,  273. 
Davies,  Rev.  Thomas,  i.  285. 
Davis,  Rev.  Gustavus  F.,  i.  401. 
Hannah,  i.  241. 
Philip,   i.  50,   232,  236,   259; 
children,  236. 
Dav,  Abraham,  ii.  268. 
Albert,  i.  670 ;  ii.  408. 
Asa,  ii.  274. 
Major  Calvin,  i.  191,  344,  542, 

609,  670;  portrait,  670. 
Daniel,  ii.  268. 
Editha,  ii.  269. 
Captain  Joseph,  i.  191. 
Robert,  i.  236;  children,  236, 

252. 
Robert  E.,  i.  133. 
Judge  Thomas,    i.    108,   126, 
344,  542,543,  544,  588,  594; 
portrait,  126. 
Thomas  M.,  i.  132,  606. 
Dayton,  Henry,  ii.  213,  218,  225, 

227. 
Deaf-mutes.     See  American  Asy- 

lum. 
Deane,    Barnabas,    mentioned,    i. 
192,331,377;  ii.  471;  alder- 
man,   i.   380  ;    house,    466 ; 
merchant,   658  ;    privateer, 
ii.  477  ;  lieutenant,  473. 
Sidney,  ii.  228. 
Silas,  marries,  ii.  478;  in  Con- 
tinental Congress,  462,  471 ; 
attorney,  i.  121;  merchant, 
i.   658;"  ii.   472  ;    on   com- 
mittee   of    correspondence, 
471 ;  plans  capture  of  Ticou- 
deroga,  i.  84. 
Debit,  William,  ii.  252,  253. 
Delanev  &   Munson,  manufactur- 
ers, ii.  202. 
De  la  place,  Captain,  i.  184. 
Deming,  Abel,  ii.  486. 
Benjamin,  ii.  486. 
Chauncev,  ii.  185. 
General  David,  i.  183. 
Lieutenant  David,  ii.  476. 
Elisha,  ii.  470. 
Elizabeth,  i.  268. 
Ephraim,  ii.  332. 
Giles,  ii.  450. 
Colonel  Henrv  C,  i.  93,  133, 

168,  194,  385. 
Isaac,  ii.  450. 
Jacob,  i.  273. 
James,  ii.  333. 


Deming.  Jedediah,  ii.  328  ;    son, 
239. 

John  (Farmington),  ii.  185. 

John  (Wethersiield),  ii.  322, 
427,  437,  461 ;  children,  i. 
252,  253,  273. 

Jonathan,  i.  241;  ii.  435. 

Jonathan,  commissarv,  ii.476. 

Samuel,  ii.  336. 

Captain  Selden,  ii.  333. 

Simeon,  ii.  446. 

Thomas,  ii.  481. 
Demon,  Thomas,  ii.  166. 
Denison,  Dr.  Jeremiah  T.,  i.  149. 
Dennis,  Rodney,  i.  521,  540. 
Denny,  Dr.  James,  i.  529. 
Denslow,  Elihu,  ii.  513,  563. 

Henry,  ii.  549,  562  ;  sons: 
Joseph,  Samuel,  562. 

Captain  Martin,  ii.  515.  563. 

Nicholas,  ii.  549  ;  son  John, 
549. 

Major  William  J.,  i.  193. 
Denslow  &  Chase,  manufacturers, 

ii.  570. 
Denton,  Benjamin,  ii.  368. 

Rev.  Richard,  ii.  4.J7,  440. 
Desborough  (Disbro,   Desbrough, 
Disborow,  Deshrow),  Xicho- 
la«,  i.  237;  daughters,  237. 
Deutsch,  Rabbi  Solomon,  i.  422. 
Devotion,  Rev.  Ebenezer,  ii.  389, 
391,  406,  408. 

John  (Suffield),  ii.  389. 

John  (Wethersiield),  ii.  460. 
Dewey,  Col.  Daniel  S.,  i.  180,  186. 

Lieutenant  Daniel,  ii.  282. 

Josiah,  ii.  302. 

Pelatiah,  ii.  400. 

Thomas,  ii.  549;  sons,  549. 
De  Wolf,  Balthazar,  ii.  439. 
Dexter,  Charles  H.,  ii.  568;  por- 
trait, 568. 

Seth,  ii.  562,  564,  566,  568. 
Dibble,    Abraham   (Farmington), 
ii.  166. 

Abraham  (Windsor),  ii.  562. 

Abram,  ii.  388. 

Benjamin,  ii.  388. 

Jonathan,  i.  74. 

Mary,  ii.  550. 

Thomas,  ii.  535,  549 ;  children, 
549,  551. 
Dickens,  Charles,  i.  558. 
Dickinson,  Abner,  ii.  226. 

Lieutenant  David,  ii.  268,  269. 

Dorcas,  i.  251. 

Ebenezer,  ii.  484. 

Elihu,  ii.  494. 

Fliphalet,  ii.  484. 

John,  ii.  437,  439,  465. 

General  L.  A.,  i.  187. 

Levi,  ii.  490. 

Nathaniel,  ii.  437,  439,  461, 
402,  465  ;  sons,  465. 

Samuel,  ii.  439. 

Thomas,  i.  236;  ii.  439. 
Dime  Savings  Bank,  i.  348. 
Dimock,  Joseph,  ii.  483. 

R.  R.,  ii.  246. 
Dimond,  Captain  Moses,  ii.  511. 
Disbro,  Disborough,  Disbrow.  See 

Desborough. 
Distilleries,  i.  211. 
Ditson,  Pond,   &  Co.,    manufac- 
turers, ii.  202. 
Divorce,  first,  i.  352. 
Divorces,  i.  107,  352. 
Dix,  Jacob,  ii.  451. 


Dix,  Leonard,  ii.  437. 

Dixon,  James,  i.  131,  166;  ii.  162. 

Simeon  F.,  i.  129. 

William,  i.  127;  ii.  162. 
Dixwell,  Colonel  John,  i.  57. 
Doan,  Captain  Merritt,  i.  184. 
Doane,  Rev  William  C,  i.  407. 
Dodd,  James,  i.  342. 

Major  William  H.,  i.  191. 
Dodge,  Hon.  William  E.,  i.  667; 

portrait,  658. 
Dolman,  Elizabeth,  ii.  550,  559. 
Dorchester,  Conn.     See  Windsor. 
Dorchester,  Mass.,  First  Church  at, 
ii.  534-536 ;  Second  Church 
formed,  i.  25. 
Dorchester,  Anthony,  ii.  385,  549. 

Stephen,  ii.  175. 
Dorr,  Rev.  Edwin,  i.  284,  285. 
Doty,  Daniel,  ii.  437. 
Douglass,  Alexander,  i.  274. 
Dow",  Samuel,  i.  241. 
Downing,  John,  i.  233. 
Downs,  Ephraim,  ii.  53. 
Dragoneers,  i.  178. 
Dragoons,  i.  181. 

Drake,  Colonel  Albert  W.,  i.  91, 
92,  134;  ii.  226. 

Jacob,  ii.  549,  551,  552. 

John,  ii.  549,  552,  557;  chil- 
dren, 549,  550. 

Captain  John  L.,  i.  99. 

Nathaniel,  i.  400. 

Richard  G.,  i.  131. 

Sarah,  ii.  122. 
Drama,  i   580. 

Dress,  i.  350,  357,  586,  594;  ii.  183. 
Drowned,  restoring  the,  i.  385. 
Drum  for  church,  ii.  175,  541. 
Drunkenness,  fines  for,  i.  74. 
Dudley,  Gov.  Joseph,  i.  64,  68. 

Lewis  J.,  i.  131. 

Governor  Thomas,  i.  22. 
Dumbleton,  John,  ii.  549. 
Dunbar,  Daniel,  i.  126. 
Dunham,  Austin,  i.  514,  573;  ii. 
522;  portrait,  i.  725. 

Cornelius,  ii.  381. 

George,  ii.  202. 

Captain  Jonathan,  i.  179. 

Nathan,  ii.  268. 

Solomon,  ii.  470,  471,  472. 
Dunning,  Rev.  Benjamin,  ii.  270. 
Duper,  Hannah,  ii.  547. 
Duportail,  General,  ii.  479. 
Durand,  William  M.,  i.  131. 
Dutch,   difficulties  with,  i.  54,  55; 
explorations  of,  15;  trading 
house  at  Hartford,  17;  un- 
just treatment  of,    17,   18; 
oppose  Holmes,  ii.  498. 
Dutton,  Timothy,  i.  126. 
Dwight,  President,  quoted,  ii.424, 
446. 

Captain  Samuel,  ii.  145. 

Theodore,  i.  124, 157, 160,  385, 
577,  592,  612. 

Theodore,  Jr.,  i.  165. 
Dwver,    Lieutenant  J.   Robert,  i. 

192. 
Dyer,  Amelia,  i.  272. 

Benjamin,  ii.  69. 

Eliphalet,  i.  327. 

John,  ii.  498,  505. 
Dyson  Needle  Co.,  ii.  303. 

Eagle  Laboratory  Co.,  ii.  486. 
Eagle  Manufacturing  Co.,  ii.  214. 
Earle,  Morris,  i.  664. 


INDEX. 


681 


East  Granby,  ii.  77;  first  settlers, 
78;  early  families,  81;  pop- 
ulation, i.  208;  ecclesiasti- 
cal history,  ii.  78  ;  eminent 
men,  83 ;  "manufactures,  77, 

79  ;  military  historv,  i.  91, 
101;  ii.  84;"  mining,"  79,  81; 
Higlv  coppers,  80;  Newgate, 

80  ;  "abandoned,  81,  483  ; 
place  names,  77,  79,  80. 

East  Haddam,  i.  179,  209. 

East  Hampton,  L.  I.,  i.  56. 

East  Hartford,  ii.  87  ;  three  miles' 
tract,  87;  included  in  Hart- 
ford, 87 ;  lands  held  in  com- 
mon, 87;  divided,  88;  town 
comprises  Hockanum  and 
Podunk,  88;  original  boun- 
daries, 87,  88;  dispute  with 
Windsor  respecting,  90  ; 
early  settlers,  89  ;  local 
officers  appointed,  90 ;  in- 
corporated, 94;  population, 
i.  -208;  ii.  94;  ecclesiasti- 
cal society  organized,  90; 
meeting  houses,  90,  91,  93; 
pastors,  91  ;  Hockanum 
Congregational  Society,  94; 
other  churches,  93,  94;  bury- 
ing grounds,  90  ;  Hartford 
Bridge  Co.,  95;  Burnside, 
94;  distillery,  i.  211;  edu- 
cation, ii.  96";  ferry,  94,  95; 
foreign  trade,  99;  forts,  87  : 
Indians,  85;  industries,  97; 
military  history,  i.  91,  101; 
ii.  100;  place  names,  85,  89, 
94,  95,  97-100,  104;  popula- 
tion, i.  208;  ii.  94;  post- 
offices,  89 ;  public  houses, 
105;  roads,  88;  secret  so- 
cieties, 101;  small  pox,  95; 
training  days,  100;  village 
improvement  society,  101; 
whipping-post,  90.  See 
Manchester. 

Eastman,  Joseph,  ii.  388. 
Timothy,  ii.  388. 

Easton,  Colonel  James,  i.  237. 
Deacon  Joseph,  i.  237;   chil- 
dren, 237. 

East  Windsor,  ii.  107  ;  called 
Windsor  Farme,  108;  set- 
tled, 107 ;  Ellington  set  off, 
112;  South  Windsor,  112, 
129;  and  Oakland  district, 
244;  incorporated,  107,  111  ; 
population,  i.  208;  ii.  113; 
ecclesiastical  society  organ- 
ized, 108;  church  formed, 
109  ;  pastors,  129  ;  Great 
Marsh  (Windsor,  Goshen, 
Ellington)  Society,  109  ; 
Scantic  (north)  Society, 
110,  114,  119  ;  meeting 
house,  113;  pastors,  114  ; 
Wapping  society,  110;  its 
successor,  131 ;  Broad  Brook 
Cong.  Church,  117;  other 
churches,  116,  117;  agricul- 
ture, 119;  area  (1786),  129; 
boundaries,  ancient,  111  ; 
burying  ground,  first,  114; 
distilleries,  i.  211;  educated 
men,  ii.  138;  education,  117; 
eminent  men,  121;  manu- 
factures, 119;  military  his- 
torv, i.  83,  85,  91,  11*0 ;  ii. 
120";  place  names,  109, 117- 


119 ;  theological  institute, 
i.  431;  ii.  113,  119  ;  the 
"street,"  109,  113;  town 
clerks,  112;  town  meetings, 
early,  129;  wealth  (1782), 
120. 
Eaton,  G.  W.,  ii.  339. 

Captain  Horatio  P.  D.,  i.  100. 
Samuel,  i.  243. 
Theophilus,  i.  54,  246. 
Hon.  William  W.,  i.  133. 
"Echo,"  i.  159. 
Edgerton,  Susan,  ii.  329. 
Edmunds,  John,  i.  350. 
Edson,  Rev.  Ambrose,  ii.  19. 
Education,  public   (1665),  i.  629; 
laws  relating  to,  ii.  118;   of 
women,  i.  646;  high  schools 
established,  ii.  293;  county 
seminary    projected,     295; 
free  schools,   293  ;    Normal 
School,  i.  650;  ii.  292,  295, 
296 ;   public  schools  organ- 
ized, i.  630  ;  school  system 
matured  at  Farmington,  ii. 
193. 
Edwards,  Ann,  i.  235. 
Daniel,  i.  87,  11$. 
Elizabeth,  i.  273. 
Eunice,  ii.  327. 
John  (Simsburv),  ii.  78. 
John  (Wethers'field).  ii.  437. 
Corporal  John,  ii.  464. 
Jonathan,  i.  129. 
Rev.    Jonathan,    i.    79,    157, 
237;  ii.  135,  327;  portrait, 
130. 
Jonathan  W.,  i.  126. 
Joseph,  ii.  451,  456. 
Pierpont,  i.  122. 
Richard,  i.  76,  82,   116,   119, 

237. 
Thomas,  ii.  432,  437,  456. 
Rev.    Timothy,    ii.    108,    118. 

121,  130,  136. 
Walter,  i.  125. 
William,  i.  178,  237. 
Eells,  Rev.  James,  ii.  222,  275. 
Rev.  John,  ii.  222. 
Samuel,  i.  113. 
Eggleston,   Beggot    ii.   550,    558; 
sons,  550. 
Mary,  ii.  549. 
Eggleston.  Samuel,  i.  237. 
Etderkin,  Colonel  Jedediah,  i.  380. 
Eldred,  Nathaniel,  i.  243. 
Eldridge,  John  B.,  i.  509,  620. 
Election  Day.  i.  189,  589. 
Electric  Lights,  i.  462. 
Eliot,  Rev.  Andrew,  quoted,  i.  580. 
Colonel  Ely  A.,  i.  183. 
Rev.  John,   preacher  to   Po- 

dunks,  ii.  86. 
Dr.  Samuel,  i.  443. 
Ellerv,  John,  i.  653. 
William,  i.  654. 
Ellington.     See  East  Windsor. 
Ellis,  General  Theodore  G.,  i.  92, 
93. 
William,  ii.  439. 
Ellison,  Thomas,  ii.  555 
Ellsworth,  Captain  Charles,  i.  83. 
Lieutenant  Daniel,  i.  179. 
Erastus,  ii.  80. 
Erastus  W.,  i.  170. 
Henrv  L.,  i.  128,  385, 594,  061. 
Job,  i.  77. 

Captain  John,  i.  179. 
Josiah,  ii.  547,  551. 


Ellsworth,  Mary  L.,  ii.  128. 

Chief  Justice  Oliver,  ii.  526; 
attorney,  i.  116,    122,   128; 
courtship,    ii.    565;    educa- 
tion,   310;    judge,    i.    114; 
dies,    529;  portrait,  ii.  526; 
house,  527;  lot,  557;  men- 
tioned, i.  121,  123,331,564; 
ii.  135,  518. 
Colonel  Samuel  W.,  i.  180. 
Solomon,  ii.  116. 
Governor  William  W.,  i.  113, 
115,  128,  344,  537,  543,  588, 
602;  ii.  529;  portrait,  527. 
Ellsworth  family,  ii.  135. 
Elmer  (Elmore),  Rev.  Daniel,  ii. 
135. 
Edward,  i.  237;  children,  238. 
Harvev,  ii.  129. 
Samuel  E.,  i.  340. 
Theodore,  ii.  129. 
Elmwood.     See  West  Hartford. 
Elsen,  Abraham,  ii.  437. 

John,  ii.  437,  438;  daughters, 
i.  274. 
Elton,  Rev.  Romeo,  i.  172;  ii.  66, 
Ely,  Eli,  i.  661. 

Nathaniel,  i.  238;  ii.  385. 
Richard  (Boston),  i.  236. 
Richard  S.,  i.  545  ;  ii.  9,  12. 
Samuel,  i.  237. 
William,  i.  348,  362,  427,  664; 

portrait,  604. 
Major  William  B.,  i.  191. 
William  D.,  i.  132,  545. 
Embler,  Major  A.  H.,  i.  191. 
Emerson,  Charles  M.,  i.  130,  615. 
Rev.  Forrest  F.,  i.  404. 
Rev.  Joseph,  ii.  453. 
Emmons,  Dr.  Jeremiah,  ii.  238. 

Rev.  Nathaniel,  ii.  310. 
Enders,  T.  ().,  i.  514. 
Endicott,  Gov.  John,  i.  19,  22,  49. 
Enfield,  ii.  139  ;  called  Freshwater, 
141;  named  En((l)lield,  142; 
included  in   Massachusetts, 
139;    grantors     appointed, 
140;    their  acts,   140,  152; 
their  powers,  142,  143;  first 
settlers,   141;    town  officers 
chosen,  142;  town  becomes 
independent,  143;  disputes 
with  Windsor,  143;   repre- 
sented   in    Mass.    General 
Court,    145;    East  Precinct 
established,  145;  town  votes 
to    join    Connecticut,    145; 
succeeds,   146;   Hazardville 
and    Thompsonville,     151; 
growth  of  town,  i.  208;  ii. 
147,    151;    church    formed, 
153;     north     church,     155; 
other  churches,  153;   Shak- 
ers, 153;  Universalist,  155; 
distilleries,    i.   211;    educa- 
tion,   ii.    155;    agriculture, 
156  ;  boundaries,  139 ;  emi- 
nent   men,    158:    Indians, 
141;    manufactures,      156, 
160;  military  historv,  i.  83, 
85,    91,   101";   ii.   147,   151; 
petition     for    emancipation 
(1777),   151. 
Enfield  Falls  Canal,  ii.  567. 
Enfield  Powder  Co.,  ii.  158. 
English,  J.  L.,  i.  514. 
Eno  (Enno),  Amos  R.,  i.  667;  ii. 
354,  356. 
Frederick  R.,  i.  99. 


682 


INDEX. 


Eno,  James,    ii.  503,    550:    sons: 
James,  John,  550. 
Sarah,  ii.  553. 
Enos,  Colonel  Roger,  ii.  389,  514. 
Ensign  (Ensing),  Dr.  Charles  W., 

"  i.  149,  153. 

Daniel,  ii.  238. 

David,  i.  238. 

Lieutenant  Eleazer, 

James,  i.  238;  children,  238. 

Sergeant  James,  i.  77. 

Marv,  ii.  557. 

Dr.  Robert  E.,  i.  145. 
Ensworth,  Capt.  Horace,  i.  186. 
Episcopal  Academy  of  Connecti- 
cut, i.  435. 
"Episcopal  Watchman,"  i.  621. 
Erichson,  Captain  C.  B.,  i.  187. 
Erving,  R.  A.,  i.  132. 
Erwin,  Cornelius  B.,  ii.  238,  307, 

316;  portrait,  316. 
Evans  (Evance),  John,  ii.  437,  438. 
Everest,  Sherman,  i.  127. 
Everett,  Dr.  Solomon,  i.  141. 
Everts,  Kev.  W.  W.,  Jr.,  i.  403. 
Evetts,  Sarah,  i.  252. 
Ewe,  John,  i.  84. 
Exchange  National  Bank,  i.  343. 
Executions,  i.  305. 

Fairchild,  Amos,  ii.  482. 

Fairfield,  i.  201;  ii.  525. 

Fairfield  County,  i.  64,  110,  203. 

Family  life,  ii.  183. 

Farist"  Steel  Co.,  ii.  570. 

Farmers  &  Mechanic's  National 
Bank,  i.  342. 

Farmington,  ii.  163;  called  Tunxis, 
163;  Tunxis  Cepus,  i.  52; 
and  Farmington,  ii.  164; 
lands  granted  by  Suncquas- 
son,  163;  title*  confirmed, 
168;  planted,  164;  organized, 
164;  original  boundaries, 
164,  426;  patent  granted, 
165;  lands  divided,  164, 
165;  settlers  and  proprietors, 
164,  166;  prominent  ones, 
167 ;  map,  167 ;  early  town 
meetings,  167;  emigration 
from,  166,  187;  towns  de- 
tached, 164;  the  village, 
1680-1700,  165,  167;  in 
1802,  187;  prosperity  of, 
172,  173,  185;  decay  of 
town,  187;  population,  i. 
208;  church  organized,  ii. 
171;  its  lot,  167;  and  meet- 
ing-house, 169 ;  pastors, 
17.1,  173,  176,  179,  188, 
191 ;  half-way  covenant, 
174,  176;  bequests  to,  191; 
revivals  in,  191,  192;  its 
unity,  192;  second  meeting- 
house, 169,  174;  seat  for 
Indians,  170;  singing  in, 
175;  Sabba'-day  houses, 
179;  third  meeting-house, 
177;  other  churches,  191; 
American  Board  organized, 
192;  anti-slaverv  agitation, 
189,  192;  bank",  188;  first 
bridge,  167;  creamery,  188; 
dress,  183,  185;  distilleries, 
i.  211;  education,  ii.  172, 
193;  eminent  men,  194 ;  fam- 
ily life,  183 ;  holidays,  180 ; 
Indians,  1G4,  1G8,  170,  187 ; 
libraries,  194;  manufactures, 


187. 199;  military  history,  i. 
85,  91, 101, 102, 179;  ii.  170, 
182 ;  protests  against  Boston 
Port    Bill,    180;     pastures, 
167,   173;    physicians,   198; 
place  names,  168,  169,  173, 
179, 199  ;  slavery,  199 ;  early 
surveys,    165 ;    temperance 
movement,    189,    192;    the 
"street,"    182;   trade,  185, 
187;     training    days,    186. 
See  Unionville. 
Farmington  Canal,  ii   337,  338. 
Farmington  River,  ii.  341. 
Farmington  Water  Rower  Co.,  ii. 

200. 
Farmington    West  Woods.      See 

Burlington. 
Farnam,  Henry,  ii.  200. 
Farnham,  Benjamin,  i.  122,  124. 
Farnsworth,  Samuel,  ii.  558. 
Farrand,  Hannah,  i.  276. 
Fassett,  James,  i.  236. 
Fast  day,  i.  74. 

Faxon,  "William,  i.  96,  609;  ii.  423. 
Fellowes,    Francis,    i.     130,    131; 
Francis,  Jr.,  134. 
Richard,  i.  178,  252;  daughter, 
230. 
Fenn,  Rev.  Nathan,  ii.  18. 
Fenwick,    Bishop   Benedict  J.,  i. 
410,  411. 
Elizabeth,  i.  236. 
George,  i.  33,  47,  54,  55,  318. 
Ferries,  i.  68,  294,  309,  371;  ii.  595. 
Ferris,  Jeffrey,  ii.  437,  438. 
Field,  Zacharv.  i.  50,  238. 
Filer,  Samuel,"  ii.  388. 

Lieutenant    Walter,    ii.    535, 

550;  son,  John,  550. 
Zerubbabel,  ii.  388,  550. 
Filley  (Filly),  Abigail,  ii.  135. 
Elizabeth,  ii.  559. 
Hannah,  ii.  121. 
Jay,  ii.  37. 
John,  ii.  388. 
Mary,  ii.  539. 
(Skinner)  Mary,  i.  259. 
Captain  Oliver",  ii.  34,  37. 
Samuel,  ii.  342,  550. 
William,  ii.  550. 
Finch,  Abraham,  ii.  434,  436;  son 
Abraham,  436. 
A.  L.,  ii.  281. 
Daniel,  ii.  436,  438,  461. 
John,  ii.  434,  438. 
Finley,  Capt.  Dennison  H.,  ii.  273. 
Firelocks,  i.  175. 
First  National  Bank,  i.  846. 
Fish,  Dr.  Eliakim,  i.  140,  141. 

Captain  John,  i.  179. 
Fish  Hatcheries,  State,  ii.  522. 
Fisher,  Rev.  Charles  R.,  i.  407. 
Major  George  B.,  i.  191. 
Thomas,  i.  238. 
Thomas  T.,  i.  609. 
Fiske,  John,  i.  172. 
Fitch,  Charles,  i.  392. 
Chloe,  ii.  238. 
Ebenezer,  ii.  210. 
Captain  James,  ii.  243. 
Major  James,  i.  106. 
Captain  Jeremiah,  i.  78. 
John,  ii.  516,  517. 
John,  inventor,  ii.  137,  250. 
Joseph,  i.  273. 
Colonel  Luther,  i    130. 
Mary,  ii.  124. 
Samuel,  i.  273. 


Fitch,  Thomas,  ii.  358. 
Fitton,  Rev.  James,  i.  411. 
Five  Mile  Purchase.   See  Glaston- 
bury, Wethersfield. 
Flagg,  Elfzabeth,  ii.  269. 

Hezekiah,  i.  126. 

Dr.  Samuel,  i.  141. 

Solomon  S.,  ii.  421. 
Flax,  ordered  to  be  sown,  i.  563. 
Fletcher,  John,  ii.  437,  438. 

Rebecca,  i.  227. 

Sarah,  i.  260. 

William   I.,    i.   72 ;    "Libra- 
ries," 541;    "other   benefi- 
cent institutions,"  530. 
Flint,  Rev.  Abel,  i.  290,  291. 
Flood,  Robert,  i.  237. 
Flower,  Ebenezer,  i.  385,  662. 

Joseph  and  Simeon,  ii.  446. 
Flowers,  Lamorock,  i.  273. 
Foot,  Captain  John,  ii.  69. 
Foote,  Asa,  ii.  275. 

Dr.  Elial  T.  i.  149. 

Elizabeth,  ii.  270. 

Horace,  i.  130. 

Joel,  ii.  275,  339. 

Colonel  Miles,  i.  183. 

Captain    Nathaniel    (Colches- 
ter), i.  179;  ii.  275. 

Nathaniel    (Wethersfield),   ii. 
420,  436,  439,  457. 

Robert,  ii.  438. 

Samuel,  ii.  439. 
Forbes,  James,  ii.  89. 
Ford,  Thomas,  i.  257;  ii.  535,  547, 

550,  562;  daughters,  550. 
Forestville.     See  Bristol. 
Forgery,  punished,  ii.  508- 
Forward,  Chauncev,  ii.  83. 

Hon.  Walter,  'ii.  83. 
Foster,  F.  R.,  i.  517. 

Rev.  Isaac,  i.  281. 

Colonel  William  A.,  i.  183. 
Foulkes  (Fookes),  Henry,  ii.  550. 
Fowler,  Ambrose,  ii.  550. 

Edmund,  ii.  75. 
Fox,  Christopher,  ii.  481. 

Elizabeth,  ii.  549. 

Francis  A.,  ii.  486. 

George,  i.  72. 

Hannah,  ii.  554. 

Corporal  John,  ii.  460. 

Lieut.  John,  ii.  475,  476. 

Richard,  ii.  439. 

Robert,  settler,  ii.  439. 

Robert,  ii.  333. 
Franklin,  Gen.  William  B.,  i.  569. 

Governor,  i.  84. 
Frary,  James  D.,  ii.  302. 
Freeman,  Dr.  O.  B.,  i.  152. 
"  Freeman's  Chronicle,"  i.  611 
Freemen,  i.  26. 
French,  Major  Christopher,  i.  85: 

ii.  479. 
Friend,  John,  i.  238. 
Frisbie,  Ichabod  C,  ii.  381. 

Zebulon,  ii.  45. 
Frothingham,  Rev.  Ebenezer,   ii. 

446. 
Fruen,  Sarah,  i.  240. 
Fuller,  Elizabeth,  i.  264. 

Dr.  Silas,  i.  528. 

W.  P.,  i.  611. 
Fulling-mills,  i.  563. 
Funerals,  i.  576 ;  ii.  114. 

Gage,  Rev.  William  L.,  i.  395. 
Gaines,  Captain  Chauncev,  ii.  214. 
John,  ii.  214. 


INDEX. 


683 


Gaines,  Sergeant  Samuel,  ii.  89. 
Galberry,  Archbishop  Thomas,  i. 

417. 
Gallaudet,   Edward  M.,   "  Ameri- 
can Asylum,"  i.  425. 
Rev.  Thomas  H.,  i.  425,  428, 
543;  portrait,  426. 
Gallup,    (Gallop),    Captain   John, 

ii.  510. 
Galpin,  Samuel,  ii.  14. 
Gannett,  John  M.,  i.  127. 
Gardner    (Gardiner),    George,    i. 
250,  273. 
Lvon,  i.  47,  236;  ii.  434. 
Samuel,  i.   238;    ii.  433,  437, 

439,  456. 
Dr.  Sylvanus,  ii.  138. 
Garret    (Garrett,     Garrard,     Gar- 
wood),  Daniel,   i.  2;j8  ;  son 
Daniel,  239. 
Joseph,  i.  239;  ii.  467. 
Garrettson,    Freeborn,   i.   420;    ii. 

447. 
Gates,  General  Horatio,  i.  191,  304. 
Galling  gun,  i.  187,  569. 
Gatling,   Richard  J.,   i.  569;  por- 
trait, 186. 
Gav,  Rev.  Ebenezer,  ii.  391,  395, 
'      408. 
Colonel    Fisher,   i.  84,  85;  ii. 

175,  177,  180,  181. 
John,  Jr.,  ii.  181. 
Marv,  ii.  409. 
Richard,  ii.  83. 
Judge  William,  i.  126;  ii.  407, 
412. 
Gaylord,  Ann,  ii.  555. 
*  David,  ii.  43. 
Edward,  ii.  44. 
Ensign  Eliakim,  ii.  566. 
Elizabeth  (East  Windsor),  ii. 

121. 
Elizabeth  (Windsor),  ii.  548. 
Guy,  i.  128. 
Joseph,  ii.  43. 
Mary,  ii.  552. 
Nathaniel,  ii.  562. 
Rev.  Nathaniel,  ii.  239,  564. 
Samuel,  i.  74;  ii  550. 
Walter,  i.  261 ;  ii.  550 ;  daugh- 
ter, i.  275. 
William  (Hadlev),  i.  236. 
William  C,  i.  129;  ii.  412. 
Deacon  William,  ii.  535,  537, 
550;  sons,  550. 
Gear  (Gere),  George,  ii.  439. 
Geer,  Elihu,  i.  180,  185,  615;  his 
"City  Directory,"  621. 
Nathan  C,  i.  6151 
Gennings  (Ginnings),  John,  i,  239. 
Gibbons,  William,  i.  238,  239,  271. 
Gibbs,  Francis,  ii.  551. 

Giles,  ii.  551,  552;  sons,  551. 
Gregory,  ii.  388,  437. 
John,  ii.  437.  438. 
Lieutenant  Samuel,  ii.  515. 
Gidding,  George  W.,  i.  133. 
Giddings,    Joshua,    ii.   238,   240  ; 
sons,  238. 
Joshua  R.,  ii.  238. 
Rev.  Salmon,  ii.  238. 
Thomas,  ii.  238. 
Gilbert    (Gilbord,    Gilburd),    Eze- 
kiel,  i.  122. 
John,  ii.  14. 
John  (Hartford),  i.  273. 
Captain  John,  ii.  98,  244. 
Jonathan,    marshall,    i.    178, 
269,  274  ;  ii.  278. 


Gilbert,  Joseph  (Hartford),  i.  116, 
120;  ii.  244. 

Joseph  (Hartland),  ii.  238. 

Obadiah,  i.  253. 

Sylvester,  i.  122,  123. 

Thomas,  ii.  244. 

Thomas,  ii.  551. 
Gildersleeve  (Gvlderslv),  Richard, 

i.  350;  if.  437,  438. 
Gillet,  Abel,  ii.  32. 

Anna,  ii.  550. 

Ashbel,  ii.  32,  117. 

Daniel,  ii.  513. 

Jonathan,  ii.  535,  551. 

Nathan,  ii.  505,  535,  551. 

Captain  Zacchariah,  i.  83. 

Captain  Zaccheus,  ii.  370. 
Gillette,  Francis,    i.  516,  611;    ii. 

36. 
Gilman,  Judge  George  S.,  i.  133. 

Ensign  Solomon,  ii.  259. 
Ginivare,  Rosamond,  i.  238. 
Ginnings,  Joshua,  i.  257. 
Gladden,  Walter,  ii.  281. 
Gladding,  L.  S.,  ii.  339. 
Glass,  manuf.  of,  i.  211,  246. 
Glastonbury,  ii.  205;  called  Nabuc 
andGlassenburv,  205;  lands 
divided,   207,   455;   settled, 
205,  208,  456;  incorporated, 

205,  428;  boundaries,  206; 
population,  i.  208  ;  town- 
clerks,  ii.  221,  222,  224,  225; 
town  hall,  226;  changes  in, 

206,  227;  bicentennial,  227; 
Buckingham,  211  ;  church 
formed,  205  ;  buildings, 
209-211;  pastors,  205,  221, 
222;  Eastbury  (East  Farms) 
society,  210;  church  build- 
ings, *  210  ;  pastors,  221  ; 
South  Glastonbury  Con- 
gregational Church,  211  ; 
other  churches,  212  ;  an- 
cient houses,  208;  burying 
grounds,  219;  distilleries,  i. 
211;  education,  ii.  212;  fer- 
ries, 220 ;  foreign  trade,  213  ; 
Freemasons,  213  ;  Indians, 
432;  industries,  213;  main 
street,  220;  military  history, 
i.  85,  91,  101,  102,  179;  li. 
222,  225,  220;  natural  fea- 
tures. 206  ;  place  names, 
206-208,  210-212,  214,  215, 
217,218,227,  431,  433; post- 
offices,  228;  quarries,  219; 
early  roads,  457  ;  taverns, 
210,  218,  228  ;  Wright's 
Island,  208,  215,  428.  See 
Wetherstield. 

Glazier,  Franklin,  ii.  218. 
Gleason,  Rev.  Anson,  ii.  261. 

Colonel  Peter  B.,  i.  183. 
Globe  Manufacturing  Co.,  ii.  254. 
Goddard,  Mrs.  Philomela,  ii.  355. 
Goffe,  Philip,  i.  74;  ii.  439,  456. 

William,  i.  57. 
Golden,  Jane,  ii.  11. 
Goodell,  Rev.  ConstansL.,  ii.  287. 

Mary,  ii.  158. 
Goodman,  Edward,  i.  131. 

Richard,  i.  237,  240,  255. 
Goodrich,  Rev.  Charles  A.,  ii.  26. 

Hon.  Chauncey,  i.  114,  117, 
123,  125,  192,  330,  380,  385, 
586,  592,  612;  ii.  462,  463. 

Captain  David,  i.  80,  110;  ii. 
466,  467. 


Goodrich,  Rev.  Edward,    quoted, 
ii.  116,  117. 

Colonel  Elizur,  ii.  468. 

Elizur,  i.  128;  ii.  462,  463. 

Rev.  Elizur,  ii.  284., 

Ephraim,  ii.  205,  206. 

Gideon,  ii.  494. 

Lieutenant  Isaac,  ii.  476. 

John,  settler,  ii.  437. 

John,  ii.  446,  493. 

Lieutenant  Josiah,  ii.  469. 

Mary,  i.  233. 

Captain  Ozias,  ii.  477. 

Samuel,  ii.  219. 

Rtv.  Samuel,  ii.  19. 

Samuel  G.,  i.  161,  602;  quoted, 
ii.  19,  161,  337,  597,  622; 
portrait,  i.  162. 

Lieutenant  Stephen,  ii.  473. 

Thomas,  ii.  494. 

Captain  Wait,  ii.  224. 

William,  ii.  208. 

Ensign  William,  i.  251  ;  ii. 
435,  437,  463 ;  Jr.,  466. 

William  H.,  i.  606. 
Goodwin,  Captain,  ii.  36. 

C.  L.,  ii.  282. 

Daniel,  i.  327. 

Rev.  Daniel  R.,  i.  443. 

Edwin  O.,  i.  132,  511. 

Elizabeth,  ii.  274. 

Rev.  Francis,  i.  407,  483,  493. 

George,  i.  606,  622;  ii.  98,  252. 

Hannah,  ii.  101. 

Horace  3d,  i.  276. 

Major  Horace,  i.  194. 

Major  James,  i.  95,  193,  241, 
512,  555,  666;  house,  476; 
portrait,  512. 

Major  James  M.,  i.  191,  348. 

J.  J.,  i.  483,  499. 

John,  ii.  95. 

Deacon  John,  ii.  89. 

Major  Jonathan,  i.  191. 

Joseph  O.  "East  Hartford," 
ii.  85. 

Levi,  ii.  106. 

Nathaniel,  i.  189,  543. 

Ozias,  i.  240,  274;  child'n,  240. 

Philo  A.,  i.  131. 

Richard,  ii.  106. 

Major  Richard  E.,  i.  191. 

Thomas,  i.  327. 

William,  ii.  97. 

Elder   William,    i.   202,  240, 
277;  ii.  166,  273,  426. 
Goodwin  Brothers,  manufacturers, 
(Manchester),  ii.  252. 

(West  Hartford),  ii.  422. 
Goodyear,  Stephen,  i.  54. 
Gore,"  Captain  James  W.,  i.  186. 
Gore  lands,  i.  470. 
Gorham,   Nathaniel,    i.   206;    son 

Nathaniel,  206. 
Goslee,  Asa,  ii.  213,  217. 

John,  ii.  209. 

William  S.,  i.  134;  "Glaston- 
bury," ii.  205. 
Gould,  Rev.  George  H.,  i.  287. 
Governor  of  the  blacks,  i.  305. 
Governor's  Foot  Guard  (incorpor- 
ators), i.  189. 

Horse  Guard  (incorporators), 
i.  192. 
Gowin,  Simon,  ii.  388. 
Graham,  Gen.  Charles  P.,  i.  185. 

Rev.  John,  Jr.,  ii.  392. 

Dr.  Sylvester,  ii.  413;  por- 
trait, 413. 


684 


INDEX. 


Granbv,  ii.  229 ;  first  settlers,  229 ; 
'incorporated,  229,  235;  di- 
vided, 229;  boundary  dis- 
putes, 236;  population,  i. 
208;  ii.  236;  northwest  ec- 
clesiastical society  formed, 
231;  pastors,  231;  South 
Church,  233;  pastors,  232; 
other  churches,  233  ;  block- 
house, 230,  234 ;  distilleries, 
i.  211;  education,  ii.  233; 
early  roads,  230;  Indians, 
230  ;  manufactures,  236  ; 
military  history,  i.  91,  101 ; 
ii.  234;  minerals,  229;  nat- 
ural features,  229  ;  place 
names,  230,  231;  politics, 
235,  236;  water  company, 
235. 
Granger,  Abner,  ii.  400. 

Dr.  Amos,  i.  141;  ii.  413. 

General  Amos  P.,  ii.  413. 

Lieutenant  Bildad,  ii.  401. 

Ebenezer,  i.  127. 

Elijah,  ii.  395. 

Francis,  ii.  412. 

George,  ii.  388. 

Gideon,  i.  121,  123;  ii.  411. 

Gideon,  Jr.,  i.  115, 124;  ii.  411. 

Ensign  John,  ii.  399. 

Launcelot,  ii.  388. 

Reuben,  ii.  408. 

Lieutenant    Samuel,    ii.    399, 

401. 
Thomas,  ii.  388. 
Grannis,  General  Chester,  i.  185. 

Captain  Hial,  i.  184. 
Granniss,  Edward,  i.  228. 
Grant,  Algernon  S.,  i.  129. 
Captain  David  W.,  ii.  36. 
Captain  Ebenezer,  ii.  121. 
Dr.  Harry  A.,  i.  145;  ii.  160. 
John,  ii.  110. 

Sergeant  John,  ii.  510,  551. 
Joseph,  i.  74. 
Matthew,  i.  83;  ii.  502,   507, 

518,  535,  551. 
Peter,   i.  274;  daughter,  276; 

widow,  275. 
Priscilla,  ii.  553. 
Samuel,  ii.  108,  551. 
Seth,    i.   234,    241;    daughter 

Elizabeth,  241. 
Sidney  A.,  i.  128. 
Tahan,  ii.  551,  555. 
Thomas,  ii.  110. 
General  U.  S.,  i.  191. 
Graphic  Company,  i.  622. 
Grave,  George,  i.  241,  275;  chil- 
dren, 241. 
John,  i.  275. 
Graves,  E.  M.,  i.  620. 

Isaac,  i.  231;  ii.  437,  439,  465. 
John,  ii.  437,  439,  465. 
Joseph,  ii.  45. 
Nathaniel,  ii.  437. 
Rev.  Sterling,  ii.  239. 
Thomas,  ii.  439. 
Great  Marsh.     See  East  Windsor. 
Great  Plain.     See  Plainville. 
Great  Swamp.     See  Berlin. 
Green,  Dr.  George  S.,  i.  149. 
Thomas,  i.  605. 

Greene,  ,  i.  233. 

Bartholomew,  i.  241. 
Jacob  L.,  i.  512. 
General  Nathaniel,  i.  659. 
Greenhill,  Rebecca,  i.  273,  276. 
Samuel,  i.  241;  children,  241. 


Greensmith,  Nathaniel,  i.  274. 
Gregg,  James  B.,  i.  399. 
Gregory,  John,  i.  267. 

Thomas,  i.  251,  254. 
Gregson,  Phebe,  i.  270. 

Sarah,  i.  269. 
Grenadiers,  i.  181. 
Grew.  Rev.  Henry,  i.  401. 
Gridley,  Dr.  Horatio,  ii.  26. 

Samuel,  ii.  160. 

Silas,  i.  132. 

Thomas,  (Farmington),  ii.  166. 

Thomas    (Hartford),    i.    233, 
241 ;  ii.  508,  551. 
Griffin,   Rev.  Edward  D.,  ii.  179, 
192. 

Hannah,  ii.  556. 

Rev.  Henry  L.,  ii.  288. 

John,  ii.  78,  229,  341,  343,  345, 
552. 
"Griffin,"  ship,  i.  262. 
Grihmes  (Graham),  Henry,  i.  274. 
Grimes,  Joseph,  ii.  494. 

Roderick,  ii.  493. 
Griswold   Rev.    Alexander  V.,  ii. 
361,  522. 

Sergeant  Alexander,  ii.  514. 

Ashbel,  ii.  489. 

Azuba.  ii.  514. 

Bishop,  ii.  522. 

Daniel  W.,  ii.  252. 

Deborah,  ii.  469. 

Ebenezer,  ii.  521,  552. 

Lieutenant  Ebenezer,  ii.  469. 

Edward,    ii.    521,    552;     sou 
Joseph,  552. 

Elijah,  singing  master,  ii.  36. 

Francis,  ii.  521,  552. 

Gaylord,  i.  124. 

George,  ii.  503,  518,  521,552. 

Dr.  George,  i.  141. 

George  W.,  i.  129. 

Grove,  i.  127. 

Jacob,  ii.  485. 

Captain  Jacob,  i.  179. 

Jared,  i.  129,  385. 

Major  Josiah,  ii.  101,451,  408, 
469. 

J.    Welles,  &  Co.,    manufac- 
turers, ii.  485. 

Marv,  ii.  556. 

Matthew,  ii.  521,  522,  543. 

Governor  Matthew,  i.  107,  380 ; 
ii.  138. 

Michael,  ii.  439. 

Nathaniel,  ii.  407. 

Ozias,  ii.  451,  484. 

Roger,  ii.  522. 

Governor  Roger,  ii.  138. 

(Phelps,    Pinney),  Sarah,    ii. 
556. 

Gen.  Shubael,  i.  185;  ii.  105. 

Shubael  F.,  i.  127. 

Thomas,  ii.  541. 

Captain  Thomas,  i.  179. 

Thomas,  &  Co.,   manufactur- 
ers, ii.  485,  490. 

Wareham,  i.  519. 

Captain  William,  ii.  470,  472, 
477,  481. 
Griswold  Brothers,  m'f'rs.  ii.  486. 
Griswoldville  M'f'g  Co.,  ii.  486. 
Gritt,  Mary,  i.  258. 
Grosvenor,"  Rev.  Cvrus  P.,  i.  401. 

Capt.  Henry  6..  i.  184. 
Grover,  Nathaniel,  ii.  295. 
Groves,  L.  R..  ii.  201. 
Guernsey,  Sarah,  ii   310. 
Gull,  William,  ii.  439. 


Gun,  Gardner  machine,  i.  571. 

Gatling,  i.  569. 
Gunn,  Dr.  Jasper,  i.  136. 

Mehitabel,  i.  238. 

Nathaniel,  i.  237. 

Thomas,    ii.    552;    daughter, 
552. 
Gunpowder,  manufacture  of,  i.  210; 

ii.  75,  98,  158,  218,  252. 
Guyer,  General  Thomas,  i.  185. 

Hackleton,  Francis,  i.  26G. 
Haddam,  i.  179,  209. 
Hadley,  Captain  George,  i.  187. 
Hadley,  Mass.,  i.  202;  ii.  439. 
Haines,  George,  i.  74. 
Hale,  Benjamin,  ii.  211,  216. 

B.  E.,  i.  516. 

David,  ii.  398. 

David   B.,    "  Notes   on  Can- 
ton," 67;  autograph,  76. 

Dorothy,  i.  245. 

Ebenezer,  ii.  205. 

Colonel  Elisha,  i.  180. 

Dr.  Elizur,  i.  140. 

Dr.  Elizur,  Jr.,  i.  140. 

F.  D.,  ii.  254. 

Frarav,  ii.  225. 

1-Y.uav,  Jr.,  ii.  214,  217,  220. 

Gideon,  ii.  220. 

(Hales),  John,  ii.  205. 

Colonel  John,  i.  181;  ii.  224. 

Jonathan,  Jr.,  ii.  220,  223. 

Dr.  Joseph,  i.  141. 

Josiah,  ii.  223,  224. 

Oliver,  ii.  210. 

Samuel,    i.   50,  242,  252  ;    ii. 
205,  208,  211,  220,  435,  437. 

Samuel,  Jr.,  ii.  205. 

Thomas,    i.    50,  242  ;  ii.  205, 
214,  435,  439. 

Timothv,  ii.  388. 
Haley,  John,  i.  236. 
Halfway    Covenant,    i.   281  ;    ii. 
174,170;  discontinued,  327; 
baptism    under    it    denied, 
372  ;    dissatisfaction    with, 
33,  498. 
Hall,  Benjamin,  ii.  146. 

Captain  Daniel,  i.  179. 

(Andrew)  (Law)  (Pitkin)  Eu- 
nice, ii.  103. 

Ezra,  i.  134,  011;  ii.  275. 

Captain  Giles,  ii.  477. 

John,  i.  242. 

Joseph,  i.  044. 

Mary, "Marlborough,"  ii.  207. 

Richard,  ii.  439. 

Samuel  (Ipswich),  i.  31. 

Samuel  (Wethersrield),  ii.  439. 

Thomas  S.,  ii.  301. 

Dr.  Timothv,  i.  141. 
Hall  &  Knapp,  m'f'rs,  ii.  301. 
Hallock,  Rev.  Jeremiah,  ii.  70. 

William  H.,  ii.  71. 
Halsev,  Henry,  ii.  516. 
Hamblin,  Ebenezer,  ii.  43,  44. 
Hamerslv,  William,  i.  118. 

William  J.,  i.  385,  012,  620, 
024. 
Hamilton,  Edward  K.,  ii.  201. 

Colonel  James  E.,  i.  180. 
Hamlen  &  Newton,  i.  612. 
Hamlin,  Giles,  i.  68,  235. 

Jabez,  i.  87. 

Col.Jabez,  i.  110,  180;  ii.  468. 

John  (Farmington),  ii.  336. 

John  (Middletown),  i.  109. 

Captain  Richard,  i.  179. 


INDEX. 


685 


Hammond,  Andrew  G.,  i.  343. 
Hanchett  (Hansett),  John,  ii.  387, 
388. 

Captain  Oliver,  ii.  400,  512. 

Thomas  (Suffield),  ii.  388. 

Deacon  Thomas,  ii.  388. 

Thomas  (Wetherstield),  ii.  439. 
Hancock,  John,  i.  304. 
Hancox,  Thomas,  ii.  166. 
Hanks,  Alpheus,  i.  570. 

Benjamin,  i.  564. 
Hanmer   (Hanmore),   Francis,    ii 
446,  471. 

James,  ii.  446. 

Lieutenant  John,  ii.  476. 

Susannah,  ii.  548. 
Hanmer  &  Forbes,  m'f'rs,  ii.  98. 
Hannison.     Se<  Henderson. 
llannum,  William,  ii.  552. 
Harding,  Captain  Robert,  i.  271. 
Harlakenden,  Mabel,  i.  243. 
Harland,  General  Edward,  i.  98. 
Harmon,  Capt.  Benjamin,  ii.  401. 

Lieutenant  Benjamin,  ii.  399. 

Sergeant  Benjamin,  ii.  400. 

Jaques,  ii.  401. 

Captain  John,  ii.  399. 

Captain  John,  Jr.,  ii.  401. 

Capt.  Joseph,  ii.  384,  388,  398. 

Nathaniel,  ii.  388. 

Samuel,  ii.  384,  387,  388. 

Lieutenant  Samuel,  ii.  399. 
Harness,  manufacture  of,  i.  572. 
Harrington,  John,  ii.  205. 

Rev.  Joseph,  Jr.,  i.  422. 
Harris,  Joseph,  ii.  14. 

Sarah,  i.  230. 

Thomas,  ii.  214,  484,  563. 
Harrison,  Aaron,  ii.  377. 

John,  ii.  492. 

Mark,  ii.  370. 

General  Philo,  i.  183. 
Hart  (Heart).  Almira.  See  Phelps. 

Austin,  i.  134. 

Dr.  Charles  R.,  i.  145. 

Daniel,  ii.  281. 

Edward  L.,  ii.  22. 

Elijah,  ii.  291,  318. 

Emma.     SVc  Willard. 

Jehiel  C,  ii.  337. 

Jesse,  ii.  297. 

Joel  T.,  ii.  23. 

John,  ii.  166,  169. 

Dr.  John,  i.  139,  141;  ii.  198. 

Major  John  E.,  i.  193. 

Major  Jonathan,  ii.  24. 

Major  Joseph,  i.  193. 

Captain  Josiah,  i.  179. 

Dr.  Josiah,  i.  141;  ii.  476. 

Judab,  ii.  318. 

Rev.  Levi,  ii.  192,  378. 

Matthew,  ii.  23. 

Captain  Samuel,  ii.  24. 

Dr.  Samuel,  ii.  293. 

Lieutenant  Samuel,  i.  179. 

Rev.  Samuel,  "Trinity  Col- 
lege," i.  435. 

Samuel  W.,  ii.  282. 

General  Selah,  ii.  23,  180, 
308. 

Simeon,  teacher,  ii.  22,  66, 
193,  194. 

Stephen,  i.  50,  242  ;  ii.  166, 
168,  171,  192  ;  daughter,  i. 
255. 

Thomas,  ii.  45. 

Captain  Thomas,  i.  179. 

Deacon  Thomas,  ii.  14-16,  281. 

General  William,  i.  182. 


Hart  &  Co.,  manufacturers,  ii.  496.  I 
Hart,  Burt,  &  Co.,  m'f'rs,  ii.  22. 
Hartford  :  Adventurers,  i.  221  ; 
boundaries,  222  ;  ii.  87, 
88,  415,  426,  500  ;  burving- 
grounds,  i.  223,  361,  "364, 
366,  413;  bridges,  224,  367, 
371 ;  city  incorporated,  306, 
378  ;  first  court  at,  39,  105  ; 
ii.  505;  common  council,  i. 
380;    commons  and    fields, 

221.  224,  225,  297,  373  ; 
Dutch  at,  13,17 ;  ii.  498;  elec- 
tions in,  i.  374;  ferries,  369, 
371;  first  bank  in,  330;  first 
insurance  company,  500  ; 
first  newspaper,  605;  first 
daily  newspaper.  615;  first 
minister  in,  277  :  first  Roman 
Catholic  priest,  411;  grant 
from  Indians,  221  ;  grand 
list,  214;  ii.  165;  growth  of, 
).2u8;  houses,  earliest,  224; 
lands,  tenure  of,  222.  22(1; 
market,  223,  368,  599;  may- 
ors of,  385;  parks,  44!t;  po- 
lice court,  386;  population, 
208,226,301;  proprietors,  14, 

222.  227:  records,  222.  372; 
reservoirs,  456;  settled,  23, 
25,221;  settlers,  227  etseq.; 
sewers,  561  ;  sides  (north 
and  south),  222;  sign-post, 
299;  "sinking-fund,"  370, 
660;  streets,  300,  379,  381, 
562,  598;  the  square,  223, 
297,  300,  599;  town  clerks, 
372;  West  Division,  225;  ii. 
415. 

Baptist  Association,  i.  404. 

Charitable  Institutions:  Hart- 
ford Home,  i.  387;  Old  Peo- 
ple's Home,  494,  534:  Or- 
phan Asylum,  494,  530,  533; 
Widows''  Home,  409,  539. 

Charitable  Organizations:  Char- 
itable Society,  i.  537  : 
Church  City  Mission  So- 
ciety, 409;  City  Missionary 
Society.  537;  Female  Benefi- 
cent Society,  532;  Larrabee 
Fund  Association,  540;  Sis- 
ters of  Mercy,  412,  418  ; 
Union  for  Home  Work,  538 ; 
Widows'  Society,  539  ;  Wo- 
man's Aid  Society,  540  ; 
Women's  Christian  Associa- 
tion, 539. 

Churches,  architecture  of,  i.  470, 
493;  Baptist,  400;  Catholic 
Apostolic,  424;  Congrega- 
tional, 277,  288,  389;'  Epis- 
copal, 405;  Jewish  Syna- 
gogue, 422;  Lutheran,  424; 
Methodist,  420;  Presbyter- 
ian, 423 ;  Roman  Catholic, 
410;  Second  Advent,  424; 
Spiritualist  Society,  424 ; 
Unitarian,  421;  Universal- 
is!, 421. 

Church  Guild,  i.  409. 

Church  Home,  i.  409. 

City  Hall,  i.  471. 

Companies  : 
Aqueduct  Co.,  i.  455. 
Carpet  Co.,  ii.  157,  160. 
City  Gaslight  Co.,  i.  462. 
Electric  Light  Co.,  i.  462. 
Machine  Screw  Co.,  i.  572. 


Hartford  Companies  : 
Manilla  Co.,  ii.  98. 
Manufacturing  Co.,  ii.  218. 
Paper  Co.,  ii.  522. 
Silk  Co.,  ii.  360. 
Steam  Company,  i.  462. 
Trust  Companies,  i.  348. 
Twine  Co.,  ii.  218. 

Fire  Department,  i.  452. 

Hartford  County  Medical  So- 
ciety, i.  140.' 

Fire  Insurance  Co.,  i.  500;  build- 
ing, i.  497. 

Hartford  National  Bank,  i.  330. 

Hospital,  534. 

Insurance  buildings,  i.  486. 

Insurance  companies :  Accident,, 
i.  522;  iEtna  Fire.  502,  509; 
JFAna  Life,  514;  yEtna  Live 
Stock,  520;  Charter  Oak 
Fire,  509;  Citv  Fire,  509; 
Connecticut  Fire,  506,  509; 
Connecticut  General  Life, 
516  ;  Connecticut  Mutual 
Life,  511  ;  Continental  Life, 
516;  Hartford  Fire,  500; 
Hartford  County  Mutual 
Fire,  509;  Life  and  Health, 
513;  Live  Stock.  520;  Mer- 
chants', 509;  National  Fire, 
509;  North  American  Fire, 
509;  Orient  Fire,  509;  Phcc- 
nix,  506,  509  ;  Phoenix 
Mutual  (American  Temper- 
ance), 515;  Protection,  505; 
Putnam  Fire,  509;  Steam 
Boiler  and  Inspection,  509; 
State  Mutual  Fire,  509; 
Travellers',  519,  521. 

Jail,  i.  299,  49:!. 

Libraries,  i.  541. 

Library  Association,  i.  544. 

Medical  Society,  i.  146. 

Post-Office,  i.  302,  490. 

Public  High  School,  i.  495;  Hop- 
kins Grammar  School,i.  246, 
638,  640,  644. 

State  House,  i.  451,  469. 

Sunday  schools,  i.  537. 

Theological  Seminary,  i.  431 ; 
ii.  113,  417. 

Tract  Society,  i.  537. 

Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation, i.  539. 

Water  Works,  i.  456. 
Hartford  County,  described,  i.  1; 
flora,  6;  organized,  62;  his- 
tory of,  73;  bench  and  bar 
in,  105;  court  house,  111  ; 
medical  history,  135  ;  mi- 
litia, 175  ;  secret  societies, 
195  ;  growth  of,  207  ;  to- 
bacco, 215. 
Hartland,  ii.  237;  called  the  North- 
east Part  and  Hart(ford)- 
land,  237 ;  granted  to  Hart- 
ford and  Windsor,  237  ; 
settled,  i.  203;  ii.  237;  in- 
cluded in  Litchfield  County, 
238  ;  annexed  to  Hartford 
County,  238;  incorporated, 
238  ;  allowed  representa- 
tives, 240;  divided  into  par- 
ishes, 239  ;  population,  i. 
208;  made  probate  district, 
ii.  239  ;  church  organized, 
239 ;  society  votes,  240 ;  sec- 
ond church,  239;  Methodist 
church,  240,  241  ;   climate, 


686 


INDEX. 


237 ;  distilleries,  i.  211 ;  emi- 
nent men,  ii. 240;  industries, 
241 ;  military  history,  i.  91, 
101,  208  ;    ii'.  239  ;  "natural 
features,  237  ;  place  names, 
237,    238,   240,    241  ;    post- 
offices,  240. 
Hartwell,  Samuel  E.,  i.  132. 
Harwinton,  settled,  i.  78,  203. 
Haskell.  Harris,  ii.  5G6. 
Herlehigh,  ii.  566,  567. 
Jabez,  ii.  513,  562,  563,  564, 
567. 
Haskell  &  Hayden,  m'f'rs,  ii.  569. 
Hastings,  Rev.  John,  ii.  393. 

Rev.  Joseph,  ii.  393. 
Hatch,  Rev.  Franklin  S.,  ii-  418  ; 
"  Other         Congregational 
Churches,"  i.  394  ;    "Oth- 
er    Denominations,"    420  ; 
"West  Hartford,"  ii.  415. 
Zephaniah,  ii.  451. 
Hathaway,  Asahel,  ii.  412. 

Captain  John  M.,  i.  187. 
Hats,  manufacture  of,  i.  564;    ii. 

99,  485. 
Havens,  Hiram,  ii.  486. 
Haward.     See  Howard. 
Hawes,  Rev.  Joel,  i.  287,  394,  395, 

602. 
Hawkes,  Elizabeth,  ii.  551. 

John,  ii.  552. 
Hawkins,  Anthony,  i.  268;  ii.  552, 

558. 
Hawks,  Elizabeth,  i.  266. 

Truman,  i.  564,  570. 
Hawlev,  David,  i.  538. 
Dr.  G.  13.,  i.  145,  529. 
Joseph,  ii.  166. 
General  Joseph  R.,  i.  91,  92, 

94,  133,  609 ;  portrait,  610. 
Rev.  Rufus,  ii.  5,  8,  11. 
Wait  X.,  i.  133. 
Hawley,  Goodrich,  &  Co.,  i.  606. 
Hawthorne,  William,  i.  55. 
Hayden,  Daniel,  ii.  566. 
'  Esther,  ii.  513. 
Hezekiah,  ii.  512,  513. 
Judge  H.  Sidney,  ii.  517,  519, 

521. 
Isaac,  ii.  566. 

Jabez   H.,    "  Early   Windsor 
Families,"  ii.  546 ;  "  History 
of  Windsor   Locks,"    561; 
quoted,  498,  504. 
John,  ii.  518. 
Levi,  ii.  560. 

Nathaniel,  ii.  531 ;  portr't,  532. 
Captain  Nathaniel,  i.  84,  99  ; 

ii.  511,  513. 
Sergeant  Samuel,  ii.  518,  560. 
Captain  Samuel  S.,  i.  100. 
Sergeant  Thomas,  ii.  512. 
William,   i.  50,   178,  242;   ii. 
506,    535,    552,    562;    sons 
Daniel,  Nathaniel,  552. 
General  William,  i.  180,  185. 
Hayes,  Deliverance,  ii.  557. 
George,  ii.  301. 
Rutherford  B.,  ii.  361. 
Haynes,  Governor  John,  family, 
i.  243;  seal,  243;   agent,  ii. 
341;  magistrate,  i.  105;  pre- 
sides over  Particular  Court, 
109. 
John,  Jr.,  i.  283. 
Rev.  Joseph,  i.  249,  270,  280, 

281,  288;  ii.  441. 
Ruth,  i.  271. 


Havs,  Daniel,  ii.  230,  231. 

*  Dudley,  ii.  234. 
Havward.     See  Howard. 
Hazard,  Augustus  G.,  ii.  149,  158. 
161 ;  portrait,  160. 

James,  ii.  375. 

Robert,  ii.  375. 
Hazard,   Loomis,   &  Brothers,  ii. 

252. 
Hazard  Powder  Co.,  ii.  158. 
Hazardville.     See  Enfield. 
Hebron,  i.  85,  179,  202,  209. 
Hecock.     See  Hitchcock. 
Hedge,  Mr.,  i.  50. 
Hemp  ordered  to  be  sown,  i.  563. 
Henbury,  Arthur,  i.  274. 
Henderson  (Hannison),  Henry,  i. 
229,  274. 

James,  i.  262. 

John,  i.  274. 
Henry,  Rev.  Caleb  S.,  ii.  417. 
Henshaw,  David,  i.  345. 
Herbert   (Harbert),   Benjamin,   i. 

274;  daughter,  273. 
Heretics,  i.  352. 
Hewitt,  Lyman,  ii.  482. 
Hickson,  Walter,  i.  269. 
Hi^bv,  Samuel,  ii.  358. 
Higghis,  Timothy,  ii.  3.81. 
Higginson,  Rev.  Francis,  i.  244. 

John,  i.  48,  244. 
Higley,  Elijah,  ii.  566. 

Samuel,  copper-mine,  ii.  79; 
and  coins,  80;  manufactures 
steel,  358. 

Dr.  Samuel,  i.  137. 

Silas,  i.  128. 
Hill,  Luke,  ii.   342;   daughter,  i. 
274. 

Mary,  ii.  557. 

Sarah,  ii.  554. 

Thomas,  i.  274. 
Hilliard,  Benjamin,  ii.  439. 

Elisha  E.,  ii.  253. 

Job,  ii.  439. 
Hills,  Albert,  ii.  201. 

Chauncey,  ii.  337. 

Edwin,  ii.  338. 

Elias,  ii.  337. 

George,  ii.  339. 

Hiram,  ii.  339. 

John,  i.  50. 

Joseph,  ii.  205. 

Luke,  ii.  342. 

Captain  Martin  O.,  i.  184. 

William,  i.  244,  256;  ii.  100, 
552  ;  Children,  i.  245. 
Hillver  (Hillier),  Andrew,  i.  233. 

"Colonel  Andrew,  ii.  83,  234. 

Andrew  D.,  i.  126. 

Dr.  Asa,  i.  141. 

Gen.  Charles  T.,  i.  184;  ii.  83. 

John,  ii.  552;  sons  Andrew, 
James,  Timothy,  552. 

Colonel  Pliny,  ii.  235. 
Hinckley,  Jonathan,  i.  273. 
Hinds,  Sarah,  i.  234. 
Hinman,  Royal  R.,  i.  131,  543. 
Hinsdale,  L'arnabas  (Deerfield),  i. 
269. 

Barnabas  (Hartford),  i.  274; 
son  Barnabas,  274. 

Daniel,  i.  380. 

Isaac,  i.  274. 

Phcebe.     <See  Brown. 

Rev.  Theodore,  ii.  542. 
Hitchcock  (Hecock),  Capt.  Aaron, 
ii.  399,  400. 

Lambert,  ii.  201. 


Hitchcock,  Luke,  ii.  388,  439. 

Hon.  Roland,  "Burlington," 
ii.  63. 

William,  ii.  166. 
Hoadlv,  Charles  J.,  notes   by,  i. 
"86;    mentioned,    109,  "123, 
134,  549,  588. 

Jeremy,  i.  385. 
Hobart,  Elizabeth,  i.  271. 
Hoccanum.     See  Wethersfield. 
Hodge,  Rev.  J.  Aspinwall,  i.  423. 

John,  ii.  388. 
Holbrook,  C.  W.,  ii.  570. 

Dwight,  ii.  570. 
Holcomb,  Chauncey  P.,  i.  130. 

Edmund,  i.  131 ;  ii.  236. 

James  H.,  i.  130,  131. 

John,  ii.  82. 

John  M.,  i.  516. 

Joseph,  ii.  514. 

Joshua,  ii.  78,  342,  553. 

Marv,  ii.  552. 

Dr.  N.  W.,  i.  153. 

Col.  Richard  E.,  i.  100;  ii.  235. 

Simeon,  ii.  232. 

Susannah,  ii.  83. 

Thomas,  attorney,  i.  126. 

Thomas,  settler,"  ii.  521,  553; 
son  Benajah,  553. 
Holden,  E.  G.,  i.  611. 
Holiday,  Walter,  ii.  388. 
Holidays,  i.  588. 
Holland,  grant  by  States-General 

of,  1.16. 
Holland,  William  M.,  i.  130. 
Holley,  Rev.  Israel,  ii.  231,  393. 
Hollister,  Francis,  ii.  469. 

Captain  Horace,  i.  184. 

Horatio,  ii.  218. 

John,  ii.  205;  house,  208,  433, 
435. 

Lieutenant  John,  ii.  427,  437, 
463 ;  daughter,  i.  268. 

Joseph,  ii.  220. 

Lyman,  ii.  228. 

Captain  Martin,  ii.  214. 

Nancy,  ii.  228. 

Nelson,  house  of,  i.  467. 

Pamelia,  ii.  220. 

Captain  Roswell,  ii.  214. 

Captain  Stephen,  ii.  466,  467. 

Lieutenant    Thomas,    ii.    209, 
210,  214,  450,  463-466. 
Holloway  (Hallawav),  John,  i.  50, 

245. 
Hollybut.     See  Hurlbut. 
Holmes,  Dr.  Henrj',  i.  144. 

Captain  John,"i.  179. 

Rev.  Stephen,  ii.  283. 

Rev.  Theodore  J.,  ii.  98. 

Uriel,  i.  123;  ii.  241. 

William,  trading-post,  i.  311; 
ii.  497. 
Holt,  Dr.  Josiah,  i.  141. 

Mary,  i.  350. 

General  Orrin,  i.  183,  185. 

Thomas  R.,  i.  130. 
Holton  (Houshten,  Holten),  Wil- 
liam, i.  245;  daughter,  274. 
Holyoke,  Captain  Elizur,   i.  236; 
daughter,  264 ;  ii.  385-388. 
Homes,  Richard,  i.  267. 
Hooker,  Asahel,  ii.  370. 

Dr.  Charles,  ii.  26. 

Daniel,  i.  120. 

Edward,  ii.  193. 

Dr.    Edward   B.,    "  Homoeo- 
pathy," i.  149. 

Rev.  Edward  W.,  ii.  131. 


INDEX. 


687 


Hooker,  Rev.  Horace,  i.  621,  622; 
ii.  26. 

John,  i.  126.  132,  611. 

Rev.  John,  ii.  24. 

Marv,  ii.  171. 

(Pierpont)  Marv,  ii.  172 

Captain  Nathaniel,  i.  76,  119, 
17!),  260. 

Rev.  Nathaniel,  ii.  416. 

Col.  Noadiah,  ii.  180,  193,  476. 

Rev.  Samuel,  ii.  165,  166,  171, 
172,  191;  described  by  .Mr. 
Pitkin,  171;  bv  Cotton 
Mather,  172. 

Dr.  Thomas,  i.  137,  249. 

Rev.  Thomas,  ancestrv,  wife, 
i.  246,  279;  children,  245, 
255;  education,  277;  si- 
lenced by  Laud,  277;  re- 
moves to  America,  277  ;  and 
to  the  Connecticut,  278;  his 
reasons,  24-28;  democratic 
ideas,  27,  28 :  dies,  279 ;  men- 
tioned, 38;  praised  by  Win- 
throp,  45;  extract  from  ser- 
mon, 27;  extracts  from 
letters  to  Winthrop,  28,  41, 
43;  preaching,  279;  writ- 
ings, 155;  repels  slanders 
against  Connecticut,  43 ; 
house  lot.  246;  house,  463. 
Hopkins,  Captain  Charles,  i.  191. 

Daniel  1'.,  i.  666. 

Governor  Edward,  i.  246; 
commissioner,  i.  54:  favors 
importation  of  cotton  wool, 
316;  magistrate,  41;  mer- 
chant, 316  ;  owns  land  in 
Farmington,  ii.  166,  171; 
presides  over  Particular 
Court,  i.  109;  mentioned, 
234,  240;  establishes  Gram- 
mar School,  640. 

Captain  Elisha.  i.  184. 

John,  i.  247;  children.  247. 

Dr.  Lemuel,  i.  139,  141,  146; 
writings,  158,  592;  men- 
tioned, 601. 

Rev.  Samuel,  i.  247;  ii.  352. 
Hopkins  Medical  Society,  i.  146. 
Horton,  Eli,  ii.  570. 

Dr.  W.  W.,  ii.  198. 

Lieutenant  William,  i.  99. 
Hosford,  Lieutenant  Amos,  ii.  23. 

Daniel,  ii.  268.  269,  272. 

General  Ezekiel,  i.  185. 

John,  i.  178. 

William,  i.  119;  ii.  537,  553; 
son  John,  553. 
Hoskins,  Anthony,  ii.  557. 

John,  ii.  553* 

Sarah,  ii.  558. 

Thomas,  ii.  553. 
Hosmer    (Hesmore),     Charles,    i. 
537,  543.  612. 

James  B.,  i.  432,  537,  543. 

Stephen,  i.  232. 

Judge  Stephen  T.,  i.121,  124. 

Thomas,  i.  247,  258.  259;  ii. 
166;  children,  i.  247. 

Dr.  Timothy,  i.  139;  ii.  198. 

Titus,  i.  121. 
Hotchkiss,  Dr.  Jeremiah,  ii.  338. 

Captain  Lemuel,  ii.  308. 

Captain  Levi  H.,  i.  180,  187. 
House.  Osman.  i.  214. 

Sarah,  i.  230. 

William,  ii.  2  5. 
House  of  Hope,  i.  17,  18. 


Household  tasks,  ii.  183,  565. 
Houses,  early,  i.  224,  354,  355. 
Houston,  Hon.  John  L.,  ii.  157. 
How,  William  D.,  i.  126. 
Howard  (Ilavward),  Chauncev,  i. 
132. 
Henrv,  i.  229,  274;  ii.  439. 
Mark,  i.  505,  509,  609. 
Captain  Nathaniel,  ii.  518. 
Robert,  ii.  552. 
Major  William,  ii.  518. 
Howe,  Edward,  ii.  401. 

Edmund  G.,  i.  343,  506,  669 ; 
portrait,  342. 
Howkins,   Anthony,   ii.   164,   166, 

167. 
Hoyt,  Walter,  ii.  437. 
Hoyte,  Simon,  ii.  553;  son  Nicho- 
las. 553. 
Walter,  ii.  553,  5G0. 
Hubbard      (Hulberd,     Hurlburt), 
Betsey  Ann,  ii.  228. 
David,  ii.  210,  215. 
Capta  n  David,  i.  179. 
Hon.  David  E.,  ii.  220,  225, 

226. 
Elizabeth  H.,  ii.  126. 
Capt.  Elizur,  i.  83;  ii.  223,  224. 
Ephraim,  ii.  220. 
George  (Berlin),  ii.  14. 
George  (Glastonbury),  ii.  208. 
George  (Wethersfield),  i.  247, 
265,266,315;  son,  247.  267; 
ii.  425.  426,  437,  438.  461. 
Lieutenant  George,  i.  179. 
John  (Bloomfield),  ii.  32. 
John,  Jr.,  ii.  35. 
John  (Hadlev),  ii.  439. 
John  (Wethersfield),  ii.  205, 

214,  215,  219,  220. 
Margaret,  i.  257. 
Mary,  ii.  495. 
Nathaniel,  ii.  217. 
Norman,  ii.  216. 
Hon.  Richard  D.,  i.  117,  132, 
522;  ii.  27,  97, 105;  portrait, 
i.  118. 
Samuel  (Berlin),  ii.  14. 
Samuel  (Wethersfield),  ii.  437. 
Sereno,  ii.  217. 
Stephen  A.,  i.  611. 
William,  ii.  553. 
Hubbell,  Captain  Eleazer,  i.  179. 
Hudson.  Barzillai,  i.  305,  380,  565. 
F.  V.,  i.  517. 
Henry,  i.  385. 
Henrv,  explorer,  i.  15. 
Dr.  Henrv  J.,  i.  153. 
Lucy,  i.  1*53. 
Melancthon,  ii.  251. 
Col.  Philip  W.,  i.  180,  188. 
Hudson  &  Goodwin,  i.  500,  G22; 

ii.  98. 
Hudson  Brothers,  m'f'rs,  ii.  251. 
Huggins,  John,  ii.  388. 
Hughes,  Rev.  James,  i.  413. 
Huit,  Rev.  Ephraim,  ii.  388,  535, 

553;  daughter,  i.  276. 
Hull,  Elizabeth,  ii.  550. 

George,  i.  315;   ii.   548,  553; 
sons  Cornelius,  Josiah,  553. 
(Grant)  Mary,  ii.  551. 
(Pinney)  Mary,  ii.  556. 
Humason  &  Becklev  Manufactur- 
ing Co.,  ii.  303. 
Humphrey     (Humfrv),     Captain 
Daniel,  i.  122." 
Col.  David,  i.  157;  ii.  239,  361. 
Colonel  Decias,  i.  183. 


Humphrey,  Major  Elihu,  ii.  356- 

358,  361. 

Captain  Ezekiel,  ii.  69. 

Captain  Frederick,  ii.  72. 

Colonel  George,  ii.  72. 

Rev.  Hector,  i.  173. 

Rev.  Heman,  i.  172;  ii.  361. 

Hezekiah,  ii.  357. 

Howard,  ii.  200. 

John,  i.  22. 

Col.  Jonathan,  i.  84;  ii.  80, 
357. 

Michael,  ii.  341,  343,  350,  518, 
553;  daughter,  i.  232. 

Ensign  Nathaniel,  ii.  356. 

Captain  Noah,  ii.  356. 

Oliver,  ii.  68,  69. 

Samuel,  ii.  69. 

Solomon,  ii.  70. 
Humphreys,  Solon,  i.  664. 
Hungerford  (Hungerloot),  Benja- 
min, ii.  43. 

Thomas,  i.  247. 

William,  i.  130;  portrait,  130. 
Huniwell,  John,  ii.  484. 
Hunn,  Captain  Albert  S.,  ii.  333. 

Samuel,  ii.  321,  431,  456. 
Hunt,  Elizabeth,  i.  268. 

Dr.  E.  K.,  i.  457,  529. 

Hiram,  i.  130. 

John,  i.  267. 

John  (Glastonbury),  ii.  218. 

Jonathan,  i.  247. 

Major  Lucius  E.,  i.  191. 

Robert,  ii.  218. 

Samuel,  ii.  218. 
Huntington,  Rev.  David,  ii.  270. 

Lieut.  Ebenezer,  ii.  473,  474. 

Elizabeth,  ii.  327. 

F.  J.,  &Co.,  i.  624. 

Henrv  W.,  i.  129. 

Hezekiah   (Hartford),  i.  115, 
110,  123. 

Hezekiah  (Sufiield),  ii.  407. 

Rev.  J.  T.,  i.  408;  ii.  418. 

L.  I.,  i.  59. 

Governor  Samuel,  i.  192. 

Judge  Samuel  H.,  i.  129,  161, 
543. 

Thomas,  Jr.,  i.  126. 
Huntley,   Lvdia.      See   Mrs.    Si- 


Hurlburt,  Dr.  George  A.,  i.  145. 

Dr.  James,  i.  139. 
Hurlbut,  J.  O.,  ii.  453. 

Lieutenant  John,  Jr.,  ii.  476. 

Stephen,  ii.  214. 

Thomas,    i.    50;  ii.   435,  437, 
485. 
Hurlbut  M'f'g  Co.,  ii.  251. 
Hutchinson,  Anne,  i.  24,  279. 
Huxlev,  Sergeant  Thomas,  i.  259; 

"ii.  388. 
Hyde  (Hide),  Alvin  P.  (house  of), 
i.  09. 

Mary,  i.  276. 

Theophilus,  ii.  512. 

Timothv,  i.  253. 

Uriah,  ii.  238. 
Hydes,  Humphrey,  ii.  554,  557. 


Imlay,  William  H.,  i.  340,  344, 

373,  665. 
Immorality,  punishment  of,  i.  350. 
Inee,  Jonathan,  i.  50,  236,  247. 
Independence  Day,  i.  588. 
"  Independent  Press,"  i.  612. 


688 


INDEX. 


Indians,  attacks  bv,  i.  74;  barter 
with,  311,  "312;  christian- 
ized, ii.  168,  170;  criminals, 
187;  defences  against,  i. 
175 ;  drunkenness  of,  74 ;  en- 
slaved, ii.  464;  executed, 
169;  invite  emigration,  i. 
308;  laws  against,  350;  ex- 
pectation of  attacks  by,  21*3  ; 
instructed,  ii.  168;  preached 
to  by  Eliot,  68;  precautions 
against,  i.  357;  sale  of  liq- 
uor to,  prohibited,  293;  ii. 
500;  small-pox  among,  498; 
treatment  of,  i.  349;  use  of 
wampum  by,  312;  sold  as 
slaves,  ii.  464;  grant  of 
Hartford  from,  i.  221 ;  in 
Granbv,  ii.  230;  in  Wind- 
sor, 499,  510;  in  Windsor 
Locks,  561;  in  New  Britain, 
277;  in  Simsburv,  341.  342, 
344;  in  Suffield,  384;  in 
Wethersrield,  431,  435 ;  Ar- 
ramamett,  i.  14;  ii.  87,  503; 
Connecticut  Valley,  i.  11- 
14,  310;  Joshua,  sachem,  78; 
ii.  87,  243 ;  Manahannoose 
deeds  land  at  Massaco,  i.342 ; 
Mantowese,  sachem,  ii.  i'-V2; 
Massacope  deeds  land  at 
Farmington,  169;  Nata- 
wanut  restored,  i.  12,  14  ; 
deeds  land,  ii.  498,  503; 
Nessahegan  deeds  lands, 
503;  Pekoath,  i.  12,  29; 
John,  sagamore,  29 ;  Se- 
quassen,  agreement,  ii.  168; 
sells  land  to  Plymouth  Com- 
pany, 502,  503;  Sowheag 
sells  Pyquaug,  i.  13;  Straw, 
Jack  (Indian),  29;  Tur- 
ramuggus  (Caturmuggus) 
sells  lands,  ii.  322;  confirms 
grant  of  Wethersrield,  427; 
mark,  432;  dies,  532;  Un- 
cas,  i.  12,  52;  quarrel  with 
Podunks,  ii.  86;  Wahgin- 
nacut,  i.  12,  308;  ii.  497; 
tribes:  Mattabesetts,  i.  13; 
ii.  14,  104,  277;  Mohawks, 
164;  Mohegans,  i.  12;  ii. 
86,  504,  510  ;  Narragan- 
setts,  i.  49-51;  at  war  with 
colonies,  ii.  510;  Naugunks, 
277,  341;  Nvantics,  i.  51; 
Pequots,  11,"  12;  ii.  434, 
504,  510;  Podunks,  68,  85, 
87;  Quinnipiacs,  277;  Se- 
quin (Sequeen),i.  11,  12,  16; 
Sicaog,  13;  Tunxis,  12;  ii. 
164,  168,  277;  Wongunks, 
i.  13;  ii.  432;  monument  to, 
170. 

Indicott,  Dr.  John,  i.  141. 

Indicott  &  Pomerov,  i.  661. 

Ingalls,  D.  T.,  ii.  254. 

Ingersoll,  Hannah,  i.  248. 

Jared,  i.  82,  122;  ii.  470. 
John  (Hartford),  i.  249. 
John  (Suflield),  ii.   388;   son 

John,  388. 
Jonathan,  i.  122. 

Ingraham,  Edward,  house,  ii.  55. 
Elias,  ii.  54,  62;  portrait,  58. 

Inhabitants,  good  character  of,  i. 
352. 

Innkeepers,  i.  352. 

Inoculation,  i.  370;  ii.  95. 


Insane,  care  of.    See  Connecticut 

Retreat. 
Insurance,  accident,  i.  521 ;  depart- 
ment, i.  510;  fire,  i.  499;  life, 
i.  511;  marine,  i.  499 ;  slave 
and  coolie,  i.  513. 
Ipswich,  Mass.,  i.  33. 
Ireland,  Samuel,  ii.  437,  460. 
Iron-works,  early,  i.  210;  ii.  77,  98. 
Isham,  Dr.  Henry,  i.  152. 

Captain  Joseph,  i.  121,  123. 
Ives,  Rev.  Dwight,  ii.  394. 

Dr.  Eli,  i.  142. 
Ives,  m'f'g  firms,  ii.  53,  54. 

Jackson.  Rev.  Abner,  i.  443;  ii. 
418. 

Andrew,!.  183, 191, 192. 

Dr.  James  C,  i.  144. 
Jagger,  Abraham,  ii.  453. 

(Goger),    Jeremy,    i.    50;    ii. 
435,  437,  438. 
Jarvis,  R.  W.  H.,  i.  569. 
Jefferson,  Thomas,  fear  of,  i.  616. 
Jefferson  flood,  ii.  67. 
"  Jeffersonian,  The,"  i.  620. 
Jeffries,  George,  ii.  388. 
Jenkins,  Rev.  J.  L.,  i.  395. 
Jenks,  Gen.  Charles,  i.  185. 
Jennings,  Joshua,  ii.  437,  438. 

Nicholas,  i.  50. 
Jepson,  Roger,  i.  252. 

Dr.  William,  i.  138,  140. 
Jerome.  Chauncey,  ii.  53. 

I  >r.  Jason,  i.  141. 
Jessup,  John,  ii.  437,  438. 
Jewell,  Maria,  i.  649. 

Hon.    Marshall,    i.    196,    506, 
571,  611;  portrait,  570. 
Jewell  Belting  Company,  i.  571. 
Jewett,  Frederick  W.,  i".  128,  130. 

Dr.  Joseph,  i.  141. 

Dr.  Levi,  i.  145. 
Jews, lined,  i.  321;  legislation,  etc., 

i   422. 
Johns,  Rev.  Evan,  ii.  18,  19. 
Johnson,  Aholiab,  i.  132. 

Andrew,  i.  191. 

Charles  W.,  i.  133. 

Rev.  Edwin  E.,  i.  407. 

Elisha,  i.  133. 

Horace,  ii.  339. 

Dr.  James  D.,  i.  152. 

John,  i.  150. 

Mary,  ii.  491. 

General  Nathan,   i.   127,  183, 
588,  594. 

Captain  Newton  P.,  i.  101. 

Colonel  Richard  M.,  i.  184. 

William,  ii.  214. 

William  S.,  i.  121. 
Johnston,  Alexander,  quoted,  i  19. 
Joice  (Joyce),  Susannah,  ii.  553. 
Jones,  Charles,  ii.  273. 

C.  H.,  ii.  339. 

Rev.  Elisha  C,  ii.  371,  381. 

Hepzibah,  i.  273. 

John,  ii.  276. 

John  Paul,  i.  304. 

Joseph  Pantry,  ii.  106. 

Lewis,  ii.  437. 

Pantrv,  i.-  378. 

Rachel,  ii.  268. 

Richard,  ii.  166. 

Richard  L.,  ii.  252. 

Samuel,  i.  127. 

Rev.  Samuel,  ii.  447. 

Samuel  F.,  attornev,  i.   133; 
ii.  271,  276. 


Jones,  William,  ii.  251. 
Jordan, ,  ii.  437. 

Hannah,  i.  266. 

Sarah,  ii.  439. 
Joshua,  sachem,  i.  78;  ii.  87,  243. 
Jov,  Jacob,  i.  260. 
Judd,  Anthony,  ii.  14,  279,  280. 

Sergeant  "Benjamin,  ii.  279. 

Benjamin,  Jr.,  ii.  282. 

H.  C,  ii.  3. 

John,  ii.  284. 

Jonathan,  ii.  214. 

Lorin  F.,  ii.  303. 

Marv,  ii.  554. 

Morton,  ii.  303. 

O.  S.,  ii.  303. 

Captain  Phineas,  ii.  308. 

Deacon  Thomas,  ii.  166,  168, 
171. 

William,  ii.  180. 

Major  William,   i.    122,    123, 
125,  196. 

Sergeant  William,  ii.  167. 
Judd  &  Blakeslee  Manufacturing 

Co.,  ii.  303. 
Judges,  i.  106. 

Reach,  Elijah,  i.  129. 
Kecherell,  Samuel,  i.  274. 
Keeler,  Ralph,  i.  248. 
Keenev,  Martin,  ii.  204. 

Timothy,  ii.  251. 

William  H.,  i.  665. 
Keeney  &  Wood  M'f'g  Co.,  ii.  251. 
Keenev,  Marshall,  &  Co.,  manu- 
facturers, ii.  252. 
Keep,  Rev.  John  R.,  ii.  203. 
Kees,  Major  Joseph,  i.  193. 
Keith,  Captain  John,  i.  654. 
"Kellies  Child,"  i.  136. 
Kellogg,  Mrs.  Alice,  i.  251. 

Piev.  Bela,  ii.  6,  11. 

Jemima,  ii.  334. 

Joanna,  ii.  332. 

Joseph  (Farmington),  ii.  166. 

Joseph  (Hartford),  i.  248. 

Joseph  (Marlborough),  ii.  268. 

Captain  Joseph  (Suffield),   ii. 
332,  389,  399. 

Martin,  ii.  332,  399. 

Martin  4th,  ii.  331,  470. 

Captain  Martin  (1737),  i.  179; 
ii.  332,  399,  468. 

Captain  Martin  3d,  ii.  333, 472. 

Captain  Martin  5th,  ii.  333. 

General  Martin,  i.  181,   185; 
ii.  331,  333. 

Nathaniel,  i.  247,  252;  ii.  166. 

Rebecca,  ii.  332. 

Samuel,  237,  274. 

S.  &  W.,  i.  661. 
Kellond,  Thomas,  i.  00,  63. 
Kelly,  John,  i.  266,  274. 
Kelsev,  Israel,  ii.  331. 
y    John,  i.  237. 

Joseph,  ii.  331. 

Marv,  ii.  551. 

William,  i.  238,  248 ;  children, 
i.  248. 
Kempshall  M'f'g  Co.,  ii.  303. 
Kendall,  E.  A.,  quoted,  i.  590. 

John,  ii.  237. 
Keney,  Richard,  ii.  459. 
Kennedv  (Canada),  Daniel,  ii.  388. 

Colonel  Henry,  i.  194. 
Kensington.  See  Berlin. 
Kent,  Capt.  Elihu,  i.  84;  ii.  399,  400. 

Lieutenant  Elijah,  ii.  399. 

Henry  P.,  ii.  404. 


INDEX. 


689 


Kent,  John,  ii.  396,  397. 

Samuel,  ii.  388,  397. 

Samuel,  Jr.,  ii.  388,  397. 

Samuel  3d,  ii.  407. 
Kerfoot,  Rev.  John  B.,  i.  443. 
Keves,  David  A.,  ii.  201. 
Kibbe,  William,  i.  124,  125. 
Kilbourn,  David,  ii.  12. 

Ebenezer,  ii.  214. 

Edward,  ii.  12. 

Francis,  ii.  208. 

Freeman,  i.  661. 

John    (Glastonburv),   i.   245; 
ii.  205,  214. 

Sergeant  John  (Wethersfield), 
ii.  437,  458. 

Jonathan,  ii.  273. 

Thomas,  ii.  437. 

Thomas,  i.  257. 
Kimball,  C.  C,  i.  517. 

Rev.  John  C,  i.  422. 
Kimberlv,  General  Dennis,  i.  185. 

Elea'zer,   i.  106;   ii.  206,  207, 
221,  450.  463. 

John,  ii.  220. 

Thomas  (Glastonburv),  i.  120: 
2d,  122. 

Thomas,  ii.  214.  219,  221,  223  ; 
(surveyor),  i.  78. 
King,  Benoni  O.,  ii.  129. 

Charles  C,  i.  97,  99. 

Ebenezer,  ii.  412. 

Ensign  Eliphalet,  ii.  400. 

James,  ii.  388. 

John,  i.  253,  270,  274. 

Captain  Joshua  R..  i.  186. 

Rev.  Salmon,  ii.  201. 

Seth,  ii.  494. 

Captain  Seth.  ii.  400. 

Thomas,  i.  274. 

Lieutenant  William,  ii.  399. 

General  William  T..  i.  145. 
Kingsbury,  Andrew,  i.  177. 

^Colonel  Henrv  W..  i.  98. 

Phineas,  ii.  238,  240. 
Kinneer,  Mrs.,  i.  649. 
Kinney,  John  C,   "War  of  the 

"Rebellion,"  i.  89,  191. 
Kinsley,  Dr.  Apollos,  i.  563;  house 

of,  i.  269. 
Kirby,  Abigail,  i.  228. 

Ephraim,  i.  108. 

John,  ii.  439. 

John,  Jr.,  ii.  464. 

Joseph,  i.  120. 
Kirk,  Charles,  ii.  53. 

Thomas,  i.  60,  63. 
Kirkham,  Thomas,  ii.  439. 
Kirtland,  Eliza,  ii.  379. 
Knapp,  Frederic,  ii.  203. 
Kneeland  (Xeland),  Benj.,  ii.  268. 

Eleazer,  ii.  272. 

Isaac,  ii.  268. 

John,  ii.  268. 

Joseph,  ii.  268. 
Knight,  Rev.  Cyrus  F.,  i.  408. 

George,  i.  274. 

Joseph,  ii.  151. 

Madam,  quoted,  i.  359. 
Knox.  Gen.  Henry,  i.  190;  ii.  479. 

Normand,  i.  337. 


Lafayette,  Marquis  de,  i.  183, 

190,  192,  304,  381,  593. 
Lamb,  John,  ii.  385. 
Lamberton,  Elizabeth,  i.  235. 
Hannah,  i.  228,  268. 
Nathaniel,  ii.  513. 
VOL.  I.  —  44. 


Landers,  Hon.  George  M.,  ii.  281, 

302. 
Landers  &  Smith  Manufacturing 

Co.,  ii.  302. 
Landers,   Frary,  &  Clark,  manu- 
facturers, ii.  302. 
Lane,  Ebenezer,  i.  129. 

Samuel,  ii.  388. 
Langdon  (Langton),  Hon.  Charles 
C,  ii.  378. 

Deacon  John,   i.  242;  ii.   40, 
160. 

Solomon,  ii.  191. 
Lankton,  Captain  Daniel,  ii.  180, 
370,  377. 

John.  ii.  180. 

Joseph,  ii.  63. 
Lathrop,  John,  i.  125. 
Latimer,  Captain  Erastus,  ii.  333. 

Serg.  John,  i.  178 ;  ii.  435,  437. 

Wealthv  G.,  ii.  34. 
Law,  Jonathan,  i.  127,  161 ;  ii.  438. 

Richard,  i.  315;  ii.  437,  438. 
Lawes,  Richard,  i.  41. 
Lawrence,  John,  i.  87,  327,  654. 
Laws.  Code  of,  i.  53,  105. 
Lawton,    Christopher  J.,  ii.  390, 
397. 

John,  ii.  388. 
Lawyers,  i.  118. 
Lay,"  Edward,  i.  50,  248. 
Learned,  Rev.  D wight  W.,  ii.  20. 

Rev.  Robert  C,  ii.  20. 
Leather,  tanning  of,  i.  564. 
Leavitr,  ('apt.  Asaph,  ii.  398,  399. 

Thaddeus,  ii.  411,  412. 
Lebanon,  i.  320;  ii.  249. 
Ledlie,  Hugh,  i.  378. 

Major  Sam,  i.  193. 
Ledyard,  Abigail,  i.  576. 

"John,  i.  2116.327,654;  elm,  296. 
Lee  (Updike),  Mrs.  Anstice,  i.  590, 
601. 

Maj.-Gen.  Charles,  ii.  478. 

Rev.  Chauncev.  ii.  270,  271. 

Rev.  Chauncev  G.,  ii.  130. 

Captain  Edwin  R.,  i.  100. 

I.  N.,  ii.  303. 

Colonel  Isaac,  ii.  280,  282,  284, 
285,  291,  292,  308,  317. 

Dr.  Isaac,  ii.  283. 

Isaac,  m'f'r,  ii.  297,  307. 

Jared,  ii.  369,  370,  381. 

Rev.  Jesse,  i.  420;  ii.  445. 

John,  ii.  166. 

Captain  John  T.,  i.  187. 

Lieutenant  Josiah,  ii.  282,  283. 

Captain  Stephen,  ii.  14,  279, 
280,  283,  308,  317. 

Thirza,  ii.  295. 

Thomas,  ii.  293.  297,  307. 

William  T.,  i.  666. 
Leete,  Governor  William,  i.  106. 
Leffingwell,  Christopher,  ii.  250. 

Fanny,  ii.  115. 

Leister,  ,  i.  235. 

Lenihan,  Rev.  J.  T.,  i.  417. 
Leonard,  Joseph,  ii.  388. 
Leonard  Silk  M'f'g  Co.,  ii.  119. 
Lewis  (Leawes),  Abel,  ii.  48,  52; 
house,  47. 

Addin,  ii.  374. 

Charles  M.,  ii.  303. 

Daniel  W.,  i.  125. 

Enos,  ii.  63. 

Felix,  i.  258. 

Hannah,  i.  251. 

Isaac,  ii.  279. 

James  F.,  ii.  281. 


Lewis,  Ensign  Job,  ii.  370. 

Captain  John,  i.  179. 

Rev.  John,  ii.  495. 

Josiah,  ii.  180,  377. 

Mary,  i.  232. 

Nathan,  ii.  375. 

Oliver,  i.  123;  ii.  381. 

Sally,  ii.  374. 

Samuel,  i.  251. 

Selah,  ii.  381. 

Captain  Thomas,  i.  258. 

Capt.  Wm,  ii.  164,  166,  167. 

William,  i.  248,  276. 
Leverett,  John,  i.  55. 
Library,  State,  i.  549.  /SeeHartf'd. 
Lilley,'  John,  ii.  437. 
Lincoln,      Almira    (Hart).       See 
Phelps. 

Levi,  i.  571. 

Solomon  L.,  i.  012. 
Lindall,  Henry,  i.  256. 
Lindsley,  Rev.  Joel  H.,  ii.  78. 
Linsley*  Rev.  Joel  H.,  i.  291. 

Simeon,  ii.  25. 
Liquors,   sale  of,   to   Indians  for- 
bidden, i.  293;   use  of,  64, 
290,   350,   578.      See   Tem- 
perance Movement. 
Litchfield,  settled,  i.  10,  76,  202; 

militia  in,  179. 
Litchfield   County,  i.  9,    82,  107, 

121,  209. 
Livermore,  John,  ii.  437,  438. 
Lockwood,  Rev.  James,  ii.  442. 

Rev   Samuel,  ii.  269. 
London  White  Lead  Co.,  ii.  219. 
Long,  John,  i.  276. 

Sarah,  i.  261. 

Thomas,  i.  238,  274. 

Zechary,  i.  261. 
Longdon,  Andrew,  ii.  437. 
Loomis  (Lomes,  Lummis),  A.  A., 
i.  131. 

Captain  Amasa,  i.  83. 

Captain,  ii.  36. 

David,  i.  251. 

Desire,  ii.  11. 

Elizabeth,  ii.  553. 

Graves,  ii.  413. 

Hezekiah  B.,  ii.  517. 

James,  ii.  403. 

Colonel  James,  i.  180,  183. 

Hon.  James  C,  ii.  517,  532; 
portrait,  516. 

James  S.,  ii.  533. 

John,  ii.  516,  539,  554. 

John  (Farmington),  ii.  166. 

John  M.,  ii.  517. 

Joseph,  i.  251,  253,  259. 

Joseph  (Manchester),  ii.  251. 

Joseph     (Windsor),    ii.    517, 
554;  sons,  554. 

Kneeland,  ii.  398. 

Luther,  ii.  412,  413. 

Lydia,  i.  274. 

(Skinner)  Mary,  ii.  559. 

Nathaniel,  i.  1*78;  ii.  539,  554. 

Osbert  B.,  ii.  517. 

Sarah,  i.  253. 

Timothy,  ii.  507,  511,  540. 

Wilbur'F.,  ii.  261. 

William  L.,  ii.  398. 
Loomis  &  Co.,  m'f'rs,  ii.  158. 
Loomis  Brothers,  m'f'rs,  ii.  404. 
Loomis  Institute.     See  Windsor. 
Lord,  Abigail  R.,  ii.  275. 

Amy,  i.  273. 

Ann,  i.  261. 

Captain,  ii.  36. 


690 


INDEX. 


Lord,  Dorothv,  i.  270. 
Elisha,  i.  244. 
Elizabeth,  ii.  275. 
Epaphras,    ii.  208,   269,  274, 

275. 
Hannah,  i.  270. 
Ichabod,  ii.  268,  274. 
Jane,  i.  272. 
John  Haynes,  i.  378. 
(Pitkin)  Mary,  ii.  103;    por- 
trait, 102 
Rachel,  ii.  275. 
Richard,  i.  178,  244,  249,  2G9, 
318,  319;  ii.  432,  653;  chil- 
dren, i.  249. 
Richard  2d,  i.  178,  244,  249, 

271;  children,  249. 
Richard  3d,  i.  249. 
Sarah,  i.  244,  270. 
Thomas,  i.  248,  261,  270 ;  chil- 
dren, 248. 
Thomas,  Jr.,  i.  249;  children, 

250. 
Thomas,  ii.  439. 
Dr.  Thomas,   i.   136,  352;  ii. 
198,  450. 
Lord's  Hill,  i.  249. 
Lothrop,  Daniel,  i.  138. 
Louisburg,  siege  of,  i.  81,  298;  ii. 

134,  130,  325,  399,468. 
Love,  Mrs.  Mary,  i.  272. 

Rev.  William  D.,  i.  396. 
Lovejoy,  Captain  Phineas,  ii.  401. 
Lov eland  (Loveman),  Charles,  ii. 
268. 
Louisa,  ii.  20. 
Robert,  ii.  272. 
Samuel,  ii.  268. 
Low,  Samuel  B.,  ii.  398. 
Lowrev,  Hon.  Romeo,  i.  129;  ii. 

379. 
Lucas,' Dr.  J.  E.,  i.  152. 
Luce,  Captain  Henrv,  i.  184. 

Captain  W.  A.,  i.  187. 
Ludlow(e),    Roger,    ii.    523,    554; 
deputy-governor,  i.  22  ;  re- 
moves from  Windsor,  ii.  525 ; 
his  code  of  laws,  i.  53;    and 
beaver  trade,  315;  home  lot, 
ii.  554;  member  of  General 
Court,  505;  offices  held,  524; 
debt    to   Pynchon,    i.   315; 
extract  from   letter  to,   ii. 
505;  witness,  502. 
Lusk,  General   Levi,   ii.  333,  461, 
462. 
General  Levi,  i.  181,  185. 
Love,  ii.  160. 
Luther,  Martin,  ii.  331. 
Lydall  &  Foulds,  m'f'rs,  ii.  252. 
Lying,  punishment  for,  i.  350,  352. 
Lyman,  Benjamin,  ii.  249,  250. 
Prof.  Chester  S.,   i.    173;   ii. 

261,  286. 
Daniel,  ii.  252. 
Fillis,  ii.  552. 
Moses,  ii.  43. 
Noah,  ii.  370. 
General  Phiuehas,  ii.  389,  397- 

400,  410. 
Phvllis,  i.  244. 

Richard,  i.  232,  244,  250;  chil- 
dren, 250. 
Richard,  Jr.,  ii.  550,  554. 
Samuel,  i.  123. 
Sarah,  i.  251. 
Thaddeus,  ii.  411. 
Lvnch,  Rev.  John,  i.  414. 
Rev.  Thomas,  i.  418. 


Machinery,  manufacture  of,  i. 
570,  571. 

Maffit,  John  N.,  ii.  211. 
Rev.  John  N.,  ii.  211. 

Magistrates,  power  of,  i.  74. 

Malleable  Iron  Works,  ii.  303. 

Mallison  (?),  Joseph,  i.  08. 

Mallorv,  Major  \\  illiam  H.,  i.  92. 
W.  W.,  i.  394. 
Messrs.,  publishers,  i.  021. 

Maltbie,  General  Isaac,  ii.  308. 
Theodore  M.,  ii.  236. 

Maltby,  i.  247. 

Mauahannoose  deeds  land  at  Mas- 
saco,  ii.  342. 

Manchester,  ii.  243;  included  in 
Hartford,  243;  called  the 
Five  Miles,  244;  first  grant 
of  lands,  244;  general  di- 
vision, 244;  early  settlers, 
244,  246;  Orford  parish  or- 
ganized, 259;  Manchester 
incorporated,  243,203;  made 
probate  district,  206 ;  popu- 
lation, i.  208;  pastors  of 
First  Church,  ii.  261;  build- 
ings, 259-61 ;  ministers  born 
in  Orford  parish,  261;  Sec- 
ond Church,  262;  other 
churches,  201,  -202;  area, 
244;  burying-grounds,  204; 
centres    of    business,    etc., 

244,  246,  247,  249-202,  250, 
266;  distilleries,  i.  211 ;  edu- 
cation, ii.   262;    highways, 

245,  249 ;  manufactures,  219  ; 
military  history,  i.  90,  101, 
102;  ii.  204;  natural  fea- 
tures, 244,  254;  place  names, 
243-240.  249,  254,  262,  203; 
post-offices,  240;  silk  cul- 
ture, 255;  taverns,  219.  205. 

Manhattan  Island,  i.  15. 

Mann,  Benning,  i.  131. 

Manning,  Sarah,  i.  232. 

Manross,  Nehemiah,  ii.  40,  44. 
Captain  Newton  S.,  i.  99  ;  ii. 
40,  58,  59. 

Mansfield,  E.  D.,  ii.  187. 

General  Joseph  K.  F.,  i.  98. 

Mansfield  Silk  Co.,  i.  343;  ii.  569. 

Mantowese,  sachem,  ii.  432. 

Manufactures,  development  of, 
1840-1880,  i.  44. 

Manufacturing  corporations,  capi- 
tal invested  in,  i.  348. 

March,  John,  i.  563. 

Marcy,  Major  Stephen  H.,  i.  193. 

Markets,  petitions  for,  i.  320. 

Markham,  Priscilla,  i.  241. 
William,  i.  266,207. 

Marlborough,  ii.  267;  called  New 
Marlborough,  209;  settled, 
268;  Marlborough  Society 
organized,  268 ;  town  incor- 
porated, 270;  population,  i. 
208;  made  probate  district, 
ii.  274;  decay  of,  273;  first 
church  formed,  269;  pas- 
tors, 269;  buildings,  269- 
271;  other  churches,  271; 
distilleries,  i.  211 ;  educa- 
tion, ii.  272  ;  industries,  272; 
inventors,  273  ;  military  his- 
tory, i.  85,  91,  101,  102;  ii. 
273';  physicians,  274;  place 
names,  '267. 

Marriages,  i.  350,  351,  353. 

Marsh,  Hezekiah,  i.  378. 


Marsh,  John,  i.  250,  207;  children, 
250. 
Capt.  John,  i.  76,80,325;  ii.  15. 
Rev.  John,  ii.  422,  472;   por- 
trait, 433. 
Rev.  Jonathan,  ii.  540. 
Joseph,  ii.  513. 
Captain  Samuel,  i.  380. 
Major  Seth  E.,  i.  194,  460,  461. 
Marshall,  Edmund,  ii.  388. 
Elijah,  ii.  512,514. 
James,  ii.  554. 
Joel.  i.  274. 
Preserved,  ii.  5. 
Capt.  Sam.,  i.  178 ;  ii.  510,  557. 
Thomas,  i.  274. 
Major  Thomas  II.,  i.  193. 
Marshals  County,  i.  86. 
Marshfield,  Sam.,  ii.  140,  385,  386. 

Thomas,  ii.  502,  554. 
Martin,  Corp.  Samuel,  ii.  439,  463. 
Marvin,  Hannah,  i.  258. 

Matthew,  i.  251,  254,  258,  266; 

ii.  100;  children,  i.  251. 
Remold,  i.  251 ;  children,  251 ; 
ii.  166. 
Maskel,  Thomas,  ii.  342,  559. 
Mason,  Edward,  ii.  437. 
Rev.  Elijah,  ii.  269. 
John,  i.  274. 

Captain  John,  i.  229,  235,  202, 
268,  269:  ii.  525,  554;  ap- 
pointed     military      officer, 
509;  in  Pequot  War,  i.  50, 
52;  ii.  50-4 ;  lands  deeded  to, 
503;  his  account  of  the  Pe- 
quot War,  525;  mentioned, 
i.  315. 
Captain  John,  Jr.,  ii.  510. 
Major  John,  i.  109,  178. 
Nicholas,  ii.  166. 
Massachusetts,  southern  boundary 
line,  disputes,  ii.  139,  143, 
145 ;  trade  in  beaver  skins, 
i.  310. 
Bav   Company,    i.  25.      See 

Enfield;  Suffield. 
General  Court,  i.  22,  37. 
Massaco.     See  Simsbury. 
Massacope  deeds  land  at  Farming- 
ton,  ii.  169. 
Matches,  manufacture  of,  i.  564. 
Matchlocks,  i.  175. 
Mather,  Abigail,  ii.  124. 
Allen,  i.'l26. 
Atherton,  ii.  396. 
Dr.   Charles   (1742-1822),    ii. 

124. 
Dr.    Charles    (1704-1853),    i. 

141;  ii.  124. 
Cotton,  i.  237;  quoted,  i.  316, 

440;  ii.  538. 
David,  ii.  291. 
John,  ii.  252. 
Lieut.  Col.  Oliver,  i.  180. 
Richard,  i.  25. 
Major  Roland,  i.  191,  341,  396, 

430,  514,  546,  669. 
Dr.    Samuel,   i.   136,  137;  ii. 

123,  541. 
Rev.  Samuel,  ii.  123,  539. 
Dr.  Thomas,  i.  198. 
Dr.  Timothy,  i.  139. 
Sergeant  Timothy,  ii.  515. 
Col.  William,  Jr.,  i.  183. 
Matianuck.     See  Windsor. 
Matignon,  Dr.,  i.  410. 
Matson,  Judge  William  N.,  i.  131. 
Matteson,  Smith,  ii.  298. 


INDEX. 


691 


Matteson,  Enssell,  &  Co.,  manu- 
facturers, ii.  298. 
Matthews,  Caleb,  ii.  43,  45,  52. 

Mayor,  i.  84. 
Maudsley.    See  Moselev. 
Maverick,  Rev.  John,  i- 24;  ii.  535. 
May,  Hezekiah,  ii.  449,  451. 
Mayer,  Rabbi  Isaac,  i.  422. 

"  Dr.  Nathan,  i.  145. 
Maynard,  John.  i.  236,  251. 
Maxon,  Samuel  C,  ii.  252. 
McCarty,  Thomas,  i.  99. 
McClure,  Rev.  David,  ii.  130. 
McClure  (McClintock),  Rachel,  ii. 

126. 
McCook,  Rev.  J.  J.,  i.  649;  ii.  94. 
McCord,  Gen.  James,  i.  185. 
McCorley,  James,  i.  126. 
Macdonald,  Rev.  James  M.,  ii.  19. 
McFarland,  Bishop  Francis  P.,  i. 
413. 

Rev.  W.  D.,  ii.  232. 
Mcintosh,  Dr.  Lucius  W.,  ii.  274. 
McKee,  Robert,  ii.  253,  259,  2o6. 
McLean.  Rev.  Allen,  ii.  352. 

Hannah,  ii.  126. 

J.  B.,  ii.  356. 
McMahon,    Lawrence   S.,  i.  417; 

portrait,  410. 
McManus,  Capt.  Edward,  i.  186. 

Thomas,  i.  93;  "  Roman  Cath- 
olic Church,"  410. 
Meach  &  Hart  Cutlery  Co.     See 

Upson  &  Hart  Co. 
Meacham,  Isaac,  ii.  142. 

Jehiel,  ii.  238. 

Rev.  Joseph,  ii.  153. 
Mead,  C.  L.,  ii.  301,  302. 
Meakins  (Makin),  Lieut.  John,  i. 
230;  ii.  89. 

Thomas,  i.  79,  231,  233. 
Mechanics'  Savings  Bank,  i.  348. 
Medlicott,  William  G.,  ii   570. 
Medlicott  M'f'g  Co.,  ii.  570. 
Meech,  Rev.  h'oberl.  i.  400. 
Meier-Smith,  Rev.  Matson,  i.  407. 
Menageries,  i.  579. 
Mercantile  National  Bank,  i.  346. 
Meriden.  the  name,  ii.  278. 
Merrell,  Walter  S.,  i.  133. 
Merriam,  Rev.  Burrage,  ii.  494. 

Edmond,  ii.  489. 

Norman,  i.  130. 
Merrick,  Judge  George,  i.  129;  ii. 

213,  228 
Merrill,  Hezekiah,  i.  331,  380. 

Judge  Monroe  E.,  i.  134. 

Salome  G.,  ii.  161. 

Susanna,  i.  276. 
Merrills,  Asa.  i.  245. 

John,  i.  274. 

Sarah,  i.  274. 
Merrimau,  Frank  G.,  i.  131. 

Rev.  John,  ii.  372. 

Dr.  Titus,  i.  141;  ii.  53. 
Merry,  Cornelius,  i.  275. 

Henry,  i.  74. 
Merwin,  Miles,  ii.  554. 
Messenger,  Edward,  ii.  554. 

Isaac,  ii.  69. 

Nathaniel,  ii.  40. 
Messenger's  Farms.     See  Bloom- 

field. 
Methodism,   hostility   to,   ii.   61  ; 
camp-meeting  grounds,  339. 
Michell,  Marv,  i.  243. 
Middlesex  County,  i.  209. 
Middletown,  i.  54",  209;  in  revolu- 
tion, 85;  militia  in,  179. 


Midwives,  i.  135. 
Mighill,  John,  ii.  388. 

Thomas,  ii.  388. 
Miles  (Mills),  Richard,  ii.  437,  438. 
Milford,    settlers    from   Wethers- 
field,  ii.  438. 
Military  discipline,  early,  i.  188, 

349. 
Militia,  changes  in,  i.  181;  organ- 
ization of,   197;    regiments 
of,  107. 
Milledoler,  Rev.  Philip,  i.  172. 
Miller,  Rev.  A.  D.,  i.  407. 

Colonel  Amos,  i.  181. 

Andrew,  i.  132. 

Asher,  i.  122,  123. 

Daniel,  i.  128. 

Captain  David,  ii.  272. 

Henry  A.,  ii.  376. 

Judge  Henry  L.,  i.  134. 

Major  Henry  L..  i.  191. 

John,  ii.  437,  438. 

Rev.  Jonathan,  ii.  64. 

Obadiah,  ii.  388. 

Simon,  ii   506. 

Rev.  William,  ii.  30,  32,  34. 
Millington.  John,  ii.  388. 
Mills,  Dorcas,  ii.  539. 

Ephraim,  his  Genealogical 
Sketches,  ii.  68. 

Rev.  Gideon,  ii.  70,  352. 

Jared,  ii.  70,  75. 

Joseph,  ii.  69. 

Rev.  L.  H.,  i.  407. 

Rev.  Nathaniel  B.,  i.  420. 

Lieut.  Pelatiah,  i.  116,  120, 
179. 

Peter,  ii.  30. 

Simon,  ii.  o">4. 
Mills,  early,  i.  210,  503. 
Miner,  Dr   riiomas,  i.  525. 
Mines,  i.  210;  ii.  58.  79. 
Minor,  James  II.,  ii.  304. 
Mitchell,  Donald  G.,  ii  442. 

Eliza  C,  ii.  532. 

George,  ii.  53. 

HenrvA.,  i.  117, 130, 131,  617. 

John"(1655),  i.  275. 

John,  i.  129. 

Rev.  Jonathan,  i.  280. 

Matthew,  i.  105;  ii.  437,  438, 
450,  401,  462. 

Judge  Stephen  M.,  i.  110,113, 
114,  1^2;  ii.  442,  402,  463, 
471. 

Walter,  i.  126,  500,  542. 
Mix,  John,  ii.  193,  199.  200. 

Colonel  John,  i.  110,  196;  ii. 
193,  199. 

Quartermaster-General  John, 
i.  177. 

Nathaniel,  i.  254. 

Rev.  Stephen,  ii.  435,  442. 
Moland,  Ensign,  i.  85. 
Monroe,  James,  i.  183,  191. 
Montague,  Peter,  i.  235;  ii.  465. 

Richard,  ii.  437,  465. 
Montgomery,  J.  R.,  ii.  570. 
Moody,  Jolin,  i.  252;  son  Samuel, 

"252. 
Moore,  Elizabeth,  ii.  554. 

Hannah,  ii.  549. 

Isaac,  i.  261;  ii.  166,  168. 

Deacon  John,  i.  68;  ii.  278, 
342,  535,  537,  554,  559;  son 
John,  342. 

Roswell,  ii.  381. 

S.  A.,  i.  93. 

Samuel,  i.  119. 


Moore,  Sheldon,  i.  130. 

Thomas,  ii.  554. 
Moore  Manufacturing  Co.,  ii.  23. 
More.  Isaac,  i.  266. 

Thomas,  i.  77. 
Morecock,  Nicholas,  ii.  437. 
Morehouse,  Thomas,  ii.  437,  438. 
Morey  (Morrev),  John,  ii.  439. 
Morgan,  Denison,  i.  344,  6t>3. 

Dr.  Dwell,  i.  141. 

Hon.  E.  D..  i.664;  ii.  35,  517. 

Elias  T.,  i.  657. 

Forrest,    "Life  and  Accident 
Insurance,"  i.  511. 

Isaac,  ii.  142. 

John,  i.  331.  380,  657. 

Dr.  John,  i.  138. 

Joseph,  i.  666. 

Junius  S.,  i.  667;  portrait,  668. 

Miles,  ii.  385. 

Nathan,  i.  663. 

Thomas,  i.  275. 
Morgan's  Coffee  House,  i.  339. 
Morrice,  John,  i.  227. 
Morris,  Abraham,  i.  120;  ii.  494. 

(Morrice),  John,  i.  240,  252; 
children,  252. 

Rev.  John  M.,  ii.  480. 

Jonathan  F.,  i.  609. 

Rev.  Myron  N.,  ii.  418. 

William,  ii.  439. 
Morrison,  Dr.  Albert,  i.  144. 

Rev.  Evander,  ii.  70,  269. 

Dr.  Norman,  i.  138. 
Morse,  Rev.  Asahel,  ii.  394. 
Moselev  (Maudslev),  Abner,  ii.449. 

Dr.  Abner,  i."l41. 

Charles,  i.  127. 

Dr.  Isaac,  i.  140. 

Joseph,  ii.  210. 

William,  i.  123,  125. 
Moses,  John,  i.  178;  ii.  503,  506, 

554. 
Mott,  Dorothy,  i.  263. 
Mould,  Hugh",  i.  269. 
Moxam,  Mr.,  i.  41. 
Mudge,  Ebenezer,  ii.  268. 

Gervase,  i.  274. 
Mumford,  Thomas,  i.  84. 
Munger,  Jarvis,  ii.  439. 

Lyman,  ii.  213. 
Munn,  Benjamin,  i.  50,  252. 
Munson,  Anna,  ii.  379. 

Captain  John,  i.  303,  552;  ii. 
482. 

Thomas,  i.  50,  252. 
Murdock,  Rev.  J.  N.,  i.  403. 
Murphv,  Rev.  Thomas  D.,  ii.  232, 

233. 
Musk  (Must),  Hester,  i.  257. 
Mygatt,  Jacob,  i.  178,  270;  ii.  86. 

Joseph,  i.  252,  276;  children, 
253. 

Nabuc   (Naubuc).     See  Glaston- 

bury. 
Naedele,  Lieut.  Theodore  C,  i.192. 
Nash,  Henrv,  i.  130,  131. 

Joseph,"i.  259,  275. 

Thomas,  i.  275. 

Timothy,  i.  263,  275. 
Nassahegan"  deeds  lands,  ii.  503. 
National  Water-wheel  Co.,  ii.  57. 
National  Wire  Mattress  Co.,  ii.303. 
Nattawanut   deeds  lands,  ii.  498, 

503. 
Navigation,  i.  554. 
Neal,    Roswell   A.,    ii.   376;    por- 
trait, 380. 


692 


INDEX. 


Neale,  Rev.  Rollin  H.,  ii.  379. 

Neff,  William,  ii.  489. 

Nelson,  Rev.  H.  W.,  Jr.,  i.  408. 

Rev.  Stephen  S.,  i.  400. 
Nethercott,  Christian,  i.  274. 
Newberry,  Benjamin  (1668),  i.  178. 

Captain  Benjamin,  ii.  342,  511, 
518,  555.  _    . 

Major  Benjamin,   i.  68,  HO; 
ii.  511. 

Joseph  M.,  ii.  129. 

(Clark)  Mary,  ii.  548. 

(Wolcott)  Mary,  ii.  135. 

Roger  3d,  i.  126. 

Captain  Roger,  i.  77;  ii.  511. 

Gen.  Roger,  i.  114,  180,  185. 

General  Roger,  Jr.,  i.  110, 121, 
123,  125. 

Sarah,  ii.  560. 

Thomas,   ii.  555;   sons  John, 
Joseph,  555. 
Newell,  Dr.  Mark,  i.  141 ;  ii.  381. 

Ensign  Samuel,  ii.  368. 

Rev.   Samuel,   ii.  45,   47,   48, 
49,  51;  arm-chair,  48. 

Samuel  P.,  i.  132. 

Sarah,  i.  259. 

Thomas,  i.  259;  ii.  166. 
Newgate  Prison,  i.  85.      See  East 

Granby. 
Newington,  ii.  319;  called  West 
Divisions,  319  ;  named 
Newington,  324  ;  lands  di- 
vided, 320;  early  settlers, 
321,  332;  Beeklev  Quarter 
set  off,  323;  Stanley  Quar- 
ter annexed,  324;  town  in- 
corporated, 324;  population, 
324,  333,  461 ;  present  con- 
dition, 324  ;  ecclesiastical 
society  organized,  322  ; 
church  formed,  324:  pastors. 
325;  deacons.  326-329  ;  Sun- 
day-school, 328  ;  buildings, 
323,  327;  other  churches, 
329;  agriculture,  331;  edu- 
cation, 330;  Indians,  321; 
manufactures,  331;  military 
historv,  327, 331;  mills,  320, 
331;  place  names,  319-324; 
roads,  319,  457,  408. 
Newson,  Captain  Thomas,  ii.  477. 
Newton,  Benjamin,  i.  257. 

Captain  Israel,  i.  179. 

Jane,  ii.  547. 

(Phelps)  Mary,  ii.  556. 

(Rockwell)  Mary,  ii.  557. 

Dr.  Matthew  T",  i.  145. 

Rev.   Roger,  i.  246;    ii.  166, 
168,  171. 

Susan,  i.  248. 
Newtown   (Cambridge),   Mass.,  i. 

20,  22.  24,  25,  32,  37,  278. 
Newtown,  Conn.  See  Hartford. 
New  Britain,  ii.  277  ;  included  in 
Farmington  and  in  Berlin, 
281;  first  land-grants,  278; 
settled,  279;  incorporated, 
281;  city  charter  obtained, 
282  ;  mayors,  282 ;  area  of 
town,  277;  of  borough,  281; 
papulation,  i.  208;  Great 
Swamp  Ecclesiastical  So- 
ciety organized,  ii.  14,  280; 
first  meeting-house',  15,  448; 
dissensionsover  second,  15 ; 
New  Briton  Societv,  16, 
280,  282;  first  meeting- 
house, 282,  284;  improved, 


285;  pastors,  283,  286;  sing- 
ing encouraged,  285;  sec- 
ond building,  286;  South 
Church,  286;  pastors,  288; 
buildings,  287,  288;  library, 
309;  Advent  Church,  291; 
Baptist,  288,  290;  Episco- 
pal, 289;  Lutheran,  291; 
Methodist,  288  ;  Roman 
Catholic,  290;  Universal- 
ist,  289  ;  agriculture,  307; 
banks,  307;  cemetery,  283; 
city  government,  282;  In- 
dians, 277;  education,  291; 
industries,  296;  libraries, 
308;  manufactures,  296 ;  mil- 
itary history,  i.  89,  91,  101; 
ii.  307  ;  minerals,  277  ; 
normal  school,  295;  place 
names,  277,  279-281,  288, 
292. 

New  Britain  Knitting  Co.,  ii.  304. 

New  Cambridge.     See  Bristol. 

''New  England  Review,"  i.  615. 

"  New  England  Weekly  Review," 
i.  613. 

New  Hartford  settled,  i.  78,  81; 
ii.  203. 

New  Haven,  emigration  to,  from 
Wethersfieid,  ii.  438. 

New  Haven  Colony,  i.  53,  58,  62. 

New  Haven  County,  i.  64, 110,  209. 

New  Lights.     See  Separates. 

New  London,  i.  54. 

New  London  County,  i.  64,  110, 
209. 

New  London  Society,  united  for 
trade  and  commerce,  i.  328, 
336. 

New  Plymouth,  Conn.  See  Wind- 
sor. 

"New  York  Daily  Advertiser,"  i. 
613. 

New  York  Convention,  i.  204. 

"New  York  Ledger,"  i.  622. 

Niccols,  Adam,  i.  275. 

Nichols,  Cyprian,  i.  75,  76,  80,  201, 
275;  ii.  244. 
Judge  James,  i.  133. 
Rev.  W.  F.,  i.  406;    ii.  418; 
"  Episcopal  Church,"  i.  405. 
William,   i.  84,  122,  123,  125, 
380. 

Nickerson,  M.  A ,  i.  131. 

Niles,  James  M.,  i.  343. 

Hon.   John   M.,    i.    129,   540, 
542;  ii.  529;  i.  609,  616;  por- 
trait, 616. 
Lucadia,  ii.  159. 
Col.  Richard,  i.  180. 
Bishop  W.  W.,  ii.  116. 

Non-importing  associations,  i. 
83. 

Norfolk,  settled,  i.  203;  township 
of,  i.  81. 

Normal  School,  State,  i.  650;  ii. 
295. 

Norris,  Rev.  Edward,  i.  270. 

North,  Alfred,  ii.  21,  28;  portrait, 
20. 
Alvin,  ii.  293,  297,  303. 
Edward,  ii.  27,  28. 
Henry,  ii.  293. 
H.  F.\  ii.  303. 
Hubert,  F.,  i.  132. 
Captain  James,  ii.  285,  291, 

296;  son  James,  296. 
John,  ii.  166. 
O.  B.  &  H.  F.,  ii.  303. 


North,  O.  S.,  ii.  281. 

Seth    J.,    ii.    293,    296,    297, 
302-304,  314;  portrait,  296. 

Lieut. -Col.  Simeon,  i.  181. 

Rev.  Simeon,  ii.  27. 

Thomas,  ii.  14. 

William  B.,  ii.  303. 

Dr.  William  B.,  i.  146. 
North  &  Judd  M'f'g  Co.,  ii.  303. 
North  &  Whipple  Manufacturing 

Co.,  ii.  297,  302. 
Northam,  Charles  II.,  i.  409,  444, 
505,  534,  537,  546,  665. 

James,  ii.  439. 
Northend   (Norton),  John,  ii.  437, 

438. 
Northington.     See  Avon. 
Northrop,  Rev.  H.  D.,  i.  393. 
Norton,  Ann,  i.  266. 

Benjamin  H.,  i.  616. 

Elizabeth,  ii.  379. 

Francis,  ii.  437. 

Capt.  George,  ii.  388,  396,  398. 

Jedediah,  ii.  18. 

John,  ii.  166. 

Sergeant  John,  ii.  15. 

John  P.,  i.  73. 

John  T.,  i.  213;  ii.  200. 

Judge  Sylvester,  ii.  381. 

Thomas,  i.  266. 
Norwalk,  i.  54. 
Nott,  Elizabeth,  i.  275. 

John  (1637),  i.  50,  275. 

John,  ii.  483. 

Serjeant  John,  ii.  435,  437. 

William,  ii.  452,  493. 
Nowell,  Increase,  i.  22. 

Thomas,  ii.  555,  556. 
Noyes,  B.,  i.  510. 

Oakes,  Major  Henrv,  i.  191. 

Oakland  Paper  Co.,  Ii.  251. 

Oatman,  Alva,  i.  342. 

Odd  Fellows,  i.  198. 

Ogden,  Jacob,  i.  657. 

Olcott  ( Alcock),  Abigail,  i.  253. 

Rev.  Allen,  ii.  179,  192,  261. 

Benoni,  ii.  122. 

Daniel,  i.  380. 

Captain  Ezekiel,  i.  83. 

Dr.  George,  i.  141. 

John,  i.  265. 

John  (Hartford),  i.  293,  294. 

John  (E.  Hartford),  ii.  244. 

Capt.  Josiah,  ii.  245,  259,  262. 

Mary,  i.  272. 

Major  Michael,  193,  658. 

Nathaniel,  ii.  245. 

Samuel,  i.  262,  272. 

Thomas,  i.  239.  244,  253,  259, 
262,  273;  children,  253. 

Lieutenant  Thomas,  ii.  00,  244. 
Old,  Corporal  Joseph,  ii.  400. 

Robert  (Suffield).  ii.  388,  406. 

Robert  (Wethersfieid),  ii.  439. 
Oldage,  Ann,  ii.  555. 

Richard,  ii.  555. 
Old  Farms.     See  Broomfield. 
Oldham,  John,  i.  30,  49,  212;   far- 
mer, ii.  489 ;  visits  Connecti- 
cut, i.  310;  ii.k435,  407;  busi- 
ness ventures,  i.  310;  mur- 
dered, ii.  433;  estate  settled, 
454;  residences,  436. 
Olmstead,  Col.  Giles,  i.  183. 
Olmsted  (Holmsted),  A.  H.,  i.  480, 
483. 

Caleb,  ii.  238. 

Prof.  Denison,  i.  172;  ii.  105. 


INDEX. 


693 


Olmsted,  Captain  Elisha  S.,  i.  184. 

Frederick  L.,  i.  171,  529. 

Captain  Gideon,  i.  86:  ii.  100. 

James,  i.  253,  254;  children, 
253. 

John,  i.  251. 

Mrs.  John,  i.  94. 

Deacon  Joseph,  i.  233;  ii.  90. 

Major  Lvnde,  i.  191. 

Mabel,  i'  233. 

Nehemiah,  i.  250. 

Nicholas,  i.  50,  178,  223,  350. 

Rebecca,  i.  253. 

Capt.  Richard,  i.  50,  254,  258. 

Colonel  Solomon,  i.  183. 

Timothy,  ii.  238;  his  ''Musi- 
cal Olio,"  238. 
Olnev,  Jesse,  ii.  373,  380. 
O'Neile.  Capt.  Charles,  Jr.,  i.  188. 
O'Reilly,  Rev.  Bernard,  i.  412. 
Orford.     See  Manchester. 
Orton,  Thomas,  ii.  164,  166,  555. 
Orvice,  George,  ii.  40,  166. 
Orvis,  George  Elizabeth,  231. 
Osborn,  (Crosbv,  Barber)  Hannah 
E.,  ii.  125. 

(John,  ii.  555.) 

Richard,  i.  50;  ii.  505. 
Osborne,  Major  Charles,  i.  191. 

Sarah,  i.  250. 
Otis,  General  John  L.,  i.  92. 
Overton,  General  Seth,  i.  185. 
Owen.  Gen.  George  C,  i.  184,  185. 

John,  ii.  555. 

Noah,  ii.  268. 

Pacific  Manufacturing  Co.,  ii. 

252. 
Palfrey,  John  G.,  i.  52,  60. 
Palmer,  EnsignChristopher,ii.469. 

Ezekiel,  ii.  45. 

Hannah,  ii.  551. 

Henrv,  ii.  537. 

John"(1658),  i.  178. 

John  (1749),  ii.  541. 

Captain  John,  ii.  485. 

John  C,  i.  133. 

Martin,  ii.  540. 

Nicholas,  i.  256;  ii.  555. 

Gen.  Stephen  H.,  i.  183. 

Timothy  (Suffield),  ii.  388. 

Timothy  (Windsor),  ii.  555. 

William,  ii.  435,  437,  438. 
Pan  thorn.     See  Southington. 
Pantry,  Abigail,  i.  240. 

John,  ii.  90. 

William,  i.  241,  254,  260;  ii. 
166;  children,  i.  254. 
Paper,  manufacture  of,  i. 210.  See 
East  Hartford,  Manchester, 
Windsor,    Windsor   Locks, 
etc. 
Paquanuck.     See  Poquonnock. 
Pardee,  Judge  Dwight  W.,  i.  113, 
115,  132. 

Dr.  Jared  W.,  i.  143. 
Parish,  Ariel,  ii.  22. 
Park,  A.  K.,  i.  132. 
Parke.  Robert,  ii.  434,  437,  461. 

Thomas,  ii.  437. 
Parker,    Rev.    Edwin   P.,    i.  291, 
"Second      Church,"     288; 

Julius,  &  Son,  ii.  303. 

Lucius,  &  Co.,  ii.  252. 

Mary  M.,  i.  649. 

William,  i.  254. 
Parkman,  Elias,  ii.  553,  555. 
Parley,  Peter.  See  Goodrich,  S.  G. 
Parmelee,  David,  i.  126. 


Parmelee.  Captain  W.  H.,  i.  187. 
Parsons,  Benjamin,   ii.    140,   385. 

Betliia,  ii.  559. 

Enoch  T.,  i.  130. 

E.  W.,  i.  516,  623. 

Judge   Francis,    i.    129,    516, 
537. 

J.  S.,  i.  518. 

Major  John  C,   i.  134,   191, 
381,  551. 

Joseph,  ii.  145. 

Captain  Luther,  ii.  151. 

Margaret,  ii.  135. 

Samuel  H.,  i.  130. 

Colonel  Samuel  H.,  i.  84,  123, 
180;  ii.  473. 

Seth,  i.  126. 

Thomas  (Suffield),  ii.  388. 

Thomas  (Windsor),  i.  50;  ii. 
505,  555. 

William,  ii.  513. 
Parties,  i.  577. 
Partridge,  Samuel,  i.  236. 

Rev.  William,  ii.  442. 
Party,  Democratic,  i.  614. 

Republican,  i.  609,  619. 
Pastoral  Union  of  Connecticut,  i. 

431. 
Patrick,  Captain,  i.  73. 

Captain  Daniel,  i.  51. 
"  Patriot  and  Democrat,"  i.  620. 
Patten,  Rev.  William,  i.  290. 
Patterson,    Major    John,   ii.   282, 
307,  318. 

Shubael,  ii.  22. 
Pattison,  Edw.,  i.  50;  ii.  498,  505. 

William,  ii.  -22. 
Patton,  Rev.  W.  W.,  i.  393. 

General  John,  ii.  308,  318. 
Pavne,  Benjamin,  i.  121. 
Pearce,  John,  i.  235. 
Pease,  Anna.  ii.  127. 

Dr.  Edmund  M.,  i.  146. 

Gov.  Elisha  M.,  ii.  159;  por- 
trait, 158. 

Captain  Ephraim,  ii.  146. 

John,  Sr.,  ii    J41.  142,  158. 

John,  Jr.,  ii.  141,  142,  158. 

Dr.  Levi  T.,  i.  146. 

Judge  Lorrain  T.,  i.  128. 

Robert,  ii.  141. 
Peck.  Elisha.  i.  661,  667. 

Epaphroditus,  ii.  54. 

Epaphroditus,   "  Bristol,"    ii. 
39. 

Joseph,  i.  256. 

Ensign  Justice,  ii.  370. 

Moses,  ii.  20. 

Paul,  i.   241,    254;    children, 

Paul,  Jr.,  i.  230,255. 

Samuel,  ii.  14. 

Seth,  ii.  375. 

Tracv,  ii.  61. 

Zebulon,  ii.  43,  49,  52. 
Peck  M'f'g  Companies,  ii.  375. 
Peck,  Stow,  &  Wilcox  Manufac- 
turing Co.,  ii.  22,  23,  376. 
Peet,  Dr.  E.  C,  i.  142. 
Pell,  Dr.  Thomas,  ii.  504. 
Peltier,  D.  P.  D.,  i.  153. 
Pelton,  John,  ii.  388. 
Pengillv,  John,  ii.  388. 
Pennington,  Rev.  J.  W.  C,  i.  394, 

609. 
Pentecost,  Rev.  Hugh  O.,  i.  403. 
Pepper,  Elizabeth,  i.  252. 
Pepperell,  Sir  William,  i.  81. 
Pequot  War,  i.  36,  49. 


Percival,  Dr.  James,  ii.  25,  180. 

James  G.,   i.  163;  ii.  25.  26; 
portrait,  26. 
Perkins,  Mrs.  Azuba  G.  See  Gris- 
wold. 

Dr.  Caleb,  i.  141. 

Captain,  ii.  151. 

Charles  E.,  i.  134. 

Enoch,  i.  117,  123,  125,  576. 

Frederic  B.,  i.  133,  171. 

Henry,  i.  131. 

Henrv  A.,   i.  331,  672;    por- 
trait, 332. 

Isaac,  i.  117,  127. 

Colonel  Joseph,  i.  91,  92. 

Rev.  Nathan,  i.  432;  ii.  417, 
421;  portrait,  419. 

Thomas  C,  i.  115,  117,  129. 

William  H.,  i.  130. 
Perrv,  Rev.  Joseph,  ii.  130. 
Perse  &  Brooks  M'f'g  Co.,  ii.  570. 
Peters,  Hugh,  i.  130. 

Judge  John   T.,  i.   113,  114, 
128.  588,  594. 

Rev.  Sam.  A.,  quoted,  ii.  490. 
Pettibone,  Captain  Abel,  ii.  357. 

Abraham,  ii.  63,  64. 

General  Chauncev,  i.  185. 

Giles,  i.  131. 

Hiram  R.,  i.  129. 

Jacob,  ii.  353. 

John,  ii.  342. 

Captain  Jonathan,  ii.  400. 

Colonel  Ozias,  ii.  235. 

Lieutenant  Samuel,  i.  120. 

Captain  Sereno,  ii.  357. 

Theodore,  ii.  63. 
Pettis,  Samuel,  i.  128. 
Petty,  John,  ii.  388. 
Phelps,  Aaron  (Suffield),  ii.  400. 

Abraham,  ii.  517,  555. 

Almira  (Hart)  Lincoln,  ii.  25. 

Rev.  Amos  A.,  ii.  192. 

Anson  G.,  i.  667;  ii.  84,  354, 
361 ;  portrait,  i.  656. 

Asa,  i.  121. 

Rev.  Benajah,  ii.  261,  265. 

Bildad,  i.  121. 

Charles,  i.  192. 

Daniel,  ii.  513. 

Captain  P21isha,  i.  84. 

Judge  Elisha,  i.  127;  ii.  360, 
361. 

Colonel  Epaphras  H.,  i.  183. 

George,  i.  178;  ii.   535,    549, 
555 ;  sons  Isaac,  Joseph,  555. 

George  D.,  ii.  354. 

Dr.  Guy  R.,  i.  511;  portrait, 
510. 

Hector  F.,  i.  131. 

Hiram,  ii.  544. 

Lieutenant  Horace  E.,  i.  100. 

Jefferev  O.,  ii.  355. 

Hon.   Jefferey  O.,  i.   133;  ii. 
361. 

Hon.  John,  ii.  25. 

John  J.,  i.  354,  667. 

Hon.  John  S.,  ii.  361. 

Joseph  (Simsbury),  ii.  82.  342, 
551,  556. 

Captain  Joseph  (Windsor),  i. 
179. 

Gen.  Noah,  i.  84,  185;  ii.  357. 

Hon.  Noah  A.,  i.  128;  ii.  81, 
361. 

Noah  L.,  ii.  201. 

Oliver   (Suffield),   i.   205;   ii. 
411,  412. 

Col.  Oliver  C,  Jr.,  i.  183. 


694 


INDEX. 


Phelps,  Ralph  R.,  i.  128. 

Samuel,  and  son  Timothy,  i. 

275. 
Timothy  (Suffield),  ii.  400. 
William,  i.  41,  105,  109,  350; 
ii.  502,  503,   535;  sons  Jo- 
seph,   Nathaniel,    Samuel, 
Timothy,  William,  556. 
Phelps  &  Gorham,  i.  206. 
Philip,  Mount,  ii.  30,  348. 
Phillco,  Calvin  W.,  i.  132. 
Phillips,  Alonzo  D.,  i.  564. 

George(H'f'd),  i.  327,331,505. 
George    (Windsor),    ii.    535, 

556. 
Gen.  George,  i.  185. 
Hope,  ii.  274. 
Gen.  John,  i.  185. 
William,  i.  50,  255,  256. 
Phipps,  Sir  William,  i.  73. 
Phoenix  Iron  Works,  i.  571. 
Phoenix   National    Bank,   i.   336; 

building,  336. 
Physician,  hiring  of  (1052),  i.  352. 
Physicians,   training  of  early,    i. 

135. 
Pickett,  J.  Andrew,  ii.  282,  302, 

303. 
Pierce,  Edward,  ii.  437. 
Captain  H.  H.,  i.  187. 
John,  i.  255,  204;   ii.  437. 
Pierce  Hardware  Co.,  ii.  496. 
Pierpont,  Sarah,  ii.  172. 

Sherman,  ii.  200. 
Pierson,  Dr.  William  S.,  i.  143. 
Rev.  Abraham,  ii.  530. 
Gen.  William  S.,  ii.  517,  530; 
portrait,  530. 
Pikes,  i.  175. 

Pinney,  Sergeant  David,  ii.  563. 
Humphrey,  ii.  521,  535,  556. 
Sergeant  Martin;  ii.  514. 
Mary,  ii.  555. 
Nathaniel,  ii.  556. 
Sergeant  Nathaniel,  ii.  511. 
Samuel,  ii.  342,  556. 
Pipe-staves,  early  exports  of,  i.  210. 
Pistols,  manufacture  of,  i.  565,  572. 
Pitkin,  Rev.  Ashbel,  ii.  239. 
Daniel,  ii.  94. 
Elisha,  ii.  98,  104,  246;  house, 

93,  104. 
Gov.  Frederick  W.,  ii.  261. 
Col.  George,  i.  83;  ii.  100,  103. 
Hannah,  ii.  104. 
Colonel  John,  ii.  100,  103. 
Col.  Joseph,!.  180;  ii.  98, 103. 
Martha,  ii.  108. 
Hon.  Ozias,  i.  81;  ii.  102. 
Captain  Richard,  ii.  94,  246, 

259,  264. 
Richard.  Jr.,  ii.  250. 
Major  Samuel,   ii.   103,   251 ; 

portrait,  103. 
General   Samuel    L.,    i.    185, 

342  ;  ii.  103. 
Sidnev,  ii.  253. 
Captain  Thomas,  i.  83. 
Rev.  Timothy,  ii.  70,  176, 191 ; 
portrait,  176;   quoted,  170, 
173 ;  son  Timothy,  124, 125, 
193. 
William,  settler,  i.  109,  115, 
118,  240,  275;  ii.  89,96,  98, 
101. 
Hon.  William,  2d,  i.  75,  107, 

109,113,  563;  ii.  101. 
Gov.  William,  3d,   i.  82,  87, 
110,  113,  179;  ii.  102. 


Pitkin,  Colonel  William,  4th,  i.  81, 
113,  114;  ii.  80,  94,  98,  103, 
246;  mentioned,  80. 
Pitkin  Brothers,  i.  572. 

family,  i.  301. 
Plainville",   growth  of,   i.  208;   ii. 
335;    called    Great     Plain, 
335;  named  Plainville,  338; 
lands  granted,  336;   cheap- 
ness  of,  173;  settled,   336; 
ecclesiastical   history,    339; 
education,      340;      Indians, 
335;  library,  194,  337;  man- 
ufactures/336,    338;    place 
names,  335,  336;  first  post- 
office,  338;  press,  340. 
Plainville  M'f'g  Co.,  ii.  338. 
Plants  Manufacturing  Co.,  ii.  370. 
Plantsville.     See  Southington. 
Platner,  William,  ii.  201,  203. 
Platner  &  Porter  M'f'g  Co.,  ii.  201. 
Piatt,  John,  i.  242. 
Plumb  (Plum),  Dorcas,  i.  250. 
Dr.,  i.  142. 

John,  i.  105 ;  ii.  435,  438. 
Samuel,  ii.  438. 
Plummer,    Ebenezer,    i.   598;    ii. 
213,  222,  223. 
Col.  George,  i.  128;  ii.  225,  227. 
Plymouth  Colonv,  i.  58. 
Plymouth  House",  ii.  498,  550. 
Plymouth,  Mass.,  i.  29-34. 
Plymouth  Trading  Co.,  formed,  i. 
309;    trade  with   Connecti- 
cut  Indians,    310;    post  at 
Matianuck  (Windsor),  311; 
ii.  497;   transfer  New  Ply- 
mouth to  Dorchester   Com- 
pany, 500. 
Polk,  James  K.,  i.  191. 
Polkville.     See  Bristol. 
Pomeroy  (Pomroy),  A.  H.,  i.  342. 
Eleazer,  i.  272. 
Eltwood,  ii.   556;  son   Caleb, 

556. 
Captain  Medad,  ii.  399. 
Nathaniel,  ii.  401. 
Oliver,  ii.  471.' 
Ralph,  i.  122,  380. 
Pond,  Sam.,  ii.  556 ;  children,  556. 
Poog,  Robert,  ii.  212. 
Poor,  care  of,  i.  361,  364. 
Population,  progress  of,  i.  207. 
Poquonnock.     See  Windsor. 
Porter,  Anna,  ii.  550. 

Captain  Daniel,  i.  187. 

Dr.  Daniel,  i.  137;  ii.  166. 

David,  i.  661. 

Rev.  Ebenezer,  ii.  310. 

Eunice,  i.  259. 

Ezekiel,  ii.  449,  451. 

Havnes  L.,  i.  661. 

Hezekiah,  ii.  90. 

Rev.  Isaac,  ii.  231. 

John,  settler,  i.  178 ;  ii.  164, 

506,  556. 
John,  Jr.,  i.  260;  ii.  508,  539. 
Jonathan,  i  259. 
Joshua,  i.  84. 
Marv,  ii.  539. 
(Grant)  Marv,  ii.  552. 
(Phelps)  Marv,  ii.  555. 
President  Noah,  i.  173,  543; 
"History  of  Farmington," 
163;    poVtrait,    164;    men- 
tioned, 163,  203. 
Rev.   Noah,    ii.    188;    death, 
188,    191;    and    benevolent 
societies,  190,  192;  and  re- 


forms, 187;  doctrinal  views, 
188;    extent  of  his  parish, 
188;  liberal  spirit,  188,190; 
revivals  under,  190. 
Robert,  i.  257;  ii.  166,  171. 
Samuel,  i.  260. 
Dr.  Samuel,  i.  138,  198. 
Samuel  Q.,  ii.  201,  203. 
Sarah,  ii.  194. 
(Winchell)  Sarah,  ii.  559. 
Solomon,  i.  661. 
Thos.,  i.  239,  255,  261;  ii.  166. 
Dr.  William,  i.  529. 
Post,  Jedediah,  ii.  213,  218,  226. 
John  H.,  ii.  218. 
Captain  Oliver  R.,  i.  100. 
Stephen,  i.  232,  255. 
"Post,  Hartford  Evening,"  i.  611. 
Potter,  Rev.  Horatio,  ii.  116. 
Dr.  John,  i.  141. 
Lester  L.,  i.  403. 
Potwin,  Rev.  Lemuel  S.,  ii.  127. 

Rev.  Thomas  S.,  ii.  127. 
Potwine,  John,  ii.  115. 

Rev.  Thomas,  ii.  114,  115, 127. 
Pratt,  Rev.  Andrew  T.,  ii.  27. 
Daniel,    i.  178,  240,  275;   ii. 

459. 
Elisha  B.,  i.  511. 
Elizabeth,  i.  240. 
George,  ii.  218. 
Hepsibah,  i.  276. 
Captain  James,  i.  386. 
Captain  James  C,  i.  191. 
General  James  T.,  i.  182,  183, 

193,  341,  669;  ii.  493. 
John,  i.  255,200,  275;  ii.  166  ; 

children,  i.  255. 
John,  Jr.,  i.  259. 
Colonel  John  C,  i.  181. 
Jonathan,  ii.  90. 
Captain  Joseph,  i.  187. 
Rev.  Lewellyn,  i.  434. 
Peter,  i.  116. 
Sarah,  i.  275. 
Waldo  S.,  i.  434. 
William,  i.  255. 
Zachariah,  i.  380. 
Pratt  &  Whitney  M'f'g  Co.,  i.  570. 
Prentice,    General   Charles  H.,  i. 
180,  185,  187. 
George  D.,  i.  134,  165,  613. 
Primus,  Dr.,  ii.  121. 
Prince,   Thomas,    sells  New  Ply- 
mouth, i.  55,  56;  ii.  500. 
Prior,  Major  Abner,  ii.  514. 
Prisoners,  British  and  Torv,  i.  84, 

304. 
Pritchard     (Prichard,    Prigiotte), 
Roger,  ii.  437,  438. 
Sarah,  i.  267. 
William,  ii.  388. 
Privateers,  i.  86.     See  Vessels. 
Profanity,  punishment  for,  i.  74, 

351,  352. 
Prosecuting  officers,  i.  115. 
Prosser,  Captain  Levi,  i.  184. 
Proutv,  Col.  Benj.  F.,  i.  180.  187. 

Royal,  ii-  569. 
Provisions,  inspectors  of,  i.  306. 
Prudden,  Rev.  Peter,  ii.  437,  440. 
Pultz  &  Walkley  Co.,  ii.  377. 
Punishments,    earlv,    i.    74,    350, 

351;  ii.  507,  508. 
Purchas    (Purkas),    John,    i.   50, 
256,273,276;  children,  256. 
Mary,  i.  276 
Putnam,  Major  George,  i.  191. 
Israel,  i.  195,  304;  ii.  479. 


INDEX. 


695 


Putnam  Phalanx,  i.  193. 
Pynchon,  Ann,  i.  249. 

Major  John,  i.  249,  270,  271; 
grantee  at  Suffield,  385, 
386,  389;  grantor  at  Fresh- 
water (Enfield),  140,  143; 
slaves,  400. 

Joseph,  ii.  388. 

Mary  (Holyoke),  i.  264. 

Mary  (Whiting),  i.  270. 

Rev"  Thos.  K.,  i.  443:  ii.  418. 

William,  i.  21,  22,  37-41,  105, 
261;  bill  of  exchange  with 
Wiuthrop,  315;  Ludlow's 
debt  to,  315;  granted  mo- 
nopoly of  corn  trade,  314; 
his  warehouse,  ii.  567  ;  men- 
tioned, 504. 

Quakers,  i.  107,  352. 
Quincy,  Edmund,  ii.  80. 

Railroads,  i.  211,  558. 
Rainbow.     See  Windsor. 
Rainbow  Mills,  ii.  521. 
Raleigh,  Sir  Walter,  i.  29. 
Randolph,  Edward,  i.  63-68. 

Philip,  ii.  555,  556  ;  son  Abra- 
ham, 556. 

Rev.  W.  H.,  i.  404. 

William,  i.  275. 
Ranney,  Miss  X.  S.,  i.  649. 
Ransom,  Major  Henry  C,  i.  191. 
Raphael,  Major  D.  F.,  i.  193. 
Rawlins  (Rawlings,   Rollins),  Jas- 
per  (Wethersfield),  ii.  437. 

Jasper  (Windsor),  ii.  537, 557. 
Raymond,  Albert  C,  ii.  93,  101. 

James,  i.  131. 

Rev.  Robert,  i.  403. 
Rayner,   Rev.  Menzies,  i.  406;  ii. 

116. 
Ravnor,  Benjamin  L.,  i.  130. 
"  Thurston,   ii.  437,    438,    461, 
489. 
Read  (Reade),  John,  i.  76,  116. 
Redfield,  Henry  A.,  i.  337. 

John  IE,  i.  343. 
Reed,  Dr.  Elijah  F.,  i  142;  ii.  124. 

Rev.  John,  ii.  91. 

Captain  Joseph,  i.  187. 

Julia,  ii.  127. 

Rev.  Julius  A.,  ii.  124. 
Reeve,  Judge  Apping,  i.  122. 

Marv,  l.  245,  267. 

Robert,  i.  178,  259,  275. 
Reeves,  John,  ii.  498. 
Regiments,  organization  of,  1739, 

i.  180. 
"  Religious  Herald,"  i.  621. 
Remington,  John,  ii.  388. 

Joseph,  ii.  388. 

Thomas,  ii.  388. 

Thomas,  Jr.,  ii.  388. 
Representatives,  election  of,  i.  108. 
"Republican,  The,"  i.  609. 
"  Republican,  Springfield,"  i.  616. 
Revere,  Paul,  i.  304. 
Rew,  Hezekiah,  ii.  45. 

John,  ii.  166. 
Reynolds,  Capt.  Amherst,  ii.  101. 

Charles,  i.  128. 

John,  ii.  437,  438. 

Robert,  i.  32;  ii.  437,  440. 
Rice,  Daniel,  ii.  512. 
Richards,  George,  ii.  199,  203. 

James,  i.  109,  239,  273,  275. 

Jerusha,  i.  239. 

John,  ii.  155. 


Richards,  Nathaniel,  i.  256. 

Obadiah,  ii.  166. 

Dr.  Samuel,  ii.  198. 

Thomas,  i.  256,  262,  275  ;  chil- 
dren, 256. 
Richardson,  Rev.  Elias  H.,  i.  287. 

Thomas,  ii.  166. 
Richells,  Sigesmond,  ii.  437,  438. 
Riddle,  Rev.  Matthew  B.,  i.  434. 
Rifles,  manufacture  of,  i.  570. 
Riggs,  C   H.,  ii.  340. 

Dr.  John  M.,  i.  147,  148. 
Rilev,  Captain  Ashbel,  ii.  477. 

"Daniel,  ii.  407. 

George,  ii.  484. 

Jacob,  ii.  494. 

Captain  James,  i.  622;  ii.  481. 

John,  ii.  321,  439,  493. 

Jonathan,  ii.  494. 

Joseph,  ii.  321,  493. 

Capt.  Justus,  ii.  477,481,  484. 

Capt.  Roger,  ii.  469,  476. 

Stephen,  ii.  493. 
Riplev,  Rev.  David  B.,  i.  270. 

Edwin  G.,  i.  663;  ii.  570. 

Philip,  i.  385,  663:  ii.  570. 
Ripley  Manufacturing  Co.,  ii.  200. 
Risden,  John,  ii.  400. 
Rising,  James,  ii.  388. 

John,   ii.  388. 

Josiah,  ii.  401. 
Rislev  (Wrisley),  Richard,  i.  245, 

"  250;  ii.  89;  children,  i.  256. 
Ritter,  Captain  Joseph,  i.  186. 
Reads,  i.  296,  359,  551,  562. 
Roaring  Brook  M'f'g  Co.,  ii.  217. 
Roaring  Brook  Paper  Co.,  ii.  214, 

218. 
Bobbins,  Abigail,  ii.  327. 

Allyn,  ii.  84. 

Archibald,  ii.  495. 

Asher,  i.  128;  ii.  486. 

Edward  W.,  ii.  18;  "Memoir 
of  Percival,"  26;  "History 
of  Kensington,"  26. 

George,  ii.  84. 

John,  petitioner,  ii.  450. 

John,  settler,  ii.  427,  436,  437, 
451. 

Ensign  Jonathan,  ii.  469. 

Joshua,  Jr.,  ii.  484. 

Captain  Joshua,  ii.  466,  467. 

Capt.  Josiah,  ii.  449,  451,  476. 

Rev.  Royal,  ii.  17. 

S.  W.  (house),  ii.  487. 

Rev.  Thomas,  i.  542,  543,  597; 
ii.  130;  quoted,  108. 

I'mii,  ii.  331. 

Corporal  Zebulon,  ii.  333. 

Captain  Wait,  ii.  485. 
Roberts,  Dr.  Aaron,  i.  140. 

Rev.  George,  i.  420. 

George,  i.  573;  ii.  157;  por- 
trait, i.  564. 

Gideon,  ii.  52. 

Hiram,  ii.  36. 

John,  i.  263,  275. 

Lester  A.,  ii.  38. 

Captain  Ozias,  ii.  101. 

Colonel  Thomas,  i.  180. 

William,  ii.  89. 

Captain  William  S.,  i.  180 
Robin,  Abbe\  i.  410. 
Robins,  Ephraim,  i.  401. 
Robinson,  David  F.,  i.  331,   392, 
505,  609,  623. 

Mrs.  D.  F.,  quoted,  i.  632. 

Rev.  Edward,  i.  172;  ii.  379. 

Henry  C,  i.  132,  134,  385. 


Robinson,  Col.  Henry  N.,  i.  181. 
Lucius  F.,  i.  132,  615. 
(Robertson)  Samuel,  i.  275. 
Captain  T.  B.,  ii.  59. 
Rochambeau,  Count  de,  i.  190,  298, 

304;  ii.  100,  479. 
Rockwell,  Daniel,  ii.  110. 
Jane,  ii.  547. 
John,    i.    238;    ii.    557;    son 

Simon,    557. 
Mary,  ii.  559. 
Matthew,  ii.  121. 
Samuel,  ii.  108,  500,  557. 
Rev.  Samuel,  ii.  287,  293. 
Dr.  Sydney  W.,  ii.  127. 
William,    ii.    537,    557;     son 

John,  557. 
Dr.  William  H  ,  i.  529. 
Rocky  Hill,  growth  of,  i.  208; 
military  history,  91,  101, 
103;  ii.  496;  recollections 
of,  i.  604;  ii.  493;  called 
Lexington,  440,  494,  and 
Stepney,  494;  changes  in 
boundaries,  494;  ecclesias- 
tical society  organized,  494; 
pastors,  494  ;  buildings, 
494,  495;  other  churches, 
495;  geology,  493;  indus- 
tries, 496  ;  place  names,  493. 
494,  490;  population.  461.  ' 
Rodman,  Lt.-Col.  Daniel  C,  i.  92. 

Dr.  William  W.,  i.  149. 
Roe,  Azel  S.,  i.  169;   ii.  124;  his 
works,    113,    125;    quoted, 
114. 
Hugh,  ii.  388. 
Peter,  ii.  388. 
Samuel,  ii.  388. 
Rogers,  Henry  E.,  ii.  253. 
James,  i.  50. 
Peter,  ii.  253. 
William,  ii.  437. 
Romans,  Barnard,  i.  84. 
Root,  Amos,  ii.  370. 

Elisha  K.,  i.  569;  ii.  75. 
Ephraim,  i.  123,  125,  331. 
Erastus,  i.  124. 
Colonel  Jesse,  i.  84,  108,  116, 
122,  123,  124,  125,  127,  191, 
380,  564. 
John  (Farmington),  ii.  166. 
'    John     (Plainville),    ii.     336; 
house,    336. 
John  (Southington),  ii.  367. 
John  (Wethersfield),  ii.  437, 

439. 
John  G.,  i.  342. 
Jonathan,    ii.   180,   367,   370, 

377,  382. 
Dr.  Josiah,  i.  141. 
Samuel,  i.  127. 
Thomas,  i.  50,  252,  256. 
Roots,    Rev.    Benajah,     ii.     352; 

house,  359,  361. 
Rose,  Chauncev,  ii.  453,  483. 
Dr.  Josiah.  i.  140. 
Robert,  ii.  435,  436,  438. 
Ross,  Samuel,  i.  93. 
Rosseter,  Dr.  Brav  (Brvan),  i.  136; 

ii.  507,  557. 
Rowland,  Rev.  David,  ii.  542. 

Rev.  Henry  A.,  ii.  542. 
Rowlandson,  Rev.  Joseph,  ii.  441. 
Rowlev,  Capt.  (Bloomfield),Ii.  36. 
Roxbury,  Mass.,  i.  20,  23. 
Roys   &    Wilcox    Manufacturing 

Co.,  ii.  22,  376. 
Royse,  Mrs.  Lydia  B.,  i.  645. 


696 


INDEX. 


Rugg,  Micah,  ii.  376. 
Ruggles,  Rev.  Benjamin,  ii.  390. 
Ruscoe  (Reskoe,  Rescue),  William, 
i.  245,  257,  26G;   children, 
257. 
Russ,  John,  i.  588. 
Russell,  Lieut.  Cornelius,  ii.  515. 

Rev.  Daniel,  ii.  494. 

Henry  E.,  ii.  298. 

Jacob,  ii.  5G(j. 

James,  i.  244. 

John,  ii.  481. 

John,  settler,  ii.  439. 

Rev.  John,  i.  202,  2G4,  270; 
ii.  439,  441,  464. 

Joseph  H.,  i.  127. 

Philip,  ii.  439. 

Thomas  W.,  i.  516. 

Timothy,  ii.  449. 

Westell",  ii.  298. 

Rev.  Wm.,  ii.  284,  540,  542. 

General  William  H.,  i.  185. 
Russell  &  Ei-win  Manufacturing 
Co.,  ii.  298,   301. 

Sabbath,  observance  of,  i.  353; 

ii.  424. 
Sable  (Savell,  Sables),  John,i.  257. 
Sackett,  Capt.  William  H.,  i.  100. 
Sadd,  John,  i.  255,  275. 

Thomas,  Jr.,  ii.  110. 
Saddler,  John,  ii.  437,  460. 
Saddles,  manufacture  of,  i.  572. 
Safetv-fuses,    manufacture    of,    i. 

"211. 
Sage,  Rev.  A.  J.,  i.  400,  402. 

General  Comfort,  i.  182. 

Colonel  Josiah,  i.  181. 

Dr.  William  H.,  i.  149,  152. 
Salisbury,  township  of,  i.  81. 

petitions  for  market,  i.  320. 
Saltonstall,  Gov.  Gurdon,  i.  113, 
239. 

Katherine,  ii.  224. 

Sir  Richard,  i.  27,  32,  33; 
sends  out  Stiles  partv,  ii. 
498. 

Robert,  i.  176,  271 ;  ii.  551, 557. 

Roswell,  i.  244. 
Samos  (Samways), Richard, ii.  557. 
Samways,  Widow,  ii.  552. 
Sanborne,  Rev.  George  E.,  i.  399. 
Sanford  (Sandford),  Elizabeth,  "i. 
271,  273. 

Mary,  i.  273,  276. 

Nathaniel,  i.  275. 

Robert,  i.  227,  273,  275. 

Zacharv,  i.  227:  ii.  557. 
Sargent,  John,  i.  126. 
Satan's  Kingdom.     See  Canton. 
Savage,  J.  B.,  ii.  376. 

Seth,  ii.  301. 
Saxton,  Richard, ii.  555,  557;  sons 

John,  Richard,  557. 
Saybrook,  i.  33,  50,  51,  53,  56. 
Savbrook  Platform,  i.  285. 
Say  and  Sele,  Lord,  i.  33,  34,  269. 
Scantic.     See  East  Windsor. 
Scarborough.  Godfrev,  i.  127. 

Jared,  i.  127,  658. 
Schaale,  Rev.  Joseph,  i.  417. 
School   Fund,    i.    78,_  205.      See 

Education. 
School,  State  Normal,  i.  650;  ii. 

295. 
Schools,  i.  107,  354, 575,  628.     See 

Education. 
Schue,  Dr.  John,  i.  149,  150. 
Scofield,  J.  M.,  i.  611. 


Scott,  Edmund,  i.  264;  ii.  166. 
Edward,  ii.  437. 
Elizabeth,  ii.  554. 
(Williams)  Elizabeth,  ii.  325. 
Captain  John,  i.  115. 
John,  ii.  388. 
Sarah,  i.  260. 

Thomas,   i.  254,  257;    ii.  44, 
166 ;  children,  i.  257. 
Scovel,  Rev.  James,  ii.  47. 
Scovill,  John,  ii.  166. 
Scroop,  Adrian,  i.  275. 
Seager,  Joseph,  ii.  388. 
Seaman,  John,  ii.  437. 
Seamless  Hosierv  Co.,  ii.  250. 
Sears,  Col.  Hezekiah  K.,  i.  83. 
Secret  organizations,  i.  200. 
Security  Company,  i.  348. 
Sedgwick,  Capt.  Abraham,  i.  83. 

William,  i.  263,  275. 
Seelv,  Lieutenant  Robert,  i.  50;  ii. 
434,  435,  436,  437.  438,  510. 
Selden,  Thomas,  i.  258,  206;  chil- 
dren, 258. 
Selectmen,  power  of,  i.  353. 
Sellew.  Colonel  James,  i.  181. 
Philip,  ii.  213. 
Lieut.-Col.  Samuel,  i.  131. 
Semmor  (Seymour),  Mary,  i.  242. 
Senators,  election  of,  i.  108. 
Sension  (St.  John),  Mark,  i.  260. 
Matthias  (Michael),  ii.  557. 
Matthias    (Wetherstieklj,     ii. 

437. 
Nicholas,  ii.  557. 
Separates,   origin   of,    ii.   32,   393; 

mentioned,  ii.  32,  154. 
Ser[iias>en,  agreement,  ii.  168;  sells 
land  to  Plvmouth  Company, 
ii.  502,  503. 
Sessions,  Albert  J.,  ii.  57. 
Captain  F.  W.,  i.  187. 
J.  H.,  &  Sons,  ii.  57. 
Sessions  Foundry  Company,  ii.  57. 
Sevrauce,  John,"ii.  388. 
Sewall,  Judge  Samuel,  i-  65. 
Sexton,  Major  Lester,  i.  193. 
Sexton,  office  of,  i.  271. 
Sevmour,  Charles,  i.  662. 
Heurv,  i.  193,  588. 
Captain  Israel,  i.  377,  380. 
Major  Leverett,  i.  191. 
Captain  Llovd  G.,  i.  188. 
Mercy,  i.  261. 
Captain  Moses,  i.  84. 
O.,  ii.  304. 
Richard  (Farmington),  ii.  13, 

14. 
Richard    (Norwalk),    i.    258, 

261;  children,  258. 
Samuel,  ii.  14,  166,  167,  279. 
Rev.  Storrs  O.,  i.  407. 
Thomas,  i.  251. 
Ensign  Thomas,  i.  76,  77. 
Colonel  Thomas,  i.  295,  304^ 

307,  361,  377,  385,  564. 
Captain  Thomas,  3d,   i.   116, 

121. 
Colonel  Thomas,  4th,  i.  110, 

114,  116.  121,  123. 
Colonel   Thomas    H.,  i.    131, 
193,  196,  197,  620;  portrait, 
186. 
Thomas  S.,  i.  128. 
Major  Thomas  Y.,  i.  117,  122, 
124,    125,    192,    193,    592; 
portrait,  654. 
Zachariah,  ii.  166,  485. 
Zebulon,  i.  380. 


Seymour  Compare,  ii.  570. 
Sevmour,  Williams,  &  Porter,  ii. 

101. 
Sharpe,  Nicholas,  i.  234. 
Sharp's  Rifle,  i.  570. 
Sheldon,  Lieut.  Caleb,  ii.  400. 
David,  ii.  400. 
Rev.  David  Newton,  i.  173. 
Hezekiah    S.,   "  Suffield,"  ii. 

383 ;  mentioned,  404. 
Isaac,  ii.  500. 
Captain  John,  i.  76,  77. 
Captain  Jonathan,  ii.  398,  413; 

house,  405. 
Joseph,  i.  378. 
Captaiu  Joseph,  ii.  396,  398. 
Captain  Josiah,  ii.  397,  408. 
Hon.  Martin,  ii.  413. 
Shepard,  Charles,  i.  129. 
Edward,  i.  270,  270. 
Elizabeth,  i.  277. 
John,   i.    240,    241,  255,   272, 

274,  276. 
Rev.  Thomas,  i.  25,  240,  277. 
Shepherd,  Eldad,  ii.  238. 
Sheriffs,  i.  86. 
Shermau,  Edmond,  ii.  437. 
Heurv,  i.  133. 
Rev. "John,  i.  32,  201;  ii.  437, 

440,  461. 
Roger  M.,  i.  543. 
Samuel,  ii.  435,  437,  438. 
Sherwood   (Sharwood),    Ruth,   ii. 
553. 
Thomas,  ii.  437,  438. 
Shipman,  Joseph,  ii.  293,  296,  297. 
Judge  Nathaniel,  i.  115,  133. 
Judge  William  D.,  i.  115, 133. 
Shipping.      See  "  Commerce  and 

Banking." 
Shirley,  Robert,  i.  237,  238. 
Shivee,  Friend,  ii.  508. 
Shops,  i.  140,  598. 
Shove,  Rev.  Seth,  ii.  350. 
Shultas,  Major  J.  B.,  i.  194. 
Shutts,  Mary  Ann  Hanmer,  i.  166. 
Signing  off,  ii.  540,  544. 
Sigoumev,  Charles,  i.  333,  344. 
Mrs."  Lydia  H.,  i.  163,  602, 
648. 
Sikes  (Sicks),  Richard,  ii.  385. 

Victory,  ii.  388. 
Silk,  i.  564",  572;  ii.  99,  255,  569. 
Sill,  Dr.  Elisha  N.,  ii.  514. 
Lieut.-Gov.  G.  G.,  i.  133. 
Horace  H.,  i.  129. 
Thomas  S.,  i.  128. 
Simkins,  Vincent,  ii.  438. 
Simonson,  Rev.  George  A.,  i.  404. 
Simsbury,    distilleries   iu,  i.  211; 
growth   of,    208;     military 
historv.83,85,101,179,356; 
ii.   341,    356;    called    Mas- 
saco,  341;    Simsbury,  343; 
deeded  to  Griffin,  342;  set- 
tled,    342;      Windsor    has 
partial      jurisdiction,     537; 
burned  bv  the  Indians,  344; 
resettled,"  345;    Major   Tal- 
cott  chosen  arbitrator,  345; 
Griffin's  title  invalid,  345: 
repurchased  bv  Major  Tal- 
cott,    346;     town    divided, 
347;    ecclesiastical    society 
organized.  350,  351 ;  church 
formed,  350:  buildings,  349, 
350,  352,  354 ;  pastors,  349  ; 
gifts  to,    354;    societv    di- 
vided, 30,  78,  351;  Baptist 


INDEX. 


697 


Church,  355 ;  Episcopal 
churches,  355 ;  Methodist 
Church,  354;  Roman  Ca- 
tholic, 355 ;  agriculture, 
360;  boundaries,  343,  347, 
348 ;  disputes  with  Suffield, 
347;  common  fields,  345: 
education,  355 ;  eminent 
men,  361 ;  household  tasks, 
359;  Indians,  341,  342, 
344;  industries,  358,  360: 
natural  features,  341,  347, 
348;  place  names,  29,  342, 
347,  348,  351,  354,  355, 
359,  360;  population,  347; 
railroads,  348 ;  Tariffville, 
360;  taverns,  343;  Water 
Company,  348. 
Skelton,  Rev.  Samuel,  i.  20. 
Skene,  Governor  Philip,  in 
Wethersfield,   ii.  479. 

Major,  i.  84. 
Skiff,  Dr.  Charles  H.,  i.  149. 
Skinner,  Abraham,  ii.  268. 

Anne,  i.  259,  263. 

Benjamin,  ii.  268. 

Rev.  C.  A.,  i.  421. 

Daniel,  ii.  110. 

David,  ii.  274. 

Ichabod  L.,  i.  127,  177,  385. 

Colonel  James  F.,  i.  183. 

John,  i.  237,  254,  258,  269, 
273,  275;  ii.  559;  children, 
i.  259. 

Dr.  John,  i.  141. 

Major  Levi  T.,  i.  193. 

Lucv,  ii.  35. 

Mafv,  i.  273,  275. 

Rev."  Newton,  ii.  285,  291. 

Dr.  Samuel  W.,  i.  145. 

William,  i.  259. 
Slate,  Dwight,  i.  572. 
Slate  &  Brown,  ii.  570. 
Slater,  Klam,  ii.  281. 

John,  ii.  343,  355. 
Slaves,  Indians  sold,  ii.  464;  manu- 
mission, 199,  475 ;  number 
in  colonv  (1680),  319;  pur- 
chased, L  318,  319;  petition 
for  manumission,  ii.  151. 
Slavery,  i.  108,  358,  592 ;  in  county, 
ii.  35,  51,  406;  denounced, 
192;  incidents  of,  i.  609. 
Slead  (Sled,  Slade),  John,  ii.  321, 

456. 
Sloper,  Captain  Daniel,  ii.  372. 
Sluvter.  Mrs.  E.  L.,  i.  539. 
Smalley,   Rev.  John,  ii.  309;  or- 
dained, 284;  eminence,  310; 
eventful     pastorate,      285; 
writings,    310 ;    mentioned, 
291,  292,  296,  308;  portrait, 
284. 

Mrs.  Pollv,  ii.  293,  294. 
Smith  (Smvth),    Alfred,    i.    129, 
340,  344,  533,  534,  541,  542, 
546,  548. 

Ann,  i.  228. 

Arthur,  i.  50,  242,  259,  271, 
275;  children,  259. 

Rev.  Cotton  M.,  ii.  411. 

Sergeant  Ebenezer,  ii.  284. 

Edward,  ii.  388. 

Dr.  E.  H.,  i.  141,  157. 

Elijah,  ii.  294. 

General  Elijah  W.,  i.  185. 

Elkanah,  i.  126. 

Elnathan,  ii.  180,  285,  307. 

Erastus,  i.  130,  543. 


Smith,  Captain  George,  i.  378. 

George  F.,  ii.  376. 

Rev.  George  W.,  i.  444. 

Gershom,  ii.  214,  215. 

Giles,  i.  259. 

Adjutant  Heber  S.,  i.  100. 

Henrv,  i.  37,  50,  105,  228 ;  ii. 
438. 

Rev.  Henry,  i.  242;    ii.  211, 
437,  440. 

Captain  Henrv  C,  i.  100. 

Col.  Henrv  D",  i.  181;  ii.  376. 

Henry  (Springfield),  i.  249. 

Lieutenant  Hezekiah,  ii.  469. 

Rev.  H.  P.,  i.  404. 

Rev.  Hugh,  i.  406. 

Ira  E.,  i.  129. 

James  H.,  i.  128. 

John  (Hadlev),  ii.  465. 

John  (Milford),  i.  247. 

John  (Wethersfield),  ii.  484. 

Gov.  John  C.  ii.  411,  441. 

Jonathan    (Glastouburv),    ii. 
205,  459. 

Sergeant     Jonathan     (Rockv 
Hill),  ii.  452,  493. 

Joseph  (H'f 'd),  i.  273, 274, 276. 

Joseph  (New  Britain),  ii.  279. 

Joseph  (Rockv  Hill),  ii.  456. 

Joseph  (Wethersfield),  ii.  205, 
215,  439. 

Joseph  L.,  i.  126. 

Lieutenant  Josiah,  ii.  470. 

Rev.  Levi.  ii.  131. 

Capt.  Levi  O.,  i.  184;  ii.  302. 

Captain  Matthew,  i.  179. 

Matthias,  ii.  468. 

Philip  (E.  Hartford),  ii.  105. 

Philip  (Wethersfield),  ii.  437. 

Lieutenant  Philip,  ii.  439,  464. 

Richard,  ii.  205,  208,  427,  4:!!). 

Richard,  Jr.,  ii.  439,  459,  460. 

Richard,  weaver,  ii.  439. 

Capt.  Samuel  (E.  H'f'd),ii.94. 

Samuel  (E.  Windsor),  ii.  110. 

Samuel  (Glastonbury),  ii.  205, 
219. 

Samuel  (Hadlev),  i.  238. 

Samuel  (Norwalk),  i.  251. 

Samuel  (Glastonbury),  ii.  221. 

Samuel  (Rocky  Hill'),  ii.  494. 

Samuel  (Wethersfield),  ii.  341, 
437,  461,  481,  484. 

Ensign  Samuel,  ii.  467. 

Lieutenant    Samuel    (son    of 
Henry),  ii.  435,  437,439,465. 

Solomon,  i.  127,  138. 

General  Stephen  R.,  i.  185. 

Captain  Thomas  M.,  i.  188. 

Thomas  &  Co.,  ii.  486. 

Virginia  T.,  i.  538. 

William  (Farmington),  ii.  164, 
166. 

William  (New  Britain),  ii.  297. 

W.  H.,  ii.  298,  315;  portrait, 
314. 

General  William  R.,  i.  185. 

William  ( Wethersfield),ii.  439. 

Wvllvs,  ii.  375. 

Zephaniah  H.,  i.  126;  ii.  216. 
Smith,   Bourn,  &  Co.,  i.  572;   ii. 

486. 
Smithsbv.  Anne,  i.  244. 
Smith  sisters,  ii.  216. 
Snow-shoes,  i.  175. 
Snuff, manufacture  of,  i.  211;  ii.  98. 
Society,  1783-1830,  i.  574-604. 
Somers,  population  of,  1756-1782, 
i.  209. 


Sons  of  Liberty,  i.  82. 
Southampton,  L.  I.,  i.  59. 
Southington,  ii.  363;  distilleries  in, 
i.  211;  growth  of,  208;  mili- 
tary history,  91,  101,103;  ii. 
377";  called  Panthorn,  367; 
named    Southington,    369; 
settled,  367 ;  lands  allotted, 
367 ;  map  of,  369 ;  incorpor- 
ated, 369,  370;  freemen  ad- 
mitted,   370;    ecclesiastical 
society  organized,  368;  pas- 
tors, "371;    buildings,    371; 
Plantsville    Cong.    Church. 
373;  Baptist  churches,  371, 
374;    other  churches,    372; 
agriculture,  377 ;  banks,  370 ; 
education,     374  ;      eminent 
men,  378;  geology,  363;  In- 
dians, 364  ;    manufactures, 
375;  old  houses,  367;  place 
names,   363,  364,  367,  368, 
371,  372,  375,  377 ;  politics, 
371;  population,  370. 
Southington  Cutlery  Co.,  ii.  377. 
Soutbmavd,  Capt.  Joseph,  i.  179. 
Southold,  L.  I.,  i.  59. 
South  Windsor,  ii.  129;  incorpor- 
ated,     129 ;      ecclesiastical 
society      organized,       108; 
church    formed,    109;    pas- 
tors,    108,    129;      burying- 
ground,  114;  Wapping  So- 
ciety, 110;   church  formed, 
131;    pastors,   131;    Baptist 
Church,  131;  Episcopal,  132; 
Methodist,    132;     educated 
men,    138;    eminent    men, 
132;    military  history,  131. 
See  East  Windsor. 
Spalding,  Rev.  Geo.  B.,  i.  391. 
Sparks,  William  C,  ii.  217. 
Spaulding,  George,  ii.  544. 
Speck,  Gerard,  i.  256.  276. 
Spencer,  Agnes,  i.  237. 
Caleb,  i.  378. 
Christopher  M.,  ii.  265. 
Disbrow,  i.  74. 
Elihu,  i.  132. 
Elizabeth,  i.  228. 
John,  ii.  401. 
General  Joseph,  ii.  473. 
Colonel  Norman  W.,  i.  183. 
Obadiah,  i.  237. 
Samuel,  i.  247. 
Thomas  (E.  Hartford),  ii.  89. 
Thomas  (Orford),  ii.  261. 
Thomas  (Suffield),  i.  51,  228, 
230,  238,  259;  children,  259; 
ii.  388. 
William,  i.  234,  237,  242,  259; 
children,  260. 
Spencer  Arms  Co.,  ii.  521. 
Spencer  Rifle  Co.,  i.  572;  ii.  265. 
Sperry,  H.  T.,  i.  611. 
Sprag"ue,  Rev.  Isaac  N.,  i.  393. 

Joseph  H.,  i.  385. 
Spring,  Rev.   Samuel,  i.  389;    ii. 

93,  101,  431. 
Springfield,  Mass.,   i.  21,  38,  39; 

ii.  139,  140. 
Springfield  Paper  Co.,  ii.  522. 
Squire,  Major  Alvin,  i.  194. 
Stafford,    i.    81;     population    of, 
1756-1782,  209;  militia  in, 
179. 
Stage-coaches,  i.  303,  552,  555. 
Staires,  Sergeant  Thomas,  ii.  505, 
557. 


698 


INDEX. 


Stamford,  i.  201,  525;  ii.  438. 
Standard  Rule  Co.,  ii.  202. 
Standisli,  Miles,  i.  26. 

Thomas,  i.  50;  ii.  435,  437. 
Stanford,  Nathaniel,  ii.  439. 
Stanley  (Standley),  Dr.  Adua,  i. 
141;  ii.  198. 

Alfred  H.,  ii.  312. 

Prof.  Anthony  D.,  i.  173;  ii. 
105. 

A.,  &  Co.,  ii.  301. 

Captain  Caleb,  i.  76,  109,  261; 
ii.  244. 

Edward,  ii.  421. 

Elizabeth,  ii.  102. 

(Pitkin)  Elizabeth,  i.  229. 

Frederick  J.,  ii.  201. 

Frederick  T.,  ii.  281,282,289, 
298,  301,  311;  portrait,  310. 

Gad,  ii.  281,  311. 

Col.  Gad,ii.  180,  291,308,  311. 

Henrv,  ii.  302,  304,  314;  por- 
trait. 302. 

H.,  &  Co.,  ii.  315. 

James,  ii.  303. 

John    (Farmington),    i.    257, 

260,  261;  ii.  166. 
John,  ii.  303. 
Captain  John,  ii.  167. 
Jonathan,  ii.  95. 
Nathaniel,  i.   68,  75,   80,  81, 

109,  261,  325;  ii.  90,  350. 

Lieutenant  Noah,  ii.  308. 

Noah  W.,  ii.  281. 

Oliver,  ii.  314. 

Sydney,  i.  548. 

Lieut.  Theodore  A.,  i.  100. 

Thomas  (Hadlev),  i.  260,  265, 
270;  children;  260. 

Thomas,  ii.  281,  318. 

Timothy,  i.  229,  241,  254,  260. 

T.  W.,  ii.  281,  301,  315. 

William,  i.  290. 

William  B.,  ii.  297,  298. 
Stanley  Rule  and  Level   Co.,  ii. 

301,  315. 
Stanley,  Russell,  &  Co.,  ii.  298. 
Stanley,  Woodruff,  &  Co.,  ii.  298. 
Stanley  Works,  ii.  299,  301. 
Stanton  (Staunton),  L.  E.,  i.  115. 

Thomas,  i.  41,  50,  239,  248, 

261,  315,  318;  ii.  168. 
Stanwood,  Rev.  Henry,  i.  403. 
Stares,  Serjeant,  i.  50." 
Starke,  Aaron,  i.  350. 

Starr,  Rev.  E.  C,  i.  399. 
Col.  E.  N.,  i.  181. 
Jared,  ii.  330. 
State  Bank,  i.  345. 
"State  Eagle,"  i.  520. 
State  Library.      See  Conn.  State 

Library. 
State  prison,  ii.  79;   murders  in, 

483;  view  of,  492. 
State  Savings  Bank,  i.  348. 
Statutes,  revisions  of,  i.  107,  108. 
Steamboat,  invention  of,  i.  564;  ii. 

137. 
Steamboats,  i.  554,  555,  592. 
Stearne,  Patrick,  ii.  205. 
Stearns,  Dr.  Henry  P.,  i.  145,  525, 

530. 
Stebbins      (Stebbin,      Stebbing), 
Editha,  i.  236,  252. 
Edward,  i.  234,  253,  261,  273, 

276;  children,  261. 
L.,  i.  624. 
Mary,  ii.  550. 
Rev!  Samuel,  ii.  33,  352,  353. 


Stebbins,  Thomas,  i.  237,  252;  ii. 

140,  385. 
Stedman  ( Steadman),  Edmund  C, 
i.  171,  611. 
Gen.  Griffin  A.,  i.  92. 
Lieutenant  John,  ii.  463. 
John  W.,  i.  510. 
Joseph,  ii.  110. 
Steele  (Steel),  Elisha,  i.  121. 
Elizabeth,  i.  266. 
George,    i.  50,  228,  232,  233, 
236,  242,  245.  248,  250,  254, 
255,  256,  261,  262,  265,  266, 
268,274;  children,  262. 
James,    i.  68,  178,  247,    262, 

267,  272;  ii.  244. 
Lieut.  James,  i.  178;  ii.  467. 
John,  i.  37,  105,  258,  261;  ii. 

166,  171. 
John,  Jr.,  i.  245. 
Samuel,  i.  262;  ii.  166. 
Stephens,  Thomas,  ii.  82,  84. 
Stevens,  Joseph,  ii.  216. 
Nicholas,  ii.  508. 
Thomas  (Glastonbury),  ii.  216. 
Thomas  (Suffield),  ii.  388. 
Rev.  Timothy,  ii.  205,  221. 
Stevenson,  Corporal  James,  ii.  399. 
Stewart,  John,  ii.  446,  485. 

Robert,  i.  242. 
Stiles,  Dr.,  quoted,  ii.  123,  136. 
Ezra,  i.  564. 
Francis,  i.  32,  34;  ii.  498,  550- 

552,  557. 
Henry,  ii.  498,  557. 
Henry  (son  of  John),  ii.  498, 

558". 
John,  ii.  498,  558. 
Sarah,  ii.  516. 
Thomas,  ii.  498,  505,  558. 
Stiles  party,  ii.  498. 
Stillinan,  Albert,  i.  101. 

Captain  Allyn,  ii.  477,  481. 
Allyn  S.,  i.  194,  385. 
Deacon  Elisha,  ii.  64. 
Captain  Joseph,  ii.  481. 
Captain  Nathaniel,  ii.  468. 
Captain  Otis,  ii.  481. 
Captain  Samuel,  ii   477. 
Stilwell,  Elizabeth,  i.  241. 
St.  John.     See  Sension. 
Stocking,  George,  i.  253,  256,  262, 
272. 
George  (Glastonbury),  ii.  218. 
Rev.  Jeremiah,  ii.  211,  228. 
Dr.  Sabin,  i.  146. 
Samuel,  i.  247. 
Stoddard,  Esther,  ii.  108. 
John,  ii.  437. 
Captain  Jonathan,  ii.  333. 
Mary,  ii.  442. 
Captain  Simeon,  ii.  333. 
Stone,   Rev.    Collins,   i.  429;   son 
E.  C,  429. 
Rev.  George  M.,  i.  404. 
Rev.  J.  L.,  i.  403. 
Rufus,  ii.  201. 

Rev.    Samuel,  i.  25,    35,    50, 
155,  233,  246,  262.  264,  267, 
273,  275,  277,  278,  279,  280, 
288;  ii.  504;  children,  262. 
Rev.  Samuel,  Jr.,  ii.  349,  441. 
Sarah,  i.  233,  274. 
Col.  William  L.,  i.  161.  612. 
Col.  Wolcott  P.,  i.  181. 
Stone  &  Carrington,  ii.  201. 
Storrs,  Judge  Zalmon  A.,  i.  133. 
Col.  Lemuel  G.,  i.  183. 
Chief  Justice  WilliamL.,  i.  113. 


Stoughton    (Stoten),    Ancient,    i. 
265. 

Israel,  i.  50. 

Sergeant  Israel,  ii.  541. 

John,  ii.  108. 

Captain  John,  i.  272. 

John  A.,  ii.  133;  quoted,  109, 
130. 

Hon.  John  W.,  ii.  133. 

Captain  Lemuel,  i.  83. 

Retorn  (Katherine),  i.  270. 

Sarah,  ii.  127. 

Thomas,    settler,    i.   265;    ii. 
132,  558. 

Captain   Thomas,   i.   120;    ii. 
108,  109,  130,  132,  425,  558. 
Stow,  Elizabeth,  i.  230. 

Orson  W.,  ii.  376. 

Rev.  Samuel,  ii.  349. 

Solomon,  &  Sons,  ii.  375,  376. 

Thomas,  i.  230. 
Stowe,  Rev.  Charles  E.,  i.  399. 

Harriet  Beecher,  i.  109,  623; 
portrait,  169. 
Stratford,  i.  16,  52:  ii.  438. 
Strickland,  Captain  Jared,  ii.  214, 
480. 

John,  i.  32;  ii.  205,  436. 

Sergeant  John,  ii.  436,  440. 

Thwaite,  i.  237. 
Strong,  Abigail,  i.  274. 

Annie,  ii.  270. 

Elisha,  ii.  544. 

Experience,  ii.  550. 

Ezra,  ii.  268. 

Jedediah,  i.  121,  272. 

John,  settler,  ii.  506,  558. 

John,  ii.  63. 

Colonel  John,  ii.  180. 

Rev.  Joseph,  ii.  231. 

Julius  L.,  i.  133. 

Rev.  Nathan,  i.  285,  286,  577; 
portrait,  286. 

Return,  i.  68;  ii.  511. 

Samuel  G.,  i.  128. 

Simeon,  ii.  63,  180. 

Thomas,  i.  178. 
Stuart,  Isaac  W.,  i.  71,  168,  194; 

quoted,  306. 
Stuckey,  George,  ii.  558. 
Stuyvesant,  Peter,  i.  56. 
Styles,  Thomas,  i.  50. 
Suffield,  ii.  398;  cession  of,  i.  82; 
distilleries  in,  211;  growth 
of,  208  ;  military  histor}', 
85,  101 ;  called  Stbny  River, 
384;  Southfield,  384;  lands 
granted,  384;  titles  to,  388  ; 
ministry  lands,  395;  grantors 
appointed,  385;  their  rules, 
385 ;  plantation  exempted 
from  taxation,  384;  laid  out, 
386  ;  abandoned,  386 ;  re- 
settled, 387 ;  organization 
completed,  387;  boundaries 
denned,  389;  grantees  and 
proprietors,  384,  388;  first 
town-meeting  and  officers, 
396 ;  secedes  from  Massa- 
chusetts, 397 ;  made  probate 
district,  398;  first  church 
building,  390;  pastors  of 
church,  390;  second  church, 
391;  pastors,  392;  other 
churches,  393-396 ;  sepa- 
rates, 393;  area,  383,  384; 
banks,  404  ;  boundary 
changes,  389;  dispute  with 
Granbv,    236;    with    Sims- 


INDEX. 


burv,  347;  burving-grounds, 
406";  education,  407;  Great 
Island,  383.  388;  highways, 
387;  Indians,  384;  judges, 
398;  Literary  Institution, 
408;  manufactures,  404; 
place  names,  383,  384,  387, 
389,  391,  393;  population, 
406;  post-offices,  407;  rail- 
road, 407 ;  representatives 
Mass.  General  Court,  396; 
slavery,  406;  tobacco,  402; 
town  "clerks.  398;  town- 
meetings,  early,  404. 

Suffrage,  freedom  of.  i.  41. 

Sugden  &  Butler,  ii.  489. 

Sullavane  (Sillavane),  Daniel,  i. 
235. 

Sumner,  Dr.  George,  i.  143. 
George  G.,  i.  385. 
William  G.,  i.  173. 

Sumptuary  Laws,  i.  320. 

Sunday-schools,  first  in  the  county, 
"ii.  286. 

Survey,  "Woodward  &  Saffery's. 
"See  Enfield. 

Sntcliff,  Captain  Nathaniel,  i.  79. 

Swan,  Timothy,  ii.  409. 

Swavne  (Swaine),  William,  i.  37, 
105,  201;  ii.  434,  436,  437, 
456,  461. 

Sweetland,  Captain  Joseph,  i.  173. 

Swcetzer,  Major  Henry  P.,  i. 
191. 

Swift,  Rowland,  "  Commerce  and 
Banking,"  i.  308. 
Dr.  Zephaniah,  ii.  198. 
Helen  A.,  i.  649. 
Judge  Zephaniah;  i.  122. 

Taft,  Dr.  C.  A.,  i.  149,  150,  153. 

Dr.  Gustavus  M.,  i.  149,  150. 
Taintor,  Charles,  ii.  437,  438. 

John  A.,  i.  213. 
Talcott,  Abigail,  i.  265. 

Benjamin,  ii.  209. 

Captain  Charles  H.,  ii.  226. 

Elizabeth,  i.  265. 

Colonel  Elizur,  i.  83,  180;  ii. 
223,  224. 

James,  ii.  418. 

Jared  G.,  ii.  209,  227. 

Jerusha,  i.  272. 

Major  John,  i.  65, 68, 229, 234, 
238,  259,  260,  263;  ii.  502: 
children,  264;  arbitrator  at 
Simsbury,  345,  349:  buys 
Massaco  for  the  inhabitants. 
346;  granted  lands  there, 
347;  house  lot  at  Farming- 
ton,  106. 

Major  John,  Jr.,  i.  58,  65,  109, 
179,  180,  228.  265. 

Captain  John  (Bolton),  i.  179. 

John  B.,  ii.  282,  304,  316;  por- 
trait, 282. 

Captain  Joseph,  i.  380. 

Governor  Joseph,  i.  77,  107, 
110,264;  moderator  at  Sims- 
bury,  ii.  350. 

Joseph,  Jr.,  mentioned,  ii.  78. 

Major  (1719),  i.  77. 

Major  Joseph,  i.  180. 

Mary  K.,  "  History  of  Hartford 
County,"  i.  73;  "Original 
Proprietors  "  of  Hartford, 
227  ;  "  General  History 
to  the  Revolution."  293; 
"Town   since   1784,"   361; 


"  East 

South 


100. 


"  Prominent  Business  Men," 
653. 
Talcott,  Matthew,  i.  84,  327. 
Roswell  G..  i.  184. 
Russell,  i.  668. 
Samuel  (Glastonbury),  ii.  208, 

209;  house,  209. 
Capt;un  Samuel,  i.  66,  68,  109, 
178,  262,  264,  576.  589-601; 
ii.  437,  463,464,466;  house 
of,  464. 
Colonel  Samuel  (Hartford),  i. 
82,  323,  327,377,654;  ii.  72. 
Thomas  G.,  i.  68. 
Major  William,  ii.  482, 
Major  "William  H.,  i.  191. 
Talcott  Mountain,  ii.  1,  29,  341. 
Tarbox,     Rev.   Dr.   Increase    N., 
"  The  Dutch  Traders  on  the 
River    and    the    House    of 
Hope,"  i.  15 ;  "  How  the  River 
Towns  came  to  be  Planted," 
19;    "The  Organization   of 
Civil     Government,"      37: 
"  Character  aud  Social  Posi- 
tion  of   the   Settlers,"   45; 
"Pequot  War,"  49  ;  "The 
Code  of  1650,"  53;  "Gen- 
eral History  to  1665,"  54  ; 
"  Charter  "of    1062,"     61  ; 
"Emigration,"  201; 
Windsor."  ii.  107; 
Windsor,"  129. 
Tariff  Manufacturing  Co., 
Tariffville.     See  Simsbury. 
Taverns,  i.  74. 
Taxation,  early,  i.  211. 
Taylor,  Benjamin,  ii.  225,  228. 
Eldad,  ii.  17. 
Francis,  ii.  217. 
Dr.  George,  i.  149. 
Rev.  Graham,   "Fourth  Con- 
gregational Church,"  i.  391. 
James,  ii.  388. 
James  P.,  i.  517. 
John  (Suffield),  ii.  388. 
John  (Windsor),  ii.  558. 
John  (Wethersfield),  ii.  493. 
John  M.,  i.  512. 
Jonathan,  ii.  388,  396. 
Judge  Lester,  ii.  241;  notes  on 

Hartland,  237. 
Dr.  O.  B  ,  i.  152. 
Samuel,  ii.  388. 
Stephen  (Hatfield),  i.  269. 
Stephen  (Suffield),  ii.  388. 
Stephen     (Wethersfield),     ii. 

439. 
Stephen    (Windsor),    ii.    539, 

557,  558. 
Thomas,  ii.  388. 
William,  ii.  437. 
Taylor  Manufacturing  Co.,  ii.  303. 
Tea,    prohibition   of   purchase   of, 

i.  83. 
'•  Temporary  Home,"  i.  88. 
Tennant,  Capt.  Charles  A.,  i.  100. 
Dr.  Charles  J.,  i.  146;  ii.  129, 
192,  445. 
Terry,  Alfred,  i.  130. 

Maj.-Gen. Alfred  H.,  i.  92, 130. 
Lieut.-Com.  Edward,  i.  96. 
Eli,  ii.  53. 

Lieut.-Col.  Elijah,  i.  180. 
Eliphalet  (Enfield),  ii.  151. 
Eliphalet   (Hartford),   i.   501, 

662;  portrait,  500. 
Henrv,  i.  126. 
John,"  i.  265;  ii.  343,  558. 


Terry,  John  T.,  i.  664. 
Mary,  i.  240. 
Captain  Nathaniel  (Enfield), 

i.  83. 
General  Nathaniel,  i.  124,  190, 
191,  331,  385,  421,  500,  602. 
Roderick,  i.  343,  344,  348,  662; 

portrait,  662. 
(Cooke),  Rose,  i.  171. 
Samuel,  ii.  53,  54. 
Seth,  i.  127,  603. 
Stephen    (Windsor),     i.    178, 

240;  ii.  558. 
Stephen,  i.   197;    "Odd  Fel- 
lows," 198. 
Thacher,  Prof.  Thomas  A.,  i.  634. 
Thanksgiving  Day,  i.  588. 
Thayer,  Rev.  David  H.,  ii.  115. 
Theological  Institute  of  Connecti- 
cut, i.  431,  494. 
Thirty  Miles  Island,  i.  64. 
Thomas,  Rowland,  ii.  385,  388. 
Thomson,    Dr.   Asahel,    ii.    198 ; 
quoted,  196. 
Rev.  Edward,  ii.  350. 
John,  ii.  437,  438. 
Thomas,  i.  259,  268;  ii.  166, 

168,  171,  198. 
Dr.  Thomas,  ii.  198. 
Thompson,  Capt. Charles  E.,  i.  187. 
Elizabeth,  ii.  128. 
H.  G.,  ii.  157. 

Orriii,  ii.  156,159;  portr't,156. 
Colonel  Samuel  W.,  i.  183. 
Rev.  William,  "Hartford  The- 
ological Seminary,    i.  431- 
434. 
Thompsonville.     See  Enfield. 
Thompsonville  Carpet  Co.,  ii.  160. 
Thompsonville  Manufacturing  Co., 

ii.  156,  160. 
Thornton,  Marv,  i.  243. 

Thomas,  i.'  241,  276;  ii.  558. 
Thrall.  Ezekiel,  ii.  562. 
Phillup,  ii.  553. 
William,    ii.    505,    558 ;    son 
Timothy,  558. 
Throop,Gen.  Dyer,  i.  110, 116, 123. 
Thurston,  Hannah,  i.  250. 
Tibballs,  Thomas,  i.  50. 
Ticonderoga,  capture  of,  i.  84;  ii. 

473. 
Tiernav.  Admiral,  i.  190. 

Michael,  i.  418. 
Tiffany,  Consider,  ii.  238. 
Tillotson,  John,  i.  252. 

Captain  Morris,  i.  179. 
Tilly,  John,  ii.  558. 
Tilton,  Peter,  ii.  465,  555,  558. 
Timlow,  Rev.  Heman  R.,  ii.  371; 

quoted,  372,  374. 
Tinker,  Captain  John,  ii.  437. 
Tinware,  early  manufacture  of,  i. 

210. 
Tobacco,  early  exports  of,  i.  210; 
Hartford  County,  215;  pro- 
tection of,  350;  use,  351;  ii. 
402. 
Todd,  Dr.  Eli,  i.  141,  142,  525,  527; 
sketch   of,   by   Dr.   Asahel 
Thomson,  ii."l96. 
Rev.  John,  ii.  423. 
Toleration  movement,  i.  616. 
Tolland,  settlement  of,   i.   78,  80, 
202;  militia  in,  179;  popu- 
lation of,  1736-1782,  209. 
Tolland  County,   formation  of,  i. 
122  ;    population    of,   1790- 
1880,  209. 


700 


INDEX. 


Tolles,  Elisha,  ii.  200. 
Tomlinson,  Kev.  J.  L.,  ii.  353. 
Simon,  " Plain ville,"  ii.  335; 

mentioned,  340. 
Thomas,  i.  276. 
Topping  (Toppin,   Tappan),  Cap- 
tain Thomas,  ii.  437,  438. 
Torrington,  settlement  of,  i.  203. 
Totten,  Dr.  Silas,  i.  440. 
Toucey,  Isaac,  i.  117,  128,  1G1,  543. 

Senator,  i.  618. 
Tousev,  Thomas,  i.  563. 
Tower  Hill,  i.  373. 
Town-meetings,    fine  for  absence 

from,  ii.  167. 
Town  officers,  early,  duties  of,  ii. 
167,   506,   507  ;    manner  of 
appointing  selectmen  at  En- 
field, ii.  142. 
Towslev,  Michael,  ii.  388. 
Tov,  Rev.  Joseph,  ii.  360. 

Captain  Joseph  R.,  i.  100. 
Tov,  Bickford,  &  Co.,  ii.  360. 
Tracy,  John  C,  i.  243. 
LeviN.,  ii.  295. 
Lieut.  Thomas,  ii.  435,  437. 
Trade,    early,    exports    and    im- 
ports,"!. 209,   322;  in  wool 
and  liquors,  316 ;    merchant 
vessels,    319 ;    obstructions, 
319;     pedlers     suppressed, 
321;     restricted,    317,    318, 
320;     reports    on,    official, 
318,     322;     New     London 
Society   United,   chartered, 
328  ;      depression      during 
Revolution,    350;     petition 
for     removal     of     imports 
(1817),  339. 
Trainbands,  i.  178. 
Training  Day  established,  ii.  509; 

recollections  of,  186. 
Trail,  William,  i.  50. 

Hon.  John,  i.  110,  114:  sketch 
of,  by  Dr.  Porter,  ii.  195; 
first  president  A.  B.  C. 
F.  M.,  192;  in  General 
Court,  187;  manufactures 
saltpetre,  181,  187 ;  on  Com- 
mittee of  Correspondence, 
180;  mentioned,  185,  193; 
quoted,  177,  182. 
Treat,  Edwin  S.,  ii.  227. 

Lieutenant  James,  i.  261;  ii. 

427,  462,  463,  467. 
Jonathan,  ii.  217. 
Matthias,  ii.  439. 
Richard,  i.  110,  178,  267;  ii. 

437,  461. 
Lieut.  Richard,  ii.  205,  437. 
Richard.  3d,  ii.  205. 
Governor  Robert,  i.  62,  65,  07, 

110;  ii.  427,438,  439,  463. 
Rev.  Selah  B,  i.  130;  ii.  240. 
Thomas,  ii.  205,  207,  208. 
Tremaine,  Rev.  C.  H.  B.,  i.  409. 
Trill,  Thomas,  ii.  89. 
Trinity  College,  i.  435-444,  494. 
Tripper,  Sally,  i.  301,  595. 
Trout  Breeding  Co.,  ii.  522. 
Trumbull    (Trumble),    Ammi,    ii. 
410. 
Dr.  Benjamin,  i.  54,  64,  67, 

78,  543. 
Benoni,  ii,  410. 
Faith,  i.  657. 

Rev.  Henry  Clay,  i.  100,171. 
J.  Hammond,  Preface;    "In- 
dians   of    the    Connecticut 


Valley,"  i.  11;  sketch,  169; 
referred   to   or   quoted,   19, 
27,  43.  50,  54,  55,  64,  68,  78, 
108,  188,  223,  227,  324,  327, 
543,  549,  659;  ii.  433;  por- 
trait, i.  frontispiece. 
Trumbull,  John,  1st,  ii.  410. 
John,  i.  330,  377,  380. 
Colonel  John,  i.  542,  603. 
Judge  John,  Jr.,  i.  113,  114, 
115,  116,  123,  125,  157,  542, 
594, 601 ;  McFingal,  117, 157. 
Governor  Jonathan,  i.  61,  190; 
agent,  320;  commissioner,  ii. 
146;  interview  with  Wash- 
ington, 479. 
Jonathan,  Jr.,  i.  590. 
Joseph  (Suffield),  ii.  388,  410. 
Governor  Joseph   (Hartford), 

i.  127,  132,  331,  344. 
Joseph  (Lebanon),   i.  272;  ii. 

410. 
Judah,  ii.  388,  398. 
Lieut.-Col.  Thomas  S.,  i.  99. 
Try  (Tray),  Michael,  ii.  559. 
Tryon,  Abijah,  ii.  446. 
Joseph,  ii.  214. 
Captain  Moses,  ii.  477. 
Gen.  Moses,  Jr.,  i.  180,  185. 
Tudor,  Dr.  Edward,  i.  141. 

Dr.Elihu,  i.  139,141;  ii.  123. 
Mrs.,  i.  603. 
Owen,  i.  259;  ii.  559. 
Richard,  i.  74. 
Samuel,  i.  333,  344,  668. 
Rev.  Samuel,  ii.  135. 
Tuller,  Ensign  Isaac,  ii.  69. 

Colonel  Jeremiah  A.,  i.  183. 
Tully,  Dr.  William,  i.  142. 
Tunxis  Worsted  Company,  ii.  522. 
Tunxis  Cepus.      See  Farmington. 
Turnbull,  Rev.  Robert,  i.  168,  402, 

403. 
Turner,  Lieut.  Benj.  F.,  ii.  226. 
Chauncev  &  W.  H.,  ii.  215. 
John,  i.276. 

Rev.  William  W.,  i.  428. 
Turnev,  Rev.  Edmund,  i.  403. 
Turnpikes,  i.  553. 
Tuthill,  Charles  H.,  i.  132. 
Tuttle,  Elizabeth,  i.  237,  254. 
Gershom,  ii.  43. 
Hannah,  i.  2?0,  254,  268. 
Nehemiah,  ii.  45. 
Rev.  Reuel  H.,  ii.  545;  "  His- 
torv  of  Windsor,"  498;  au- 
tograph, 533. 
William,  i.  237,  254. 
Twain,  Mark.    See  Clemens,  Sam- 
uel Langhorne. 
Twichell,  Edward,  ii.  376,  380. 
E.  W.,  ii.  376. 
Rev.  Joseph  H.,  i.  396. 
Tyler,  Daniel,  i.  92. 

Colonel  Heman  A.,  i.  180.      , 
Maj. -General  Robert  O.,  i.  92, 

97. 
Bishop  William,  i.  410,  412. 
Tyng,  Colonel  Jonathan,  i.  239. 

Ufford,  Thomas,  ii.  437,  438. 

Umbrellas,  i.  598. 

Uncas,    i.   52;   quarrel    with   Po- 

dunks,  ii.  86. 
Underhill.  Isaac,  ii.  544. 

Captain  John,  i.  18,  23,  50,  52. 
Uniforms,  i.  176. 
Union  M'f'g  Co.  (Manchester),  ii. 

251. 


Union  M'f'g  Co.  (Marlborough), 
ii.  273. 

Union  Nut  Co.,  ii.  202. 

Unionville,  ii.  199;  called  Union 
District,  202:  bridges,  204; 
ecclesiastical  history,  202; 
manufactures,  199;  general 
business,  202;  school  chil- 
dren, 204. 

Union  Water  Power  Co.,  ii.  202. 

Union  Works,  ii.  303. 

United  Colonies,  and  depreciated 
wampum,  i.  313;  war  with 
the  Narragansetts,  ii.  510. 

United  Netherlands,  i.  15, 17. 

Upson,  Captain  Andrew,  i.  101. 
Andrew  S.,  ii.  202. 
Rev.  Benoni,  ii.  17. 
Thomas,  i.  204;  ii.  166,  180, 
377. 

Upson  &  Hart  Cutlerv  Co.,  ii.  202. 

Upson  Nut  Co.,  ii.  202. 

U.  S.  Bank,  i.  348. 

U.  S.  Branch  Bank,  i   338. 

U.  S.  Stamped  Envelope  Works, 
i.  572. 


Vatl,  T.  J.,  i.  517. 

Valentines,  i.  575,  578. 

Vanarsdalen,  Rev.  Cornelius,  i. 
291. 

Vanderburg,  Dr.  Frederick,  i.  149. 

Van  Alstyne,  Rev.  George,  i.  420. 

Van  Buren,  Martin,  i.  183. 

Van  Garsbeck,  Catharine,  ii.  105. 

Van  Twiller  Wouter,  sends  troops 
to  New  Plymouth,  ii.  498. 

Ventris,  Elizabeth,  i.  241. 

Ventrus,  Moses,  ii.  39,  166. 
William,  ii.  166. 

Vere,  Edward,  i.  350;  ii.  437. 

Vernon,  Admiral,  i.  81. 

Vessels:  Amphion,  i.  658;  Bach- 
elor, 315;  Blessing  of  the 
Bay,  31,  221,  315;  Defence, 
81';  ii.  181  ;  De  Trouw, 
i.  56;  Elizabeth  and  Ann, 
234;  Ellsworth,  Oliver,  556; 
Francis,  229,  239  ;  Glen- 
thorne,  658,  665  ;  Griffin, 
243,  277  ;  Halfmoon,  15  ; 
Hartford,  167,  570  ;  Hart- 
ford Merchant,  273 ;  Hope- 
well, 231  ;  Horse-jockevs, 
655;  Humbird,  ii.  477;  In- 
crease, i.  266  ;  Indepen- 
dence, ii.  477;  Jason,  477; 
Lash,  477;  Marshall,  i.  556; 
McDonou^h,  556;  Minerva, 
ii.  477  ;  'Phoenix,  i.  558  ; 
Ramillies,  659;  Ranger,  ii. 
477;  Revenge,  477;  Rich- 
mond, i.  96;  Talbot,  244  ; 
Tiger,  16  ;  William  and 
Francis,  270. 

Viets,  Dr.  John,  ii.  82;  son,  82. 
Rev.  Roger,  i.  85. 
Simeon,  i.  229;  ii.  403. 

Voare,  Lvdia,  ii.  549. 
Marv,  ii.  547. 
Ricliard,  ii.  535,  559. 

Vulcan  Iron  Works,  ii.  303. 


Waddams,  John,  i.  230. 
Waddoms,  John,  ii.  268. 
Wade,  Rebecca,  ii.  555- 
Robert.  i.  255,  264. 
Wadhams,  John,  ii.  439. 


INDEX. 


701 


Wadsworth,  Asahel,  ii.  180. 

Kev.  Daniel,  i.  265,  283,  284. 
Daniel,    i.  72,  500,   530,   537, 
541,    594,    600,    602,    656  ; 
house    of,    465  ;     "  Monte 
Video,"  ii.  1,  3;  tower,  1, 
2;  portraits,  i.  550,  656. 
Daniel  (Manchester),  ii.  264. 
Decius,  i.  124. 
Elizabeth,  ii.  558. 
Dr.  Harry,  ii.  198. 
Gen.  James,  i.  84,181,182,185. 
Colonel  Jeremiah,  i.  114,  331, 
544,  564,  600;  sketch  of,  655; 
ii.  480;  portrait,  i.  656. 
Mary,  ii.  133. 
John,  i.  67,  68,  109,  119,  260, 

262;  ii.  39,  40,  166,  167. 
Capt.  Joseph,  i.  67,  68,  74, 119. 
Samuel,  i.  84,  378. 
Lieutenant.  Samuel,  ii.  368. 
Sarah,  i.  238,  270,  272,  274, 
Dr.  Svlvester,  i.  141. 
Dr.  Theodore,  i.  141 ;  ii.  198. 
Dr.  T.  D.,  i.  154. 
William,    i.    264,    270,    272; 
children,  265. 
Wadsworth's  Tower.     See  Avon. 
Wages,  regulation  of,  i.  350. 
Wainwright,  Bishop  Jonathan  M., 
i.  161,  406. 
Dr.  W.  A.M.,  "Medical  His- 
tory," i.  135,  148. 
Wakefield.  Priscilla,  i.  347. 
Wakeley(Walkley),  Henry,  i.  265. 

James,  i.  265*;  ii.  439. 
Wakeman,  Anna,  i.  275. 
Elizabeth,  i.  229,  276. 
Grace,  i.  274. 
Helena,  i.  264. 
John,  i.  258. 

Samuel,  i.  229,  265,  276  ;    ii. 
426;  children,  i.  266. 
Waldo,  Rev.  Daniel,  ii.  392. 

Judge  L.  P.,  i.  134,  343;  por- 
trait, 132. 
Samuel  P.,  i.  127. 
Wales,  John,  i.  127. 
Walker,  Frederick  M.,  i.  132. 
F.  R.,  &  Son,  ii.  98. 
Rev.  George  L.,  i.  287  ;  "First 
Church,"  277. 
Walkley,  James  C,  i.  132. 

Stephen,   "  Southington,"    ii. 

363. 
Judge  Stephen,  ii.  371,  382. 
Wallace,  James,  ii.  485. 
Walsh,  Rev.  Lawrence,  i.  414,  417, 

418. 
Walton,  Rev.  Win.  C,  i.  392. 
Wampum,  i.  312,  314. 
Wansey,  Henry,  i.  607. 
Wapping.      See   E.    Windsor;  S. 

Windsor. 
Warburton,  John,  ii.  251. 
Ward,  Andrew,  ii.  32,  37,  105,  436, 
440,  461. 
General  Andrew,  i.  182. 
Henrv  C,  i.  93. 
Jame*s,  i.  672;  ii.  242. 
Com.  James  H.,  i.  96,  99. 
Jane,  i.  270. 

John  (Hartland),  ii.  242. 
John  (Wetherstield),   ii.  437, 

438. 
Michael,  ii.  242. 
Nathaniel,   i.   236,   247,    266, 

270. 
Captain  Roswell  B.,  i.  186. 


Ward,  Stephen,  ii.  434. 
William,  i.  245. 
William  S.,  ii.  376. 
Ward  &  Bartholomew,  i.  672. 
Ware,  Sarah,  ii.  556. 
Warham,  Abigail,  i.  228;  ii.  547. 
Rev.  John,  i.  24,  35,  228,559; 
ii.  536;  emigrates,  536;  mar- 
ries,   559;     house-lot,    559; 
dies,  538;   objects   to  Half- 
way  Coyenant,  538;    men- 
tioned by  Mather  and  Win- 
throp,    538;     son    Samuel, 
559. 
Warner,  Dr.  Abner  S.,  i.  146. 
Andrew,  i.  178,  245,  258,  266, 

277;  ii.  166. 
Andrew  (Windham),  i.  235. 
Dr.  A.  S.,  ii.  480. 
Charles,  ii.  303. 
Charles  Dudley,  i.  170.  611 ; 
portrait,  170;""  Domestic  and 
Social  Life,"  349-360. 
Elisabeth  G.,   "Bloomfield," 

ii.  29. 
John.  i.  50,  266;  ii.  166. 
Captain  John,  i.  179. 
Mary,  i.  245. 
Olin  L.,  ii.  395. 
General  Oliver,  i.  183. 
Robert,  i.  241. 

Captain  William,  ii.  466,  467. 
Warren  (Lord,  Woodbridge),  Abi- 
gail, ii.  274. 
Captain  Edward  E.,  i.  187. 
(Crow)  Eliza.     See  Crow. 
Rev.  Israel  P.,  ii.  232. 
William,  ii.  89,  235,  249,  276. 
Warren,  B.  B.,  &  Son,  ii.  339. 
Wars,  French  and  Indian,  i.  73, 

75,  80,  82. 
Warwick,    Robert   Rich,   Earl  of, 

i.  33. 
Washburn,  Rev.  E.  A.,  i.  407. 
Rev.  Joseph,  ii.  179,  188,  192. 
W.  A.,  i.  99. 
Washington,  George,  i.  190,  191, 
192,  298,  304;  at  Wethers- 
field,  ii.  446,  478,  479;  letter 
to  Simsburv  Committee  of 
Safety,  80.  * 
William,  ii.  89. 
Wassuc  M'f'g  Co.,  ii.  218. 
Waterbury,  i.  81,  202. 
Waterhouse,  Jacob,  ii.  435,  437. 
Waterman,    Gen.    Nathan   M.,  i. 

180,  185. 
Waters,  Bevil,  i.  74,  276. 
Deliyerance,  ii.  268. 
Major  James,  i.  193. 
John,  ii.  268. 
Colonel  John  F.,  i.  180. 
Lieutenant  John  M.,  i.  100. 
Lora,  ii.  297. 
Worthy,  ii.  268,  273. 
Watertown,  Conn.     See  Wethers- 
field. 
Watertown,  Mass.,  i.  20,  22,  23, 24, 

25,  26,  31,  37. 
Watkinson,  David,  i.  344,  500,  533, 
534,  546,  663;  ii.  251;  por- 
trait, 547. 
Edward,  i.  663. 
Elizabeth,  ii.  76. 
Robert,  ii.  214. 
William,  i.  663. 
Watson,  Caleb,  i.  276. 
Ehenezer,  i.  606. 
Henry,  ii.  124. 


Watson,  Rev.  J.  Henry,  i.  408. 

John,  i.  258,  274,*276;  ii.  388. 

John,  3d,  i.  129. 

John  B.,  i.  131 ;  ii.  124. 

Dr.  Louis,  ii.  127. 

Marv,  i.  258. 

Nathaniel,  ii.  166. 

General  Ralph,  i.  185. 

Robert  (Suftield),  ii.  388. 

Robert  (Windsor),  ii.  559. 

Sarah,  i.  274. 

Dr.  Sereno,  ii.  127. 
Watson  &  Ledvard,  ii.  250. 
Watts,  Captain,  ii.  510. 

Richard,  i.  247,  266;  children, 
266. 

Thomas,  i.  262,  276. 
Waxworks,  i.  579. 
Wav,  Eliezer,  i.  238,  276. 
Webb,  Charles,  i.  84. 

Henry,  i.  273. 

Joseph,  ii.  473, 477,  481 ;  house, 
478. 

Lieut.  Joseph,  ii.  449,  476. 

Captain  N.  Sevmour,  i.  186. 

Richard,  i.  243,  267. 

General    Samuel    B.,    ii.  471, 
474,  478,  480,  483 ;  portrait, 
478. 
Webber,  Rev.  George  N.,  i.  390. 
Webster,  Anne,  i.  251. 

Charles  R.,  i.  622. 

Captain  Daniel,  i.  179.    ' 

Emily,  ii.  530. 

E.  W.j  ii.  339. 

J.  C,  i.  515. 

Gov.  John,  i.  41, 109,202,  240, 
250,  251,  259,  267;  ii.  166; 
children,  i.  267. 

Matthew,  ii.  166. 

Noah,  i.  121,  123,  172,  330, 
377,  543,  621,  627,  632;  ii. 
423;  portrait,  172;  quoted, 
i.  632. 

Lieut.  Robert,  i.  253,  275,  276. 

Sarah,  i.  253,  276. 

Thomas,  i.  124;  ii.  166. 

Corpora]  Zephaniah,  ii.  514. 
Weddings,  i.  570. 
Weed  Sewing  Machine  Co.,  i.  572. 
Weede,  Jonas,  i.  32;  ii.  437,  438, 

440. 
Welch,  Dr.  Archibald,  i.  143. 

George,  ii.  57. 

George  M.,  i.  340. 

Elisha  N.,  ii.  57,  62;  portrait, 
60. 

H.  K.  W.,  i.  133. 

Major  H.  L.,  i.  194. 

H.  M.,  ii.  338. 

Rev.  Nathaniel,  ii.  152. 
Welch  &  Grav,  ii.  57. 
Welch,  E.  N."  M'f'g  Co.,  ii.  54. 
Welch,  Spring,  &  Co.,  ii.  54. 
Weld,  Lewis,  i.  427,  428. 
Welden,  Oliver,  ii.  20. 
Weller,  Richard,  ii.  166,  559. 
Welles,   Captain   Chester,   i.  472, 
476. 

Edwin,  ii.  331. 

Captain  Gideon,  i.  179. 

Hon.  Gideon,  i.  96,  268,  515, 
609,  619;  portrait,  618;  ii. 
225. 

Henry  H.,  ii.  213. 

Henry  T.,  i.  132. 

Hon.  Henry  T.,  ii.  224. 

Captain  He'zekiah,  ii.  476. 

Ensign  Hugh,  ii.  438,  463. 


702 


INDEX. 


Welles,  Lieut.-Col.  Isaac,  i.  180. 

John  (Glastonbury),  ii.  213. 

John  (Hadlev).  ii.  439. 

John  (WetheYsfield),  ii.  451. 

Jonathan  (Glastonbury),  ii. 
213,  222. 

Jonathan,  Jr.,  ii.  224. 

Captain  Jonathan  ii.  465,  466. 

Captain  Jonathan,  (1775), i.  83. 

Colonel  Joseph  A.,  i.  83,  84. 

Ensign  Joshua,  ii.  466. 

General  Leonard  R.,  i.  180, 
185;  ii.  489. 

Hon.  Martin,  i.  127;  ii.  334. 

Oswin,  i.  220;  ii.  213,  215. 

Ralph,  i.  128. 

Captain  Robert,  ii.  427,  435, 
466,  467. 

Captain  Robert,  Jr.,  i.  178; 
ii.  467. 

Captain  Robert  G.,  ii.  226. 

Roger,  "Newington,"  ii.  319. 

Colonel  Roger,  ii.  333. 

General  Roger,  i.  127, 133, 180, 
185;  ii.  333. 

Roswell,  i.  121. 

Russell  C,  ii.  213. 

Samuel  (Glastonbury),  ii.  205. 

Samuel,  merchant,  ii.  213. 

Captain  Samuel,  ii.  224. 

Captain  Samuel  (Wethers- 
field),  ii.  463. 

Hon.  Samuel,  ii.  214,225. 

Lieutenant  Samuel,  ii.  476. 

Sarah,  i.  230. 

Sarah,  ii.  333. 

Colonel  Solomon,  ii.  476. 

Sophia,  ii.  485. 

Thaddeus,  ii.  209,  225-227. 

Thomas  (Deertield),  ii.  465. 

Thomas  (Farmington),  ii.  166. 

Captain  Thomas,  i.  119;  ii. 
466,  467. 

Col.  Thomas  (Glastonbury),  i. 
82,  179,  180;  ii.  222,  227. 

Colonel  Thomas  (Wethers- 
field). ii.  468. 

Gov.  Thomas,  i.  39,  41,  105, 
109,  110,  118,  207;  chil- 
dren, 267 ;  ii.  439,  456,  462. 

Thomas,  2d,  i.  178,  230,  254, 
265,  273;  ii.  439,  467. 

William,  ii.  220,  223,  224. 
Welles  &  Wilcox,  ii.  489. 
Wellman,  William,  i.  260. 
Wells,  ( iaptain  Absalom,  ii.  333. 

Ashbel,  i.  84,  386. 

Major  Charles,  i.  191. 

Ebenezer.  i.  377. 

Captain  Henry  A.,  i.  100. 

Dr.  Horace,"  discoverer  of 
anrestheria,  i.  146 ;  portrait, 
146. 

Hugh,  i.  257,  274. 

James,  i.  380. 

James  H.  &  J.  F.,  ii.  569. 

Jonathan  (H'f'd),  i.  378. 

Colonel  Jonathan,  ii.  155. 

Joshua,  ii.  388. 

Captain  Robert,  ii.  332,  333. 

Samuel,  ii.  96,  245. 

Samuel  R.,  phrenologist, ii.  37. 

Dr.  Svlvester,  i.  141. 

William,  ii.  75. 
Welton,  John,  ii.  166. 
Wescott,  Richard,  ii.  438. 
Wessel,  F.,  ii.  303. 
Westcoat,  Richard,  i.  50. 
Westell  (Wastoll),  John,  ii.  437. 


Western  lands  ceded  to  Hartford 
and  Windsor,  i.  77,  225;  ii. 
237. 

Western  Reserve,  settlement  of,  i. 
206. 

West  Hartford,  ii.  415;  military 
historv,  i.  91,  101;  ii.  421; 
growth  of,  i.  208;  church 
formed,  282,  294  ;  ii.  416; 
formation  of,  i.  387;  in- 
cluded in  the  West  Division, 
ii.  415;  incorporated,  421; 
present  condition,  422,  424; 
petition  for  ecclesiastical 
society,  415;  pastors,  416; 
buildings,  418,  419;  other 
churches,  418  ;  Friends'  So- 
ciety, 418;  education,  416; 
eminent  men,  423;  indus- 
tries, 422;  place  names,  415, 
418,  422;  town  officers,  421. 

West  India  goods,  prices  of,  i.  85. 

West  India  Trade,  i.  653.  See 
Wethersfield,  Windsor,  etc. 

West  India  Trading  Company 
(Dutch),  i.  311. 

Westley,  William,  i.  268. 

Westover,  Jane,  i.  276. 

Westphal,  Capt.  William,  i.  187. 

Westwood,  Sarah,  i.  273 ;  ii.  549. 
William,   i.   22,    37,  39,  105, 
268. 

Wethersfield,  ii.  425;  settlement 
of,  i.  18,  23,  31,  32,  35, 
36,  38,  39,  40;  division  of, 
73;  collegiate  school  at,  79  : 
military  historv,  79,  83, 
85,  91,"  101,  103,  179;  ii. 
434,  463;  growth  of,  i. 
208;  distilleries  in,  211; 
described,  360;  map,  433; 
called  Pyquaug,  ii.  425  ; 
Watertown,  454;  and  Wyth- 
ersfeild, 454;  organized,  425; 
surveyed,  425;  deeded  by 
Sowheag,  426  ;  additional 
territory  purchased,  427 ; 
boundaries,  425-428 ;  set- 
tled, 436;  lands  allotted, 
455;  freemen,  462;  town 
officers,  461 ;  represented  in 
General  Court,  461;  towns 
set  off,  428;  emigration 
from,  438,  439  ;  village 
incorporated,  481 ;  eccle- 
siastical society  organized, 
440 ;  pastors,  440 ;  buildings, 
445;  Baptist  Church,  446; 
Episcopal,  447;  Methodist, 
447;  Roman  Catholic,  448; 
separates,  446  ;  aborigi- 
nal names,  433;  agricul- 
ture, 489;  bridges,  430, 
458;  burying-grounds,  459; 
commerce,  481,  485;  com- 
mons, 458;  depots,  482; 
drainage,  482;  education, 
448;  fauna,  430;  fairs,  482; 
ferries,  459;  fisheries,  481; 
flora,  431,  491;  the  Folley, 
430;  freemasons,  483;  geol- 
ogy, 430;  herders,  458; 
Hoccanum,  425,  429,  433; 
Indians,  431,  435;  indus- 
tries, 484,  490;  judges, 
463;  landings,  459;  libra- 
ries, 483;  early  merchants, 
481;  mills,  484;  minor 
topics,    481,      482;      place 


names,  429-431,   433,   451, 
452,    455-458,     482,     484; 
poor-house,    483 ;     popula- 
tion, 400;  post-offices,  482; 
prison,  483,  492 ;  privateers, 
477;  river-bed,  changes  in, 
428,  429 ;    roads,  457 ;   sea- 
captains,      481;      senators, 
etc.,    462;    shipyards,   481; 
taverns,    460;    village    im- 
provement     society,     483; 
Washington   in,    446,    478; 
water-courses,  429;   wealth 
comparative,     460 ;     witch- 
craft, 491 ;  Wright's  Island, 
208,  428. 
Wethersheld  Novelty  Co.,  ii.  489. 
Wetherstield,  Windsor,  and  Hart- 
ford, association  of,  i.  40. 
Wetmore,  Seth,  i.  121. 
Whaley,  Rev.  P.  H.,  i.  409. 
Whalley,  Edward,  i.  59. 
Whaples,  Curtiss,  ii.  312. 
Jonathan,  ii.  333. 
Thomas,  i.  276. 
Wheaton,  Rev.  H.  S.,  i.  406,  437, 

439. 
Wheeler,  J.  K.,   "  Freemasonry," 
i.  195-197. 
Rev.  Kittridge,  i.  403. 
Samuel,  i.  276. 
Captain  William,  i.  184. 
Whelplev,  Rev.  Sam.  W.,  ii.  130. 
Whipping,  i.  50,  508;  ii.  50,  90. 
Whipple,  Hezekiah  C,  ii.  297. 
White,  Daniel,  i.  178,  236. 
Ebenezer,  i.  84. 
Elizabeth,  i.  232. 
Elizabeth  (Norwich),  i.  358. 
Lt.-Com.  Henry  C,  i.  96. 
Jacob,  i.  233. 
John,  ii.  166. 
John,  Jr.,  i.  233. 
Elder  John,  i.  268,  274;  chil- 
dren, 269. 
Rev.  John,  ii.  534. 
Judge  John  H.,  i.  134. 
Captain  John  L.,  i.  187. 
Joseph,  ii.  268. 
Captain  Nathaniel,  i.  179. 
White,  Keenev,  &  Co.,  ii.  252. 
Whitetield,   Rev.  George,  i.  284; 
ii.  191,  447. 
Rev.  Henrv,  i.  244. 
Sarah,  i.  244. 
Whitehead,  Richard,  ii.  560. 

Samuel,  i.  50,  269. 
Whiting,  Charles,  Jr.,  i.  122. 
E.  H.,  ii.  338. 
Elizabeth,  i.  272. 
Giles,  i.  276. 
H.  W.,  ii.  302. 
Colonel  John,  i.  178,  180. 
Rev.   John,    i.   75,   232,    270, 
-^80,  281,  288,  289. 
Joseph,  i.  178. 
(Mvgatt),  Sarah,  i.  252. 
(Bull),  Sarah,  i.  232. 
Susanna,  i.  273. 
William,  i.  65,  178,  252,  270, 

273,  315;  ii.  554. 
Colonel  William,  i.  73,  75,  76, 

79,  80. 
Major    William,    i.   41,    109, 
269,  271;  children,  269. 
Whitman,  Rev.  Elnathan,  i.  285, 
290. 
Judge  Lemuel,  i.  127. 
Rev.  Samuel,  ii.  174, 191. 


INDEX. 


703 


Whitman,  William,  i.  123,  124. 

Dr.  William,  366. 
Whitmore,  John,  ii.  438. 

Solomon,  ii.  181. 

Thomas,  ii.  437. 
Whitney,  Amos,  ii.  496. 
Whittaker,  General,  i.  92. 
Whittier,  John  G.,  i.  165,  602,  614. 
Whittlesey,  Charles,  i.  134. 

General  Channeey,  i.  183. 

Captain  Elinhalet,  ii.  469. 

Roger,  i.  126. 
Whitwav,  Thomas,  ii.  438. 
Wiard,  Seth,  ii.  63. 
Wiekham,  William,  ii.  205. 
Wicks  (Weeks),  Thomas,  ii.  438. 
Wiggin,  Thomas,  i.  269. 
Wigglesworth,  Michael,  i.  280. 
Wight,  Pliny,  i.  127. 
Wightman,  Valentine,  ii.  370. 
Wiicock  (Wilcox),  John,   i.  270; 
ii.    166;    children,    i.  270; 
daughter  Ann,  242. 

John,  Jr.,  i.  265. 
Wilcocks,  Sarah,  i.230. 
Wilcockson,  Elizabeth,  ii.  558. 

Hannah,  ii.  552. 

William,  i.  243. 
Wilcox,  Alfred,  ii.  489. 

Captain  Amos,  i.  83. 

Benjamin,  ii.  22. 

Rev.  Carlos,  i.  389. 

Daniel,  ii.  5. 

Edward,  ii.  28;  portrait,  22. 

Ezra,  ii.  69. 

John,  i.  274. 

Dr.  Lucien  S.,  i.  144. 

Samuel  C.  ii.  28;  portrait,  22. 
Wilder,  Judge  Eli  T.,  ii.  241. 

Judge  Horace,  ii.  241. 

John,  ii.  240. 

Jonas,  ii.  238. 

Joseph,  ii.  240. 
Willard,  C.  E.,  i.  515. 

Daniel,  2d,  ii.  331. 

Daniel,  3d,  ii.  331. 

Captain  Daniel,  ii.  333. 

Daniel  H.,  ii.  333. 

Emma  Hart,  i.  162,  649;  ii.  24, 
25;  portrait,  i.  163. 

Josiah,  i.  247;  ii.  450,  458. 

Capt.  Josiah,  ii.  327,  331,  333. 

Simon,  i.  254. 
Willes,  Rev.  Henry,  ii.  135. 
Willett,  Mary,  i.  246. 

Nathaniel,  ii.  244. 

Nathaniel  (Hartford),  i.  227, 
265,  266,  276. 
Willev,  Allen,  i.  620. 

Hannah,  i.  230,  247. 

Isaac,  i.  247. 
Williams,  Anna,  ii.  240. 

Arthur,  ii.  559. 

Cornelius  R.,  ii.  203. 

Elias,  ii.  470,  471. 

Captain  Elijah,  ii.  146. 

Rev.  Eliphalet,  ii.  91 ;  house, 
92;  his  "  Sophronistes,"  93. 

Captain  Elisha,  ii.  471. 

Rev.  (Rector)  Colonel  Elisha, 
i.  82;  ii.  325,  468. 

Ephraim,  i.  510. 

Captain  Ezekiel,  i.   84,  129; 
ii.  470,  471,  473,  476. 

Ezekiel,  Jr.,  i.  386,  592. 

Captain  Jacob,  i.  179. 

J.  B.  Co..  ii.  215. 

Job,  i   429. 

John,  i.  123,  125. 


Williams,  Bishop  John,  i.  407,  440. 
John  (Wethersfield),  ii.  456. 
John   (Windsor),    i,,  178;    ii. 

559. 
Captain  John  K.,  i.  187. 
Dr.  Jonathan,  i.  138. 
Captain  Joseph  D.,  i.  186. 
Marv,  i.  239. 
Matthew,  ii.  438,  484. 
Oliver  E.,  i.  129. 
Rev.  Pelham,  i.  407. 
R.,  ii.  203. 
Roger,  ii.  554,  559. 
Samuel,  ii.  568. 
Samuel  W.,  ii.  449. 
Captain  Solomon,  ii.  475. 
Stephen,  ii.  493. 
Thomas,  ii.  439,  456,  493,  494. 
Hon.  Thomas  S.,  i.  113,  114, 
126,  127,  129,  385,  530,  537, 
543,  602;  ii.  325,  462,  463; 
portrait,  114. 
Thomas  S.,  2d,  i.  132. 
Walter  S.,  i.  615,  624. 
William,  i.  276;  ii.  90. 
Williams  &  Tracy,  ii.  253. 
Williams  Brothers,  ii.  215. 
Willimantic  Linen  Co.,  i.  573. 
Willington,  militia  in,  i.  179;  pop- 
ulation of  (1756-1782),  209. 
Williston,  Lieutenant  Consider,  ii. 
400,  401. 
George,  ii.  395,  398. 
Willoughbv,   Rev.   Jonathan,    ii. 

439,  441. 
Wills,  i.  64. 
Wilson,  Anna,  ii.  559. 
Eli,  ii.  544. 

(Crow)  Eliza.     See  Crow. 
Rev.    Go  wen   C,   "  Churches 
of  Windsor,''  ii.  534;  clergy- 
man, 542. 
Isabelle,  ii.  556. 
Rev.  John,  i.  246. 
John,  i.  261,  276. 
Lieutenant  John  H.,  i.  100. 
Lydia,  i.  261. 
Phineas,  i.  235,  250,  276. 
Robert,   i.  261,  273,    276;   ii. 
166,  559. 
Wilton,  David,  i.  178  ;  ii.  535,  559. 
Katherine,  i.  247. 
Nicholas,  ii.  508. 
Winch,  George W.,  "Enfield,"  ii. 

139;  clergyman,  153. 
Winch,  George  W.,  i.  399. 
Winchell,  David,  ii.  388,  559. 
Jonathan,  ii.  388,  559. 
Captain  Joseph,  ii.  398. 
Robert,  ii. 559;  son  Nathaniel, 
559. 
Winchester,  settlement  of,  i.  203. 
Windham  petitions  for  market,  i. 

320. 
Windham  County,  i.  81,107,  121; 
population  of  (1790-1880), 
209. 
Windsor,  ii.  497;  i.  20,  22,  23,  77, 
84,  85;  settlement  of,  i.  12, 
18,  25,  32,33,  34,35,  38,39; 
Hartford  and  Wethersfield, 
association  of,  40;  distil- 
leries in,  211;  growth  of, 
208;  military  history,  179; 
ii.  504,  509;  called' Matia- 
nuek,  499;  New  Plymouth, 
500,  502;  Dorchester,  499; 
Windsor,  500 ;  Plymouth 
trading-house    established, 


498,  556;  arrival  of  Stiles 
party,  498;  of  Dorchester 
company,  499 ;  surveyed, 
425;  bounds  defined,  500; 
purchased  of  Plymouth 
Company,  500;  subsequent 
purchases,  503;  map  of  early 
Windsor,  501;  first  town 
officers,  506;  town  court 
enactments,  506,  507;  Po- 
quonnock  settled,  521;  part 
set  off  to  Wintonbury,  30; 
to  Sinisbury,  343 ;  boundary 
disputes  with  latter,  347*; 
bridges,  518;  education, 
516;  eminent  men,  523; 
ferries,    508,    517;  Indians, 

499,  510;  industries,  r.ii  1 ; 
inns,  518;  old  mill,  518; 
palisado,  504,  546 ;  place 
names,  498,  500,  504,  518, 
521,  548,  555,  558;  popula- 
tion, 460,  518;  early  trade, 
518;  noted  trees,  518; 
wealth,  comparative,  460; 
whipping-post,  508 ;  wolves, 
bounties  on,  508. 

Windsor  churches,  ii.  534;  rea- 
sons for  emigration,  i.  24; 
first  church  organized  in 
England,  ii  534;  in  Dorches- 
ter, Mass.,  534;  fraternizes 
with  church  at  Plymouth, 
535;  removes  to  Connecti- 
cut, 535;  its  teacher  and 
pastor,  535;  deacons  and 
elders,  537 ;  original  mem- 
bers, 535;  first  meeting- 
house, 536;  half-way  cove- 
nant, 536;  second  church 
formed,  537;  reunites  with 
first,  539;  second  meeting- 
house, 509,  539;  condition 
of  church  (1688),  539;  ex- 
tent of  parish,  539;  third 
meeting-house,  540;  second 
parish  formed,  542;  reunites 
with  first,  542;  pastors  of 
first  church,  542;  present 
building,  533,  542;  condi- 
tion of  church,  543 ;  Poquon- 
nock  society  formed,  543; 
Baptist  Church,  545;  Epis- 
copal, 532,  544:  Methodist, 
544;  Roman  Catholic,  545. 

Windsor  families,  ii.  546. 

Windsor  Locks,  ii.  561  ;  military 
history  i  91,  101,  104;  ii. 
563;  growth  of,  i.  208; 
called  Pine  Meadow,  ii.  561 ; 
lands  distributed,  561;  set- 
tled, 562;  map  of  (1776), 
563;  incorporated,  561;  ec- 
clesiastical history,  564;  ed- 
ucation, 564;  ferry,  564; 
industries,  566;  household 
industrv,  565;  Indians,  561; 
place  names,  562,  563,  564, 
566;  roads,  501,  564. 

Wines,  Rev.  C.  Maurice,  i.  393. 

Wing,  Moses,  ii.  513. 

Ensign  Samuel,  ii.  513,  562. 
Yung,  ii.  11. 

Winslow,    Governor    Edward,    i. 
28,  30,  34,  309;  ii.  497. 
Josias,  ii.  502. 

Winthrop,  Governor,  i.  20,  22,  26, 
30,  31,  238 ;  declines  to  colo- 
nize the  Connecticut  valley, 


704 


INDEX. 


310;  ii.    497;  describes  the 
country,  i.  310;  proposes  a 
bank,  327 ;  quoted,  434. 
Winthrop,  John,  Jr.,  i.  22,  33,  34, 
37,  49,  58,  64,  106,  109,  137 ; 
bill  of  exchange  from  Pvn- 
chon,  315;    Governor  Wol- 
cott's  poem  on,  ii.  134. 
Wintonbury,  i.  85.     See   Bloom- 
field. 
Wire  Web  Bed  Co.,  ii.  303. 
Witchcraft,  i.  267,  274,  351,  352; 

ii.  51. 
Witchfield,  John,  ii.  502,  535,  537, 

559. 
Wolcott,  Abigail,  ii.  565. 

Dr.  Alexander,  i.  139;  ii.  121, 
136. 

Alexander,  Jr.,  i.  123,  125. 

Christopher,  ii.  555,  560. 

Dr.  Christopher,  i.  139,  141. 

General  Erastus,  i.  84,  110, 
184,  185;  ii.  Ill,  122. 

Eunice,  ii.  122. 

Frederick,  ii.  126 ;  portrait,  136. 

George,  ii.  438,  560. 

Henrv,  settler,  i.  27,  65,  109, 
234";  ii.  523;  family,  ii.  560; 
social  standing,  107;  men- 
tioned, 506,  518,  535,  536, 
537. 

Henry,  Jr.,  i.  74,  109,  110;  ii. 
560". 

Jerusha  (daughter  of  John), 
ii.  122. 

Jerusha,  ii.  124. 

Josiali,  ii.  518. 

Mary,  ii.  549. 

Governor  Oliver,  i.  86,  114, 
504;  ii.  136;  public  offices 
held,  137;  removes  to  Litch- 
field, 137  ;  mentioned,  370; 
portrait,  132. 

Governor  Oliver,  Jr.,  i.  123, 
125,  156,  544,  594;  ii.  137; 
portrait,  134. 

Oliver,  manufacturer,  ii.  486. 

Governor  Roger,  i.  80,  81,  82, 
107,  110,  119,  121,  155, 
179,180;  autobiography,  ii. 
133;  official  dress,  134";  his 
poem  on  Winthrop,  134 ; 
mentioned,  468. 

Hon.  Roger,  i.  110,  116,  120; 
ii.  135;   autograph,  136. 

Samuel  (Wethersiield),  ii.  449, 
451. 

Samuel,  3d,  ii.  477. 

Captain  Samuel  (Windsor),  i. 
178. 

Cantain  Samuel  (W'f'ld),  ii. 
427. 

Captain  Samuel,  Jr.,  ii.  467. 

Samuel  (Windsor),  ii.  124. 

Samuel,  schoolmaster,  ii.  118, 
516. 

Rev.  Samuel,  ii.  119,  126;  his 
"Wolcott  Memorial,"  126. 

Simon,  i.  178  ;  ii.  560;  removes 
to  east  side  of  river,  107, 108, 


133;  marries,  108;   granted 
land  at  Massaco,  342 ;  which 
is   named    Simsbury    after 
him,    343 ;    retails    liquors, 
343 ;  flees  from  the  Indians, 
344;  farm  mentioned,  354. 
Wolcott,  Ursula,  ii.  138 
Wolcott  family,  i.  301;  eminent, 
ii.  134;"  educated   men   in, 
138;  memorial  volume,  126. 
Wollery,  Richard,  ii.  388. 
Wolterton    (Wilterton),    Gregory, 

i.  260,  266,  270,  274. 
Wolves,  bounties  on,  ii.  508. 
Women,   Connecticut,  beauty   of, 

i.  360. 
Wood  (Edward),  Edmond,  ii.  438. 

James  B.,  ii.  251. 

Jeremy,  ii.  438. 

Jonas," ii.  438  ;  Jonas,  2d,  438; 
Jonas,  3d,  438. 

Obadiah,  ii.  87,  89. 

Dr.  William,  ii.  127 ;  portrait, 
126. 
Woodbridge,  Rev.  Ashbel,  ii.  221. 

Rev.  Benjamin,  ii.  537,  539. 

Deodat,  ii.  249. 

Dudlev,  ii.  249. 

Rev.  Dudlev,  ii.  79,  350. 

Electa,  ii.  255. 

Col.  Howell,  i.  180;  ii.  224. 

Mrs.  Jemima,  ii.  355. 

Rev.  John,  ii.  79,  320,  442,  544. 

Mary,  i.  272. 

Mary,  ii.  103. 

Rev.  Sam.  (Eastburv).  ii.  222. 

Rev.    Samuel   (E.    Hartford), 
i.  282,  283  ;  ii.  91,  96. 

Rev.  Sam.  (Hartland),  ii.  241. 

Samuel  E.,  ii.  241. 

Rev.  Timothy,  i.  249,  272,  282. 

Rev.  Timothy,  Jr.,   i.  79;   ii. 
79,  350,  351,  358. 

Ward  (E.  Hartford),  ii.  259. 

Ward  (Hartford),  i.  333,  668. 

Wells,  ii.  246. 

William  C,  i.  172. 
Woodford,  Francis,  ii.  7. 

John,  ii.  5. 

John  B.,  ii.  504. 

Joseph,  settler,  ii.  166. 

Joseph,  ii.  5. 

Joseph,  Jr.,  ii.  5. 

Lucius,  ii.  281,  309. 

Norman,  ii.  298. 

General  Stewart  L.,  ii.  12. 

Thomas,  i.  259,  270. 

Truman,  ii.  298. 

William,  ii.  5,  180. 
Woodhouse,  Captain  Edward   G., 
i.  187;  ii.  480. 

Colonel  Levi,  i.  92,  180. 

Sophia,  ii.  485. 
Woodlev,  Rev.  R.  D.,  i.  407. 
Woodruff,  Hannah,  i.  258. 

Jonathan,  ii.  180,  377. 

Captain  Joseph,  i.  179. 

Captain  Judah,  ii.  177. 

Matthew,  i.  258;  ii.  166. 

Samuel,  ii.  367. 


Woodruff,Judge  Samuel,Jr.,  i.126. 

Samuel  H.,  i.  127. 
Woodruff  &  Beach,  i.  570. 
Woodruff  Iron  Works,  i.  570. 
Woods,  John,  i.  50. 
Woodscrew  Co.  Patent,  ii.  200. 
Woodward,  Dr.  Samuel  B.,  i.  142, 

143,  525. 
Woodward    &     Saffery    Survey. 

See  Survey. 
Woodworth,  Rev.  W.  W.,  ii.  20; 

"History  of  Berlin,"  13. 
Wooster,  Maj.-Gen.  David,  i.  185. 
Works,  Alfred  J.,  i.  133. 
Worthington.     See  Berlin. 

Colonel  John,  ii.  17,  24. 

Nicholas,  i.  233. 
Wright,  Lieut.  Abraham,  ii.  476. 

Anthony,  i.  178;  ii.  439. 

Benjamin,  ii.  494. 

Charles,  i.  538. 

David,  ii.  435. 

Lieutenant  Ebenezer,  ii.  476. 

Captain  Elijah,  ii.  474,  476. 

James,  ii.  208,  428. 

John,  ii.  452. 

Joseph  (N.  Britain),  ii.  281. 

Lieut.  Joseph  A.,  ii.  476. 

Ensign  Josiah,  ii.  469. 

Samuel,  i.  233. 

Lieutenant  Samuel  (Suffield), 
ii.  400. 

Lieutenant  Samuel  (Wethers- 
field),  ii.  469. 

Sergeant  Samuel,  ii.  451. 

Thomas,  ii.  438. 
Wright's   Island.      See    Glaston- 
bury; Wethersiield. 
Wrothum,  Simon,  ii.  166 
Wyatt  (Wiatt),  John,  ii.  166,  500. 

Ensign   John   ( Wethersiield), 
ii.  463,  464. 
Wyllys  (Pynchon),  Amy,  i.  270. 

George,  i.  129. 

Col.  George,  i.  180,  272,  380, 
601. 

Governor  George,  i.  41,  109, 
259,  271;  children,  271. 

Col.Hezekiah,i.  180, 192,  249. 

Major  John  P.,  i.  272. 

Mabel,  i.  272. 

Ruth,  i.  272. 

Samuel,  i.  68,  264,  271 ;  owns 
lot  in  Farmington,  ii.  166. 

Col.  Samuel,  i.  180,  185,   189, 
190,  191,  272,  304,  366,  380. 
Wyllys  family,  i.  301,  366. 

Yale,  Asa,  ii.  63. 

Dr.  Asahel,  ii.  198. 
Yale  College,  i.  79;  ii.   325,  453; 
Simsbury    copper-mine,    ii. 
79. 
Yates,  Rev.  Andrew,  ii.  92. 

Francis,  ii.  438. 
Younglove,  Rev.  John,  ii.  388, 390, 

391. 
Youngs,  John,  ii.  560. 

Captain  Joshua,  ii.  199,  200. 
Thomas,  ii.  199,  200. 


END   OF  VOLUME  I. 


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